Corporate | 23 June 2005 08:00

Krones AG: Steinecker and Syskron to become KRONES

Corporate-news transmitted by DGAP. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. —————————————————————————— AGM approves the merger The two hitherto autonomous subsidiaries of the KRONES Group, the brewery equipment manufacturer Steinecker and the IT service provider Syskron, are being merged with KRONES AG in Neutraubling, Germany. The AGM on 22 June approved the Executive Board’s proposal in this regard. This merger, with retrospective effect as from 1 January 2005, is KRONES’ response to its clients’ increasingly stringent requirements for holistically conceived complete-package jobs, consistently engineered production facilities and centralised project management. This merger will enable the world’s leading producer of beverage bottling/canning lines and packaging machinery to provide even more comprehensive support for its customers in terms of plant and process engineering. Creating a Technology Centre Steinecker GmbH will become a new technology division called “KRONES Process Engineering”. Steinecker’s staff will become new employees at KRONES. The facility in Freising will be retained, under the name of “KRONES AG – Steinecker Plant”. Steinecker will also be retained as a technology brand. The “Steinecker innovations” will continue to epitomise brewing technology of leading-edge excellence in the brewers’ world. Incorporating Syskron GmbH into KRONES AG will ensure that the field-proven solutions created for automation engineering and information technology will be more effectively synergised in KRONES’ technology divisions for “Process Engineering”, “Intralogistics” and “Filling and Packaging”. This close cooperation means that the group’s capability portfolio will be purposefully continually fine-tuned and upgraded. The former Syskron and future KRONES employees will continue to create coherently engineered packages, designed to integrate all the processes concerned. Joint project management The merger between these companies will create centralised management for sales, project handling and customer service. In future, research and development will also be handled under one roof; the synergies, moreover, will additionally simplify the commercial processes involved, optimise the production sequences, ensure enhanced flexibility in the manufacturing operations, and thus create substantial cost savings, which will further upgrade the group’s competitiveness. Clients will retain their familiar contact persons For the clients of Steinecker and Syskron all that will change due to the merger is the name. Their familiar contact persons for brewing equipment, information technology and logistics can still be reached in what are now KRONES’ new technology divisions, thus ensuring convenient continuity in customer relations. You will also find this press release for downloading on the internet under http://www.krones.com . Brief portrait: the KRONES Group The KRONES Group is headquartered in Neutraubling/Upper Palatinate, Germany; it plans, develops and manufactures machines and complete lines for bottling, canning and packaging processes in the beverage, food, chemical, pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries. It operates plants in Neutraubling, Nittenau, Flensburg, Freising and Rosenheim. Besides KRONES AG (M-DAX), the group also includes the subsidiaries Sander Hansen (pasteurisers) and Kosme (machines for the lower output range, plus more than 40 companies abroad, which ensure comprehensive service support during a line’s entire lifetime. With a payroll of 8,900, the group’s turnover in 2004 totalled a good 1.52 billion euros. End of announcement (c)DGAP 23.06.2005 —————————————————————————— WKN: 633500; ISIN: DE0006335003; Index: MDAX Listed: Amtlicher Markt in Frankfurt (Prime Standard) und München; Freiverkehr in Berlin-Bremen, Düsseldorf, Hamburg und Stuttgart 230800 Jun 05