The acquisition of EVS by Uster has been approved by the Boards of Directors of both companies, and is subject, among other things, to the approval by the general meeting of the shareholders of EVS, which is expected to be obtained in March 2018.

Subject to the fulfilment of standard closing conditions, the transactions is expected to be completed during the second quarter of 2018. Thereafter, EVS will be a wholly owned subsidiary of Uster Technologies AG.

Optimal route for growing

“We believe that the merger with Uster Technologies is the optimal route for growing the business of the company. Despite our success in turning the company from a loss-making enterprise with onerous levels of debt in 2010 – the year of our management takeover – to a profitable company with no meaningful debt, the last three years have seen revenues remain largely flat,” commented Sam Cohen, CEO of EVS.

“As a result, the management of EVS has come to the conclusion that given the current conditions of the industries in which we operate and the capital markets, our ability to continue to increase shareholder value is extremely challenging and uncertain as a stand-alone entity.”

“Given the difficulties in showing our shareholders year over year increases in revenues, our board of directors and senior management team have spent the last 18 months conducting an in-depth analysis on alternatives for increasing shareholders value, including discussions with a number of potential acquirers and investors. We believe that the merger with Uster, which represents approximately a 17% premium on our current share price, provides our shareholders with real value.”

Sustainable performance

“The acquisition fits perfectly into our vision to be the world’s leading supplier of quality solutions for the textile industry from fibre to fabric. EVS technology will offer Uster’s clients the potential for further automation and improvement for increased and sustainable performance,” said Thomas Nasiou, CEO of Uster.

The Uster Group is the leading high-technology instrument manufacturer of products for quality measurement and certification for the textiles industry. The Group provides testing and monitoring instruments, systems and services that allow optimisation of quality through each individual stage of textiles production. This includes raw textile fibres, such as cotton or wool, all staple fibre and filament yarns, as well as downstream services to the final finished fabric.

www.evs.co.il