EoW May 2008

english corporate news

New MD at Rofin

What’s in a name?

Stephan Geiger took over as managing director of Rofin/Baasel Lasertech in Starnberg, Germany. Stephan joined Rofin’s micro division as manager of the new technologies business unit in 2006 where he was responsible for the development of new laser sources and systems. Until 2005 Mr Geiger was managing partner of Bavarian Photonics GmbH – a subsidiary company of TuiLaser AG – which he co-founded in 2002. He started his career in 1985 at Rofin’s marking division, rising to the level of R&D manager. He holds a German diploma in Physical Engineering from the University of Applied Sciences in Munich. Rofin/Baasel Lasertech – Germany

Ending the year on a high! Maillefer SA ended the year on a high note – with the second management buy-out, with backing from the Alpha Group. Prior to the deal, Maillefer management was financed through private equity from Argos Soditic. Neither the increased level of management participation nor the acquisition price has been disclosed. The timing for the buy-out was opportune. Maillefer activities have been steadily developing. Total sales in 2006, as announced in early 2007, reached a record well exceeding €100 million. Though the figures for 2007 are not yet published, they are clearly topping those of 2006. The opportunity exists for further development. Maillefer is a leading provider for manufacturing solutions to the world’s wire and cable and tube and pipe industries. Maillefer SA – Switzerland Fax : +41 21 691 2143 Email : info@mailleferextrusion.com Website : www.mailleferextrusion.com Femutec Engineering GmbH has changed its name to Simufact Engineering GmbH. The new name takes the international character of the company into account and will contribute to a higher recognition of the Simufact brand. “For us, renaming Femutec into Simufact, it has been a logical step,” said Michael Wohlmuth, managing director of Simufact Engineering GmbH. “Now we can communicate our philosophy with our company name and increase the value of our product brand Simufact as well. With the new branding we enforce our main focus on ‘Simulating Manufacturing’ within all of business divisions and underline this internationally.” Simufact Engineering GmbH – Germany Fax : +49 40 790 16222 Email : office@simufact.de Website : www.simufact.com

Fax : +49 8151 776 159 Email : info@baasel.de Website : www.rofin.com

Stephan Geiger ▲ ▲

Royal DSM, the global Life Sciences and Materials Sciences company headquartered in the Netherlands, and the French starch and starch-derivatives company Roquette have joined forces to implement and commercialise the fermentative production of biorenewable succinic acid, which – among other applications – opens the possibility to produce bio-based performance materials. Succinic acid is a chemical currently produced as a derivative from crude oil and natural gas. It is commonly used directly in a variety of industry applications, such as pharmaceuticals, food and automotive and also as an intermediate for the production of several (high-performance) polymers. The bio-based succinic acid will be produced in a fermentative way with the use of renewable resources. The novel production process developed by DSM and Roquette is expected to stimulate further market development of bio-based and bio-degradable polymers that use succinic acid as an intermediate. The current target of the cooperation is to have a demonstration plant in Lestrem (France) operational at the end of 2009. The capacity of this plant will amount to several hundred metric tons per year. It is expected that after a successful trial the technology will be transferred to large-scale production within two years. Joining forces to produce bio-based performance materials

Royal DSM NV – Netherlands Fax : +31 1747 5639 Email : info@dsm.com Website : www.dsm.com

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EuroWire – May 2008