Alno AG sells Impuls Küchen to the Steinhoff Group

Alno AGhas completed the next step in its reorganisation. To this end, the subsidiary Impuls Küchen GmbH, Brilon, was sold to Steinhoff Möbel Holding GmbH, Brunn am Gebirge, Austria. The change of
ownership will take place at the end of June 2015, subject to approval from the cartel authority. Service contracts safeguard the transfer of operation up to the end of 2015. All employees of Impuls Küchen GmbH, will be taken on by the new owner. Furthermore, Alno AG and the Steinhoff Group will work together strategically in the long term. The parties have agreed not to disclose any information on the purchase price.

Previously, the Alno Group had been represented in the German market with four brands: ALNO, Impuls, Pino and Wellmann. These were joined by the Swiss brands Piatti and Forster Schweizer Stahlküchen in 2014 with the purchase of AFP Küchen. The latter brand is marketed internationally under the brand name ALNOINOX. With the transaction, ALNO AG has taken another important step in its strategic reorganisation: This is because it will be possible to position the remaining domestic brands of ALNO, Wellmann and Pino more clearly in the domestic market after the sale of Impuls Küchen GmbH.
In future, some significant overlaps will be dispensed with. Overall, the restructuring will reduce complexity as well as making the cost structure more flexible and thus more efficient. Last but not least, dependency on the highly competitive German market will be reduced yet further following the acquisition of AFP Küchen last year.

Win-win situation
In future, ALNO will work together with the Steinhoff Group in the long term through service contracts and strategic cooperation. As a result, ALNO is expecting to improve the capacity utilisation at its remaining plants as well as to derive benefits from economies of scale in purchasing and production. This transaction is a winwin situation for both parties, says Max Müller, CEO of Alno AG. The Steinhoff
Group can pursue its own strategic goals faster, while we have taken a decisive step forward in the restructuring of our company. What is more, all the jobs at Impuls are secure under the transaction.

Three milestones reached in 2015
Moreover, the sale releases significant liquid assets which will be employed, for one thing, to increase the current working capital. For another, further progress will be made not only on the reorientation in Germany but also the international growth strategy. This applies particularly to Asia and European countries outside Germany.

In this regard, the joint venture embarked on at the start of this year with Pervaya Mebel@¬#naya Fabrica ("1ff"), one of the largest furniture manufacturers in Russia, based in St. Petersburg, is especially important. This year, we reached three major milestones in Alno@¬#s reorganisation: as well as the sale of Impuls, they comprise founding the joint venture in Russia and the recently completed capital increase
from our Chinese partner, Nature. This link in particular will open up important new businessopportunities for us in the near future, concludes Müller.

* For the information: www.alno.com