SWX Swiss Exchange To Publish IPO Information On Internet

As of today, Wednesday, 15 March 2000, the SWX Swiss Exchange will begin providing at its Internet site a new information service covering imminent IPOs. SWX will publish in tabular form the names of the companies that have announced their intent to list securities on the SWX Swiss Exchange, the anticipated first trading day, the market segment in which the listing will be made, as well as the name of the sponsoring investment bank. The addition of a company to the list will take place at the earliest once the company itself has announced the IPO. At the beginning of the subscription period, further facts about the issuer and the offering will be published.

The high level of interest in new issues on the SWX Swiss Exchange - in particular with regard to our latest segment, the SWX New Market - has led us to set up this new service. The list that has become accessible as of today contains current listing candidates for the SWX New Market.

At the beginning of the respective subscription periods, a fact sheet will also be accessible in which you can find, among other things, information pertaining to the company, the security number and proposed symbol for the issue, as well as the time frame for subscription and the price range for book-building. Information on pending IPOs will be published at our Internet site www.swx.com under the following URL: issuers/ipos_en.html. We look forward to your paying us a visit.