August 3, 2004 Farmington Hills, MI USA - Hexagon AB has entered into a formal agreement to purchase Romer Inc., with operations in Carlsbad, California and Farmington Hills, Michigan. The acquisition is expected to be consolidated immediately and will contribute to Hexagon's earnings from the start.

Romer is a leader and innovator in portable metrology. It manufactures and markets measuring equipment used in the automotive, aerospace and general industrial markets. Romer's products include portable coordinate measuring machines, software and accessories capable of enhancing the measuring volume of its products. Its customers include ABB, Boeing, Caterpillar, Daimler Chrysler, Ford, General Electric, General Motors, Honda, Hyundai, Nissan, Toyota, Volkswagen, their suppliers, and many others. The year 2003 marked the most successful year in Romer 's history, with sharp increases in sales and profits.

Romer, President Hank Kraus states "Our interest in finding a strategic partner to help take our business to the next level has been realized in Hexagon Metrology. We couldn't have asked for a more appropriate partner in terms of financial strength, technical resources and market opportunities."

Company owner, founder and head of R&D Homer Eaton, who will stay on at Romer as head of R&D notes "Romer has a lot of exciting projects ongoing that will benefit greatly from the additional resources and talent available within the Hexagon group. We look forward to collaborating with the group metrology companies around the world."

Bill Gruber, president of Hexagon Metrology North America states "The purchase of Romer solidifies Hexagon's position within the articulated arm market. It's an important and growing hardware segment, and a perfect complement to our bridge CMM lines. Plus, articulated arms are yet another example of the many metrology products that are supported by our common Enterprise Metrology Solution, PC-DMISTM."

Hexagon AB (Stockholmsbörsen: HEXA B) is a multinational engineering technology group with the long-term ambition of positioning itself as number one or number two within its strategic sectors. Annual sales are over $1000 Million. Hexagon AB is divided into four business areas: Automation, Engineering, Metrology and Polymers. Hexagon Metrology, with annual sales of over $300 million is the world's leading supplier of coordinate measurement systems, and consists of metrology equipment companies Brown & Sharpe, Sheffield, DEA, Tesa, Leitz, Romer SA and CE Johansson, and metrology software developers Wilcox Associates and Mirai. More information about Hexagon may be found at www.hexagon.se.

Romer will be exhibiting at the upcoming International Manufacturing Technology Show (IMTS), September 8-15, 2004 at McCormick Place in Chicago in booth D-4325. Likewise, Hexagon Metrology will be presenting its unified brand group in booth D-4303. More information about Hexagon's presence at the show can be found at http://www.hexagonimts.com/.