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Research T riangle Park, NC and Munich, Germany, 10 April 2000 SciQuest.com (NASDAQ: SQST), a leading businessto-business e-marketplace for products used by pharmaceutical, chemical, biotechnology, industrial and educational organizations, today announced the opening of a local o ce to serve the UK scienti® c products marketplace and to initiate the hiring of British senior sta . The announcement was among several issued by SciQuest. com at the Analytica Conference for Analysis, Biotechnology, Diagnostics and Laboratory Technology in Munich, Germany.

. The launch of pilot purchasing programs at two preeminent European research customers, The Dow Chemical Company and the Max-Planck-Institute. SciQuest.com will expand its strategic North American e-commerce agreement for purchase of scienti® c products and supplies to Dow sites in Europe. SciQuest.com also will serve as the strategic e-marketplace to conduct pilot testing for designated scienti® c products purchases for The

More about SciQuest.com
SciQuest.com, Inc., is a Web-based, interactive marketplace for scienti® c and laboratory products used by pharmaceutical , clinical, biotechnology , chemical, industrial and educational organizations worldwide. Sci Quest.com has used its extensive industry experience to design a marketplace that streamlines the traditionally ine cient scienti® c products supply chain. The company's marketplace solutions allow buyers of scienti® c products to cross-search and purchase products from multiple suppliers with a single order, and purchase refurbished equipment from SciQuest.com Auctions. In March, SciQuest.com completed the acquisition of Pennsylvania-base d EMAX Solution Partners, for the purpose of creating an integrated e-business solution that manages the entire lifecycle of scienti® c laboratory products, from selection and procurement through ownership, use and disposal. The company's e-marketplace is distributor-neutral and can be customized and seamlessly integrated with its customers' enterprise systems, internal inventory systems and chemical libraries. Research T riangle Park, N C, USA with N orth A merican o ces in M ountain View, CA, Philadelphia, PA and Plainview, N W. For more information about SciQuest.com please visit www.sciquest.com or call + 1 ( 919) 659-2100.

Kvaerner wins US$70 million contract for environmental modi cations to German re nery
London, 17 April 2000: Kvaerner, the Anglo-Norwegian engineering and construction Group, today announced that it has won a lump-sum turnkey, engineering, procurement and construction contract, for modi® cations to the Holborn Europa Ra nerie in Hamburg, Germany. Under the US$70 million contract, which is due for completion in the summer of 2001, Kvaerner will modify the plant to meet stringent new European Union directives related to the speci® cation of auto fuels.

