GEA begins investment program in Oelde

The EUR 160 million investment program agreed by the GEA Group in October was officially launched today with a ground-breaking ceremony. GEA will invest almost EUR 90 million in Oelde alone over the next few years in new production buildings and machinery, with a significantly more efficient flow of material, and in a new logistics center.

The official event was opened by Holger Heinrich, President of GEA's Mechanical Separation Division. Both Karl-Uwe Bütof, head of department at the Ministry of Economic Affairs of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, and Helmut Predeick, mayor of Oelde, welcomed these significant investments in German industry. Securing the existing innovation potential and jobs sends out an important signal to the German economy as a whole in the current downturn.

Jürg Oleas, CEO of the GEA Group, emphasized that GEA was specifically targeting Germany for investment in the extensive program now underway. Oleas said: “In addition to the expansion of our global production capacity in the key sales markets, we are focusing on the enormous potential of German engineering. Here in Germany we have innovative technologies, high-quality workmanship, vast expertise in problem-solving and great flexibility with regard to individual customer requirements. These qualities will ensure, we continue to play an important role in the global market in future.” In Germany, the program will be completed by investment reaching a two-digit million euro figure at the Niederahr site (Rheinland-Pfalz), which is the center of excellence of the division for decanter. GEA has already invested almost EUR 250 million group-wide in Germany over the past 5 years.

In addition to investment in Germany, the overall program involves even greater international orientation of production in the Mechanical Separation Division. In view of increasingly sophisticated requirements with regard to separators and decanters, GEA anticipates increasing demand in this area in future. In particular, improved energy efficiency and more environmentally friendly operation of systems are key factors in successful global market development. Consequently, GEA will construct a new plant in China for the production of separators and decanters within the next three years. The current plant in India for decanter production will also be expanded. The Château-Thierry site in France will be extended and developed into a regional service and maintenance center.

GEA Group Aktiengesellschaft is Germany's largest listed mechanical engineering group. As an internationally operating technology group, the company concentrates on specialty mechanical engineering with a focus on process technology and components. Consolidated sales amounted to EUR 5.2 billion in 2007. The Group generated over 50 percent of its sales in the high-growth food processing and beverages industries. The company's workforce comprised over 21,000 employees based in 50 countries as of September 30, 2008. The GEA Group ranks as a market and technology leader in 90 percent of its business areas. GEA Group is listed in the German MDAX share index (G1A, WKN 660200).

Characters: 2786