Exit: BWK sells Xactools to Calpen Industries AB

Stutt­gart / Bönnig­heim — BWK GmbH Unter­neh­mens­be­tei­li­gungs­ge­sell­schaft (BWK) has sold its stake in Xactools GmbH, based in Bönnig­heim, to the Swedish company Calpen Indus­tries AB. As part of the tran­sac­tion, Calpen Indus­tries AB is acqui­ring all shares in Xactools. 

Xactools was foun­ded in 2012 and deve­lops and manu­fac­tures custo­­mer-speci­­fic auto­ma­tion solu­ti­ons in the field of measu­re­ment and test­ing tech­no­logy. The focus is on systems and special machi­nes for auto­ma­ted quality control in indus­trial manu­fac­tu­ring processes. 

BWK acqui­red a stake in Xactools in May 2018 as part of a succes­sion solu­tion. During the invest­ment phase, the diver­si­fi­ca­tion of the custo­mer base beyond the auto­mo­tive sector into the medi­cal tech­no­logy and tool­ma­king sectors was driven forward and the company’s commer­cial and finan­cial struc­tures were further deve­lo­ped in a targe­ted manner. — BWK has around EUR 300 million in invest­ment funds at its dispo­sal and curr­ently has around EUR 150 million inves­ted in 14 companies 

“In an incre­asingly chal­len­ging market envi­ron­ment, Xactools has posi­tio­ned itself very well thanks to its strong tech­no­lo­gi­cal foun­da­ti­ons and quali­fied employees. With Calpen Indus­tries, we are gaining a stra­te­gic owner who will support the long-term deve­lo­p­ment of the company and consis­t­ently pursue the succes­sion solu­tion,” says Dr. Ing. Bernd Berg­schnei­der, Spokes­man of the Manage­ment Board of BWK (Photo: BWK GmbH). “The deve­lo­p­ment of Xactools confirms our approach of provi­ding entre­pre­neu­rial support to medium-sized tech­no­logy compa­nies as part of succes­sion solu­ti­ons and setting them up speci­fi­cally for the next stage of growth,” adds Chris­tian Hieber, member of the BWK manage­ment team. 

Marvin Krebs, Mana­ging Direc­tor of Xactools GmbH, adds: “BWK has accom­pa­nied us as an entre­pre­neu­rial and long-term orien­ted share­hol­der, espe­ci­ally in the profes­sio­na­liza­tion of our commer­cial struc­tures and stra­te­gic deve­lo­p­ment. We are buil­ding on this toge­ther with Calpen Indus­tries AB.”

About BWK GmbH

BWK GmbH Unter­neh­mens­be­tei­li­gungs­ge­sell­schaft (www.bwk.de), based in Stutt­gart, is one of the oldest German private equity compa­nies and pursues a long-term invest­ment approach. The company, which focu­ses on medium-sized compa­nies, was foun­ded in 1990 and employs 13 people. BWK has around 300 million euros in invest­ment funds at its dispo­sal and curr­ently has around 150 million euros inves­ted in 14 compa­nies. — www.bwk.de