Vienna International Technology Industry News

South Korea's LG Electronics Acquires Austrian Automotive Supplier ZKW for €1.1 Bln

South Korean electronics manufacturer LG Electronics is acquiring the Lower Austrian lighting and electronics systems specialist ZKW for more than 1.1 billion euros. It plans to buy a 70 percent stake in ZKW Holding, a supplier to Mercedes-Benz and BMW. Its holding company LG Corp. will purchase the remaining stake for 330 million Euro. LG hopes to expand its position in the automotive lighting sector for self-driving cars. ZKW was previously wholly owned by the entrepreneur Ulrich Mommert.

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Kapsch TrafficCom AG Awarded Contract to Upgrade TollCollection Equipment on Maryland Roads

The Maryland Transportation Authority (MDTA) has awarded Kapsch TrafficCom (Kapsch) a contract to replace and maintain all roadside tolling equipment in the mixed-mode, cash, and express toll lanes under MDTA management. The contract commenced in February 2018 and includes the replacement of all toll equipment, expected to be converted to the Kapsch system by 2020, and six years of subsequent operations and maintenance as well as the option to extend the contract for additional four years. The project volume of the base contract exceeds EUR 55 million and will be managed locally from the Kapsch office in Rockville, Maryland.

April 23, 2018

FACC Achieves Sales Record of EUR 750.7 Mln in 2017/18

FACC, the Sino-Austrian aircraft component manufacturer generated preliminary sales of 750.7 million euros, and the order backlog increased to US$ 5.9 billion. On March 19, FACC entered the ATX, Austria's leading index on the Vienna Prime Market, and has since been one of the 25 largest and most traded companies in Austria.

April 4, 2018

TTTech Sets Up Joint Venture in Shanghai to Deploy Key Technology for Autonomous Driving Cars in China

The Vienna-based technology company TTTech and China's largest automotive group Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation (SAIC) announced a joint venture with the intention to produce an Intelligent Driving Central Controller (iECU), which will be installed on the first China-made intelligent driving vehicle later this year. TTTech holds 49.9 percent in the new joint venture.

March 15, 2018

Austrian Delegation Seeks to Improve Economic and Political Relations with Jordan

An official visit of President Van der Bellen to Jordan will take place from 17 April to 19 April 2018. The delegation to Amman will be accompanied by an economic mission headed by WKO Vice President Richard Schenz. The economic mission of the WKO is the response of an invitation issued some time ago by the President of the Chamber of Commerce of the Kingdom.

March 8, 2018

Kapsch TrafficCom AG: Quarterly Report Presents Revenue Increase of 7.5% to €506.9M

Q1-Q3 2017/18 saw a revenue increase of 7.5% to EUR 506.9 million. It is the first time that Kapsch TrafficCom has passed the EUR 500 million mark after just three quarters. According to CEO Georg Kapsch, Kapsch TrafficCom's growth trajectory affirms that this value exceeds the revenue for the entire 2014/15 fiscal year. 76.3% of group revenues were acquired in the ETC segment (toll segment), and 23.7% in the IMS segment (Intelligent Mobility Solutions segment).

February 28, 2018

ams Launches EUR 600 Million Convertible Bond Placement

With the consent of the supervisory board, the management board of AMS has resolved to launch a private placement of senior unsecured zero-coupon convertible bonds due in 2025, in an aggregate nominal amount of EUR 600 million and a denomination of EUR 200,000 each. The Bonds are initially convertible into 4.41 million new ordinary no par value bearer shares from the Company's conditional capital, representing approximately 5.2% of the current outstanding share capital of ams. Subscription rights of existing shareholders of ams to subscribe to the Bonds have been excluded. The Bonds will not bear interest.

February 26, 2018

Kapsch TrafficCom Not Affected by Polish Government's Cancellation of Tender for Nation-Wide Tolling System

Poland's government has cancelled the tender for a nation-wide tolling system, because the government intends to have the tolling system operated by its own government agencies. Kapsch TrafficCom confirms that its contract regarding the operation of the existing nation-wide tolling system is not affected by this.

