AURELIUS AG : AURELIUS sells Consinto to DATAGROUP AG

• Successful further development and sustainable profitability at Consinto since acquisition by AURELIUS
• Sales price €17 million plus earnout
• DATAGROUP intends to significantly expand IT consultancy and outsourcing services

Munich, 20 January 2012 - AURELIUS (ISIN: DE000A0JK2A8) is selling its subsidiary Consinto GmbH, Siegburg (Germany), to DATAGROUP AG (WKN A0JC8S). The sales price consists of two components: an immediate payment of €17 million, plus an earnout element, which could take the total price to well over €20 million. The transaction should be closed by 31 January 2012.

AURELIUS acquired Consinto (formerly Thales Information Systems GmbH) in 2008 from the French Thales group, as the German IT consultancy did not fit with the core company strategy. Consinto, based in Siegburg (North Rhine-Westphalia), is a leading, medium-sized, independent IT consulting firm with its own data centre, more than 30 years' experience in the sector, and prestigious clients from a variety of industries. Thanks to its detailed, in-depth knowledge and outstanding technological competence, Consinto is able to develop tailor-made solutions, which address the clients' core processes. Today, Consinto has around 350 employees at nine locations in Germany, and in 2011 generated a turnover of approximately €50 million.

Successful further development through AURELIUS

Over the past three years, the company has been successfully developed further with the active support of AURELIUS. In this time, Consinto was able to achieve considerable growth (2011: plus 13 %) and sustainable profitability, despite what was a difficult economic climate in some respects.

Assisted by AURELIUS, the company made substantial investments in its data centre, which led to the creation of a leading technological platform. On this basis, it was possible to acquire numerous new outsourcing customers. In addition, Consinto founded a subsidiary under the brand name "Inshore Software Service" to provide remote application support and maintenance for various technology platforms. This approach of "nearshoring made in Germany" perfectly completed the company's range of services and it successfully branched out into a new market segment. In order to improve Consinto's position, extensive investments were made to further develop and redevelop industry-specific solutions. This significantly increased market and customer awareness of Consinto. During the company's association with the AURELIUS group, its partnership with SAP has been greatly reinforced and expanded to include highly innovative solutions and products. In 2011, Consinto attained certification to ISO 27001 in order to have its existing IT security management system externally appraised. This certification, which is still relatively unknown but rapidly growing in significance, gave the company a competitive advantage.

Strategic milestone for DATAGROUP

One of DATAGROUP's key strategic objectives is to substantially increase the proportion of its value creation in high quality IT consultancy and outsourcing services. To achieve this objective, DATAGROUP acquired BGS AG in January 2011, and has now agreed with AURELIUS to take over Consinto. The complementary services offered by both companies and their concordant profile for customers are exceptionally good qualifications for Consinto's successful development within into DATAGROUP.

About Consinto

CONSINTO stands for the core competencies of Consulting, System Integration and Operation. The company is a medium-sized, independent IT consulting firm with its own data centre, more than 20 years' experience with SAP, and prestigious customers from industries including automotive & manufacturing, aerospace, energy & utilities, and banking & insurance.

About DATAGROUP

DATAGROUP supplies the whole of Germany with IT services, IT solutions and consulting. DATAGROUP grows organically and through acquisitions. With over 1,300 employees and 18 locations in Germany, DATAGROUP is one of the top 13 companies in its sector. For further information please visit www.datagroup.de.

About AURELIUS

AURELIUS AG is an industrial holding company with a long term investment horizon, specialising in acquiring companies with the potential for development. AURELIUS has many years of experience in investment and management, in various different industries and sectors. AURELIUS uses its management skills and the necessary financial means to invest in innovative products, sales and research in order to further develop its partnerships. With offices in Munich and London, as well as shareholdings in Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Ireland, Poland, the Netherlands and Switzerland, AURELIUS is active throughout Europe. Shares in AURELIUS AG are traded on the Open Market of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (FWB) under ISIN DE000A0JK2A8. For further information, please visit www.aureliusinvest.de.