STUTTGART, Germany, July 8, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- M+W Group, one of the world's leading high-tech engineering companies, has sold its automation business to ATS Automation Tooling Systems, Inc., a Canadian automation specialist.
M+W Group's management decided to sell its automation business as part of a general move towards focusing on its core competencies - engineering and construction. In 2013, automation contributed approximately 170 million euros to the M+W Group's total revenues of 2.56 billion euros. A number of industry partners and financial investors took part in the bidding procedure, but after discussions were complete, ATS emerged successful. The selling price amounts to approximately 255 million euros.
"Our automation business has developed well over the last few years. However, the synergies with our core business area - high-tech engineering and construction - are limited. For that reason, we agreed with the management of the automation business to find a new owner for this business area", said Dr Olaf Berlien, CEO of the M+W Group. "We were pleased with the high level of interest in the automation business when we came to sell, but in the end, we decided to go with ATS. ATS is ideally suited to take over our automation business and is in the best position to exploit its worldwide growth potential, which provides a great deal of security for its current employees."
"M+W PA's capabilities complement ATS's solutions in strategic customer markets and open new opportunities in attractive industries," said Anthony Caputo, ATS Chief Executive Officer. "We welcome M+W PA's highly skilled people, global and local customers, high value service offerings, scale and worldwide presence to our world-class automation business and look forward to continued successful collaboration with M+W Group."
The agreement between M+W Group and ATS was signed today.
About the M+W Group' Automation business
M+W Group's automation business today covers 16 markets globally with 51 locations across Europe, the USA and Asia. It is one of the world's largest manufacturer-independent automation solution providers focusing on software development for the control and visualization of critical production processes. Major end markets include the automotive sector (accounting for approximately 40 per cent of the Group's revenue), the chemicals and pharma sectors, and other sectors. Last year, M+W Group's automation business had a turnover of 170 million euros, employing 970 people.
About M+W Group: M+W Group with headquarters in Stuttgart/Germany is one of the leading global companies in the field of high-tech engineering, procurement and construction. From concept development to turnkey solutions the Group manages projects of all sizes for industries like Electronics, Pharma and Chemicals, Energy and IT. Founded in 1912, the company is recognized today as a market leader in several segments such as the semiconductor and photovoltaic industry among others. In 2013 M+W Group generated an order intake of 3.03 billion euros and revenues of 2.56 billion euros with around 8,500 employees. More information: www.mwgroup.net
About ATS: ATS Automation provides innovative, custom designed, built and installed manufacturing solutions to many of the world's most successful companies. Founded in 1978, ATS uses its industry-leading knowledge and global capabilities to serve the sophisticated automation systems' needs of multinational customers in industries such as consumer products & electronics, energy, life sciences and transportation. It also leverages its many years of experience and skills to fulfill the specialized automation product manufacturing requirements of customers. The Company's Solar segment is classified as discontinued operations. ATS employs approximately 2,500 people at 23 manufacturing facilities in Canada, the United States, Europe, Southeast Asia and China. The Company's shares are traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol ATA. More information: www.atsautomation.com
Press contact:
Michael Gemeinhardt
Phone +49 711 8804-1420
mailto:michael.gemeinhardt@mwgroup.net
HUG#1817531
