Eurofins Germany recently (June 1st) held a ceremony to mark the completion of the first phase in the construction of what will be Europe’s largest and most modern independent food analysis centre.
Germany (Hamburg, June 1, 200%)
The new laboratory and office building is situated at Eurofins’
headquarters for Germany in Hamburg-Harburg and comprises approximately
5.000 m2 of floorspace. The centre will unify several Eurofins
Laboratories in Germany under one roof. This building will double
Eurofins’ overall laboratory area in Hamburg to over 10.000 m2. In
total, the analysis centre will employ 200 staff.
The Group currently employs over 600 staff in Germany (on a
pro-forma-basis). Besides the new building in Hamburg, the Group also
has a strong presence in the south of Germany. 200 staff are employed
in Bavaria; in Martinsried (genetic analyses, sequencing,
pharmacogenomics), Ebersberg (MWG-Biotech; genomic services), Bayreuth
(dioxin testing), Augsburg (food analysis) and Nuremberg
(microbiology). Eurofins is among the largest regional employers in the
biotechnology sector in Bavaria.
Today, the Eurofins-Group is the global market leader in the area of
food analysis and is at the forefront of research to develop new
analytical testing methods. A recent example is the test for
genetically modified corn Bt10 developed in April 2005 by
Eurofins' GeneScan, which is the only test to date accepted by
the EU and the European JRC (Joint Research Center) to detect Bt10
corn. Eurofins’ global market leadership in, e.g. the analysis of
genetically modified organisms (GMO) as well as in dioxin-testing is
based on the expertise of the laboratories and staff at two of
Eurofins’ Competence Centres in Germany.
From 1998 to the end of 2004, Eurofins sales in Germany increased from
under € 1 million to almost € 33 million, not including sales which
resulted from the acquisition of ERGO and the shareholdings in
MWG-Biotech AG. Taking both companies fully into consideration, the
pro-forma sales in Germany alone have increased to over € 45 million.
Denmark
(Nantes/Brussel June 6, 2005)
Eurofins Danmark A/S has acquired the environmental activities (mainly
water testing) of Steins A/S, one of the leading environmental
laboratories in Scandinavia. The agreement includes the takeover of
Steins laboratory in Vejen (Denmark). With this acquisition, Eurofins
strengthens its position as the largest Environmental testing group in
Europe.
According to Svend Aage Linde, Managing Director of Eurofins Danmark
A/S and member of the Board of Eurofins Scientific S.A., this
acquisition is a natural continuance of the consolidation that has
taken place in the European laboratory industry over the last years – a
consolidation which has had great influence on Danish environmental
laboratories.
Eurofins currently employs about 200 staff in its environmental testing
services in Scandinavia. “Through this acquisition, Eurofins
strengthens its position in Northern Europe”, states Svend Aage Linde.
“The purchase of the environmental activities, BSE analyses and the
laboratory in Vejen with around 100 employees should increase our
annual turnover by over € 8 millions.”
It is planned that the laboratory in Vejen continues production and
shall be developed in line with Eurofins’ ongoing efficiency programme.
This programme will lead to a concentration of several production sites
into fewer, larger and more effective laboratories.
The resulting synergies should contribute to a further margin
improvement for Eurofins in Scandinavia while allowing clients to
benefit from the additional efficiency as a consequence of this merger.
Furthermore, this acquisition will contribute to securing a competitive
Scandinavian laboratory production in times of increasing international
competition.
Source: Eurofins, Press releases (June 1 and June 6)
