December 10, 2004

EQUITA acquires VAG-Armaturen GmbH from IWKA Aktiengesellschaft

As part of its concentration on core business areas, IWKA Aktiengesellschaft, Karlsruhe, has sold VAG-Armaturen GmbH, Mannheim, including its subsidiaries Jihomoravská armaturka spol. sr. o., Hodonin/Czech Republic, and VAG Water Systems (Taicang) Co., Ltd./China, effective as of January 1, 2005.

The company was acquired by EQUITA, Bad Homburg, a private equity company belonging to the Harald Quandt Group. For more than 14 years, EQUITA has been acquiring interests in medium sized companies and focuses on growth and expansion financing as well as corporate succession. By taking over VAG-Armaturen, EQUITA sees an excellent addition to its portfolio and will actively support the latter’s future business development. The company’s management holds an interest.

The VAG-Group specializes in valves and applications for water management, wastewater technology and for industrial and power plant technology. On the basis of positive results, the company has further expanded its business as a result of greater internationalization, generating sales of approximately EUR 74 million in 2004. The Group employs 707 staff.

The parties have agreed not to disclose the conditions of the sale. The transaction process was supported by the M&A consultants Drueker & Co., Frankfurt/Main.

Contact:

Dr. Gert Butter
Head of Public Relations
Phone +49 (0)721/143-330
Fax +49 (0)721/143-331
pr@iwka.de