Underwriters Laboratories' Management System Registration Business to Merge with Germany's DQS
Deal Combines Geographic Strength to Achieve Top Five Global Market Position
NORTHBROOK April 1, 2008 - Underwriters Laboratories (UL), a world leader of product safety testing services, announced today that its Management System Solutions business will merge with DQS, a leading global registrar in independent third party management system certification services headquartered in Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
Under the agreement, the new entity will operate as a separate, stand-alone organization, with UL maintaining an ownership share. John Schmidt, UL's Chief Development Officer, will sit on its Supervisory Board. Financial terms have not been disclosed.
"This is a synergistic joining of companies with complementary geographic strengths and a shared commitment to customer service and technical excellence," said Keith Williams, UL's President and CEO. "By combining forces, we will achieve a top five global market position in the management system certification industry, and we will have the capacity to serve as a leading provider of these services in every major geography."
This merger will meet the growing market demand to offer a full suite of services to customers who are expanding globally. It will also enable UL to provide a broader scope of management system registration services to better serve its valued customers.
"Our businesses share a dedication to ensuring the sustainable success of management systems and processes," added Stefan Heinloth, Managing Director of DQS. "As organizations of all sizes and scope of industry face more and more challenges due to the speed of change within both domestic and international markets, the need for superior, secure management systems becomes paramount."
About Underwriters Laboratories:
Underwriters Laboratories is an independent, not-for-profit product safety certification organization that has been writing Standards for Safety, testing products and involved in conformity assessment for well over a century. UL evaluates more than 19,000 types of products, components, materials and systems annually with 21 billion UL Marks appearing on 71,000 manufacturers' products in the global marketplace each year. UL has also issued nearly 9,000 registrations to management system standards and has performed more than 12,000 assessments in 62 countries. UL's worldwide family of companies and network of service providers includes 62 laboratory, testing and certification facilities serving customers with business operations on six continents. Visit www.UL.com.
About DQS:
DQS, a German Registrar for Management Systems, was founded in 1985 by the German Institute for Standardization (DIN) and the German Society for Quality (DGQ) as the first German registrar for management systems. With offices in more than 30 countries, DQS is one of the most renowned companies in the international certification business today. Registered office is Frankfurt am Main, Germany. DQS' range of services comprises assessments according to more than 70 recognized standards and technical or industry-specific specifications, as well as assessments to intra-company requirements. To performing these services, DQS has more than 1,500 auditors available worldwide.
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