January 22, 2018

Andritz Receives 90 Million Euros Order for Power Plant Renewal in Canada

The listed technology group Andritz has landed a major order for the renovation of a hydroelectric power station in Canada. "The order value is over 90 million euros," said Andritz by press release. The Styrian company will therefore renew six of the eight turbine units of a power plant in the province of Saskatchewan for the Canadian electricity supplier SaskPower.

October 31, 2017

Indian Ministry of Railways Discusses India-Austria Railway Cooperations

The Indian Minister of Railways, Shri Suresh Prabhu paid a visit to Austria. In an event organized by the Chamber of Commerce H.E. Mr. Prabhu met with CEOs and Austrian Railway Companies to discuss possible further India-Austria cooperations in the field of railways technology.

July 21, 2016

Best Gaming Technology Acquired by Rival Playtech

Vienna-based maker of software for self-service betting terminals Best Gaming Technology (BGT) has been acquired by UK gambling software group Playtech for €138m. Playtech holds the option to purchase the remaining shares for up to €55m from Armin Sageder, the company’s founder and chief executive.

July 14, 2016

Novomatic Takeover of Australian Rival Delayed

The planned investment of the Lower-Austrian gambling group Novomatic in the Australian rival Ainsworth Game Technology has been delayed. Ainsworth will postpone general assembly scheduled for June 3 by up to 30 days. It is at the meeting that shareholders are supposed to approve the deal.

May 25, 2016

Voestalpine Acquires Specialty Steel Firms in Shanghai and Barcelona

Voestalpine steel buys two specialty steel firms. With the purchase of Advanced Tooling Tek (ATT) in Shanghai, China, and the Sermetal Group in Barcelona, Spain, Voestalpine is enhancing its position as a producer of special steels. Both companies are specialized in the processing and sale of special steel products for tool and mold-making, a segment whose main customers are the automotive and electronics industries. Together ATT and the Sermetal Group have around 160 employees and generated a total revenue of around EUR 43 million in 2015.

April 7, 2016

Siemens Austria Builds World's Largest Metro Project in Saudi Arabia

The Austrian unit of Siemens announced in Vienna Simmering at the rollout of the first vehicle that a "a very, very big order” has been secured. With six lines and a total route length of 175 kilometers, the capital of Saudi Arabia Riyadh is planning the world's largest subway project. Siemens is to supply the entire turnkey system for two driverless metro lines.

February 24, 2016

Andritz Subsidiary Schuler Lands Large-Scale Contract in China

Schuler AG has received a further major order from FAW Volkswagen Automotive Co., Ltd. The Chinese company ordered press line with ServoDirect Technology and a servo tryout press for its Qingdao facility. With a total force of 81,000 kilonewtons, the servo press line will be mainly used to produce car body parts, such as hoods or doors. The order value is in the middle double-digit-million-euro range.

November 30, 2015

Voestalpine Increased Revenue by 4.1% in First Half 2015/16

In the first half of the business year 2015/16 (April 1 to September 30), the steel group Voestalpine continued its performance despite an economic environment that – viewed globally – is inconsistent. In a year-to-year comparison, it increased its revenue by 4.1% from EUR 5.6 billion to EUR 5.8 billion.

November 11, 2015

Alexander Lewald Named Chief Technology Officer of Kapsch TrafficComAG

Kapsch TrafficCom has announced that Alexander Lewald will be joining the Management Board of Kapsch TrafficCom AG as Chief Technology Officer effective November 1, 2015.

October 28, 2015

PayLife Becomes SIX Payment Services

In September 2013, the Swiss financial services provider SIX acquired PayLife, the market leader for cashless payments in Austria, from the Austrian banks. With the acquisition and integration of PayLife SIX underlines its goal of driving international growth and its ambition to be among the leading European providers of card-based payments. Starting today, PayLife Bank GmbH is renamed SIX Payment Services ( Austria ) GmbH.

September 23, 2015

British Police Orders Surveillance Aircraft from Austrian Airborne Technologies

The UK National Police Air Service (UK NPAS) has awarded the contract to deliver 4 role-equipped fixed-wing surveillance aircraft to Airborne Technologies from Wiener Neustadt. In addition to substantial German police units, another important police force will now rely on the Austrian company that has established itself as potential partner for police aviation.