Rene Â Westerduin, Senior Vice President of Kvaerner' s
Benelux/German operation, states:`The inherent burden of investment to meet the new fuel speci® cations means that the re® ner must ® nd innovative processing methods, requiring a creative and value-oriented approach. This is where Kvaerner's reputation for innovative engineering solutions provides concrete bene® ts to the re® ner.' The modi® cation, which is one of the ® rst of its kind in Europe will transform diesel fuel components to the required speci® cations by means of hydro-treatment , and follows the recent completion by Kvaerner of another contract at the re® nery.
The re® ning industry has continually been adjusting to the requirement for change in fuel on the reduction of emissions, not only from the re® neries, but also from the fuels themselves. Kvaerner's Benelux/German operation has speci® c expertise in this ® eld, providing the re® ner with a variety of options to conform to the new speci® cations, and has built up extensive expertise in the safe, high-quality, cost-e ective, fast-track execution of these types of projects. Europe' s Chemical and Life Sciences companies could bene® t greatly from better communications practices, an international survey has revealed. The Reputation Management European Benchmark (REMB) survey, published today by Edelman Public Relations in Europe, has found that although communications is an important business function for the sector, companies still rank it least important, giving more importance to human resources, research and development, quality control, safety and environment of ® nancial performance.
The Reputation Management European Benchmark survey is the ® rst international study to analyse the impact of corporate communications practices on corporate reputation. It focuses on the ongoing practices of sector communications and how those practices are perceived by key stakeholders.
The survey reveals an element of criticism of and cynicism towards the Chemical and Life Sciences sector across Europe from both the media and other external audiences including various opinion formers who were interviewed as part of the Stakeholders Survey. However, the survey also found that where the companies in the sector communicate more actively they enjoy a better reputation and are more positively perceived by stakeholders. A regression analysis carried out as part of the research demonstrates that companies can and do in¯uence how they are perceived by stakeholders. Communicating more with social organizations representatives, journalists and authorities, is directly related to corporate reputation. Despite this fact the survey found that almost 50% of journalists believe companies do not communicate with them creating an impression of a sector which is`closed and disrespectful to the environment, to safety or to the community'.
The survey also indicated that a majority of companies in the sector have already developed crisis management devices or measures. Eight-four per cent of companies have crisis management manuals, 71% participate in crisis communications training sessions, while 62% say they have developed crisis communications simulations. In this sector, companies in the UK, France and Spain are those with most experience, except in crisis simulations. Companies in Germany, Italy, Ireland and Belgium appear at the bottom of the range. The sector devotes, on average, 6% of its external relation's budget to crisis management.
One of the striking ® ndings of the report is the strong emphasis which the companies in this sector, right across Europe, place on both internal communications and community relations programmes. These companies see this as their main priority in terms of communications, and community relations is perceived as a key task in the day to day activities of manufacturing plants. The survey pinpoints no national di erences when companies are asked if the concerns voiced by a plant's neighbours be justi® ed or not. In this regard, companies across all seven countries where the survey was conducted understand public concern for the state of the plants. This sensitivity towards local communities is re¯ected in the priority, which is attached by the sector to community relations.
The REMB survey found that on average 32% of total spend on external relations was dedicated to advertising, a percentage that is even higher in countries such as Germany (40%) and Spain (39%). The second highest budgeted activity after advertising is community rela-tions representing around 15% of average budgets. Internal communications accounted for on average 13% of the total budget, while media relations accounted for 13% of the spend.
There were some di erences between countries, e.g. Italy, Germany and the UK place more emphasis on media relations; Ireland places more emphasis on community relations; the UK and Belgium on lobbying ; France and Belgium on internal communications; and France and Ireland on research and evaluation.
Over 70% of companies were found to use external public relations services, in most cases on a project by project basis, while 60% produce a written communications plan. These services and practices are especially prevalent in Germany and the UK.
Commenting on the results of the study, John Mahony of Edelman, said While companies in the Chemical and Life Sciences sector rate communications as highly as some other business functions they do not attach a high level of importance to it. However its importance to the sector is indicated by the fact that the top communications managers report directly to the head of the company in more than half of the companies and to the marketing manager only in 5% of them. Clearly, where communications is employed internally it operates at the highest level.
By conducting a regression analysis as part of this research we have been able to clearly establish that good communications can clearly improve the perception of companies in these sectors among both media and stakeholders. The Chemical and Life Sciences sectors have experienced di culties with regard to their image particularly in relation to environmenta l and safety issues. The ® ndings of the survey re¯ect those di culties but also signal the very clear role which better communications practices can play in improving and enhancing the reputation and image of companies in this sector.' The REMB survey also found that the Chemical and Life Sciences sector clearly recognises the legitimacy and importance of lobbying. Thirty-four per cent of companies have formal institutional/political relations programmes. The Stakeholders survey indicated that the sector can assist in identifying important issues but it was less clear as to the legitimacy of lobbying in the sector.
The role of the lobbyist is one which has been under review particularly by institutions and the media in many European countries. Clearly, this research highlights again the element of cynicism towards lobbying. ' Mahony added.
Commenting on the results of the survey, Mrs Nuria Salo, Director of Masters in Communication to Organisation, Bosch i Gimpera Foundation said;`Following two years of work in conjunction with the largest European Companies of the Chemical and Life Sciences sectors, universities, NGO's journalists, and Public Administrations from seven countries, the REMB study has con-® rmed our view that external communications can in¯uence and condition the perception which people have on companies in this sector.' The survey was conducted among companies in the Chemical and Life Sciences sectors in seven countries (Belgium, Italy, Spain, Ireland, France, Germany and the UK). Key stakeholders in ® ve of these seven countries were also interviewed as part of the survey. These included journalists, authorities with environmental or safety responsibilities, representative s of environmental groups and representatives of scienti® c institutions. The study has been designed and developed by the University of Barcelona, Bosch i Gimpera Foundation and Edelman PR Worldwide Europe.

Schroder Ventures raises £3 billion European Fund for investment in healthcare and chemicals
London, 11 M ay 2000: Schroder Ventures announces the raising of its second European priviate equity fund, Schroder Ventures European Fund II (SVEF2) which will invest heavily in the healthcare and chemicals buyouts. Just 3 months after its formal launch, Schroder Ventures has received applications from investors for over £ 3 billion, the maximum size set for the fund.
The record speed with which this fund has been rasied re¯ects the outstanding performance of its predecessor, the Schroder Ventures European Fund (SVEF1). SVEF1, which was raised in 1997, was Europe' s ® rst billion dollar private equity fund. It is now fully committed to 21 investments, all companies head-quartered in Europe. Investments include Leica Microsystems (world leading microscopy business), Sirona Dental Systems (world leading dental equipment manufacturer ), Mueller & Weygandt (dental consumerables manufacturer), Betts (pharmaceutical packaging business) and Expand Sante Â (contract sales organization for pharmaceutical sector) ± all businesses active in the healthcare sector. SVEF1 has already returned cash to investors equivalent to 134% of the fund within 3 years of the fund' s launch.
The investment strategy of the new fund, SVEF2, will follow that of its predecessor, SVEF1. The fund will make both leveraged acquisitions and growth capital investments with a particular focus on the new economy. Seventeen of the ® rst fund' s 21 investments have been in the healthcare and technology sectors.
The new fund has been raised from a broad spectrum of investors, 78% of which (by value) are existing investors with Schroder Ventures. Just over half (53%) of the funding came from European investors, with 41% coming from North America and 6% from the Far East.
Since the mid-1990s, Schroder Ventures has adopted a pan-European approach to investment with regional funds and an integrated European team, operating out of four o ces in London, Frankfurt, Milan and Paris. The professional team numbers over 50, with 19 partners, who on average have been with Schroder Ventures 9 years.
Schroder Ventures' funds have been investing in European healthcare businesses for 15 years. Notable prior investments include Chiroscience, Shire Pharmaceuticals and Micromass.
Schroder Ventures does not intend to accept any new applications for commitments in the fund.