FRANKE ACQUIRES THE FABER GROUP
Aarburg, Switzerland, 31 May 2005Yesterday Franke signed an agreement to purchase all the remaining shares of Finfaber S.p.A., the holding company of the Faber Group in Fabriano, Italy. This acquisition will strengthen the Kitchen Systems business significantly by the addition of high quality extractor hoods. Franke had already acquired a 49% stake in the Faber Group in August 2004. The Faber Group is one of the three world leaders in extractor hoods or cookers. In 2004, Faber generated consolidated sales worth more than CHF 300 million and has some 1,500 employees in 14 companies around the world (11 production plants and a further 5 distribution companies). Manufacturing facilities are located in Italy, Turkey, Spain,France, Sweden, Russia, India, China and Argentina. Faber looks on this integration as an important step towards further growth on international markets, profiting by the multiple synergies of the two groups. The Faber Group will be integrated into the Franke Kitchen Systems Division. No changes in the Board : Mr. Abramo Galassi, founder of the company, and his son Mr. Alvaro Galassi will hold their position respectively as Chairman and CEO of the Group; Mr. Bruno Bigaran, CEO of Franke Italia Spa will act as second CEO of the Group. No changes as well at the Top Management level. The Franke Group is a global provider of products, services and custom solutions for a wide range of applications in the household food preparation and catering sectors. Franke, whose holding company is domiciled in Aarburg, Switzerland, has some 5,700 employees around the world, and is firmly established with 73 subsidiaries in 37 countries. The two divisions Franke Kitchen Systems (sinks, taps, cooking hobs, ovens, hoods etc. and washroom and sanitary systems) and Franke Foodservice Systems (products and services for quick service restaurants) are the global market leaders in their business sectors, exporting to over 100 countries. The activities of Franke also include Franke Coffee Systems with a broad product programme of fullyautomatic, professional and semi-professional coffee machines as well as the technology field and beverage containers. In the financial year 2004, Franke generated consolidated sales of CHF 1,628.0 million.