September 10, 2015

Voestalpine Boosts Earnings in the Business Year 2014/15

Listed steel group Voestalpine increased its revenue slightly to EUR 11.2 billion (+1.0%) despite negative price effects. At EUR 1.53 billion, the operating result (EBITDA) was markedly higher than in the previous year (+11.4%). Investments worth EUR 1.18 billion are at record level (+25.8%). The outlook for the business year 2015/16 is positiv. The aim is to continue the improvement of operating results.

June 3, 2015

Aircraft Component Maker FACC Moves Operations Partially to the US

FACC AG has established an additional plant in Wichita/USA for the purpose of expanding the company's global presence in repair and maintenance.

April 13, 2015

Stefan Doboczky succeeds Peter Untersperger as CEO of Lenzing AG

The Supervisory Board of Lenzing AG appointed Stefan Doboczky (47) effective June 1st 2015 as the new Chairman of the Management Board (CEO) of Lenzing AG.

March 20, 2015

Andritz Signs EUR 100 Million LoI in Finland

Listed engineering Group Andritz has signed a letter of intent with Metsä Fibre to deliver key production technologies for a new bio-product pulp mill with an annual capacity of 1.3 million tons of pulp in Äänekoski, Finland. The order value for Andritz is over 100 million euros. Start-up of the planned mill is scheduled for August 2017.

February 13, 2015

Voestalpine Reports Increase in Earnings in 9 Months

Although the development of the global economy was very inconsistent in 2014 and, after a relatively optimistic start, was marked by an increasingly sober mood from the summer months onward, the steel-based technology and capital goods group Voestalpine reported a significant increase in earnings in the first three quarters of the business year 2014/15 (April 1 to December 31, 2014).

February 10, 2015

Andritz Signs EUR 250 Million Deal in the UK

Listed engineering group Andritz will supply equipment worth EUR 250 million for the world’s first tidal lagoon hydropower project in Swansea Bay, Wales.

February 10, 2015

Voestalpine Buys Italian Drawn Wire Producer

Voestalpine is expanding its activities in the drawn wire business segment and has completed its acquisition of Italian company Trafilerie Industriali S.p.A. based in Nervesa della Battaglia (Treviso). The acquisition of this Italian manufacturer of special wires brings additional strength to the Voestalpine product portfolio of drawn wire for the automotive industry.

January 12, 2015

European Startups in Vienna: Entering a New Age of Pioneering

From October 29th startups will compete for the attention of investors and companies in Vienna. The application for the Pioneers Challenge has just begun. Start-ups have no easy job to enthuse investors for their ideas. But Vienna offers one of the best ways to do just that: During the Pioneers Festival in late October young companies can secure the attention of potential donors and inspire other companies and media for their innovations.

September 18, 2014

Netflix: "We are Proud to Bring the Future of Television to Austria"

Netflix, the American provider of on-demand Internet streaming media followed up its launches in France and Germany by adding Austria to the list of countries in which its streaming services is available. The comapny intends to capture a third of the market share. The company was established in 1997 and is headquartered in Los Gatos, California. It started its subscription-based digital distribution service in 1999. By 2009, Netflix was offering a collection of 100,000 titles on DVD and had surpassed 10 million subscribers. By July 2014 Netflix has subscribers in over 40 countries.

September 17, 2014

Josef Taus to Delist MTH from the Vienna Stock Exchange

Josef Taus is delisting his investment company Management Trust Holding (MTH). The main reason for the delisting of this long-term stock market participant (since 1990) is the very low percentage of widespread shareholdings: only 1.25 percent of the shares is held in free float. The company will present a respective offer to the few minority shareholders. Another reason is the restructure of Taus’ empire, which will allow the industrialist to reduce his dependence on minority shareholders.

September 3, 2014

New Owner E-Tec Brings DiTech Back Into Business

The brand DiTech has been purchased after the bankruptcy by the Upper Austrian Computer Dealer e-tec. Now the newly established DiTech Electronic GmbH starts operations. The first stores open already at the beginning of September.

August 29, 2014

Andritz: Slight Sales Increase in H1 2014 Attributable to Schuler Group

Technology Group Andritz showed slight sales increase in the first half of 2014 in a still challenging overall economic environment. Sales increased by +1.9%. The order intake amounted to +18.0%. EBITA amounted to +37.7% and the EBITA margin was 5.0%.

