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Newsline
Defence technology from IWKA – Jagenberg goes to Sachsenring and IWKA
Rheinmetall optimizes its portfolio
Düsseldorf. Three transactions have
helped Rheinmetall AG to concentrate
its business portfolio on the corporate
sectors Automotive, Electronics and
Defence and simultaneously to
strengthen its defence activities very
considerably. The paper technology division
of Jagenberg AG was sold to
Sachsenring Automobiltechnik AG in
Zwickau at the turn of the year
1999/2000. IWKA AG (Karlsruhe) acquired
the packaging technology division
likewise belonging to Jagenberg;
in turn, Rheinmetall DeTec AG, the operating
parent of the Defence sector, has
taken over the defence business from
IWKA (e.g. armored wheeled and
tracked vehicles). The group’s Defence
sector will therefore reach sales in the
order of four billion German marks. The
sale and purchase of the individual
companies are still conditional on the
approval of the Federal Cartel Office
and the supervisory boards.
Rheinmetall has thus achieved its
objective of refocusing its portfolio on
the corporate sectors of Automotive
(listed Kolbenschmidt Pierburg AG), Electronics
(Rheinmetall Elektronik AG,
to become listed Aditron AG) and Defence
(Rheinmetall DeTec AG). The
fourth sector Engineering (Jagenberg
AG) is no longer a core activity.
As part of its ongoing concentration
on the core sectors of Automotive, Electronics
and Defence, at year-end Rheinmetall
transferred 68.4 percent of Jagenberg
AG’s voting common stock and
hence management control in Jagen-
From Henschel-Wehrtechnik: the scout vehicle Luchs.
berg to Zwickau-based Sachsenring
Automobiltechnik AG. The Jagenberg
group supplies its machines worldwide
to manufacturers of paper and board,
producers and converters of plastic film
and foil as well as to the international
foodstuff industry. Its 3,400 employees
are forecast to generate 1999 sales of
around 1 billion German marks.
In Sachsenring, Rheinmetall has found
a strategic partner whose midsize
organization and dynamic management
will ensure Jagenberg’s future as
a machinery maker of strong engineering
capability. Under the industrial
management of Sachsenring, Jagenberg
will be able to further develop its
innovative power as well as expand
and consolidate its worldwide position
in the specialty machinery market.
The air-droppable armored vehicle Wiesel with an E6-II turret of KUKA Wehrtechnik GmbH.
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In order to facilitate Jagenberg’s assimilation
within the Sachsenring group
and continuity in the handover of industrial
management, Rheinmetall AG
will retain 18 percent of the voting
common stock of Jagenberg AG,
Neuss. Neither the sales nor the income
of the Jagenberg group will be consolidated
in Rheinmetall’s financial
statements in future.
Within the context of the transfer to
Sachsenring, Jagenberg AG also sold
its packaging technology division to
IWKA Aktiengesellschaft, Karlsruhe, as
of year-end. The companies sold are
A+F Automation + Fördertechnik GmbH
(Kirchlengern), Benhil Gasti Verpackungsmaschinen
GmbH (Neuss),
the French Erca Formseal S.A., (Les
Ulis) and the American Autoprod Inc.,
Clearwater (Florida). Their aggregate
sales in 1999 amounted to approx. 220
million marks, with a total workforce of
822 persons.
The addition of the Jagenberg companies
will mean that the IWKA group
is strengthening its competence and
international position in the growing
market for packaging machinery used
by the food and dairy industries. In
2000, more than 3,000 employees will
generate sales of around 800 million
marks (in 1998: DM 195 million). This
will make IWKA one of the world’s leading
suppliers of packaging machinery
and plant.
In turn, as of year-end, Ratingen-based
Rheinmetall DeTec AG (Defence)
(Continued on page 5)