Corporate | 3 February 2016 15:00

GEA Group Aktiengesellschaft: GEA acquires leading supplier of advanced lines for soft and hard biscuits

DGAP-News: GEA Group Aktiengesellschaft / Key word(s): Takeover

2016-02-03 / 15:00
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

GEA acquires leading supplier of advanced lines for soft and hard biscuits

Düsseldorf (Germany), February 3, 2016 – GEA yesterday signed an agreement to take over Imaforni Int’l S.p.A., a leading supplier of demanding industrial processing equipment and solutions for the biscuits industry. The company is based in Verona, Italy and generated revenues in excess of EUR 85 million with around 210 employees in fiscal year 2015.

Imaforni is highly complementary to GEA’s recent acquisition of Comas and will further strengthen the cake and pastry operations of the application center bakery with industrial biscuit lines mainly for hard biscuits and crackers. This acquisition is another step towards realizing its application strategy and to improve GEA’s leading position in advanced process technology for the food industry.

“We are happy about the chance to acquire with Imaforni another technology specialist. This makes GEA a market leader for sophisticated equipment for the biscuits industry”, commented Jürg Oleas, CEO of GEA. “Since we have sold our heat exchangers business in 2014 we have made six bolt-on acquisitions perfectly complementing our existing application-based competencies. In total, these acquisitions have further raised the group’s profitability, while the margins of the heat exchanger business were below average. We are happy to welcome all Imaforni employees at GEA.”

About GEA
GEA is one of the largest suppliers for the food processing industry and a wide range of process industries that generated consolidated revenues of approximately EUR 4.5 billion in 2014. As an international technology group, the Company focuses on process technology and components for sophisticated production processes in various end-user markets. The Group generates more than 70 percent of its revenue in the food sector that enjoys long-term sustainable growth. As of September 30, 2015, the Company employed around 18,000 people worldwide. GEA is a market and technology leader in its business areas. The Company is listed in Germany’s MDAX (G1A, WKN 660 200). In addition, GEA’s share is a constituent of the MSCI Global Sustainability Indexes. Further information is available on the Internet at gea.com .

If you do not want to receive any further information from GEA, please send an email to pr@gea.com .

Contact:
GEA Group Aktiengesellschaft
Phone +49 (0)211 9136 1492
Fax +49 (0)211 9136 31087
www.gea.com

2016-02-03 Dissemination of a Corporate News, transmitted by DGAP – a service of EQS Group AG.
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Language:	English
Company:	GEA Group Aktiengesellschaft
	Peter-Müller-Straße 12
	40468 Düsseldorf
	Germany
Phone:	+49 (0)211 9136-0
Fax:	+49 (0)211 9136-31087
E-mail:	ir@gea.com
Internet:	www.gea.com
ISIN:	DE0006602006
WKN:	660200
Indices:	MDAX
Listed:	Regulated Market in Berlin, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt (Prime Standard), Hamburg, Munich; Regulated Unofficial Market in Hanover, Stuttgart

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