Two major product-testing and certification companies in Germany, TUV Rheinland and TUV Sued, said Wednesday they would seek approval from regulators for their merger plans, according to dpa. With offices or laboratories in 60 nations, including a testing centre in Yokohoma, Japan, the new group will gain number-two spot in the world market for certifying products and safety. The merged company's annual sales of 2.2 billion euros (3.2 billion dollars) will lag only a little behind the 2.6 billion euros of turnover scored by SGS of Switzerland. With the merger, they will leapfrog past German group Dekra and French company Bureau Veritas. The sector, worth 25 billion euros annually, hands out the stickers that assure consumers that a hair dryer will not electrocute them, elevators will not crash and nuclear reactors will not melt down. Rheinland and Sued will employ 25,000 people between them and said the merger would lead to more hirings. Company officials said in Dusseldorf they had not yet applied to German and European competition regulators for permission to merge, but would do so in the next few days. Both groups were established in the 19th century as industrial societies with concessions to regularly test the safety of steam boilers.
