RAIL.ONE Strengthens its Railway Civil-Engineering Compe-tency by Acquiring the International Business Unit of the Eichholz Group

Ongoing project business and patented expertise:

Neumarkt, Germany, 7 September 2006 — The RAIL.ONE Group, with headquarters in Neumarkt, Germany, leading manufacturer of concrete sleepers and comprehensively oriented provider of engineering and systems for railway track systems, acquires effective on 1 September 2006 the International Business Unit of the insolvent Eichholz Group of railway-construction companies. By acquiring staff, expertise, as well as ongoing projects, RAIL.ONE strengthens its own position on the international market for railway infrastructure. Today, 7 September, 2006, RAIL.ONE and the Eichholz Group sign the required agreement for the acquisition.

RAIL.ONE takes over all the staff of the International Business Unit of the Eichholz Group, which has in recent years concentrated on the engineering and supervision of international construction projects for railway transport – and which has especially in Asia achieved a sustainable market position.

RAIL.ONE and Eichholz have in the past already collaborated on a number of ballastless-track projects: e.g., in Germany and Taiwan. The two companies are members of a European consortium which is currently engaged in application of ballastless-track technology for new rail lines being constructed for high-speed traffic in China.

RAIL.ONE furthermore acquires valuable engineering expertise, including patents and utility models, for the installation of ballastless track, especially in the turnout area. This development furthermore provides RAIL.ONE with holdings in a marketing company of the Eichholz Group, as well as 4 current projects. These newly acquired activities will be continued and expanded within the context of an independent subsidiary. The existing office in Tauberbischofsheim, in the German state of Baden-Württemberg, will continue its operations.

With this acquisition, RAIL.ONE supplements its comprehensive performance portfolio for the development, production, and application of products and technical solutions in the new construction and expansion of railway track systems. Richard Ziegler, CEO of RAIL.ONE, and Hans Bachmann, Managing Director for Marketing and Sales, expressed their satisfaction at this acquisition: “With these new, highly qualified staff, and with the expertise of the Eichholz Group, we have obtained additional competency and capacity for provision of high-quality civil-engineering and services in railway infrastructure projects. We shall be able to outstandingly employ this supplement to our capabilities, especially in the achievement of our ambitious growth plans in China and the rest of Asia.”

 

Visit RAIL.ONE at InnoTrans 2006:

19 to 22 September 2006, at the Messe Berlin fairgrounds

Hall 26, Stand 215

About the PCM RAILONE Group

The PCM RAILONE Group has been manufacturing concrete sleepers and track systems for urban transit and long-distance rail transportation for over 60 years. The technology leader also offers its expertise in the fields of engineering and plant construction. Its customer-driven innovations fulfill the highest quality standards and are installed around the world

The PCM RAILONE Group is comprised of several companies and eleven production facilities with a presence in Germany, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Spain, South Korea, Hungary, Turkey, the United States, Canada and lndia. lt maintains annual capacities of over 5 million track sleepers and 840,000 linear meters of turnout sleepers. RAILONE produces optimized products and custom solutions with over 550 employees around the world.

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