General meeting approves Hollis sale

9/29/2000 4:58 AM EST

Today's extraordinary general meeting of Observer AB approved the Board of
Director's recommendation to divest a small portion of the company's UK
operations, Hollis Directories, to the British publisher Wilmington Group and
Hollis' management.

Hollis publishes a number of handbooks and catalogues which fall outside
Observer's core business.

Hollis has a turnover of approximately GBP 2 million on an annual basis,
corresponding to slightly over two percent of the Observer Group's total. The
total consideration of GBP 3.6 million does not give rise to any capital gain
for Observer.

Because Hollis' management is among the buyers, the sale is conditional on the
approval of Observer's general meeting.

About Observer AB
Observer AB (formerly Sifo Group), which is listed on the O-list (Attract 40)
of the OM Stockholm Exchange, is active in media and market monitoring,
analysis and evaluation, target group identification and the distribution of
information for PR and IR purposes. Through SMG Consulting, Observer AB also
has operations in management and strategic consulting. Observer AB has a
turnover of slightly over SEK 1.1 billion on a moving 12-month basis, wth
around 1,600 employees in Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, Estonia, Latvia,
Lithuania, Germany and the UK

For further information, please contact:
Per Blixt, Senior VP Corporate Communications, phone +46 8 507 410 12/
+46 70 549 28 08, e-mail  

About Observer AB
Observer AB (formerly Sifo Group), listed in the O-list of the OM Stockholm
Exchange, has its operations in media and market monitoring, analysis,
evaluation, target group identification for, and distribution of, information
for PR and IR purposes. Through SMG Consulting, Observer AB is also active in
management and strategic consulting. On a moving 12-month basis, Observer AB
has revenues of approximately SEK 1.1 billion and around 1,500 employees in
Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Germany and the
UK.

For further information, please contact:
Per Blixt, Chief Communications Officer, phone +46-8-507 410 12/+46-70-549 28
08, e-mail  

This press release is also accessible online at www.observergroup.com