(DGAP-Media / 01.10.2013 / 18:00) Hess GmbH: Hess under the umbrella of the Nordeon-Group - Takeover of the operational business by way of an asset deal - New products and innovations for the Light + Building 2014 Villingen-Schwenningen, 1st October, 2013. As of today, Hess is officially part of the Nordeon-Group. As already reported, Nordeon takes over all assets necessary for the continuation of business operations of Hess AG at the site in Villingen-Schwenningen by way of an asset deal. The sales company of Hess located in Stockholm (Sweden) as well as the production site and sales department of Hess in Gaffney (USA) are also part of the takeover. All employment contracts of the nearly 180 Hess employees are being continued. Pierre van Lamsweerde, CEO of the Nordeon-Group, is taking over the management of Hess. With the Nordeon-Group, Hess has a strong partner at his side: With Nordeon's solid financial foundation, Hess can entirely focus on its core business again - the development and manufacturing of premium, innovative and design-oriented outdoor luminaires as well as corresponding street and site furnishings. Pierre van Lamsweerde is delighted with this new member of the Nordeon-Group: 'Hess is a strong brand with great solutions and holistic concepts that create beautiful cities. Our highly dedicated employees cater for just about all of our customers' needs regardless how demanding they may be. We will sustainably strengthen Hess through targeted investments in innovation and manufacturing. Nordeon and Hess are very complementary and form the foundation for an optimistic future. The well-filled order book also displays the trust of our customers in the partnership of Hess and Nordeon'. Hess is going to present a wealth of new products at the Light + Building 2014. 'We are working at full speed at being able to present our customers completely new product families at the leading light trade fair Light + Building. In addition, many of our products will undergo a technical relaunch', adds Georg Bremecker, Head of development and operations at Hess. 'Our product program Avangardo 2 will further reinforce the range of home-associated products. This product program was refined intensively during the past few months with the result that we are going to offer all product families of Avangardo 2 with LED technology still in this year'. Avangardo 2 is characterised by the reduced design of the products that allow for creating highly diverse lighting atmospheres with a premium finish. Specially designed light exits effectively draw attention to the wall structure and wall material for instance. Hess becomes even more efficient and more flexible in the future through the strong partnership with Nordeon. The large technical expertise within the group enables Hess to process technical innovations much quicker to the start of production. Customers of Hess benefit sustainably from this. To Nordeon: Nordeon is a new innovative manufacturer of light. However, it can rely on decades of experience in the field of developing lamps and luminaires. Nordeon was founded in October of 2012 as part of the purchase of Philips' development and production site for professional lighting in Springe, Germany. As early as two months afterwards, in October of 2012, the NORDEON group was extended through the acquisition of the Philips site specialised in the production of fluorescent lamps located in Chalon, France. Finally, in March of 2013, Vulkan GmbH was acquired, which formerly belonged to the Hess group. NORDEON meanwhile has over 400 highly skilled and ambitious employees. Owner of the NORDEON goup is VAROVA, a Dutch-based investment company focussing on the long-term perspective and sustainability. To Hess: Hess offers a wide range of design-oriented luminaires and meets all requirements for lighting design in the public space as well as for the indoor and outdoor illumination of objects. The product portfolio is completed by premium street and site furnishings. Hess offers hereby a perfect combination of luminaires and street and site furnishings for holistic concepts of urban and landscape design. Hess invests a great deal in the development of design-oriented and energy-efficient lighting products. When it comes to redesign and renovation of cities, Hess is the right contact partner for municipalities. Hess accompanies architects, planners, cities and builders from the design to the installation of luminaires and city furniture, which are often customer-specific solutions. Due to the special and distinctive design language and the already mentioned special solutions, Hess is considered in the market as a manufacture for high-quality and decorative urban solutions comprising outdoor lighting and city furniture. About 180 people are employed at the production sites in Villingen-Schwenningen and Gaffney (USA). Contact: Hess GmbH Licht+Form Marco Walz Communications Lantwattenstraße 22 D - 78050 Villingen-Schwenningen Tel.: +49 (0) 7721 920-475 Fax: +49 (0) 7721 920-771475 EMAIL: marco.walz@hess.eu End of Media Release =-------------------------------------------------------------------- Issuer: Hess GmbH Licht + Form Key word(s): Enterprise 01.10.2013 Dissemination of a Press Release, transmitted by DGAP - a company of EQS Group AG. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. DGAP's Distribution Services include Regulatory Announcements, Financial/Corporate News and Press Releases. Media archive at www.dgap-medientreff.de and www.dgap.de =-------------------------------------------------------------------- 232863 01.10.2013
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
October 01, 2013 12:00 ET (16:00 GMT)
