Sulzer - A Globally Active Engineering Corporation - Sulzer Textil take-over approved by the EU Commission

Sulzer Textil take-over approved by the EU Commission

The European Commission Antitrust Authority today approved the sale of Sulzer Textil to the Itema Group, Italy – subject to various conditions to be fulfilled by the purchaser. This transaction, which is part of the Sulzer corporate divestiture program, has thus been legally confirmed.

In July 2001, Sulzer announced the sale of its textile activities to Promatech, a subsidiary of the Itema Group, Italy, subject to the approval of the respective antitrust authorities. After transferral of the case by the relevant national antitrust authorities to the EU, the Merger Task Force of the EU Commission today approved this transaction subject to certain conditions.

Due to the terms of the transfer agreement, Sulzer was entitled to deconsolidate its textile activities as from July 1, 2001.

Under this strong new ownership, Sulzer Textil can tackle the future with confidence. Business developments and forecasts for the current year are very positive. Sulzer Textil sales for 2001 totaled around CHF 600 million (EUR 425 million), with about 1850 employees.

With this take-over the Itema Group of Italy comprises a network of 15 companies with 13 production plants and 3710 employees in total. Group sales for 2001 totaled around 1450 CHF million (EUR 1003 million).

The Sulzer Corporation is comprised of the four core divisions Sulzer Metco (coating technologies and services), Sulzer Turbomachinery Services, Sulzer Pumps (including services), Sulzer Chemtech (process components and services) and the venture division Sulzer Hexis (fuel cell systems). Sales by the core divisions in 2001 totaled CHF 1875 million (in 2000: CHF 1603 million). The realigned Sulzer Corporation now employs about 10 000 people worldwide.

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