KraussMaffei sold to ChemChina for $1 billion

Toronto-based private equity firm Onex Group has sold KraussMaffei Group, a major global plastics machinery maker headquartered in Munich, Germany, to state-owned China National Chemical Corporation for 925 million euros (US$1 billion).

From left: Ting Cai, chairman and CEO of China National Chemical Equipment Co. Ltd. (CNCE); Frank Stieler, CEO of KraussMaffei Group, and Chen Junwei, CEO of the ChemChina Finance Co. Ltd.

Onex bought KraussMaffei from U.S. investor firm Madison Capital in 2012 in a 568 million-euro deal.

China National Chemical Corporation – called ChemChina for short – supplies agrochemicals, rubber products, chemical materials and specialty chemicals, industrial equipment, and petrochemical processing. Within its agrochemicals business is a large portfolio of companies including Hubei Sanonda, Cangzhou Dahua, Shandong Dacheng, Jiangsu Anpon, Anhui Petrochemicals, and Huaihe Chemicals.

Founded in 2004, Beijing-based ChemChina is said to be China’s largest chemicals group, having generated revenues of around 37 billion euros in 2015 with approximately 140,000 employees, of whom 45,000 are located outside China. The company’s most recent acquisition was the high-end tire manufacturer Pirelli in 2015.

“With ChemChina, we have found a strategic and long-term oriented investor who has been interested in our Company for many years,” Frank Stieler, CEO of the KraussMaffei Group, said in a statement.

The statement also said that KraussMaffei will continue to operate in its current corporate structure, that KraussMaffei’s headquarters will remain in Munich, and that the operating and corporate responsibility for the company will stay in Europe.

“We are strengthening our company with one of the leading global engineering groups, encompassing a 178-year corporate history. In doing so, we expect that KraussMaffei Group will maintain its identity and independence,” said Jianxin Ren, chairman of ChemChina. “We are investing in the company’s strong management team and its technological expertise, which we believe will benefit our Chinese subsidiaries and position the chemical machinery business of ChemChina. The growth potential of the KraussMaffei Group is tremendous, especially through improved access to the Chinese market, which we can make possible. We expect trends in the automotive industry towards advanced manufacturing and lightweight components will provide a huge development opportunity for the high-end plastic injection molding industry.”

In 2014, KraussMaffei – which employs approximately 4,500 employees globally – generated revenues of approximately 1.1 billion euros, and is expected to achieve year-on-year revenue growth of approximately 10 per cent for 2015.

The deal is expected to close in the first half of 2016.