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M&A Activity • Mar 1, 2006

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Corporate | 1 March 2006 08:01

ARQUES Industries AG takes over transportation protection specialist Heinrich Heiland

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 transportation protection specialist, Heinrich Heiland Heinrich Heiland is the first ARQUES acquisition in 2006 Starnberg, March 1, 2006 – The Starnberg-based equity investment company, ARQUES Industries AG (ISIN DE0005156004), took over all shares of the transportation protection system manufacturer, Heinrich Heiland GmbH with its headquarters in Magstadt. Heinrich Heiland specialises in the development and production of high-quality passenger vehicle transportation protection covers at a plant in Magstadt near Stuttgart and two factories in Bratislava (Slovakia). The product range of the company consists of high-quality protection covers for passenger vehicles which are used in land and sea transport, protective covers for seats as well as covers for seats and headrests. Heiland is the European market leader in this field. The company’s customers include renowned automobile manufacturers such as Volkswagen, Audi and Porsche. The total of more than 400 employees generated a turnover of approximately €25 million in 2005. The parties agreed not to disclose the purchase price. Properties owned by Heinrich Heiland in Magstadt and Bratislava were taken over by ARQUES as part of the acquisition. ARQUES has acquired a further highly specialised company in the form of Heinrich Heiland according to its business philosophy. By focusing on the niche market of passenger vehicles transportation protection systems, the company became European market leader. ARQUES subsidiary manager, Dieter Kuhl, will manage Heinrich Heiland operationally. He will be supported by the ARQUES task force which will take up its duties with immediate effect. ‘Heiland is the European market leaders its niche market and constantly strives to develop this leading position by means of product improvements and innovative new developments in the protection covers field’, said ARQUES COO, Markus Zöllner. ARQUES’ first acquisition in 2006 is Heinrich Heiland. ‘Heiland will not be the only company that we take over in this quarter’, stressed the ARQUES executive in charge of acquisitions, Dr. Martin Vorderwuelbecke. ‘The acquisition activities at the beginning of 2006 are clearly more intense than expected. Negotiations with certain companies are already at an advanced stage’. The first quarter of the calendar year is considered to be seasonally the weakest. In comparison: ARQUES reported no acquisitions in the first quarter of the previous year. About ARQUES ARQUES Industries AG, Starnberg, 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 01.03.2006 ————————————————————————— 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 —————————————————————————