Kaba Buys Huge Chinese Lock Manufacturer

Located in Taishan City, Guangdong Province, Wah Yuet has a manufacturing space of 280,000 square metres. The firm produces a wide range of cylinder locks, keys and key blanks that are distributed mainly by American and European business partners.Kaba Group is acquiring 80 percent of the company’s share capital from K.S. Ng, the founder and sole shareholder of Wah Yuet.This acquisition is set to enhance Kaba’s participation in the U.S. market of security applications significantly. Kaba expects to see an annual growth of more than 10 per cent.The Asia Pacific region will generate about 10 percent of Kaba’s revenue and increase its EBIT margin still further.Wah Yuet will handle manufacturing orders that Kaba has previously given to outside companies. This could generate multiple millions of Swiss Francs each year.It is currently expected that the acquisition of the Wah Yuet Group willbe completed within the third quarter of 2006.