Corporate | 10 January 2008 08:30
ARAGON AG / Miscellaneous Release of a Corporate News, transmitted by DGAP - a company of EquityStory AG. The issuer / publisher is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ++ Aragon-subsidiary Jung, DMS & Cie. takes a 100% stake in GAMAX Austria GmbH ++ Aragon AG consistently strives ahead with its 'Buy-and-Build' strategy ++ Due to the 100% takeover of GAMAX Austria GmbH from the Mediolanum-Group, Italy, the number of brokers active on the Austrian market increases by 260, bringing with them assets under administration reaching 100 million Euro As of immediate effect, Jung, DMS & Cie. GmbH (Vienna) - the Austrian subsidiary of Jung, DMS & Cie. AG (Grünwald/Germany), has successfully taken a 100% stake in GAMAX Austria GmbH. With this consequent expansion of activities on the Austrian market, the Aragon subsidiary Jung, DMS & Cie. was able to increase their number of brokers by 260, bringing with them assets under administration in an amount of around EUR 100 million. After the successful takeover and integration of the German GAMAX Broker Pool AG just four and a half months ago, Jung, DMS & Cie. has now successfully taken a stake in the Austrian division of the GAMAX Broker-Pool. The Management Board of Aragon AG is extremely pleased with this expansion. CEO Dr. Sebastian Grabmaier is optimistic: 'After our good experience in Germany, we are sure that GAMAX Austria will be quickly and efficiently integrated into our system and within a short period of time, all GAMAX-Brokers will be able to make complete use of the premium service offerings, consulting technology and entire product-portfolio of Jung, DMS & Cie. For the very first time, Austrian GAMAX-Brokers will have access to structured bank products and certificates.' 'We want to continue to be the driving force in the consolidation of the pool-market and take advantage of favourable opportunities when presented', added CFO Ralph Konrad. 'Because of our proven expertise in the area of post-merger-integration, we are expecting, even despite restructuring costs, a positive contribution to operating income from GAMAX Austria within the first year. Therefore we expect the purchase price to be amortized in less than 24 months. Despite the comparatively small volume of transactions, we will take much pleasure in the acquisition.' ++ About Aragon AG Aragon is a broad diversified financial distribution company, with the divisions: Retail Sales, Institutional Sales and Banking & Banking Services. Aragon is active on the marketplace with multiple independent subsidiaries. The company’s aim is to integrate various distribution models under one roof, without disturbing the individual identity of each sales company. The result is a wide diversification across various asset classes and distribution types, which generates a high stability in corporate earnings. Further information about the company and its subsidiaries can be viewed on the website: www.aragon-ag.com. Contact: Aragon Aktiengesellschaft Achim Pfeffer Leiter Investor Relations Tel.: +49(0)611 890 575-574 Fax: +49(0)611 890 575-99 E-Mail: achim.pfeffer@aragon-ag.de 10.01.2008 Financial News transmitted by DGAP ----------------------------------------------------------------------