New Partners in Packaging Automation

May 1, 2004

Schneider Electric (www.schneiderelectric.com), a Rueil-Malmaison, France, supplier of electrical and automation products, and Elau AG (www.elau.com), Marktheidenfeld, Germany, a supplier of motion control products principally aimed at the packaging machinery industry, have announced what was termed “a close cooperation in the automation of packaging machines.” Further, a shareholder agreement has been concluded in which Schneider Electric acquired a 46.5 percent stake in Elau.

Schneider says the agreement responds to three key aspects of its strategy:

• Acceleration of growth in the packaging machinery OEM market

• Widening of its offering in the motion control field

• Enhancement of its presence in the German industrial automation market.

Elau contends that this agreement will accelerate its growth, while maintaining its identity as a technology leader in packaging. Working with Schneider, the company says, will create a worldwide engineering and service network.