ÅF now a leading energy consultant in Russia

For further information, please contact:


Jonas Wiström, ÅF Group President/CEO             +46 (0)70-608 12 20
Eero Auranne, President, Energy Division          +46 (0)70-320 09 53
Viktor Svensson, Director, Corporate              +46 (0)70-657 20 26
Information



ÅF is to acquire a 75 percent stake in the Russian technical
consulting company ZAO Lonas Technologija (Lonas). Lonas, which was
established in 1992, is headquartered in St Petersburg and also has
offices in Yekaterinburg and Kiev.

Lonas has 240 employees, 190 of whom are based in St Petersburg. The
company specialises in construction and full-service projects
relating to power plants, district heating plants and turbine plants.
Its clients are power companies, industry and municipal energy
plants. Lonas has well-filled order books (orders on hand total EUR
30 million) and a diversified client base. Lonas works primarily
within Russia, but in recent years has also won contracts in the CIS
countries, Kazakhstan and Ukraine."The need for energy and infrastructure investments in Russia is
substantial. That is why, over the past two years, we have been
taking stock of potential takeover candidates with an eye to
consolidating our position in Russia. Lonas meets our criteria
exactly," says Jonas Wiström, President and CEO of the ÅF Group.

This year Lonas is on target to achieve sales equivalent to EUR 20
million, with an operating margin in excess of 10 percent. The
initial purchase price for the acquisition is EUR 6 million. An
additional consideration may be payable, depending on the company's
earnings trend in the period 2009-2013. It is anticipated that the
acquired operations, to be consolidated into ÅF and its Energy
Division with effect from the fourth quarter, will start to have a
positive effect on earnings per share for ÅF before the end of the
year."After the acquisition ÅF will have just over 270 employees in
Russia, all engaged in energy consulting activities. ÅF's strategy
for the future in Russia is to expand Lonas's business in CIS
countries and to use Lonas as ÅF's partner and local contractor in
major international power plant projects," says Eero Auranne,
President of ÅF's Energy Division.


ÅF AB
Corporate Information

ÅF is a leader in technical consulting, with expertise founded on
more than a century of experience.
We offer highly qualified services and solutions for industrial
processes, infrastructure projects and the development of products
and IT systems. We are also a leading name in testing and inspection.
Today ÅF has more than 4,000 employees. Our base is in Europe, but
our business and our clients are found all over the world.