Tognum founds Joint Venture with Japanese trading company Marubeni

• Joint venture combines mtu technology with Marubeni’s sales expertise
• Significant improvement in market access

Friedrichshafen, 17 November 2008. The Tognum Group today concluded an agreement on a joint venture with Japanese Marubeni Corp. “Marubeni, a leading trading company with a corporate history of 150 years and total assets of more than five trillion Yen (approx. 36.5 billion Euros) is an ideal partner for us“, explains Volker Heuer, President and CEO of Tognum AG. One of the aims of this Joint Venture is to gain enhanced access to the Japanese market for off-highway applications.

“With this joint venture we intend to drive the mtu and mtu Onsite Energy brands forward decisively in the industrial, navy and defense and distributed energy sectors”, says Peter Kneipp, Director of Tognum subsidiary MTU Asia. “Our aim is to achieve above-average growth in all the relevant off-highway markets.” In future, the joint venture will assume sole and exclusive responsibility for the sale of mtu products in Japan.
Meanwhile, Mr. Takao Asahara, COO of Marubeni’s Transportation Machinery Division, comments, “Joining forces with mtu, a world-leading diesel engine manufacturer, in a distribution business is an excellent opportunity for Marubeni to better serve the needs of our diverse customer base in Japan.”

The new company will operate under the name mtu Marubeni Co., Ltd. with offices in Tokyo and Osaka. On 1st January 2009, Marubeni will take over 49 percent of MTU Asia subsidiary MTU Japan Co. Ltd. Björn Dickehut, previously Director of MTU Japan, will be appointed CEO of mtu Marubeni. CFO of the new Joint Venture will be Ryoichi Kobatake, who previously served as Marubeni’s General Manager for the Defense Systems Department. In addition, MTU Asia will have overall responsibility for customer services, network management and operations. To ensure that activities are optimally aligned with Japanese Marubeni’s existing sales organization, responsibility for sales will lie with Marubeni.

MTU Japan and Marubeni have enjoyed successful cooperation in the defense technology sector since 2003. Marubeni has been maintaining close links with MTU Japan’s private and public sector customers for many years.