Ground-breaking ceremony for logistics hall and office building in Bendern

With the start of the extensive building work in Bendern (Principality of Liechtenstein), Looser Holding AG with its head office in Arbon (Switzerland) is launching the next step in the further development of its coatings segment. In August 2014, the industrial holding company announced that it was realigning the manufacturing operations for wood coatings at Feyco AG/Treffert GmbH and for packaging coatings at Schekolin AG. In the period up until December 2015, the production operations of Feyco AG in St. Margrethen and Urdorf are being transferred to Schekolin AG in Bendern.

"It was process optimisation and the exploitation of synergies between these two companies in the Rhine Valley that prompted this major investment", explained Tim Talaat, CEO of the Looser Group. "With the expansion of the infrastructure in Bendern, we are intending to boost the efficiency and productivity of the wood coating and packaging coating product areas and optimise operating and logistics costs. In the wood coatings field, the main focus is on long-term success, securing competitiveness and expanding the market share in Switzerland. For packaging coatings, it is growth at an international level that constitutes the focus", Tim Talaat went on to explain.

Modernisation and a new building with vision

The first phase of the construction project was completed in August already with the renovation of the floor in the existing Schekolin production shops. Today's ground-breaking ceremony marks the start of the second construction phase, which involves building a new logistics hall with a useable area of 2,114 square metres. The hall will accommodate the finished goods store, outgoing goods, the laundry, the plant workshop and the plant fire brigade. In addition, a three-storey office block extension is being built to provide some 290 square metres of office and laboratory space. The new buildings are steel structures with a sandwich panel façade.

This design satisfies the latest requirements in terms of ecology, the Major Accident Ordinance, occupational safety and ergonomics. For the building project, Schekolin AG is being connected up to the local district heating network operated by the waste incineration plant and is thus implementing a CO2-neutral heating solution. The sewers and the fire-water and retention systems ensure that the plant can be completely hermetically sealed-off in the event of an accident. In the storage and intermediate areas, state-of-the art loading and removal devices are to be deployed, contributing inter alia to the optimisation of material flow processes.

Dagmar Gadow, Deputy Head of the Local Council of Bendern, said: "In economically challenging times, it is gratifying when an internationally operating industrial holding company like the Looser Group has faith in Liechtenstein as a business location and invests in long-term growth. The Local Council is setting out to support Schekolin and Feyco/Treffert in attaining their growth aims."

Commitment to the Rhine Valley

In the light of the companies' position as eminent employers and reliable producers of high-grade coating systems, which has been built up over a period of many years, the further expansion of the product areas of wood coatings at Feyco AG/Treffert GmbH and packaging coatings at Schekolin AG testifies to a clear commitment to the Rhine Valley economic region. And this forms the basis for the companies' development and growth plans.

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For further information please contact:

Tim Talaat, CEO, Chairman of the Group Executive Management, and

Christoph Fierz, CFO

Telephone: +41 (0) 52 244 86 86

Fax: +41 (0) 52 244 86 81

e-mail: info@looserholding.com

Internet: www.looserholding.com