Schaffhausen, March 9, 2006

In 2000, when Coperion was formed from the merger of Buss, Waeschle and Werner & Pfleiderer, West Private Equity was given a right to acquire majority ownership at a later date. In 2002 Georg Fischer therefore reduced its capital stake to 47 percent. Since then, it has held Coperion purely as a financial investment.

Today’s sale of this interest dovetails with the original plans and is a further logical step in Georg Fischer’s successful strategy of focusing on positioning its Automotive, Piping Systems and Machine Tools businesses at the forefront of their segments.