Girbau Sets Up a Subsidiary in the Dominican Republic

BARCELONA, SPAIN, January 15, 2011

This January Girbau S.A., one of the leading companies worldwide in the manufacture of laundry equipment, is opening a subsidiary in Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic.

After operating in the country for 18 years, the group has decided to set up a company with Girbau capital. According to the group's Vice-president Sales, MKT & Services, Toni Rubies, 'the opening of a new subsidiary in the Dominican Republic will help to provide a better service for the clients we have in the country, with a more direct and specialised service. The subsidiary will allow us to be more close to hand and responsive in building customer loyalty and accompanying our clients as they grow and mature'.

The new subsidiary is the first demonstration of the strategy of expanding in mature markets where Girbau has a high penetration share. 'In markets where we have a substantial number of machines, our clients require second generation services such as maintenance contracts, assistance in laundry management and proposals for continuous improvement measures. It is yet another demonstration of the commitment to one of the key values that Girbau has shown since its beginnings: closeness to the client' adds Rubies.

Girbau has a high penetration share in the Dominican Republic market. Its leading clients include hotel chains and the country's main hospital centres.

The Dominican Republic's subsidiary joins the other ten subsidiaries that the group has in different parts of the world.

The Girbau Group (www.girbau.com)

With its 50 years of experience, the Girbau Group is a worldwide reference model in the manufacture of machinery for laundries of any size, installed in businesses of all kinds: hotels, hospitals, restaurants, industrial laundries, coin-op laundries, campsites, cruise ships, etc.

The group's business model involves offering comprehensive laundry solutions based on efficiency, profitability and sustainability, by constantly reinvesting in innovation and the objective of continuous improvement.

The company, with central office in Barcelona (Spain), has four of its own production centres, and has subsidiaries in Germany, Argentina, Brazil, Cuba, the United Arab Emirates, the United States, France, Italy, the United Kingdom and China, plus a network of distributors and technical services in over 90 countries around the world. In 2008 the Girbau Group had a turnover of 96 million euros.