Bechtle AG — M&A Activity 2008

Sep 24, 2008

News Details

Corporate | 24 September 2008 09:53

Bechtle AG expands in North Rhine-Westphalia

Bechtle AG / Acquisition

Release of a Corporate News, transmitted by DGAP - a company of EquityStory
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The issuer / publisher is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

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The acquisition of two IT service providers strengthens the area-wide
market position in the system house sector.

Neckarsulm, 24th September 2008 – Bechtle AG now holds 100% of the shares
in both the Netzwerk Beratung Informationssysteme Duisburg GmbH (nbi -
network consulting information systems ), based in Duisburg, and the Wrede
Systemhaus GmbH, which is headquartered in Meschede with an office in
Soest. Thus strengthening Bechtle's presence in North Rhine-Westphalia. The
IT service and trading company, until now, had ten system houses in the
economically strongest federal state.

'These market-established and profitable IT system houses enable us to
strengthen our position in an attractive economic area. We are delighted to
be able to ensure management continuity in both companies and the current
managing directors have stayed in their positions', said Ralf
Klenk,chairman of the board of Bechtle AG. Both system houses are active in
the traditional IT infrastructure sector.

nbi Duisburg
nbi, with 16 employees, achieved a turnover of 3.1 million Euros in the
last fiscal year. The IT services specialist focuses on the public sector.
Heinz Peter Glücks, managing director of nbi: 'With Bechtle AG we benefit
from the opportunities of a large company, yet retain our freedom as a
responsible, local system house. This step means stability and security for
both our employees and our customers, as well as future growth in our scope
of services.'

Wrede Systemhaus
The Wrede Systemhaus GmbH is also a traditional IT service provider. With
around 30 employees, the company could generate approx. 7.9 million Euros
in the 2007 fiscal year. The system house focuses on medium-sized companies
from a variety of sectors, as well as the public sector. Managing director
Frank Wrede: 'The decision to merge with Bechtle AG enables us to pursue
established structures under the umbrella of a strong group and to attain
our targets for growth. We will continue to strengthen the ties to our
regional customers. We are not emerging as a competitor to the existing
Bechtle system houses, but a local supplement to them.'

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About Bechtle
With more than 50 system houses in Germany, Austria and Switzerland and
trading companies in ten countries, the Bechtle Group is one of Europe's
leading IT e-commerce providers. Founded in 1983, the company is based in
Neckarsulm and currently employs over 4250 people. Bechtle is a
manufacturer-independent company that provides one-stop shopping for all
the IT infrastructure and operation needs of its small and medium-sized
industrial, public sector and financial market customers. Bechtle has been
listed on the German stock exchange since 2000 and is on the TecDAX, the
German technology index. In 2007, turnover was at around 1.4 thousand
million Euros.

Contact:
Bechtle AG
Corporate Communications
Sabine Brand
Telephone: +49 7132/981-4121
Fax: +49 7132/981-4116
sabine.brand@bechtle.com

24.09.2008 Financial News transmitted by DGAP

Language: English
Issuer: Bechtle AG
Bechtle Platz 1
74172 Neckarsulm
Deutschland
Phone: +49 (0)71 32/ 9 81-0
Fax: +49 (0)7132/ 9 81 - 8000
E-mail: ir@bechtle.com
Internet: www.bechtle.com
ISIN: DE0005158703
WKN: 515870
Listed: Regulierter Markt in Frankfurt (Prime Standard); Freiverkehr
in Berlin, Hannover, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, München, Stuttgart

End of News DGAP News-Service

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