Deliver Your News to the World

Takeover bid offers 1.92 Australian dollars per share: Bosch bids for Pacifica Group Bolstering international brakes business


WEBWIRE

· Cash offer represents a 22 percent premium to the volume weighted average share price of 1.57 Australian dollars since August 29, 2006

· Pacifica Group: 480 million euros (800 million Australian dollars) sales; roughly 2,000 associates at twelve locations worldwide


Stuttgart – The Bosch Group intends to bid for Pacifica Group Ltd., headquartered in Melbourne, Australia. Bosch will offer the company’s shareholders 1.92 Australian dollars cash per share. The Pacifica Group’s shareholders are mainly institutional investors. The offer represents an estimated transaction value of approximately 300 million euros (some 495 million Australian dollars), including assumption of Pacifica’s existing net debt. The cash offer of 1.92 Australian dollars per share represents a 22 percent premium to the volume weighted average price of 1.57 Australian dollars since August 29, 2006. The transaction is subject to various conditions including approval by the antitrust authorities. Another condition is that Bosch acquires a relevant interest of more than 50 percent of Pacifica’s shares on issue. It is envisaged that a Bidder’s Statement will be lodged with the Australian Securities and Investment Commission within two weeks.

The Pacifica Group is a leading manufacturer of brake calipers, parking brakes, and brake components for the automotive equipment and spare parts business. In 2005, the company generated sales of roughly 480 million euros (800 million Australian dollars), and employs some 2,000 associates at 12 locations around the world. “With the acquisition of the Pacifica Group, we want to bolster our brakes business, above all in the Americas and Asia Pacific. In addition, our know-how in systems development and application complements the Pacifica Group’s component-manufacturing depth,” said Dr. Bernd Bohr, member of the Bosch Board of Management and Chairman of the Automotive Group. “Pacifica is a key supplier for Bosch. We believe that this cash offer will help to secure the future of Pacifica and is in the best interest of its shareholders”, Bohr added. In 2005, Bosch generated sales of some 4.8 billion euros with its braking systems business, which employs more than 18,000 associates worldwide.


The Bosch Group is a leading global manufacturer of automotive and industrial technology, consumer goods, and building technology. In fiscal 2005, some 251,000 associates generated sales of 41.5 billion euros. Set up in Stuttgart in 1886 by Robert Bosch (1861-1942) as “Workshop for Precision Mechanics and Electrical Engineering,” the Bosch Group today comprises a manufacturing, sales, and after-sales service network of more than 280 subsidiaries and more than 12,000 Bosch service centers in over 140 countries.

The special ownership structure of the Bosch Group guarantees its financial independence and entrepreneurial freedom. It makes it possible for the company to undertake significant up-front investments in the safeguarding of its future, as well as to do justice to its social responsibility in a manner reflective of the spirit and will of its founder. A total of 92 % of the share capital of Robert Bosch GmbH is held by the charitable foundation Robert Bosch Stiftung. The entrepreneurial ownership functions are carried out by Robert Bosch Industrietreuhand KG.

Additional information can be accessed at www.bosch.com.

PI5660 - October 18, 2006



WebWireID22286





This news content was configured by WebWire editorial staff. Linking is permitted.

News Release Distribution and Press Release Distribution Services Provided by WebWire.