Major new Joint Venture in India Freudenberg continues tradition of long-term partnerships

Freudenberg Household Products (FHP) and Gala Brush Limited, a leading Indian manufacturer of cleaning products under the brand name Gala®, have signed an agreement to build up a production and sales joint venture. FHP, one of the Business Groups belonging to the Freudenberg Group, is best known for its mechanical cleaning products marketed under the prestigious vileda®, O´Cedar® and Wettex® brands in major regions of the world. To date, FHP has not been active on the Indian growth market.

FHP holds a 60 percent interest in the joint venture in order to serve the Indian market swiftly and successfully. The new company Freudenberg Gala Household Products Pvt. Limited will be located in Mumbai and will take over the current 200 employees and the business of Gala Brush as of August 2009. The construction of a new, modern plant utilizing Gala Brush and FHP technologies is planned for 2010 in India.

It was agreed to keep the investment details confidential.

“This joint venture continues our proven concept of long-term relations with local family companies,” Dr. Peter Bettermann, Speaker of the Freudenberg Management Board, said. “Values such as trust, reliability, responsible entrepreneurship and a high level of customer orientation have characterized both of our companies for many years.”

The Joint Venture will operate both in the Consumer and Professional cleaning business in India, managed by an experienced management team of Gala family members and Freudenberg employees. The Joint Venture of two successful family companies will form a strong basis to build up a leading position in the growing mechanical cleaning market in India under the brands Gala® and vileda®.

“The two companies complement each other perfectly. The joint venture will form a strong platform to combine Gala Brush`s strong sales and customer network on the Indian market with FHP`s international expertise and customer relationships. “We can now also provide our customers in India with our worldwide proven full service offering for the retail market,” Dr. Klaus Peter Meier, President and CEO of Freudenberg Household Products, commented.

Gala Brush Limited is a 50-year old family company now managed by the third generation of family members. The company develops, produces and markets high-quality mechanical household cleaning products in India under the Gala® brand name. The product range includes cleaning systems and cloths for the Consumer and Professional business segments. The company employs 200 people at four sites in India.

“Together, we can continue to expand our position on the fast-growing Indian market with Freudenberg’s international expertise, technical know-how and innovative products,” stated Chandrakant Gala, designated President of Freudenberg Gala Household Products Pvt. Limited.

About Gala Brush Limited
The company develops, produces and markets high-quality products in India under the Gala® brand name. The product range includes brooms, mops, cleaning systems and cloths for the “Consumer” and “Professional” segments. The company employs 200 people at four production and administration sites as well as at numerous sales regions throughout India. The company has been awarded the ‘Top Exporter’ award several times.

About Freudenberg Household Products
Freudenberg Household Products is a leading international brand manufacturer of household cloths, cleaning products and laundry care equipment and is the market leader in almost all European countries. In 2008, the Business Group generated sales of 656.3 million euros and employed some 2,380 people. Freudenberg Household Products is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the global Freudenberg Group.

About the Freudenberg Group
Freudenberg is a family company offering its customers technically challenging and product solutions and services. The Freudenberg Group is first and foremost a supplier specializing in seals and vibration control technology, non-wovens, filtration, lubricants and release agents as well as mechatronic products. The end-user can find modern Freudenberg household products in the shops under the brand names of vileda®, O´Cedar® and Wettex®. And especially for mid-size companies Freudenberg develops software solutions and IT-services.

The Freudenberg Group employs around 33,000 people in 52 countries and generated sales of more than 5 billion Euros in 2008. Further information is available on www.freudenberg.com

Press Contacts
Cornelia Buchta-Noack Dana-Kachih Wolf
Freudenberg & Co. KG Freudenberg & Co. KG
Corporate Communications Corporate Communications
Phone: +49 6201 – 80-4094 Phone: +49 6201 – 80-6627
Fax: +49 6201 – 88-4094 Fax: +49 6201 – 88-6627
cornelia.buchta-noack@freudenberg.de dana-kachih.wolf@freudenberg.de

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