Engineering office Kurt Freudenberg merges with Zahnen Technik

Wetz­lar / Röder­mark / Arzfeld — The engi­nee­ring office Dipl.-Ing. KURT FREUDENBERG GmbH (“Freu­den­berg”) has a new owner as part of a succes­sion plan: The buyer of the shares is Zahnen Tech­nik GmbH (“Zahnen”), a provi­der of inte­gra­ted solu­ti­ons for water and waste­wa­ter projects from Rhine­­land-Pala­­ti­­nate, which is expan­ding its presence in the Rhine-Main region with the take­over. The team of Nach­fol­ge­kon­tor, one of the leading M&A advi­sory bouti­ques for German SMEs and part of the Syntra Group, exclu­si­vely advi­sed the seller and mana­ging part­ner Thomas Mauder on the transaction.

Freu­den­berg, based in Röder­mark, specia­li­zes prima­rily in EI&C tech­no­logy (elec­tri­cal, measu­re­ment and control tech­no­logy). The company is also active in the fields of water and waste­wa­ter tech­no­logy, pump tech­no­logy and indus­trial auto­ma­tion. The range of services extends from plan­ning, produc­tion and instal­la­tion to main­ten­ance and other services. With twelve highly quali­fied employees, Freu­den­berg almost exclu­si­vely serves public clients — inclu­ding muni­ci­pal water suppli­ers as well as water and sewage treat­ment plants, where the company enjoys an excel­lent reputation. 

Merger with inter­na­tio­nal family business

As a result of the tran­sac­tion that has now taken place, the regio­nally stron­gly ancho­red company will become part of an inter­na­tio­nally active, inno­va­tive company: Zahnen Tech­nik GmbH from Arzfeld was foun­ded in 1958 and today opera­tes world­wide as an expe­ri­en­ced part­ner for pionee­ring water treat­ment and custo­mi­zed process tech­no­logy. The company designs systems for water and waste­wa­ter treat­ment and has deve­lo­ped intel­li­gent, cloud-based soft­ware for know­ledge manage­ment and process auto­ma­tion. Zahnen Tech­nik also offers compre­hen­sive services and digi­tal solu­ti­ons for moni­to­ring exis­ting systems. With over 200 employees at its sites in Üttfeld and Arzfeld, Rhine­­land-Pala­­ti­­nate, the company is pursuing a tech­­no­­logy-driven growth strategy. 

Since 2021, Zahnen Tech­nik has been supported by addi­tio­nal share­hol­ders, inclu­ding in parti­cu­lar the invest­ment company HBL Invest­ment­Part­ners GmbH (“HBL”), which specia­li­zes in medium-sized compa­nies from the DACH region.

With the inte­gra­tion of Freu­den­berg, Zahnen not only gains expe­ri­en­ced employees, but also expands its regio­nal presence to include the Rhine-Main area. Both compa­nies are now combi­ning their comple­men­tary strengths. The tran­sac­tion thus enables syner­gies to be lever­a­ged, both geogra­phi­cally and in terms of exper­tise. Herbert Zahnen, Mana­ging Part­ner of Zahnen, comm­ents: “The acqui­si­tion ideally comple­ments our port­fo­lio. With the addi­tio­nal exper­tise and the strong team, we are pooling our strengths and crea­ting new syner­gies — both spati­ally and profes­sio­nally. This will enable us to further expand our market posi­tion and provide our custo­mers with even more targe­ted support.” 

Strong conso­li­da­tion trend leads to a high number of transactions

The part­ner­ship is being concluded in a lively indus­try envi­ron­ment. The water indus­try has been expe­ri­en­cing an incre­asingly strong conso­li­da­tion trend for years, driven in parti­cu­lar by the shortage of skil­led workers and regio­nal compe­ti­tion. Many larger market play­ers are inte­res­ted in acqui­ring well-trai­­ned person­nel through take­overs and expan­ding their respec­tive catch­ment areas. In addi­tion, incre­asing pres­sure from extreme weather events is ensu­ring that demand for water-rela­­ted services is growing very quickly. The high volume of orders acts as a cata­lyst for tran­sac­tions, as the syner­gies released in the process increase the compa­nies’ performance. 

For Nach­fol­ge­kon­tor, the take­over marks the fifth successfully comple­ted tran­sac­tion in the water and waste­wa­ter tech­no­logy sector in just a few years. For exam­ple, the team led by Sebas­tian Wissig, Part­ner at Nach­fol­ge­kon­tor, alre­ady advi­sed WBH Water GmbH on its sale to the Berlin-based KF Unter­neh­mens­gruppe GmbH and the take­over of the auto­ma­tion specia­list GEAL (Gesell­schaft für Elektro‑, Auto­­ma­­ti­­sie­rungs- und Leit­tech­nik mbH) by ELIQUO WATER GROUP GmbH. 

Consul­tants Inge­­nieur-Büro Dipl.-Ing. KURT FREUDENBERG GmbH: Unüt­zer / Wagner / Werding (“UWW”) in Wetzlar 

Lawyer Jan Ziese­nitz provi­ded legal advice to the seller during the tran­sac­tion and ensu­red a smooth and legally compli­ant process with his compre­hen­sive advice.

About Nach­fol­ge­kon­tor

Nach­fol­ge­kon­tor was foun­ded in 2014 and specia­li­zes in succes­sion plan­ning for small and medium-sized, predo­mi­nantly owner-mana­­ged compa­nies. The dedi­ca­ted team of experts advi­ses medium-sized clients from a wide range of indus­tries — from auto­ma­tion to cons­truc­tion and trade to soft­ware deve­lo­p­ment — on the acqui­si­tion and sale of compa­nies as well as succes­sion plan­ning. The focus is on tran­sac­tions with volu­mes of up to 20 million euros. — Nach­fol­ge­kon­tor is part of the part­­ner-led Syntra Group, which also includes the M&A consul­tancy Syntra Corpo­rate Finance, which specia­li­zes in company acqui­si­ti­ons and sales in the lower mid-market segment. — https://www.nachfolgekontor.de

About Inge­­nieur-Büro Dipl.-Ing. KURT FREUDENBERG GmbH
https://www.ib-freudenberg.de/

About Zahnen Tech­nik GmbH

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