In its 108-year history, the Hansgrohe company, headquartered in Schiltach/Black Forest, has acquired a reputation within the sanitary industry as a leading innovator in technology and design. With its showers, fixtures and shower systems, Hansgrohe creates the original products that make the bathroom more functional, more comfortable and more beautiful. In 2007, the Company generated sales of EUR 661 million with its Axor, Hansgrohe, Pharo and Pontos brands (2006: EUR 569 million)16% gain year-on-year. The Company creates new jobs both in Germany and abroad on the back of this performance. The Hansgrohe Group currently has a global workforce of about 3,200 employees, with nearly two-thirds of them working in Germany. The Company, which takes tough action against product piracy and intellectual property theft, manufactures its products in six German plants, in France, the Netherlands, in the U.S. and in China.