Press Releases 2005

April 26, 2005
Important step for development of market position in Germany: Rheinhold & Mahla takes over maintenance at the Höchst and Griesheim industrial parks

Rheinhold & Mahla, the Bilfinger Berger subsidiary that specializes in providing services for the processing industry, is to take over a large part of the repair and maintenance work at the Höchst and Griesheim industrial parks near Frankfurt am Main, where the production facilities of several leading companies in the chemical and pharmaceutical industries are located. The volume of services to be provided amounts to €110 million per annum and will rise in the future. This is one of the biggest outsourcing projects for industrial services in Germany.

Rheinhold & Mahla will introduce a comprehensive system of maintenance management in the industrial parks, integrating corporate units that previously belonged to Clariant, Aventis and Celanese. The range of services to be provided includes the maintenance of plant, machinery and drive equipment, as well as power, measuring and control equipment.

There is increasing interest in outsourcing the complete maintenance management of production facilities in many industrial sectors. This deal is therefore of considerable strategic importance to Rheinhold & Mahla, as it will result in a sustained improvement in the company's position as a full service provider. Rheinhold & Mahla is already playing leading role as a service partner for the processing industry in Germany and a number of other European countries such as Norway, the Netherlands, Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary.

The output volume generated by the Bilfinger Berger Group in the services business will increase to €2 billion this year, of which €1.5 billion will be from industrial services. The Group recently acquired Babcock Borsig Service, resulting in substantial expansion of its services for power plants and an excellent position also in this growth market.