Following the news that Siemens AG is to buy an 80% stake in Amper Elasa, the public telephone manufacturing unit of Amper SA, with which it will also jointly create Siemens Telecomunicaciones SA (CI No 2,925), the German multinational has announced that it has extended its Getafe, Madrid plant, creating a new area for the manufacture of telecommunications components. At the official opening of the new complex, unveiled by the president of the autonomous community of Madrid, Alberto Ruiz Galla rdon, the managing director of Siemens SA, Eduardo Montes, declared that the company had invested $20.9m in conditioning the new plant, including the purchase of testing equipment for the new production lines. Of this sum, $13.2m will be earmarked for Groupe Special Mobile telephony and the remainder for radio telecommunications equipment for both civil and military use. Until now, the factory has produced electronic equipment for industry and the medical sector. The Getafe plant will now beco me the world production center for the high frequency transmission line, while it will cover cellular operator Airtel SA’s requirements for digital base stations. Last year, production at the factory totaled $16.3m; this figure is expected to double in 1996 and top $70m by the end of 1997.
