Marel Announces Sale of Operations of Carnitech A/S in Stovring

The sale represents an important step in Marel’s plan to divest of non-core operating units and to focus exclusively on the profitability and organic growth of its core business.

16 Feb 2010 --- Marel has reached an agreement with the American Industrial Acquisition Corporation (AIAC) on the sale of the operations of Carnitech A/S in Stovring, Denmark, a non-core operating unit. AIAC is a privately held industrial group with a serious, long-term mission to build strong companies. The AIAC subsidiary acquiring the assets and liabilities will be renamed Carnitech.

Excluded from the agreement are Carnitech’s former salmon and freezing divisions, and its operations in the United States, which are now operated under the Marel name and management. Marel will phase out the use of the Carnitech brand name within the coming year.

The sale represents an important step in Marel’s plan to divest of non-core operating units and to focus exclusively on the profitability and organic growth of its core business, which centres on the fish, meat, poultry and further processing segments of the food processing industry.

The buyer acquires the operational assets and liabilities of the Carnitech operations in Stovring. The real estate assets of the company in Stovring are not included in the agreement. The parties have entered into a long-term rental agreement with an option for the buyer to acquire the premises. The assets sold incurred a loss of EUR 8 mln before tax, which was included in the 2009 accounts, mainly due to the write off of goodwill and revalued assets. The agreement between the parties was closed.

Theo Hoen, CEO of Marel:

“The sale of Carnitech in Stovring, the last remaining major non-core operating unit, is a very positive step forward for Marel. We can now turn our undivided attention to building on our position as market leader in our core business. Following a difficult year in 2009, we feel confident that Carnitech can build a new future under this new ownership.”

Carnitech’s business focuses primarily on the development, manufacturing and sale of equipment for the food processing industry but its products fall outside the scope of Marel’s core business. The product range includes lifting and discharging equipment, customized handling and storage solutions and thin plate production equipment. In 2009, the unit accounted for 3.7% of Marel’s revenues, with a turnover of EUR 20 mln.