Pfeiffer Vacuum Technology AG — M&A Activity 2001

Dec 13, 2001

News Details

Ad-hoc | 13 December 2001 08:25

Pfeiffer Vacuum english

Pfeiffer Vacuum broadens its activities in the DVD market Ad-hoc-announcement transmitted by DGAP. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. ——————————————————————————– Pfeiffer Vacuum broadens its activities in the DVD market Asslar, Germany, December 13, 2001. On January 1, 2002, Pfeiffer Vacuum will acquire the activities of Aschaffenburg-based Multimedia Machinery GmbH – formerly Leybold Systems – under an asset deal. No purchase price is being announced. The acquisition is being financed from liquid assets. The new company will do business as Pfeiffer Vacuum Systems GmbH. Also being acquired is a workforce of 45 people. With top of the line equipment at the Aschaffenburg facility the following products will be developed, manufactured and marketed: Complete DVD lines for producing – Pre-recorded DVDs = DVD ROMs – Re-writable DVDs = DVD RWs Metalizers for – Pre-recorded DVDs – Re-writable DVDs Pre-recorded DVDs are primarily employed for video distribution. The 3rd quarter of 2001 marked the first time that more film titles had been sold on DVDs worldwide than on VHS cassettes. Re-writable DVDs will begin selling on a major scale in 2002/2003. It is anticipated that in a few years DVD RWs will completely replace VHS cassettes. Coating under vacuum = metalizing plays a key role in manufacturing CDs and DVDs. Depending upon the model in question, the vacuum components required for this process account for 25 – 40 % of the total price of the machine. However vacuum components such as vacuum pumps, – gauges, leak detection- and coating-systems represent Pfeiffer Vacuum’s core business. This will result into a major cost advantage in the new business of DVD production lines. 18 months ago, Pfeiffer Vacuum had already acquired a majority interest in the Swiss-based Memex engineering office, a company that is primarily involved in the development of metalizers for re-writable DVDs. In the future, these metalizers will be integrated into the DVD RW line. With this recent acquisition and the consolidation of its DVD activities, Pfeiffer Vacuum will be outstandingly aligned to serve this market. Significant revenues are anticipated to begin in mid 2002, with sales being forecast to double worldwide during each of the following years. end of ad-hoc-announcement (c)DGAP 13.12.2001 ——————————————————————————– WKN: 691660; ISIN: DE0006916604; Index: NEMAX 50 Listed: Neuer Markt Frankfurt; Freiverkehr in Berlin, Bremen, Düsseldorf, München, Hamburg, Hannover und Stuttgart 130825 Dez 01