Acquisitions
In the business year 2009/10, the voestalpine Group did not make any acquisitions; instead, against the backdrop of the economic crisis, it focused on streamlining and consolidation of its portfolio of companies.
Divestments
In the Automotive Division, the sale of the Italian company Euroweld S.r.l., which is active in the production of laser-welded blanks, as well as the closure of the British site St. Helens, which had been part of the plastics segment of the voestalpine Polynorm Group, were completed as of April 1, 2009.
(As these divestments occurred at the very beginning of the business year, we refer to the quarterly reports 2009/10 for further details.)
The efforts to sell the two remaining companies in the plastics segment of the Automotive Division in the Netherlands as well as the French company Amstutz Levin & Cie have not yet been successful due to the difficult economic and financial circumstances. These companies, which had previously been recorded under discontinued operations, were therefore again included under continuing operations in the business year 2009/10 and were undergoing a reinforced restructuring process.
