April 30, 2013

Acquisition of MEN Mikro Elektronik GmbH

Within the context of a succession arrangement, Equita GmbH & Co. Holding KGaA and Equita GmbH & Co. CoVest KGaA have acquired the majority of shares in MEN Mikro Elektronik GmbH along with its subsidiaries in France and the US. The transaction involved a significant re-investment of Manfred Schmitz, CEO and co-founder of the company. With closing of the transaction on 30th of April 2013, the further founding members Udo Fuchs and Werner Witt resigned from their operational duties and will retain advisory functions. Further management, which also participated in the acquisition, remains unchanged.

For over 30 years, MEN Mikro Elektronik has designed and manufactured failure-safe computer boards and systems for safety-critical applications and extreme environmental conditions, in which the components are subject to shock, humidity, dust and extreme temperature variations. With more than 250 employees, MEN supplies computers for control, measurement, testing and simulation functions for all kinds of embedded systems worldwide. This includes mobile and stationary applications in the focus markets railway technology, commercial vehicles (buses, trucks, etc.), agricultural and construction machines and civil avionics as well as further mission-critical applications for automation, power and energy, mining, shipbuilding and medical engineering.

Hans Moock, Managing Director of Equita, sees MEN in a leading role in the company’s markets and underlines the growth potential of the company: “It’s our main goal to further expand operations in Nuremberg as well as to further develop the subsidiaries in France and especially the US to even better utilize existing opportunities and to continue satisfying customers’ needs in our international markets.”

“In Equita, we have found a partner who not only secures the autonomy of our company, which was founded in 1982, but who will also support our successful growth process on a long-term basis. In general, our business structure will remain unchanged. We will continue serving and expanding our product range for our target markets transportation and industry based on our core competencies and high-quality controls,” stated Manfred Schmitz, who will be sole CEO after the transaction, in confirming the future direction of MEN Mikro Elektronik.

More information on MEN Mikro Elektronik GmbH is available under www.menmicro.com.

Equita is an independent industrial holding company with no bank affiliations. Its headquarters are in Bad Homburg, Germany, and the company invests in successful medium-sized companies in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Prerequisites for an investment are sound financial structures, a strong market position with a clear growth potential as well as a management that is willing and able to leverage this potential. Equita goes back to the business tradition of the Harald Quandt family and supports internal and external growth of its associated companies.

More information is available under www.equita.de

Contacts for this press release:

Hans J. Moock
Telefon: +49-6172 9441-0
E-Mail: hans.moock@equita.de

Jan C. Drewitz
Telefon: +49-6172 9441-226
E-Mail: jan.drewitz@equita.de