Under the terms of the agreement, Gantry took ownership of the Gantrex operations effective January 1 2008.Cavotec MSL and Gantry will reverse the historical cross minority ownerships of certain operations in Asia, and Cavotec MSL will retain its exclusive right to act as distributor for Gantrex products in South Africa and Australasia. Finally, in accordance with international IFRS standards governing divestitures of this kind, Cavotec MSL will no longer include the Gantrex operation in its consolidated financial statements as of January 1 2008. Cavotec MSL also advises that net proceeds from this sale will further assist the company as it continues to identify acquisition candidates and explore potential transactions.”The sale of Gantrex will free up financial and managerial resources inside of Cavotec to further develop our core business while, within the Gantry Group, Gantrex’s people and products will receive increased attention and support. Basically, everybody wins,” said Ottonel Popesco, Cavotec chief executive officer. He added: “Additionally, we are in ongoing discussions with potential acquisition targets both in the United States and Europe. There are great companies out there operating in our core markets whose technologies would complement our existing innovations very well. We are committed to growing the group both organically and from acquisitions.” Didier Haegelsteen, Gantry chief executive officer, responded: “We are very pleased to acquire the Gantrex operations in the Americas, thus giving us the opportunity to provide a better and more efficient service to our Gantrex customers worldwide.”
