Sany Will Buy Cement-Pump Maker Putzmeister in Biggest China-German Deal

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Picking up nice assets on the cheap：the eurozone crisis is a god send。:thumb:

By Aaron Kirchfeld - Jan 28, 2012 1:27 AM GMT+0800

Sany Heavy Industry Co. (600031), the construction-equipment maker run by China's richest man, agreed to buy German concrete pump maker Putzmeister Holding GmbH in what they said is the largest Chinese-German transaction yet.

Sany and Chinese private equity company CITIC PE Advisors Ltd. will buy 100 percent of Putzmeister for an undisclosed price, according to an e-mailed statement today. Aichtal in Germany will become Sany's new headquarter for concrete machinery and Norbert Scheuch will remain in his position as the head of Putzmeister under the Chinese owner.

Putzmeister, which has 3,000 employees and sales of 570 million euros ($751 million), provided concrete pumps to quell the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan last year and the Chernobyl meltdown in the 1980s. Chinese companies are increasingly hunting for European targets. Chinese solar-panel maker LDK Solar Co. plans to buy Germany's Sunways AG (SWW) and Italian luxury-yacht builder Ferretti Group was sold to Shandong Heavy Industry Group-Weichai Group.

"With this merger Putzmeister and Sany will create a new and global market leader for concrete pumps," said Liang Wengen, chairman and founder of Sany, in the statement. "Putzmeister will remain as an independent brand with its own management within the Sany group."

To contact the reporter on this story: Aaron Kirchfeld in Frankfurt at [email protected]

Sany Will Buy Cement-Pump Maker Putzmeister in Biggest China-German Deal - Bloomberg

 

[W.G.Ewald]

If my name was Putzmeister, I would have had it changed.

 

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China's Sany to acquire Putzmeister

By Chris Bryant in Frankfurt

China has laid claim to a pillar of German industry after Sany Heavy Industry, the country's largest construction equipment group, said it would acquire Putzmeister, a Mittelstand company that makes high-tech concrete pumps.

The deal is among the largest in which a Chinese company acquires one of the family-owned, niche-focused, German engineering groups – the backbone of the German economy. The term Mittelstand covers Germany's legion of small and medium-sized family groups.

Sany Heavy Industry, whose chairman is China's richest man, and Citic PE Advisors, a Chinese private equity company, will acquire all of Putzmeister, with Citic retaining a minority shareholding. The parties declined to disclose a transaction price but people close to the deal said its value was somewhere in the region of €500m.

The Mittelstand's engineering prowess and strong brands are highly attractive to potential foreign suitors but tight family control has been a barrier to widespread Chinese takeovers in Germany.

The bid could herald a new era of Chinese dealmaking in Europe as Chinese companies look to "go global" and reduce their exposure to their domestic economy. Zoomlion, Sany's Chinese rival, bought Italy's concrete pumps maker Cifa in 2009.

Other German Mittelstand companies now in Chinese hands include Waldrich Coburg, a maker of milling machines, and Dürrkopp Adler, a maker of sewing machines.

"There will be surprise that a former star of the German economy and a hidden champion has been taken over by the Chinese. It's a wake-up call," said Hermann Simon, chairman of Simon-Kucher & Partners, a German consultancy.

"There is still a perception that Chinese companies produce only cheap wares. Sany is different – they are the vanguard of new Chinese competition."

In 2009 Sany Heavy Industry, which makes a wide range of machinery from excavators to mobile cranes, overtook Putzmeister as the world's largest concrete pumps manufacturer by sales. The Shanghai-listed company – often referred to as China's Caterpillar – wants to build a global Chinese construction equipment brand and already has plants in the US, Brazil, India and Germany.

But most of its sales are still at home where government measures have cooled the real estate market and reduced demand for construction equipment. In Europe, Sany has until now lacked a large sales and service network and established brand name.

Last year Sany opened a greenfield €100m research and development plant near Cologne – the biggest Chinese corporate investment in Europe – explaining that if it wanted to become a world-class company it needed to reach the best global manufacturing and engineering talent.

