Lothar Walther, a specialist in gun barrels, sells to Rigeto

Stutt­gart – The share­hol­ders of Lothar Walt­her have sold the company to Rigeto Unter­neh­mer­ka­pi­tal GmbH (“Rigeto”) in a combi­ned share and asset deal. RÖDL served as the exclu­sive M&A advi­sor for the tran­sac­tion. The tran­sac­tion was execu­ted as part of a struc­tu­red, inter­na­tio­nal inves­tor process that targe­ted both stra­te­gic and finan­cial investors. 

With this sale, Lother Walter’s mana­ging partners—Dr. Frank Walt­her and Gerd Walther—are fina­li­zing the company’s succes­sion plan. The company will retain its opera­tio­nal inde­pen­dence, while Rigeto, as the new part­ner, will lay the ground­work for further growth. The parties have agreed not to disc­lose the finan­cial details. 

Lothar Walt­her will form the foun­da­tion of the WX Group, initia­ted by Rigeto, an indus­trial plat­form for precis­ion compon­ents for hand­guns and air guns in Europe and the United States. The WX Group will be gradu­ally expan­ded to include addi­tio­nal specia­li­zed manu­fac­tu­r­ers, which will bene­fit from the group’s combi­ned exper­tise in sales, exports, and compli­ance. The foun­da­tion is a stable civi­lian busi­ness in hunting and sports, supple­men­ted by struc­tu­rally growing demand from govern­ment agen­cies and the armed forces. 

Gerd Walt­her, mana­ging part­ner of Lothar Walt­her, explains: “My brot­her and I are the third gene­ra­tion to run Lothar Walt­her. It was clear to us that succes­sion should not only preserve the company but also help it grow. That’s exactly what convin­ced us about Rigeto—the idea of turning Lothar Walt­her into the plat­form for a growing group, where our brand opens doors to new custo­mers and other indus­try specia­lists. RÖDL has mana­ged this chal­len­ging process with great exper­tise and a clear under­stan­ding of our company, and has found the right part­ner for this jour­ney. We are actively support­ing the tran­si­tion and will conti­nue to advise the company even after it is complete.”

“We are very plea­sed to have supported the share­hol­ders of the Lothar Walt­her Group through this chal­len­ging inter­na­tio­nal process and to have contri­bu­ted our market exper­tise in metal proces­sing and the defense sector. The tran­sac­tion successfully combi­ned a long-term succes­sion plan for the family-owned busi­ness with a clear stra­te­gic deve­lo­p­ment outlook, opening up new growth oppor­tu­ni­ties and access to addi­tio­nal markets for the Group,” adds Rainer Miller, part­ner at RÖDL.

About Lothar Walther

Lothar Walt­her is an inde­pen­dent manu­fac­tu­rer of precis­ion barrels based in Königs­bronn. Foun­ded in 1925, this family-owned busi­ness is now run by the third gene­ra­tion and deve­lops and manu­fac­tures barrels for hunting, sports, and defense appli­ca­ti­ons. The group has a fully inte­gra­ted manu­fac­tu­ring process, produ­ces in Germany and the U.S., and offers a wide range of products and cali­bers. The company has a long history of custo­mer certi­fi­ca­ti­ons and opera­tes inter­na­tio­nally under the Lothar Walt­her brand. — www.lothar-walther.de

About Rigeto

Rigeto Unter­neh­mer­ka­pi­tal GmbH, head­quar­te­red in Munich, was foun­ded in 2014 and has since faci­li­ta­ted more than 50 tran­sac­tions invol­ving over 300 million euros in inves­ted capi­tal; the port­fo­lio compa­nies coll­ec­tively gene­rate over 500 million euros in reve­nue. Rigeto invests private capi­tal from entre­pre­neurs and entre­pre­neu­rial fami­lies, pursuing a long-term invest­ment approach aimed at deve­lo­ping and incre­asing the value of the compa­nies it supports. Its invest­ment acti­vi­ties focus on estab­lished medium-sized compa­nies in the DACH region that have a sustainable busi­ness model and are opera­ting profi­ta­bly. The most common reasons for invest­ment are busi­ness succes­sion and growth finan­cing. For compa­nies in these situa­tions, Rigeto is a highly expe­ri­en­ced and relia­ble part­ner. In addi­tion to provi­ding the neces­sary capi­tal, Rigeto brings, in parti­cu­lar, its exper­tise in the further deve­lo­p­ment of medium-sized compa­nies. — www.rigeto.de

Advi­sors to Lothar Walt­her’s share­hol­ders: RÖDL

M&A Advi­sory:
Rainer Miller, Part­ner, Stutt­gart – Over­all Project Management
Marcel Grätz, Mana­ger, Munich
Julian Kuscholke, Mana­ger, Munich
Niklas Henseling, Senior Asso­ciate, Stuttgart

Legal:
Kai Graf von der Recke, Part­ner, Stuttgart
Johan­nes Scher­zin­ger, Part­ner, Stuttgart
Chris­tian Speckert, Part­ner, Stuttgart
Matthias Schu­bert, Asso­ciate Part­ner, Hof
Amélie Unge­rer, Asso­ciate Part­ner, Stuttgart
Tugba Pollak, Senior Asso­ciate, Nuremberg
Maria Pingou, Asso­ciate, Stuttgart

Tax:
Dr. Tobias Schädle, Asso­ciate Part­ner, Nuremberg
— www.roedl.com

About RÖDL

RÖDL has been a trus­ted part­ner and pioneer since 1977. With legal services, tax consul­ting, audit & assu­rance, advi­sory & IT, and busi­ness process outsour­cing, our global team of over 6,000 employees deli­vers effec­tive solu­ti­ons across natio­nal borders. Forward-looking, inter­di­sci­pli­nary, and all under one roof. With a global mind­set and a local presence. At 117 of our own loca­ti­ons in 50 count­ries. In short: We lead the way—and make sustainable success possi­ble for your company. — www.roedl.com