Bochum, July 13, 2005: mg technologies ag was renamed GEA Group
Aktiengesellschaft effective as of July 12, 2005. At the same time, the firm's
head office has been relocated from Frankfurt am Main to Bochum. "The change of
name is a logical consequence of the company's strategic restructuring process
that was launched in 2003 and which we have virtually completed. GEA now stands
for "Global Engineering Alliance". We are a globally active, successful
engineering organization with core competencies in specialty mechanical
engineering and plant engineering", stressed Jürg Oleas, GEA Group's chief
executive. GEA Group Aktiengesellschaft is listed in the German MDAX, as was mg
technologies ag.
GEA Group currently employs around 17,000 people and, with more than 250
operating subsidiaries, is represented in approximately 50 countries. It
generated sales of roughly €4.1 billion in 2004. Its most important markets -
accounting for around 45 percent of its sales - are the food, beverage, dairy,
and pharmaceutical industries. GEA Group is already one of the world's market
and technology leaders in 90 percent of its businesses.
The renaming of the Group followed the merger of the former GEA AG with its
parent company mg technologies ag. Having sold most of its Chemicals
activities, GEA Group now focuses on specialty mechanical engineering -
especially process engineering and equipment - and plant engineering. The
largest part of the Group's sales is generated by companies of the former GEA
AG.
GEA Group, which has been formed from mg technologies ag and GEA AG,
combines the histories and core competencies of two successful German
industrial corporations. mg technologies ag, which until 2000 operated under
the name of Metallgesellschaft, can look back on a history spanning almost 125
years. A milestone on mg's journey from its beginnings as a trading company to
its final destination as a technology group was the integration in 1999 of GEA
AG, which, as part of the mg Group, continued the profitable growth it had
sustained over the years. Founded in 1920, GEA - which originally stood for
"Gesellschaft für Entstaubungsanlagen" (a company producing dedusting
equipment) - has been in business for the past 85 years.