New business areas: 1997 – 1999.

RETHMANN continued to expand at a steady rate at the end of the 90s venturing into new fields of business and organizational forms. The activities in Western and Eastern Europe also continued to grow as well as those in South-East Asia.

In 1997, RETHMANN participated in the Frankfurter Entsorgungs- und Service GmbH (FES) (waste management and services) using the business form of a Public Private Partnership and, in 1998, became a shareholder of Wirtschaftsbetriebe Oberhausen (WBO).

In 1998, RETHMANN then took over the logistics service provider, Rhenus AG, from Mülheimer Stinnes AG thus enabling it to enter the business sector of port and contract logistics.

RETHMANN AG & Co., which is owned by the sons, Klemens, Ludger, Georg and Martin, (each 24%) and by Norbert Rethmann (4%), had now established itself in three main business fields: RETHMANN AG & Co. KG, SARIA Bio-Industries AG & Co. KG and RHENUS-Logistik AG & Co. KG. By 1998, the RETHMANN Group had become one of the 100 largest companies in Germany. Worldwide it had over 14,000 employees.

In 1999, the subject of "water" began to grow in importance. The range of services in this area was extended to include the production and supply of drinking water in addition to the business area of wastewater treatment which had been a successful division since 1983. RETHMANN also purchased a share in the municipal services company belonging to the city of Gotha for this area of business. Public Private Partnerships and Company Partnerships were becoming more and more important for RETHMANN.