INDUSTRY

Cognos, the world leader in business intelligence (BI) and corporate performance management (CPM), today announced a cash offer to acquire 100% of the outstanding shares of Frango, a Stockholm-based company specializing in consolidation and financial reporting solutions. With this acquisition, Cognos significantly strengthens its product set and extends its worldwide leadership in CPM. Frango's leading consolidation and financial reporting products coupled with the Cognos business intelligence, planning and scorecarding products will deliver the broadest and deepest corporate performance management solution in the industry. "The acquisition of Frango is another important step in delivering on our commitment to provide the market-leading CPM solution to customers. It will extend our ability to address key priorities in the office of finance and enhance our distribution channels and solution delivery capability in key regions," said Rob Ashe, President and CEO of Cognos. "Frango has built a great product and has established an enviable reputation in the performance management market space. We're excited about what we can accomplish by combining the strengths of our two companies." Frango is one of Europe's leading financial software suppliers and is publicly traded on the Stockholm Exchange (Stockholmborsen). Frango's reported revenues for the 12-month period ended June 30, 2004 were SEK 262 million or approximately USD 34.3 million, in accordance with Swedish GAAP. Frango has more than 1,300 customers worldwide and 230 employees located in 16 countries primarily in Europe and Asia. "Joining forces with Cognos, the clear leader in CPM, makes perfect sense from a company and business point of view and will greatly strengthen our combined market position," said Tom Lofstedt, Managing Director of Frango. "Cognos shares our strong company values, our commitment to product quality and our passion for customer success. As a result, our customers will have access to world-class financial performance management solutions and support." Cognos will host a Webcast and conference call to present an overview regarding this transaction at 09:00 a.m. Eastern Time, today, August 24, 2004. The Webcast may be accessed at http://www.cognos.com/company/investor/events/0824/index.html. The conference call may be accessed at +1-416-640-1907.