DFDS A/S
Company Announcement

DFDS EXPANDS BALTIC ROUTE NETWORK

Copenhagen, 2011-09-14 13:40 CEST -- Company Announcement no. 23/2011

• DFDS acquires Paldiski-Kapellskär route from BSL (AS Baltic Scandinavian Lines)

DFDS has today entered into an agreement with the Estonian company BSL (AS Baltic Scandinavian Lines) to take over the company’s freight and passenger route (ro-pax) between Paldiski, Estonia, and Kapellskär, Sweden. The transaction is subject to approval from the Estonian competition authorities.

DFDS and BSL will establish a joint agency operation with an ownership share of 67% for DFDS and 33% for BSL.

Strategic expansion of DFDS’ northern Baltic route network
The route expands DFDS’ Baltic route network to the Stockholm region, and to the east, the route offers access to Tallinn and Estonia, and not least to neighboring Russia and the CIS countries.

DFDS already serves Scandinavian industry and passengers by operating routes from Aarhus, Fredericia, Copenhagen and Karlshamn to Klaipeda in Lithuania. In addition, the route complements DFDS’ two routes to Russia, the newly opened Kiel-Ust Luga and Kiel-St Petersburg.

The Paldiski-Kapellskär route
The route is operated by the freight and passenger ferry (ro-pax) Lisco Patria, which was chartered in from DFDS in May 2011. With daily departures in each direction, the route’s maximum annual freight capacity is 1.24m lanemetres freight and 177k passengers. The route’s current annual turnover is around DKK 100m.

         Contact persons:
         Niels Smedegaard, CEO
         +45 33 42 34 00
         
         Torben Carlsen, CFO
         +45 33 42 32 01
         
         Søren Brøndholt Nielsen, IR
         +45 33 42 33 59