Boost for workshop equipment business: Bosch plans to acquire Beissbarth GmbH and Sicam, 90 million euros sales, some 430 associates

· “Bosch Diagnostics” business unit to be expanded

· Complementary areas of business above all in chassis-measurement systems, with tire-servicing equipment as new area of business

February 15, 2007 - STUTTGART – The Bosch Group intends to acquire Beissbarth GmbH, Munich (Germany), and Sicam s.r.l., Correggio (Italy). Both companies belong to Beissbarth Automotive Group GmbH. An agreement to this effect was signed on February 14, 2007. Taken together, the two companies generate sales of roughly 90 million euros and employ a total of some 430 associates at two locations, as well as in several sales companies.

Commenting on the acquisition, Peter Tyroller, member of the Bosch board of management responsible for OE sales and the Automotive Aftermarket division, said: “We want to further strengthen the position of our Bosch Diagnostics business unit in the workshop equipment business, especially when it comes to business with diagnostic systems.” For Bosch, the main outcome of the acquisition will be an expansion of its chassis-measurement systems product segment. Its workshop equipment range will also now include tire-servicing equipment. Moreover, the acquisition will serve to strengthen its workshop equipment business at OEMs’ authorized repair centers. It has been agreed that the purchase price will not be disclosed. The transaction is subject to approval by the antitrust authorities.

Beissbarth GmbH manufactures chassis-measurement systems and tire-testing equipment, and also sells tire-servicing equipment. Sicam s.r.l. focuses on tire-servicing equipment. While keeping their corporate structure, Beissbarth GmbH and Sicam s.r.l. are to be integrated into the Bosch Diagnostics business unit of the Bosch Automotive Aftermarket division.


The Bosch Group is a leading global manufacturer of automotive and industrial technology, consumer goods, and building technology. In fiscal 2006, some 260,000 associates generated sales of 43.7 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 some 300 subsidiaries and more than 13,000 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.

PI5662 - February 15, 2007

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Ulf-Malte Wünsch

Robert Bosch GmbH

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