Bielefeld. On July 12, 2002, GILDEMEISTER and ThyssenKrupp announced that they would look into the pooling of their activities in the cutting machine tools area. In the meantime, the due diligence process has been completed. The jointly developed industrial plan continues to appear very attractive. This particularly applies to the sales, marketing and service areas. Despite the positive evaluation of the industrial plan, the pooling of the machine tools business is currently not possible.
In view of the difficult economic conditions and tight financial markets the required funding can currently not brought to fruition. The planned business model of the pooling and the restructuring can therefore not be implemented as scheduled. However, both parties have decided to continue their discussion in order to develop alternative solutions of co-operation and, if necessary, to implement the promising industrial plan in individual stages or in smaller sections. GILDEMEISTER will provide further information on current negotiations with ThyssenKrupp Zerspanung at the beginning of 2003.
GILDEMEISTER's strong technological position and fast innovative speed is contributing to the announced sales target of more than Euro 1 billion for the current financial year. Thanks to our innovative products we are well prepared for the coming year. Despite the current weak global demand for machine tools GILDEMEISTER expects another positive result with a sales volume of more than Euro 1 billion for the year 2003.
GILDEMEISTER is currently focusing on its new production facility in Shanghai. The stable growth of the Chinese economy offers interesting prospects for the coming financial year. To open up a new market and to mark the achievement of a further milestone in its globalisation strategy, GILDEMEISTER will open its first production facility outside Europe with a "Grand Opening" on January 15, 2003.
GILDEMEISTER Aktiengesellschaft
The Executive Board