DO & CO AG — M&A Activity 2005

Mar 2, 2005

News Details

Ad-hoc | 2 March 2005 09:25

DO & CO Restaurants & Catering AG: Investment

Ad hoc announcement DO & CO Restaurants & Catering AG: Investment Ad hoc announcement transmitted by DGAP. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. —————————————————————————— 2 March 2005 – Revolutionizing Airline Catering! DO & CO is teaming up with its new partner the Dutch based SUPPLAIR to develop an innovative airline catering model for the future. DO & CO, one of the world’s leading premium caterers, is entering into a strategic alliance with SUPPLAIR, the fastest growing supplier of innovative economy class catering on the world market. DO & CO Restaurants & Catering AG has acquired a 27% stake in SUPPLAIR B.V. effective today. The management of SUPPLAIR, Jaap Roukens and Philippe Herman, will remain majority shareholders and Rabo Private Equity will remain a minority shareholder. This collaboration is an innovative response to major changes in demand from the airline industry. What the airline industry now wants is the best possible product for the premium classes (business and first class) but a cost-optimized product for economy class. The two firms have jointly created a complementary product portfolio that allows a “single source” to optimally meet the airlines’ requests for different products (e.g. from an extremely low-priced product to an absolutely premium product). DO & CO currently operates nine gourmet kitchens in Austria, Germany, Italy, the UK and the US while SUPPLAIR already supplies more than 80 airports in Europe and the US with innovative logistics solutions. Their joint clientele already numbers more than 25 international carriers. DO & CO expects this cooperation arrangement to improve capacity utilization at its well-positioned gourmet kitchens. The big advantage for SUPPLAIR is that it can draw on fresh gourmet products from DO & CO business locations while creating an even more complete logistics chain. Both companies are already on a high growth track thanks to their innovative products and solutions. This collaboration also opens up strong prospects for growth on the world market among existing and new customers in exchange for comparatively limited investments. This forward-looking model for the airline industry is a win-win partnership for everyone involved. Airlines can respond quickly to market changes and achieve substantially better quality while significantly cutting their overall costs. Contact: http://www.doco.com ; Tel: 0043 1 74000 144 DO & CO Restaurants & Catering AG Stephansplatz 12 1010 Wien Austria ISIN: AT0000818802 WKN: 081880 Listed: Amtlicher Handel in Wien End of ad hoc announcement (c)DGAP 02.03.2005 020925 Mär 05