Conditional capital increase
The Supervisory Board of BARC Versicherungs-Holding AG ("BARC"), the majority shareholder of the "Bundesländer"  today agreed to propose to the shareholders at the Annual General Meeting of the "Bundesländer" on 22nd June 1999 a conditional capital increase. This measure is designed to offer holders of the current participation certificates the opportunity to swap them for ordinary bearer shares according to the provisions of § 73d of the Insurance Supervision Act. A swap offer, still to be determined, will provisionally be circulated to holders of participation certificates, of which 419,782 are listed on the Vienna Stock Exchange with a nominal value of ATS 100 each.

As already agreed in principle by the Supervisory Board of “BARC” on 17.03.1998, in September 1999 it is further intended to propose the calling in of the current preference shares, swapping them for listed ordinary shares. Current holders of preference shares of “Bundesländer” would then have an uninterruptedly tradable security listed on the stock exchange. Assuming that the current “Bundesländer” registered share holders agree to the conversion to bearer shares, this would create a single, unified category of shares. The aim is in the course of the year 2000 to have the entire equity capital of the company listed on the Vienna Stock Exchange.

Stock exchange listing of the holding company
It is further intended in September 1999 to hold Extraordinary General Meetings of “BARC” AND “Bundesländer” at which shareholders will be presented with proposals to merge the two companies.  The “Bundesländer” will be the company taking over. The date proposed is 17^th September 1999. The “Bundesländer” would subsequent to the merger be the holding company listed on the stock exchange. Further restructuring proposals relating to "AUSTRIA-COLLEGIALITÄT Versicherungen" should ensure that the listed holding includes a life insurance company and a non-life company. These companies will cover the insurance areas previously in the ambit of “Bundesländer” and "AUSTRIA-COLLEGIALITÄT Versicherungen" respectively. It is planned to rename the holding “UNIQA” in autumn 1999.