Putzmeister, based near Stuttgart, has about 3,000 employees. Revenues reached a record €1bn in 2007 but fell by about half during 2008 and 2009, leading to hundreds of job cuts.

Although the company has returned to growth and profitability, revenues last year were about €570m.

A person close to the deal said Karl Schlecht, 79, the company's founder, had had trouble finding a successor and had therefore sought an investor.

Putzmeister's truck-mounted boom pumps – normally used to pour concrete for new bridges or high-rise buildings – were used to help cool the Fukushima nuclear reactor. Putzmeister pumps were also used in the construction of Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest building.

Putzmeister's headquarters is set to become Sany's global non-Chinese centre for concrete equipment and will have a high degree of autonomy, the parties said. Say will continue to focus on the Chinese market.

Liang Wengen, Sany's chairman, said: "With this merger, Putzmeister and Sany will create a new and global market leader for concrete pumps."

Mr Schlecht said: "This merger is a global showcase transaction. Sany is one of the few large Chinese conglomerates which is personally operated by the founder, who is also the majority shareholder.

"[Liang Wengen] not only shares our entrepreneurial spirit, but also Putzmeister's vision and corporate values."

The transaction is subject to approval by regulatory authorities. Morgan Stanley advised Putzmeister.

China’s Sany to acquire Putzmeister - FT.com

 

[niceguy2011]

Sany is the no. 1 in the world. Only thing we need is its " made in German " brand.

 

[Armand2REP]

Sany is the no. 1 at world. Only thing we need is its " made in German " brand.

The hell you say, they need quite a bit more than that with 30% layoffs and a 50% wage cut.

 

[Defcon 1]

what is the amount value of the transaction????

 

[niceguy2011]

The hell you say, they need quite a bit more than that with 30% layoffs and a 50% wage cut.

Fake french, r u a white person? Dont be a coward.

 

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China's Largest Equipment Manufacturer Said Taking Stake in Schwing

01/25/2012

By Tudor Van Hampton in Las Vegas

Chinese manufacturer XCMG has taken out a stake in Germany-based Schwing, industry analysts have told ENR.

Details of the deal are sketchy though it is the subject of much talk here at the annual World of Concrete show, held Jan. 24-27 in Las Vegas. Schwing, a large exhibitor at the show, declined to comment.

"We prefer to communicate directly with our customers, not through the media," said Tom O'Malley, vice president of sales and marketing at Schwing America. XCMG, China's largest equipment manufacturer and the seventh-largest worldwide, could not be reached for comment.

Schwing may have become an investment target in part due to recent financial troubles, experts say. In 2010, Schwing America emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy in a period of deep cutbacks in concrete construction spending.

"The U.S. basically went to zero units in 2009, and it hasn't really bounced back," said one pump vendor at World of Concrete, who asked not to be named. "We're really not forecasting a steady increase until 2013."

The move could help XCMG compete with more established players globally. In 2008, Chinese producer Zoomlion took out a 60% stake in Italian pump maker CIFA in a deal worth $422 million.

"The concrete pumping business is really a huge business in China," said Frank Manfredi, whose Mundelein, Ill.-based firm, Manfredi & Associates, provides market research for heavy equipment. "They have a need for pumping massive volumes of concrete very high in the air. The Chinese have done a very good job of developing products that do that."

However, as Chinese manufacturers such as Sany, Zoomlion and XCMG have sought to expand exports, they have run up against a poor-quality perception even though many of the parts—engines, hydraulic pumps and controls—on Chinese machines are sourced globally. Investing in an established player is one way to overcome such stigma, experts say.

"I drive a Pontiac and my wife drives a Honda. My Pontiac was made in Australia, and my wife's Honda was made in Ohio," says David Wright, general manager for Sany America's concrete pumping division. "The market is global."

Other vendors responded favorably to the deal.

China's Largest Equipment Manufacturer Said Taking Stake in Schwing | ENR: Engineering News Record | McGraw-Hill Construction