Birmingham (IPEX ‚02 stand no. 4-310) -- April 8, 2002 -- Esko-Graphics announced today the appointment of Kim Graven-Nielsen as President & CEO of the new company. He is taking on this position starting May 1, 2002. Kim Graven-Nielsen spent 13 years with the Thomson Corporation, a global information and technology solutions powerhouse. In his last position there, he was Group President & CEO for Thomson's Trademark and Copyright division with business units in Scandinavia, Europe, Asia and the USA, employing more than 1,000 people. He has also been President of other Thomson operating companies serving a variety of markets with leading edge information technology and web-based services, including Compu-Mark and Mostrups Forlag. Early in his career, he was with ProMentor Management, a Scandinavian consulting company. After leaving Thomson in December 2000, he became a senior partner with 2M Invest, a technology venture capital company in the USA and he is now returning to Europe with his wife Marie and two girls ages 7 and 11. Kim Graven-Nielsen is born in Denmark. He has pursued an international career with positions in Scandinavia, Flanders and the USA during the last 16 years. Mr. Graven-Nielsen holds a Master of Political Science from the University of Aarhus (Denmark) and studied business administration in the USA. "I am very proud to join the newly merged Esko-Graphics,” says Kim Graven. “I am looking forward to take on the challenge of leading what is probably the most interesting company in the graphic arts industry today. Our combined technologies, operational synergies and broad customer bases make us the company that no prospective buyer can ignore, and no competitor should underestimate.” Following the appointment of Kim Graven, William Schulin-Zeuthen will step down from his current position on April 30. Esko-Graphics is the result of the recent merger between Purup-Eskofot A/S, a leading worldwide supplier of prepress equipment to the graphics industry, and Barco Graphics, the leading global supplier for digital pre-production solutions to the packaging industry. The new company combines the management, R&D, manufacturing facilities and distribution resources of the previous entities. The product lines of the two companies are also merged into one integrated portfolio. This gives Esko-Graphics the broadest line of CtP (computer-to-plate) products of any organization in the world, as well as market leadership in a number of graphic arts and packaging business sectors. The head office of Esko-Graphics is in Gent, Belgium. For more information visit Esko-Graphics‚ web site at www.esko-graphics.com