30.01.2012

Sany buys Putzmeister

Chinese crane and equipment manufacturer Sany has acquired German concrete pump company Putzmeister for a sum said to be in the region of €360 million. Adding in Putzmeister’s debt takes the full cost of the business - the enterprise value- to around €500 million, although specific financial details have not been disclosed.

The deal has been done in partnership between Sany, which is acquiring 90 percent of the business and Chinese private equity firm Citic Advisors, which will acquire the remaining 10 percent.

Norbert Scheuch will remain as chief executive of Putzmeister and will join the Sany board. Sany says that it plans to make Putzmeister in Aichtal, near Stuttgart, its international headquarters for concrete machinery. Sany overtook Putzmeister as the world’s largest concrete pump producer in 2009.

Putzmeister employs 3,000 and reported revenues of €570 million last year with a profit of €1.5 million. It is privately held by founder Karl Schlecht, 79 and the Schlecht family trusts. Sany had revenues of around €4 billion in 2010, and employs 70,000, but is thought to have slipped back a little in 2011 as growth in its domestic market slowed.
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A Putzmeister pump

Liang Wengen, Chairman and founder of Sany, said: “With this merger Putzmeister and Sany will create a new and global market leader for concrete pumps. Putzmeister will remain as an independent brand with its own management within the Sany group. We are looking forward to work with the Putzmeister management, which made this business so successful”.

Karl Schlecht added: “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. In fact, Liang Wengen is one of China’s most successful entrepreneurs. He not only shares our entrepreneurial spirit, but also Putzmeister’s visions and corporate values.”

Vertikal Comment

This is Sany’s first international acquisition and could just herald a wave of such deals as Chinese manufacturers look to take a share of the international market and reduce their exposure on China.

Several crane and access companies now see this as the only way in the short term to make a serious impact on the western markets, while acquiring valuable technology and experience.