Today Gislaved Gummi AB, a member of the Hexagon Group, has acquired 53.5 % of the shares in Elastomeric

7/20/1998 10:09 AM EST

Today Gislaved Gummi AB, a member of the Hexagon Group, has acquired 53.5 % of
the shares in Elastomeric Engineering Company Ltd, Sri Lanka (EEC).

EEC, listed on the Columbo Stock Exchange market, is an industrial rubber
company.
In 1998, the turnover is estimated to approximately MSEK 60. The company has
480 employees.

"The acquisition is another step in Gislaved Gummi globalisation and will give
the Hexagon Group a positive result effect already this year", says Börje
Andersson, Managing Director of the Hexagon Group".

"We have co-operated with EEC during a number of years and consequently we
know the company very well. The co-operation has developed positively during
these years. The acquisition as such will give us some synergies both product
and marketwise. I refer to gaskets for heat exchanger and industrial wheels.
Shortly, we will make a mandatory offer for all the remaining shares of EEC",
says Roland Folkesson, Managing Director of Gislaved Gummi AB.

Hexagon is an industrial and commercial group whose business concept is to
acquire medium-sized industrial companies and develop them in long term. The
company is listed on the Stockholm Stock Exchange and, in 1997 the turnover
amounted to SEK 4.2 billion.

Landskrona, 20 July 1998

HEXAGON AB (publ)

Börje Andersson
President and CEO

For further information, please feel free to contact:

Börje Andersson, Hexagon AB, tel. +46 418 44 92 00 or +46 418 154 24
Torbjörn Wistrand, Commercial Development, Hexagon AB, tel. +46 70 520 02 28
Roland Folkesson, M.D. of Gislaved Gummi AB, tel. +46 70 537 48 01