05/29/2012

Andritz new major shareholder of Schuler

Schuler-Voith family sells 38.5% of shares in Schuler AG – Austrian Andritz AG announces takeover bid for remaining shares

The Austrian company Andritz AG, based in Graz, is set to become the new major shareholder of Göppingen-based press manufacturer Schuler. The current main shareholder, Schuler-Beteiligungen GmbH, is selling its complete 38.5 percent shareholding to the technology and engineering group Andritz. The purchase price is reportedly 20.00 euros per share in cash. Andritz has announced it plans to submit an offer to the remaining shareholders of Schuler AG (61.5% of the capital stock) to also acquire their shares for 20.00 euros per share in cash.

Schuler-Beteiligungen GmbH is owned by the founding family Schuler-Voith, which will thus retire completely from the business of Schuler AG and in this way regulate the question of succession.

“Schuler-Beteiligungen GmbH, the holding company of the Schuler-Voith family, informed us today that it has sold its complete shareholding in Schuler AG to Andritz AG. We regret that the Schuler family is retiring from its involvement after 173 years of company history. However, we understand their decision,” commented Stefan Klebert, CEO Schuler AG, on the change in shareholders.

In 2011, Andritz posted sales of 4.6 billion euros and employed some 17,000 people around the world. Founded in Graz/Austria in 1852, the group is one of the world’s leading suppliers of plant, equipment and services for hydropower stations, the pulp and paper industry, solid-liquid separation in the municipal and industrial sectors, the steel industry, and the production of animal feed and biomass pellets.

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