Corporate | 31 March 2006 07:35

ARQUES Industries AG takes over sanitary ware specialist, Georg Fischer Schwab

Corporate-news transmitted by DGAP – a company of EquityStory AG. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. —————————————————————————— ARQUES Industries AG takes over sanitary ware specialist, Georg Fischer Schwab The seller, Georg Fischer AG, to focus on core business; ARQUES sees high synergy potential by way of the operational integration of GF Schwab into E. Missel GmbH & Co. KG Starnberg, March 31, 2006 – After the acquisition of the Cologne-based printing plant, J.P. Bachem three days ago, ARQUES Industries AG (ISIN DE0005156004) now announces the takeover of Georg Fischer Schwab GmbH & Co. KG, Pfullingen, with immediate effect. Thereby ARQUES has closed the first quarter with five acquisitions. In February Heinrich Heiland GmbH was taken over and in March the Swiss custom chemicals specialist, Rohner AG. In addition, the acquisition of the Wanfried printing plant was closed in March. In a guidance for 2006, the company announced the year end goal of reaching the €1 billion threshold in annualised revenue. These plans were based on the acquisition of companies in 2006 with total revenues of at least €400 million. For the first quarter, which is seasonally the weakest, new revenues of €50 million from acquisitions was budgeted for. In fact new revenues of just short of €120 million could, however, be reached through the acquisition of the five new companies. The budget was thus exceeded by 140% in the first quarter. The annualised annual revenue within the group rose by 20% in the first quarter and now stands at approx. €720 million. The cumulated purchase price for the five companies amounted to €1.7 million in cash and ARQUANA shares. In total the companies dispose of a net cash position. In addition, substantial real estate was taken over with Wanfried, Heiland, Rohner and Bachem. ‘The consistent and professional handling of the market has borne fruit. We are looking at an exciting second quarter due to our full pipeline’, said ARQUES Chief Acquisition Officer, Dr. Martin Vorderwülbecke. The company which was taken over today is an established manufacturer of sanitary technology with the main focus on cisterns and flushing systems, situated near Reutlingen in Baden-Württemberg. The seller is the renowned Swiss industrial group, Georg Fischer AG who, in future, wishes to concentrate on its core business segments automotive, piping systems and machine tools. By way of this strategic acquisition and the operational integration into the ARQUES subsidiary, Missel, considerable synergy can be achieved. Missel, a specialist in sound and thermal insulation systems, has also been active in sanitary technology for 10 years and launched the innovative Missel “Kompakt-Spülrohr”, the smallest cistern system in the world. GF Schwab distributes its products world-wide and reached a turnover of €11 million in the financial year 2005. Missel managing director, Jan Recknagel, will take over the operational management of GF Schwab and the ARQUES task force is to be employed immediately GF Schwab was acquired free of bank and other liabilities according to the ARQUES philosophy. The company disposes of sufficient cash to finance the medium-term development of the company from its own financial means. Through the acquisition of the companies from the stock exchange listed Swiss Georg Fischer AG, ARQUES once more proves its qualities as a partner of large corporations strategically selling companies in the context of concentrating on their core business. Georg Fischer AG is satisfied to have found a reputable and experienced buyer for the sanitary ware specialist. ‘ARQUES has established itself as a competent restructuring company. Therefore we are sure that we have found a good solution for the company by selling to ARQUES’, said Marco Steg, manager of the building services division at GF Piping Systems. ARQUES COO, Markus Zöllner, stressed: ‘In GF Schwab, we have acquired a specialised company which ideally supplements the activities of our subsidiary, Missel, within sanitary technology.’ About ARQUES ARQUES Industries AG, Starnberg (www.arques.de) is a turnaround specialist who focuses on the acquisition and the active restructuring of companies in transitional situations, in order to develop these, with its own team and own resources, to competitive enterprises with a positive yield. ARQUES revitalises its subsidiaries’ potential for creating value for the benefit of all its stakeholders, taking on the relevant social responsibility. ARQUES has made a duty of identifying underestimated companies with reduced survivability but with high appreciation potential, at the same time mastering complex company structures and transitional situations. The shares of ARQUES Industries AG are traded in the regulated market (Prime Standard) of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange under the symbol ‘AQU’ (ISIN: DE0005156004) and are listed in the SDAX since September 19, 2005. Contact: ARQUES Industries AG Investor Relations & Corporate Communication Anke Lüdemann, CEFA/CIIA Tel.: +49 (0) 8151/ 651 0 Email: luedemann@arques.de (c)DGAP 31.03.2006 ————————————————————————— language: English emitter: ARQUES Industries AG Münchner Str. 15a 82319 Starnberg Deutschland phone: +49 (0)8151 651-0 fax: +49 (0)8151 651- 500 email: info@arques.de WWW: www.arques.de ISIN: DE0005156004 WKN: 515600 indexes: SDAX stockmarkets: Geregelter Markt in Frankfurt (Prime Standard); Freiverkehr in Berlin-Bremen, München, Stuttgart End of News DGAP News-Service —————————————————————————