Schrobenhausen, Germany - In recent months, the BAUER Group has been working hard on a strategic realignment in the area of deep drilling. The equipment business in the USA has also been expanded suitably.

Reorientation in deep drilling technology

One major step for implementation of this new strategy was termination of the joint venture with Schlumberger in July 2020. With termination of the joint venture, Bauer reacquired all shares of BAUER Manufacturing LLC in the USA and BAUER Deep Drilling GmbH in Germany.

The joint venture was launched in 2015 to further promote the development and construction of large, standardized land-based deep drilling rigs for the oil and gas industry in North America. To that end, the Equipment segment of the BAUER Group contributed automation technology for deep drilling rigs to the joint venture. The original focus before the start of the joint venture also included applications relating to geothermal heat.

Now the Water, Energy & Mining business division of BAUER Maschinen GmbH has combined all activities under the umbrella of deep drilling technology. The goal of the new strategic orientation is to harness existing knowledge to develop customized applications for customers and implement projects together. The focus is on European and Asian markets.

"Our aim is to develop a solution and project in cooperation with the customer. We have a great deal of expertise at our company," says Michael Stomberg, CEO of BAUER AG. "This means we don't want to just offer a standardized range of equipment for deep drilling technology - we want to deliver strategic, customized solutions for our customers. Especially in recent years, the area of geothermal heat has experienced a revival. This is due to the transition from fossil raw materials to sustainable sources of energy for reasons of ecological necessity."

Expansion of well drilling business in the USA

Another strategic step is expansion of the well drilling business in the USA. The American subsidiary of BAUER Maschinen GmbH, BAUER Equipment America Inc., concluded an asset deal with Astec Industries, Inc. in October 2020 to take over the water well drilling rig business, established in the USA under the GEFCO brand, in order to ensure a successful market entry. Bauer will continue the production and sale of equipment in Conroe, Texas.

Termination of the joint venture with Schlumberger has freed up production capacities at BAUER Manufacturing LLC, which can be utilized well for the construction of equipment and the provision of services. GEFCO most recently generated an annual revenue of approximately USD 30 million and is an important manufacturer in the North American well drilling industry.

"The chance to take over GEFCO was an excellent opportunity for us to enter the US market for water well drilling rigs. We consider the water well drilling market overall to be a growing market that we wish to develop further. Alongside the Prakla brand, with which we continue to focus on deep water well drilling outside of North America, we now have a range of equipment under the GEFCO brand that has been designed specifically for the North American market," says Michael Stomberg.

About Bauer

The BAUER Group is a leading provider of services, equipment and products related to ground and groundwater. With over 110 subsidiaries, Bauer operates a worldwide network on all continents.

The operations of the Group are divided into three future-oriented segments with a high potential for synergy: Construction, Equipment and Resources. The Construction segment offers new and innovative specialist foundation engineering services alongside the established ones, and carries out foundation and excavation work, cut-off walls and ground improvements worldwide. Bauer is a world market leader in the Equipment segment and provides a full range of equipment for specialist foundation engineering as well as for the exploration, mining and extraction of natural resources. In the Resources segment, Bauer focuses on highly innovative products and services in the areas of water, environment and natural resources.

Bauer profits greatly from the collaboration between its three separate business divisions, enabling the Group to position itself as an innovative and highly specialized provider of products and services for demanding projects in specialist foundation engineering and related markets. Bauer therefore offers appropriate solutions for the world's major challenges, such as urbanization, growing infrastructure needs, the environment, and water, oil and gas.

The BAUER Group was founded in 1790 and is based in Schrobenhausen, Bavaria. In 2019, it employed some 12,000 people in around 70 countries and achieved total Group revenues of EUR 1.6 billion. BAUER Aktiengesellschaft is listed in the Prime Standard segment of the German stock market.

More information can be found at http://www.bauer.de.

Contact:
Christopher Wolf
Investor Relations
BAUER Aktiengesellschaft
BAUER-Strasse 1
86529 Schrobenhausen, Germany
Phone: +49 8252 97-1797
Fax: +49 8252 97-2900
[email protected]
www.bauer.de