Acquisition

30 December 2002

                                                   Compass Group PLC                                                   
                                            Completion of Onama Acquisition                                            

Compass Group is pleased to confirm that the acquisition of a 60% stake in Onama S.p.A, based in Milan, Italy, as
announced in September 2002, completed today.

Ends

Enquiries

Tim Grey / Simon Sporborg Brunswick 020 7404 5959

Notes to Editors

1. Compass Group is the world's largest foodservice company with annual foodservice revenues in excess
of £10bn. Compass Group has over 390,000 employees working in more than 90 countries around the world providing
foodservice and hospitality. For more information visit www.compass-group.com

2. Onama provides some 90 million meals annually from 600 catering facilities principally across
Italy, employing 10,000 people, and had turnover of Euro 446m (£282m) for the year ended 31st December 2001. Net debt
at that date was Euro 42m (£27m).