Voith to Build Head Office in Heidenheim/Brenz

Heidenheim, Germany, 23 April 2007 -- Voith AG has decided to build a head office for the Voith Group of Companies in its original hometown of Heidenheim/Brenz in East Württemberg, Germany.

With this project, the family-owned enterprise Voith, represented in more than 40 countries with more than 250 locations, creates for the first time an optical and physical center for its 34,000 employees all over the world. The head office, whose construction was decided as Voith celebrates its 140th anniversary, underlines the growth of the company and points the way ahead into the future.

The EUR 35 million project will be planned and built by the internationally renowned architectural firm Murphy/Jahn, based in Chicago, Illinois, USA. Architect Helmut Jahn has designed a large number of high-profile buildings all over the world. Preparations for the project will start immediately. Construction itself will begin in 2008. Occupancy of the new head office is scheduled for the end of 2009. After completion, some 300 employees will work there on a floor space of 7000 m² .

With this architecturally pioneering project, Voith responds to the enormous international growth of the company in recent years, which has resulted in a significant increase of the number of employees, including the workforce in Heidenheim. The new building will accommodate the management board, the board members of the Group Divisions Voith Paper, Voith Turbo, Voith Siemens Hydro Power Generation, and Voith Industrial Services, their direct coworkers, and the Central Divisions of Voith AG. This door-to-door working community will be the ideal platform for setting the parameters for the further development and the continued growth of the Voith Group.

Founded in January 1867, with approximately 34,000 employees, a turnover of EUR 3.7 billion and over 250 locations world-wide, Voith is today one of Europe's large family-owned companies.