Elcoteq has divested its German subsidiary Elcoteq Elektronik GmbH and the manufacturing plant in Überlingen, Germany, to the German company Rafi GmbH & Co. KG. The enterprise value of the divested subsidiary is approximately €6 M. The plant whose net sales in 2005 totaled approximately €25 M has a total floor space of 5,200 m2 and roughly 160 employees, who will continue to be employed by Rafi, retaining their existing employee status.
Elcoteq acquired the Überlingen plant at the end of 1999 and initially it had an important role to play in the company's expansion strategy in Central Europe. Following the acquisition, in 2003, of Marconi's Offenburg plant in Germany, some operations at Überlingen were transferred to Offenburg and also partly to Elcoteq's other European plants. Hence the strategic importance of the plant in the company's service network was substantially decreased.
As Jukka Jäämaa, COO, Elcoteq SE, explained, "Überlingen's role in Elcoteq's plant and service network has declined significantly over the past two years. We are centralizing the operations and services we need in Germany at our Offenburg plant. We are happy to have found a buyer for our Überlingen unit that will continue and develop the plant for its own needs in Germany."