The German company announced that it has taken over the remaining 49 percent of the shares in SLS from USK Karl Utz Sondermaschinen GmbH (USK), to hold a 100 percent stake in SLS. The parties say they have agreed to maintain confidentiality concerning the price.?
Furthermore, Roth & Rau says it is planning to pool its activities in the field of automation. Alongside SLS, OTB Solar – a subsidiary taken over in February of this year – is said to have extensive expertise in this area, mainly offering automation solutions for loading and unloading OTBs DEPx antireflective coating systems and turnkey lines. ?
"Demand for inexpensive automation solutions is on the increase, especially in Asian markets, where we currently generate almost 90 percent of our orders," commented Dr. Dietmar Roth, CEO of Roth & Rau AG. "We can best meet these requirements by having bespoke in-house concepts for our systems at our disposal."?
CFO Carsten Bovenschen added: "The SLS takeover and integration of corresponding activities at OTB will enable us to enhance the integration of automation system development and production within our structures and production processes in future, thus helping us cut costs.
"After all, cost-effective automation solutions for individual equipment and turnkey lines will also play a major role in the comprehensive cost and structure optimization program we will be implementing at the entire Roth & Rau Group in the coming months."
Roth & Rau and USK founded SLS in February 2008 as a joint venture to manufacture products in the field of automation technology for use in solar cell production.
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