August 7, 2014

Water Management Company Wabag to Shift Operations from Austria to India

VA Tech Wabag, a water and wastewater management company, will increasingly operate its overseas businesses out of India to take advantage of lower costs and higher margins, according to Rajiv Mittal, Managing Director of the Chennai-based multinational.

July 28, 2014

Efkon Signs Vehicle-Tracking-Devices Deal with Indian Oil Corporation

Continuing the winning streak in the VTS (Vehicle-Tracking-Devices) business, Efkon India again was successful in winning 4 tenders for vehicle tracking systems. The Indian Oil Corporation Ltd. ordered a total amount of 6631 devices which equals an order intake of € 1,4 Mio.

July 24, 2014

German Investment: New EUR 140 Mln Data Center for the City of Vienna

A 140 million Euro investment from Frankfurt based e-shelter strengthens Vienna as an international ICT center.

July 3, 2014

Austrian Export Award 2014 for Above-Average Export Commitment

As part of a festive gala evening in Vienna's Museumsquartier, the Austrian Export Prize 2014 has been awarded by the Federal Minister for Science, Research and Economics, Reinhold Mitterlehner, and the President of the Economic Chamber Austria (WKO) Christoph Leitl.

June 26, 2014

Voestalpine Plans Further Acquisitions

In an interview with the Financial Times, Voestalpine CEO Wolfgang Eder confirms his ambition to grow through acquisitions and to double its revenue by acquiring suitable targets in the special steel division in China and North America.

June 16, 2014

S&T Buys 48% Stake of Russia's Affair OOO for EUR 5.87 Million

By acquiring a huge stake in the Russian energy and software development company, Linz based S&T AG substantially expands its appliances segment and smart energy portfolio. Affair OOO group employs 600 employees; its annual revenues amount to EUR 70 million. S&T's consolidated revenue is set to rise in 2015 to EUR 440 million.

June 6, 2014

London Roadshow with Austrian Companies

Austrian Companies with Erste Group and the Vienna Stock Exchange on Road Show to London

January 27, 2014

Ten Capital Market Themes for 2014 by Raiffeisenbank

Leading indicators show a recovery of global growth.

December 11, 2013

Kapsch Lands Contract at Polish ADAC

Polish ADAC subsidiary hires Kapsch to optimize its call center.

October 9, 2013

Kapsch Wins Contract for GSM-R Network in Slovenia

A step towards European integration: train communications technology from Kapsch is used in more than half of all EU Member States.

September 10, 2013

Austria: Kapsch Wins Bid For 450 Mhz Frequency Band

Kapsch CarrierCom has acquired nine frequency blocks in the 450 MHz range. The invitation to tender had been announced by RTR GmbH last March.

August 21, 2013

Kapsch Group Reports Solid Fiscal Year with Revenue of EUR 928m

Revenue growth in the domestic market of Austria and America.

August 12, 2013

Kapsch and the Czech Road and Motorway Directorate ŘSD recognized for transportation technology

Seven to ten wrong-way drivers per month are discovered in the Czech Republic through the use of Austrian transportation technology

August 8, 2013

Kapsch TrafficCom Starts Collecting Tolls in Belarus

The costs of the toll system established by Kapsch TrafficCom in Belarus came at € 267m and starts operating now.

August 1, 2013

KapschTrafficCom Still Struggling in South Africa

The South African government cannot start the project since the state-controlled toll company is already in desperate straits. Further financial aids are not in sight.

July 25, 2013

Kapsch TrafficCom as Only Bidder in Slovenia.

Slovenia has cancelled the tender for the construction of an electronic toll system for trucks.

July 8, 2013

Kapsch Successfully Completes Interoperability Tests for GSM-R

Train communication systems from Kapsch CarrierCom successfully tested according to EU interoperability specifications.

June 28, 2013

Mitterlehner: Romania Offers New Chances for Austrian Economy

Austrian Economy Minister Reinhold Mitterlehner met his Romanian counterpart Varujan Vosganian in Vienna.

June 25, 2013

Zumtobel to Close Plant in Austria

Tridonic, which is part of listed light manufacturer Zumtobel Group, will close its plant in Fürstenfeld in the province of Styria. 100 employees will lose their jobs.