Who is Minebea? Minebea is a listed group that operates internationally and is headquartered in Nagano, Japan. It offers a broad spectrum of industrial components, such as measuring components, stepping and brush DC motors and miniature ball bearings. Founded in 1951, the company earns annual revenue of more than two billion euros and employs some 55,000 people. Our Intec business is intended to extend the Measurement Components business unit at Minebea.

Why are we selling Intec now? In mid-2013, we postponed the planned sale of the Intec division because the economic conditions deteriorated, particularly in Asia, so it was no longer realistic to sell under reasonable terms. Meanwhile, we used our time well to continue with the carve-out process and to ultimately spin it off as an independent legal entity. The complete spinoff of this unit significantly moved this sales process ahead. In addition, the positive development of the Intec Division, its high-value product portfolio, strong customer base and its experienced and highly knowledgeable team were all decisive in Minebea’s decision to acquire this business.

What does this sale mean for Sartorius? For Sartorius, this sale is a further important milestone as part of our Sartorius 2020 strategy. We will continue to concentrate on our two core divisions Bioprocess Solutions and Lab Products & Services, which both offer us high growth and earnings potential. However, to unlock this potential, we also need focus and additional major investments. The proceeds from selling the Intec Division will strengthen our financial potential for this further expansion of our core businesses.

What are the next steps? The sales transaction is still subject to the usual completion conditions; we expect this transaction to close during the first quarter of 2015. Until then, everything will remain unchanged. The employment contracts of Intec’s approximately 700 staff members will remain the same after the business has been sold and Intec’s current management will also be retained. Afterwards, Sartorius and Minebea will remain business partners for some time to come; for example, Minebea will continue to purchase certain weighing systems from Sartorius. Also, Minebea has acquired the right to continue using the Sartorius Intec brand name for the next few years.