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Lights on: Knorr Bremse wants to buy Hella
Hot news from the supplier industry: The Munich-based company Knorr-Bremse has entered the bidding race for Hella. A new heavyweight could emerge alongside Bosch, Conti and Co.
Lights on: Knorr Bremse wants to buy Hella
“Knorr-Bremse AG confirms that it is fundamentally interested in acquiring the package of 60% of the shares in HELLA GmbH & Co. KGaA held by the founding family.” With these words, the company dropped a real bombshell in a broadcast. In fact, those responsible at Knorr Bremse were reacting to rumors that had previously been spread by the German media and had essentially the same content. That the people of Munich are interested in taking over the Lippstadt company.
It is now said that the talks are at a very early stage. “It cannot be foreseen at this point whether a transaction will take place,” was the wording of the short statement from Knorr Bremse. If the company were to get the chance, a group would be created with sales of around 13 billion euros - number four behind the German auto supplier giants Bosch, Continental and ZF.
Big and beautiful
On behalf of the shareholder families Hueck and Röpke, the investment bank Rothschild is looking for a buyer for their majority stake. Together with a stronger partner, Hella, which was founded over 100 years ago, will be better able to cope with the upheaval in the industry from the perspective of the families, according to industry circles regarding the underlying motive. Hella has, of course, specialized in electronics and will therefore be less affected by the upheaval in the automotive industry than other players, especially those who have specialized in combustion engines or lubricants, for example. With an annual turnover of almost six billion euros, Hella ranks in the middle of the industry in terms of size, according to the German “Handelsblatt”.
Together, Hella and Knorr Bremse would have enormous economies of scale and would be a stronger partner to the large manufacturers led by VW. But a merger would also make sense in terms of the product portfolio. The two companies have little overlap. Hella is strong in electronics and Knorr - nomen est omen - in brakes; In any case, both are also needed in the age of electromobility. Knorr Bremse has been under pressure since the ZF Group took over the billion-dollar brake manufacturer Wabco.
The shareholders' share package of over 60 percent of Hella even opens the way for a complete takeover. With the acquisition, the buyer would even be legally obliged to make a takeover offer for the outstanding shares. Hella is valued at around 6.4 billion euros on the stock exchange. Of course, there is competition for Knorr Bremse. Among other things, financial investors are also said to be interested in the traditional German company. A decision about who to ultimately enter into detailed negotiations with should be made over the summer.