PR Newswire/Les Echos/
Bureau Veritas has signed a definitive and unconditional agreement to acquire Amdel,
an Australian leader in upstream minerals testing services.
Creation of a global platform for Mining & Mineral services
Paris, May 2, 2008 - Bureau Veritas has signed a definitive agreement to
acquire all the shares of Amdel Holdings Pty Limited, an Australian leader in
minerals testing. The sale agreement is unconditional and is expected to be
completed by May 7, 2008.
Frank Piedelièvre, Bureau Veritas President and Chief Executive Officer stated:
"The acquisition of Amdel is a highly important investment as it gives Bureau
Veritas a leading position in the high growth minerals market. We are glad to
welcome all of Amdel's employees and management who have an impressive track
record of solid growth and profitability in the last three years. We believe
Amdel brings the technical expertise and commercial base to assist the group in
becoming a leading global player in minerals testing and inspection services.
The acquisition perfectly complements that of CCI Holdings (leader for coal
testing in Australia) and Cesmec (leading analytical services provider in Chile
and Peru)."
Founded in 1960 and headquarted in Melbourne, Australia, Amdel has more than 1,
200 employees and operates 23 laboratories across Australia and New Zealand.
Amdel is one of the largest analytical testing businesses in Australia and New
Zealand and a leader in upstream minerals testing services in Australia. In
recent years Amdel acquired IML, Ultra Trace and Labmark. Amdel provides a full
range of mineral testing services (analytical, mineral processing, mineralogy)
to a broad range of mining key accounts.
Amdel operates through four divisions:
- Minerals (80% of revenue): Analytical, mineral processing and mineralogy
testing with focus on iron ore, base metals, gold and nickel laterites,
- Environmental (10%) of revenue: soil, water and sediments testing,
- Food (7% of revenue): food testing with a focus on meat and dairy,
- Industrial (3% of revenue): oil and gas and material testing.
For the fiscal year ending June 30, 2009 , Amdel should reach 188 million
Australian dollars (€113 million) in revenues and 45 million Australian dollars
in EBITA (€27 million). Amdel revenues and profits are expected to grow rapidly
in the coming years as a result of increasing exploration spending for minerals
in Australia and internationally, which is supported by strong demand worldwide
and by the trend toward outsourcing of testing services.
The integration of Amdel will enable the group to establish a global platform
in testing and inspection services for the mining & minerals industries with a
presence in Asia/Pacific, Africa and Latin America. The addition of Amdel will
also increase significantly Bureau Veritas' network in Australia and New Zealand
, which will have more than 2,200 employees and approximately €175 million of
annual revenues.
About Bureau Veritas
Founded in 1828, Bureau Veritas is an international group specialised in the
inspection, analysis, audit, and certification of products, infrastructure (
buildings, industrial sites, equipment, ships, etc.) and management systems (
ISO standards etc.) in relation to regulatory or voluntary frameworks.
Bureau Veritas ranks as the world's second largest group in conformity
assessment and certification services in the fields of quality, health and
safety, environment, and social responsibility ("QHSE") and the world leader in
QHSE services not including commodity testing. Bureau Veritas is recognised and
accredited by major national and international organisations.
Bureau Veritas is present in 140 countries through a network of 850 offices and
laboratories. It has more than 33,000 employees and a client base of more than
300,000.
Since 1996, Bureau Veritas has posted average annual growth of 15% in revenue
and 22% in adjusted operating profit. In 2007, the Group reported revenue of €2.
067 billion, adjusted operating profit of €312 million and adjusted
attributable net profit of €193 million.
Since October 24, 2007, Bureau Veritas has been listed on the Euronext Paris
Eurolist (Compartment A, code ISIN FR 0006174348, mnemonic: BVI).
For further information www.bureauveritas.fr
Contacts
Analysts-investors Journalists
Claire Plais - +33 (0)1 42 91 28 54 Véronique Gielec - +33 (0)1 42 91 32 74
Olivier Richard - +33 (0)1 42 91 33 26
This press release contains forward-looking statements which are based on
current plans and forecasts of Bureau Veritas' management. Such forward-looking
statements are by their nature subject to a number of important risk and
uncertainty factors such as those described in the documents filed by Bureau
Veritas with the Autorité des marchés financiers (Document de base, Note
d'opération) that could cause actual results to differ from the plans,
objectives and expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements. These
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