M&A season for KION Group: the company acquires Dematic
One year after announcing the acquisition of the Belgian automation specialist Egemin Group in May 2015 for 72 million euros and Retrotech in February 2016, KION Group makes another important and surprising addition to its portfolio by including the Dematic, a leading supplier of integrated automated technology, software and services to optimize the supply chain.
KION Group expects the purchase price for the shares to amount to approx. USD 2.1 billion, based on an enterprise value of Dematic of USD 3.25 billion.The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals and is expected to be closed in the course of the fourth quarter of 2016.
This acquisition will help KION Group create a full-range intralogistics solutions offering from manually operated industrial trucks to full automated warehouses and establish its position as a leader in intralogstics 4.0.
Dematic generated last year approx. USD 1.8 billion in revenue and achieved an adjusted EBIT of USD 166 million. With more than 100 locations in 22 countries, the company employs almost 6,000 skilled logistics professionals – including over 3,000 engineers in software development, R&D, engineering, project management and customer service. Dematic’s product and systems portfolio ranges from Automated Guided Vehicles (AGVs), palletizers, storage and picking equipment including automated storage and retrieval systems, sorters and conveyors to a leading integrated software platform and automation technologies and is a leading player in the USA, Europe, and worldwide.
The strong position that Dematic has in the US automation market will benefit the KION Group and help strenghten its lift truck business on this market. At the same time Dematic will leverage the KION Group’s service network and brand reputation in key markets like Europe, China and Brazil. The complementarity of the two companies is also a source of cost synergies from this combination. KION Group’s strong sales and service network together with Dematic’s sizeable installed base provides the basis for unlocking further revenue potential from services and systems upgrades.
“With the acquisition of Dematic we are substantially changing and enhancing what KION Group is and does – for further profitable growth in a quickly changing industry and digitalized world,” said KION Group’s CEO Gordon Riske. “We are becoming a unique provider of products, services and solutions. Like no other company in our industry, we can accompany every customer seamlessly on its journey to Industry 4.0 and Intralogistics 4.0 now and everywhere.”
“This transaction will be transformational to our industry. KION Group and Dematic together will design and deliver solutions that better position our customers to respond to dynamic demand,” said Ulf Henriksson, CEO of Dematic.
