KEMA rounds off sale of part of test and certification activities

Increased focus on growth of strategic, technical & operational energy consulting, inspections, and testing & certification of high-voltage equipment and components

Arnhem, November 4, 2009 – KEMA has completed the sale of a part of its testing and certification activities to German safety expertise concern DEKRA. These activities are clustered in KEMA Quality B.V., the shares of which were formally transferred on November 1, 2009. With this sale, KEMA strengthens its focus on the further growth of the energy-related core activities. KEMA Quality B.V., with a sales volume of EUR 60 million, employs around 600 employees, half of which in the Netherlands.

Intensified growth of KEMA’s core activities
The sale of KEMA Quality B.V. ties in with the strategy KEMA defined in 2007, namely to concentrate on and achieve further growth in its energy related core activities: strategic, technical & operational energy advice, inspections, and tests & certification of medium- and high-voltage equipment. During the past one and a half years KEMA has opened four new locations and has taken over the energy consulting companies NISI (U.S.), RLW Analytics (U.S.), Gasunie Engineering & Technology (The Netherlands) and ELBAS (Germany). KEMA has also made large investments in its facilities for testing at the medium, high and ultra-high voltage levels.

Future of KEMA Quality B.V. and KEMA-KEUR
For DEKRA, the takeover of KEMA Quality B.V., with activities in 15 countries, represents a significant expansion of its activities in the area of testing and certification of a wide range of electrical, electronic and medical equipment as well as system certification and also the strengthening of its position in North America and Asia. DEKRA, with a 2008 sales volume of EUR 1.6 billion and more than 20,000 employees, has emphatically expressed the intention to continue investing in KEMA Quality B.V. and to see the company as a platform for the further international growth of its own testing and certification activities. Considering KEMA’s global reputation in the field of testing and certification and the KEMA-KEUR certification mark in particular – the history of KEMA-KEUR dates back to 1927 – this certification mark will be retained. The KEMA-KEUR certification mark will be used by DEKRA under license.

Comment by Pier Nabuurs, chairman of the Executive Board of KEMA:
“The formal sale of KEMA Quality B.V. to DEKRA is an important moment in KEMA’s history. The sale is clearly advantageous to KEMA, KEMA Quality B.V. and DEKRA. An important aspect is that investments will continue to be made in this division in the future. This offers good perspectives for the concerned employees. Furthermore, with the obtained resources, we can achieve strong growth in our energy-related activities.”