ASSA ABLOY, world leader in intelligent door openings, celebrates 15 years of successful expansion

STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN, Nov 09 (MARKET WIRE) --

Since ASSA ABLOY was formed on November 8, 1994, the Group has expanded
successfully through a combination of organic growth and acquisitions,
which has transformed the company from a traditional lock manufacturer
into a modern, multinational security enterprise within intelligent door
openings. Today, ASSA ABLOY is a global market leader in its industry.

"One in ten lock buyers in the world today choose a lock from ASSA ABLOY
and we are still growing. Demand for safety and security is constantly
increasing all over the world and we have never had a broader line of
products, larger market penetration, or so many new innovative products,"
says Johan Molin, President and CEO, ASSA ABLOY.

Since ASSA ABLOY was created the Group's sales have increased from SEK 3
billion to SEK 35 billion. The number of employees today is around 30,000
compared with 4,700 employees in 1994. EBIT has simultaneously grown from
SEK 212 M to SEK 5,526 M in 2008, an increase with 2,500 percent.

In 2009 ASSA ABLOY launched more products than ever before in the Group's
history, mainly in the rapidly growing product segments electromechanical
and electronic locks, access control, identification technology, and
automatic doors. When the company was founded in 1994 the selection of
products largely consisted of mechanical security products, such as
traditional locks and handles for entrance doors.

"New areas of technology and innovative products are the most important
sources of organic growth, which is why we invest heavily in research and
development. Investments in product development have increased by 10 to
20 percent annually in recent years and currently the Group employs
almost 1,000 developmental engineers," says Johan Molin.

ASSA ABLOY was founded when Securitas in Sweden and Metra in Finland
merged their lock operations. At that time the company had operations in
Sweden, Finland, Norway, Denmark, and Germany.

Today the Group has its own operations in 50 countries and sales all over
the world. ASSA ABLOY is dedicating resources to increasing its presence
in the growth markets in Asia, Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Africa and
South America. The share of sales on these markets will account for close
to 20 percent of the Group's total sales next year.

"We will continue to grow on all markets, though primarily in the
expanding growth markets. We expect that China alone will account for
close to 10 percent of our total sales next year."

Visit ASSA ABLOY Historical
timeline:
http://www.assaabloy.com/en/com/About-ASSA-ABLOY/ASSA-ABLOY-in-brief/Timeline/

For more information, please contact:
Johan Molin, President and CEO, tel no: +46 8 506 485 42
Tomas Eliasson, CFO and Executive Vice President, tel no: +46 8 506
485 72

This announcement was originally distributed by Hugin. The issuer is
solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

Press release (PDF): http://hugin.info/1014/R/1353578/327895.pdf

Copyright Copyright Hugin AS 2009. All rights reserved.

Copyright 2009, Market Wire, All rights reserved.

-0-