Close Brothers GmbH advised on the sale of SSB Wind Systems to Emerson

Frankfurt/Main, 13 November 2009

Close Brothers GmbH advised the shareholders of SSB Group GmbH (SSB Wind Systems) on the sale of the company to Emerson. SSB Wind Systems is a leading supplier of drive and control solutions for wind turbines. Headquartered in Salzbergen, Lower Saxony, Germany, the company is one of the pioneers and technology leader for electrical pitch systems that optimize the blade position of wind turbines. The acquisition marks a further strategic step by Emerson into the fast growing wind energy sector. „Emerson provides numerous opportunities for further developing products and systems that will support our customers in sustainably increasing the efficiency of their wind turbines. We are looking forward to the collaboration“, comments Dr. Gisbert Schulze, Managing Director of SSB Wind Systems. Sellers are funds advised by DPE Deutsche Private Equity GmbH, management as well as other minority shareholders. The entities SSB Duradrive GmbH and SSB Service GmbH are unaffected by the sale and remain within the former shareholder structure. The purchase price has not been disclosed.

Background information on SSB Wind Systems

SSB Wind Systems with production facilities in Salzbergen (Germany) and Qingdao (China) is one of the pioneers of the fast growing market of regenerative energy and world market leader in providing electrical pitch systems and switchgears since 1995. Control systems and positioning drives are core technologies in a wind turbine and ensure the highest wind turbine efficiency by optimizing the blade position. The long term experience and a distinct application know how build the strong basis for a comprehensive product and service offering: from self developed electrical drives to own control and visualisation software "WindChap®" for wind turbines SSB Wind Systems offers proven solutions for standard products or individual fabrications.
www.ssb.eu

Background information on DPE Deutsche Private Equity

DPE Deutsche Private Equity GmbH (DPE) is an independent German private equity firm, which was created in December 2007 with the backing of Parcom Capital, a pan-European investment subsidiary of the Dutch ING Group with over € 2bn invested in over 250 companies. DPE provides growth capital to companies in sectors with long-term fundamental growth prospects. The fund currently advised by DPE has an initial committed capital of € 250m and targets € 5-50m equity investments in German, Swiss and Austrian middle-market companies with enterprise values of €10-150m.
www.pdpe.com

Background information on Emerson

Emerson (NYSE: EMR), based in St. Louis, Missouri (USA), is a global leader in bringing technology and engineering together to provide innovative solutions to customers through its network power, process management, industrial automation, climate technologies, and appliance and tools businesses. Sales in fiscal 2008 were $24.8 billion, and Emerson is ranked 94th on the Fortune 500 list of America’s largest companies.
www.Emerson.com

Background information on Close Brothers GmbH

Close Brothers GmbH with offices in Frankfurt, Zurich and Warsaw is part of Close Brothers Corporate Finance, a leading, independent corporate finance house. Headquartered in London, it has a strong regional and European presence, employing more than 250 professionals across offices in the UK, France, Spain, Germany, Switzerland and Poland. Close Brothers Corporate Finance offers advice in mergers and acquisitions, restructuring, debt and equity raising, as well as dedicated advice to the Private Equity industry. As a subsidiary of Daiwa Securities SMBC Europe Limited, Close Brothers Corporate Finance also has access to a global network of relationships in the Japanese investment bank's existing markets. This includes Japan, Asia (China, Hong Kong, Singapore, India and other countries), Russia, Bahrain, Dubai and other Gulf territories as well as into the US through Sagent Advisors, an alliance partner of Daiwa Securities SMBC Co. Ltd. From 1 January 2010 Daiwa Securities SMBC will be a 100% subsidiary of Daiwa Securities Group. The new company name will then be Daiwa Capital Markets.
www.closebrothers.de, www.closebrothers.ch and www.closebrothers.pl