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M&A Activity • Nov 21, 2005

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Corporate | 21 November 2005 07:00

ARQUES: Expansion of printing activities to Austria

Corporate-news transmitted by DGAP. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. —————————————————————————— Expansion of printing activities to Austria ARQUES acquires Austrian web offset printer Sochor Group GmbH – internationalisation progresses briskly Starnberg, November 21, 2005 – by notarial document dated November 18, 2005 the Starnberg-based equity investment company, ARQUES Industries AG (ISIN DE0005156004), acquired 100% of the shares in the Sochor Group GmbH, Zell am See, Austria. Hereby ARQUES continues its announced internationalisation within the web offset printing market. Sochor is to be transferred to the stock exchange listed ARQUANA International Print & Media AG (ISIN DE0006781008). ARQUANA is a subsidiary of ARQUES Industries AG which operates under the name Circel Grundstücks- und Vermögensverwaltung up until the general meeting scheduled for December 2, 2005. The Sochor Group is one of the largest web offset printing works in Austria. In 2004 the company showed a turnover to the value of EUR33 million. The company has state of the art technology and owns the properties where it operates. The Sochor Group is of crucial strategic importance to the expansion into Switzerland and the development of the eastern European markets. Intensive customer relations already exist in both regions. The purchase price is divided into different components. EUR0.5 million was due immediately and has already been paid. Approximately EUR0.5 million more becomes due as an “earn-out” when certain fixed milestones are reached. Furthermore, the sellers receive 75,000 shares in ARQUANA International Print & Media AG at current market value as an additional purchase price component. Thus it was possible to cover a large part of a purchase price with the transfer of shares in ARQUANA International Print & Media AG. The executive board evaluates this also as a proof of the intrinsic value of the ARQUANA subsidiaries. Due to the acquisition of the Sochor Group, ARQUES together with its subsidiary ARQUANA, is one of the prominent printing specialists in the web offset market situated in Germany at present. The operational companies include Colordruck Pforzheim GmbH & Co. KG, Johler Druck GmbH in Neumünster, Nord Offset Druck GmbH in Ellerbek as well as Evry Rotatives S.A.S acquired from Imprimerie Nationale S.A. in Paris. The forecast annual turnover for 2006 from the printing sector rises to more than EUR130 million due to this transaction. On the holdings level the consolidated and annualised ARQUES Industries AG turnover now clearly exceeds the EUR500 million mark. ARQUES hereby succeeded in clearly surpassing the most recent goal set for 2005 in advance. Therefore the ARQUES sales objectives for 2006 remain as planned. The executive board recons with continuing acquisition activity in the last weeks of the 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 DenkLeistung Kommunikationsmanagement Monika Schlesinger Tel.: +49 (0) 8141/ 53 97 02 Email: Monika.Schlesinger@t-online.de End of announcement (c)DGAP 21.11.2005 —————————————————————————— WKN: 515600 ; ISIN: DE0005156004; Index: SDAX Listed: Geregelter Markt (Prime Standard) in Frankfurt; Freiverkehr in Berlin- Bremen, München und Stuttgart