R. STAHL acquires Tranberg AS

R. STAHL AG and the shareholders of Tranberg AS of Stavanger, Norway have entered into a contract of sale transferring title to the enterprise to R. STAHL Technologies with effect of 1 October 2006. The purchase price remains undisclosed.

The Norwegian company develops, manufactures, and distributes lighting and signal systems used in ship building and on helicopter landing decks in addition to producing explosion protected heating and control systems for industrial applications.

Tranberg employs 60 persons at its Stavanger site and realised some EUR 1m EBT on 2005 sales of EUR 10m. Thanks to the resulting synergy potential, management expects additional global sales growth in the medium term. The new group member will already make a positive contribution to consolidated earnings this fiscal year.

Tranberg made its market debut in 1901 and has since firmly established itself as a quality supplier to the ship building as well as the oil and gas industries. With the integration into the R. STAHL group, one of the global market leaders in explosion protection, the Norwegian enterprise is now tied into the group's international distribution network. Tranberg is going to be an arm's length subsidiary under its legacy management and will serve as R. STAHL Technologies' centre of competence for ship building and heating technology issues.

This takeover is a consistent application of R. STAHL's acquisition strategy to optimise its product range: Thanks to the Tranberg's outstanding competence in ship building business, R. STAHL now has immediate access to this growth sector. The demand for petroleum and LNG tankers is wont to rise owing to the increasing way-to-market in this field. In 2005, R. STAHL entered the booming Korean market. Our activities there will greatly benefit from the assortment extension by Tranberg's renowned high-quality products.

In addition the R.STAHL product range will be supplemented by heating technology for the process industry.

Founded in 1988, R. STAHL subsidiary STAHL-Syberg is Norway's market leader in explosion protection. The company will remain R. STAHL's centre of competence for the group's petroleum and natural gas activities as well as the chemical sector business in Scandinavia as far as the existing product range is concerned.

"This acquisition is a major step forward in our growth strategy. We are quite confident that we can successfully integrate Tranberg into R. STAHL Technologies and quickly realise the expected synergy potential," says Martin Schomaker, CEO of R. STAHL AG.