SW Umwelttechnik Stoiser & Wolschner AG

M&A Activity • Jul 7, 2000

News Details

Ad-hoc | 7 July 2000 07:57

Ad hoc-Service: SW Umwelttechnik Iso-span

Ad-hoc Mitteilung übermittelt durch die DGAP. Für den Inhalt der Mitteilung ist allein der Emittent verantwortlich. —————————————————————————— SW Umwelttechnik creates strong new natural building materials operation – Unified marketing under the ISO-SPAN brand – Simplified ownership structure – Expansion in Czech, and entry to Polish growth market ISO-SPAN Naturbaustoffe GmbH is taking a 100% interest in EUROSPAN Naturbaustoffe GmbH with retroactive effect from 1 January 2000. The purpose is to create a single umbrella brand and simplify the ownership structure of the companies, in both of which SW Umwelttechnik holds interests – 35% in the case of EUROSPAN and 50% in that of ISO-SPAN. On completion of the transaction SW Umwelttechnik’s natural building materials activities will be concentrated in a single company. The following improvements are expected to result from the merger: – Marketing focused on one brand, namely ISO-SPAN; – Cost savings due to better capacity utilization at the factories in question; – Rapid and flexible market development by SW Umwelttechnik’s natural buildings materials business due to the unified ownership structure; – Potential for expansion of market shares in the Czech Republic and entry to the Polish market via the subsidiary in Ceske Budejovice. SW Umwelttechnik is the Austrian market leader in natural building materials, and has production facilities in Ramingstein and Pfaffenhofen, Austria, and Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic. The wood-concrete products not only have attractions in environmental terms but also offer the advantages of good heat and sound insulation properties, as well as high structural stability. Building product development While the residential construction market is still flat in Austria, it is growing in Central and Eastern Europe. In the Czech Republic where SW Umwelttechnik has a factory in Ceske Budejovice, high growth rates are anticipated due to the large investment backlog in this sector and the scheduled removal of rent controls in 2001. The attractive Polish market can also be served from this location. New products The new ownership structure will also enable R&D activities to be carried out in a more focused and efficient manner. Priorities will be helping customers to save money – for instance by manufacturing modular prefabricated wall systems – and marketing special heat storage blocks made from wood- concrete building blocks, which will offer major benefits in conjunction with solar energy use. The restructuring of the natural building materials business will enable its cost base to be further improved in the saturated markets, and permit rapid expansion in the growth markets of Central and Eastern Europe. Contacts Heinz Wolschner, member of the Management Board of SW Umwelttechnik Tel: (++43 463) 321090; fax: (++43 463) 37667 Christian Riel, Finance/Investor Relations Tel: (++43 664) 4337105; fax: (++43 1) 3688686 E-mail: christian.riel@sw-umwelttechnik.at Website: www.sw-umwelttechnik.at Ende der Mitteilung