Dürr and HORIBA, Ltd. sign a contract for the sale of Dürr's DTS business unit

08/18/2005

Dürr AG, Stuttgart, is selling its Development Test Systems business unit (DTS) to HORIBA, a technology group based in Kyoto, Japan. Both parties have signed the contract regulating the sale on late Wednesday evening.

DTS is a leading supplier of test systems for vehicle development such as engine and transmission test stands. The DTS lead company, Schenck Pegasus GmbH, Darmstadt, Germany and six other DTS companies and affiliates of the Schenck Group, which belongs to Dürr, are being sold. DTS achieved sales revenues of Euro 75 million in 2004 with some 500 employees.

With the sale of DTS, Dürr is separating from one of its portfolio's peripheral businesses. In the context of the recently announced FOCUS program Dürr is concentrating on its core business activities and puts peripheral activities to the test. Aside from cost savings, FOCUS also entails a realignment of the business model to concentrate on the higher margin modernization and services business.

The parties to the contract have agreed not to reveal the sale price. Consummation of the contract is subject to the usual restrictions, particularly regarding the approval of the antitrust authorities. Dürr assumes that the sale will be wrapped up in the third quarter, with a mostly neutral effect on earnings.

"With the sale of DTS, we are fully concentrating on our core activities and the improvement of our earnings power in the context of FOCUS. The product ranges of DTS and Horiba complement each other and offer a comprehensive portfolio of test and exhaust measuring technology in the field of research and development for engines, powertrains und complete vehicles. DTS will have good growth and earnings prospects in the long term under HORIBA's direction," says Ralf Dieter, designated CEO of Dürr AG and within the Board of Management in charge of the Measuring und Process Systems division, to which Carl Schenck AG belongs.

HORIBA, Ltd. is the world market leader in exhaust measuring technology with sales of about Euro 700 million and some 4,000 employees. Dürr's DTS business unit and Horiba have already been cooperating for several years in the joint ventures Schenck Ricardo HORIBA Systems Ltd., Banbury, Great Britain, and Schenck-TKS Test Systems Ltd., Kanagawa, Japan.

The Dürr Group is one of the world's leading suppliers of production systems and of modules and components in the area of measuring and process systems. The company is concentrating on its core business in the areas of painting technology with a focus on robot and application technology, final assembly and automation technology, environmental and energy technology as well as mechanical engineering. The main customer groups are the automotive and supplier industries as well as the general industry sector. Dürr achieved sales revenues of Euro 1.9 billion in 2004 with some 7,300 employees.