The Federal Cartel Office has given its unconditional consent to the participation of Preussag<.> in EVS Euro Vacances System Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH (EVS) announced in December 2001. Preussag thus acquires a 40 per cent shareholding in EVS backdated to 1 October 2001.

The company is active in Germany in the direct sale of tourism products via its own call centre and special distribution channels. The group of companies, which includes the tour operator Berge & Meer Touristik GmbH, has its head office in Rengsdorf/ Rheinland-Pfalz, and has around 350 employees. The holding in EVS opens up new sales channels within the Berge & Meer tour operator brand which have previously not been available to the Group.

Preussag AG, the world`s leading tourism group headquartered in Hanover and Berlin, encompasses 76 tour operator brands throughout Europe with around 22 million customers per year. The Group also includes 3,715 travel agencies, 32 destination agencies, and carriers with 88 aircraft, including well known brands such as Hapag-Lloyd Flug and Britannia Airways. Its hotel holdings portfolio contains 285 hotels with around 150,000 beds.