DKSH übernimmt Asien-Geschäft von Desco

11.01.2008, Two of Switzerland's longest established international trading houses DKSH and Desco have agreed to integrate Desco Group's marketing, distribution and trading operations into DKSH. To this end, DKSH Group will be acquiring a 100% stake in Desco Rohstoffe Holding and Desco Asia Pacific Holding. By doing this DKSH is building up its position as a leading force in the market expansion services industry in Asia. In future Desco Group will concentrate primarily on developing its watchmaking business Maurice Lacroix. Both companies are therefore strengthening their core businesses.

Zurich, January 11, 2008 - Dr. Peter Brunner, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Desco von Schulthess Holding AG, made the following comments: "The partnership with DKSH provides an ideal succession solution for our family firm. With this deal we have found the perfect platform for the future development of a business that Desco has been building since its foundation in 1889. This step has been made easier for me by the fact that I have been so impressed by DKSH's success under the leadership of CEO Dr. Jörg Wolle since Diethelm Keller's Asian business merged with the SiberHegner Group in 2002. I am particularly pleased that this transaction also allows Desco to become a shareholder in DKSH."

DKSH is active in four strategic business units - Consumer Goods, Healthcare, Specialty Raw Materials and Technology. For DKSH, the acquisition of Desco's raw materials operation represents an attractive expansion of its Specialty Raw Materials Business Unit, which over the last three years has achieved a 40% increase in profitability. Within the raw materials sector Desco is an internationally established niche provider of silk, fine animal hair products and brushes. It supplies these high-value materials to leading players in the luxury goods industry.

The acquisition of Desco Asia Pacific Holding will strengthen DKSH's Luxury & Lifestyle operation, which is part of its Business Unit Consumer Goods. The takeover allows DKSH to acquire distribution rights in Asia for Desco's own watch brand Maurice Lacroix, as well as for other independent blue-chip watch brands like Breitling, Parmigiani and British Masters. This collaboration is being reinforced by DKSH taking a financial stake in Maurice Lacroix Manufacture. This increases DKSH's distribution portfolio in the luxury watches segment, with the personnel network increasing by 30%.

Once the transaction is complete, Desco Group will concentrate on developing its watchmaking company Maurice Lacroix, as well as on distribution in Europe and the USA. In recent years Maurice Lacroix has successfully focused on producing increasingly high- value and technically more complex timepieces.

This deal between these two stalwarts of Swiss international trade marks the end of the age of the traditional trading company. The consolidation process that has been evident within the industry all over the world has finally been completed in Switzerland. Over recent years DKSH has evolved from a trading company into a highly specialized service provider, transforming the business model used by the old trading houses to suit the modern age.

"Today we are the leading provider of market expansion services," says Dr. Jörg Wolle, President & CEO of DKSH. "We offer our clients support in Asian sales markets, help them to buy highly specialized raw materials and also use Asia as a production location. We will integrate the business areas acquired from Desco into our substantially larger platform and promote their successful development. The concentration process within the industry in Switzerland is now complete, but we still believe there are interesting acquisition opportunities in both Europe and Asia that will allow us to keep expanding our business."

The parties have agreed not to disclose any information about the purchase price. The Desco companies should be integrated into the DKSH Group during the second quarter of 2008, once the due diligence process has been completed.

Über DKSH Schweiz AG:

DKSH Switzerland Ltd. gehört zur DKSH-Gruppe und befindet sich zusammen mit dem Hauptsitz der DKSH Holding AG im Zentrum Zürichs.

Wir beschäftigen Fachkräfte und Ingenieure aus unterschiedlichen Industrien. Unsere Mitarbeiter sind Spezialisten in ihrem Gebiet und verstehen die besonderen Anforderungen der jeweiligen Märkte. Sie bieten umfangreiche Dienstleistungen im Bereich Marktexpansion einschliesslich individualisierter Lösungen und garantieren, dass die gewünschte Ware den Kunden in der gewünschten Zeit und im gewünschten Zustand erreicht. Unser Team wird von Backoffice-Mitarbeitern aus den Bereichen Logistik, Verkauf, Qualitätsmanagement, Finanzen, IT und Personalwesen verstärkt.

Unser Unternehmen steht für typische Schweizer Werte wie Verlässlichkeit, Sorgfalt und Qualität.

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