Invensys Buys Messner Technik GmbH

    LONDON--Feb. 26, 2001--In a move to increase its presence in Europe's largest building controls market, Invensys plc has purchased Messner Gesellschaft fur Umwelt-, Energie- und Gebaudetechnik mbH, an established German supplier of commercial building management systems and temperature-control installations.
    Messner, a privately held company based in Adelsdorf, near Nuremberg, will become part of the Invensys Building Systems (Europe) business unit, based in Slough, England. Terms of the purchase were not disclosed.
    The new operating company will begin using the name Invensys Messner GmbH on April 1. Messner, which had 27 million German marks (US$13 million) in sales in 2000, employs 130 people. No layoffs are planned.
    The purchase gives Invensys -- a global leader in controls and automation -- a significant immediate presence in the substantial German building systems market and offers that market access to the company's remote monitoring capabilities as well as its advanced energy management products and services, said Rod Powell, division chief executive of Invensys Control Systems.
    "This acquisition fits our strategy for profitable growth on the services side of our business," Powell said. "Existing Messner customers, as well as international Invensys accounts, will benefit substantially from the additional services and technology that Invensys Messner can provide them." He added that the ownership change would be "seamless to Messner customers."
    Messner, a strong domestic company founded in 1959, welcomed the acquisition as a means of increasing its competitiveness in a sector increasingly dominated by international rivals.
    "We have great confidence that Invensys's extensive product and service portfolio -- not to mention the financial strength and technical experience of a multinational company -- will greatly improve our capabilities to grow and serve our customers," said Gunther Klebe, Messner's managing director, who will continue in that position. "We're gratified that our customers will be able to benefit from the Invensys group's intense new-product development program."
    Messner's products and services are used at more than 2,000 major commercial properties, a number Invensys believes it can greatly enhance, Powell said.
    The acquisition is part of a larger Invensys effort to increase its profile in the building-controls sector throughout Europe. Additional acquisitions are pending, Powell said.