Form 8-K 5 Stone & Webster, Incorporated
Exhibit 99.2 Text of press release dated December 3, 1999 -
For Immediate Release For Information Contact
Thomas L. Langford (Stone & Webster)
617-589-7424
or
Fidelity Investments
Corporate Communications
617-563-5800
Fidelity to Buy Stone & Webster Building at 245 Summer Street
Location Seen as Gateway to the Seaport District
BOSTON, December 3, 1999 - Fidelity Investments and Stone & Webster,
Incorporated (NYSE:SW) today announced that Fidelity plans to purchase Stone &
Webster's headquarters building at 245 Summer Street in Boston. Fidelity
currently leases half the space in the 14-story, 867,000 square-foot location,
which is also occupied by other companies and organizations such as the United
Way of Massachusetts Bay.
The transaction is subject to satisfactory completion of Fidelity's due
diligence and approval by the Boston Redevelopment Authority.
"Fidelity is proud to have the opportunity to make another important
investment in this growing and vibrant area of Boston," said David C. Weinstein,
chief of administration at Fidelity. "We view 245 Summer Street as the gateway
to the Seaport District, and it will complement Fidelity's other locations in
the area, such as the Seaport Hotel, the World Trade Center East and the
soon-to-be-built World Trade Center West."
Weinstein said that last week's decision by the law firm of Foley, Hoag &
Eliot to move its offices to the West Office Building in 2002 - coupled with
Mayor Thomas Menino's commitment to the area's growth - underscores the future
potential of the Seaport District and its surroundings.
"We are pleased that we have reached a sale agreement with Fidelity, a firm
we consider a good neighbor and important member of Boston's financial
community," said H. Kerner Smith, Stone & Webster's chairman and chief executive
officer. "Our commitment to the Boston area remains strong and we will begin to
analyze our needs as we look for a new and more cost-effective headquarters
location, one that will offer flexibility and provide a first-rate work
environment for our employees."
Form 8-K 6 Stone & Webster, Incorporated
Mayor Menino said, "Fidelity has shown a great commitment to the city from
the financial district to the waterfront."
Weinstein said that Fidelity's ability to purchase 245 Summer Street and
develop other real estate in Boston was made possible largely by the
Massachusetts Jobs Growth Bill of 1996. "The new, competitive tax structure
allows us to invest in Massachusetts people and Massachusetts real estate."
Fidelity has added 500,000 square-feet of occupied real estate in
Massachusetts since 1996, bringing the company's in-state total to 3.6 million
square feet. Fidelity employs 12,800 people in Massachusetts, operating from
several locations in the financial district and a suburban campus in
Marlborough.
Stone & Webster is a global leader in engineering, construction and
consulting services for power, process, environmental, infrastructure and
industrial markets.
Fidelity Investments is the nation's largest mutual fund company and one of
the leading providers of financial services. Fidelity offers investment
management, retirement, brokerage and shareholder services directly to
individuals and institutions, and through financial intermediaries. The firm
also is the No. 1 provider of 401(k) retirement savings plans, the second
largest discount brokerage firm and the third largest provider of 403(b)
retirement plans for not-for-profit institutions in the United States. At
October 31, 1999, Fidelity had total managed assets of $870.6 billion.
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Fidelity Distributors Corporation, 82 Devonshire Street, Boston, MA 02109