ETTEPLAN OYJ, STOCK EXCHANGE RELEASE, OCTOBER 26, 2015, AT 1.45 P.M.
ETTEPLAN STRENGTHENS ITS POSITION IN THE CENTRAL EUROPEAN MARKET
Etteplan strengthens its position in Central Europe as a service provider in technical documentation by signing a business transfer agreement with arvato AG, a Bertelsmann Group company, on October 26, 2015. The business that Etteplan is going to acquire includes technical documentation services in Germany and the Netherlands. According to the agreement the acquisition is planned to be completed by the end of 2015 and the business operations and personnel are going to be transferred to Etteplan on January 1, 2016. As part of the acquisition, Etteplan and arvato AG have agreed on strategic co-operation.
arvato AG is a leading company providing business process outsourcing services. The company employs globally about 70,000 persons in 40 countries. The revenues of the company were about EUR 4.6 billion in 2014. The acquisition comprises arvato Technical Information B.V as well as the part of arvato services technical information GmbH, which provides technical documentation services to engineering industry, industrial machine and equipment manufacturers as well as the defense industry. The business, which is to acquired, employs 35 persons in the Netherlands and Germany.
Etteplan’s President and CEO Juha Näkki: “Technical documentation is Etteplan’s fastest growing business area and the acquisition strengthens Etteplan’s position as a provider of technical documentation services in Central Europe. With this agreement we will start business operations in the German market. We at Etteplan also feel privileged to be able to start co-operation in Germany with arvato AG, which is a leading global company in its field.”
Marceline Beijer, Vice President arvato Distribution and Holger Nitsche, Director of Technical Information:”We are confident that Etteplan, as a successful company, is a suitable partner to take over part of our business operations in Germany and the Netherlands. The co-operation that we are going to start will support both companies in generating business opportunities in Central Europe.”
Vantaa, October 26, 2015
Etteplan Oyj
Board of Directors
Additional information:
Juha Näkki, President and CEO, tel. +358 400 606 372
Outi-Maria Liedes, SVP, HR & Communications, tel. +358 40 756 9620
DISTRIBUTION:
NASDAQ OMX Helsinki
Major media
www.etteplan.com
Etteplan provides engineering services and technical documentation solutions to the world's leading companies in the manufacturing industry. Our services are geared to improve the competitiveness of our customers' products and engineering processes throughout the product life cycle. The results of Etteplan's innovative engineering can be seen in numerous industrial solutions and everyday products.
In 2014, Etteplan had a turnover of EUR 131.9 million. The Company has approximately 2,100 professionals in Finland, Sweden, the Netherlands and China. Etteplan's shares are listed on NASDAQ OMX Helsinki Ltd under the ticker ETT1V.