Syngroh Capital acquires majority stake in Kraft & Bauer from DBAG

Frank­furt am Main/Schiltach/Holzgerlingen — Syng­roh Capi­tal GmbH (“Syng­roh Capi­tal”), the invest­ment company of the Grohe family of entre­pre­neurs, is acqui­ring a majo­rity stake in Kraft & Bauer Holding GmbH (“Kraft & Bauer”), a leading supplier of fire protec­tion systems for machine tools. A corre­spon­ding agree­ment was concluded with the previous owners, the “DBAG Fund VII” fund advi­sed by Deut­sche Betei­li­gungs AG (DBAG), as well as the foun­ding Bauer family and mana­ging direc­tor Frank Foddi. The foun­ding Bauer family and Frank Foddi will re-invest in Kraft & Bauer as part of the tran­sac­tion. The parties have agreed not to disc­lose the purchase price or further details of the transaction.

Kraft & Bauer, based in Holz­ger­lin­gen, Swabia, specia­li­zes in the deve­lo­p­ment, produc­tion, instal­la­tion and servicing of fire protec­tion systems for a wide range of machine tool types. The focus is on auto­ma­tic, micro­­pro­ces­­sor-control­­led extin­gu­is­hing systems, with which the company equips machi­nes from leading manu­fac­tu­r­ers and renow­ned indus­trial compa­nies. In addi­tion to its head­quar­ters in Holz­ger­lin­gen, the company, which employs around 110 people, has 19 service loca­ti­ons in Germany, Switz­er­land, Italy, Slova­kia and China. 

The systems from Kraft & Bauer are used in machi­nes with an increased fire risk, such as turning, milling and grin­ding machi­nes that work with parti­cu­larly high precis­ion and speed. The sensor-based protec­tion systems detect a fire and auto­ma­ti­cally initiate the extin­gu­is­hing process. They are either instal­led directly on the machi­nes by employees or supplied to the machine manu­fac­tu­r­ers as kits. Regu­lar inspec­tion and main­ten­ance of the extin­gu­is­hing systems rounds off the company’s range of services. Kraft & Bauer thus offers fire protec­tion tech­no­logy that guaran­tees opti­mum func­tion­a­lity, effi­ci­ency and reliability. 

With Syng­roh Capi­tal, Kraft & Bauer has gained a long-term orien­ted part­ner for the next phase of the company’s growth. The invest­ment company of the Grohe family stands for a unique combi­na­tion of sound finan­cial exper­tise, indus­try expe­ri­ence and entre­pre­neur­ship. It will contri­bute its expe­ri­ence and know­ledge to Kraft & Bauer as an active share­hol­der and thus support the company in its further inter­na­tio­nal expan­sion and the deve­lo­p­ment of the service and instal­la­tion busi­ness, as well as tapping into new growth poten­tial. Syng­roh Capi­tal does not invest fund-linked and without prede­ter­mi­ned matu­ri­ties and can ther­e­fore think and plan for the long term in its invest­ments. This provi­des Kraft & Bauer with the desi­red opera­tio­nal continuity. 

Richard Grohe, Mana­ging Direc­tor of Syng­roh Capi­tal, said: “We are enthu­si­a­stic about compa­nies with convin­cing product and service ideas and entre­pre­neu­rial fire — in the case of Kraft & Bauer, the latter is not only inher­ent in the system in a figu­ra­tive sense. Within just three deca­des, the Bauer family has built up a company for highly inno­va­tive extin­gu­is­hing systems for precis­ion machi­nes and estab­lished it on the market in the long term. This success would not have been possi­ble without entre­pre­neu­rial passion. A convin­cing range of services, coupled with Swabian engi­nee­ring spirit and a high level of dyna­mism, are excel­lent prere­qui­si­tes for further growth. We look forward to support­ing the Bauer family of entre­pre­neurs and the company’s manage­ment in the process of further inter­na­tio­na­liza­tion and the further expan­sion of the business.”

Klaus Bauer, repre­sen­ta­tive of the foun­ding family of Kraft & Bauer, said: “It was important to our family to conti­nue to deve­lop Kraft & Bauer in a future-orien­­ted manner while main­tai­ning opera­tio­nal conti­nuity in the inte­rests of relia­bi­lity for our custo­mers. With Syng­roh Capi­tal and the Grohe family, we now have part­ners at our side with whom we are not only on an equal footing cultu­rally, but also entre­pre­neu­ri­ally. This allows us to deve­lop our company toge­ther. We ther­e­fore see this part­ner­ship as a unique oppor­tu­nity to successfully conti­nue not only our busi­ness, but above all our values and tradi­ti­ons into the future.”

Robert Clau­sen (photo © Syng­roh), Mana­ging Direc­tor of Syng­roh Capi­tal’s invest­ment advi­sory company, said: “This tran­sac­tion is typi­cal for Syng­roh invest­ments: passio­nate entre­pre­neu­rial family, strong corpo­rate culture, attrac­tive perfor­mance program, niche market. The compa­nies in which we invest are looking for a long-term spar­ring part­ner at eye level. This is exactly what we offer with our unique combi­na­tion of finan­cial exper­tise, indus­try expe­ri­ence and entre­pre­neur­ship. We are convin­ced that our approach of being more than just an inves­tor is exactly right and we see the latest tran­sac­tion as proof of this.”

Tom Alzin, CEO of Deut­sche Betei­li­gungs AG, added: “The deve­lo­p­ment of Kraft & Bauer since 2018 is an exam­ple of how we create value: We have taken over a hidden cham­pion in German-spea­king count­ries and shaped it into an inter­na­tio­nally active systems provi­der with a strong service busi­ness. The fact that we are now handing the company over to a renow­ned entre­pre­neu­rial family like the Grohes is the best possi­ble scena­rio. It gives Kraft & Bauer the long-term perspec­tive it needs to take the next growth step and once again confirms the quality of our portfolio.”

Advi­sor Syng­roh Capital:

Baker McKen­zie (Legal) and Rödl & Part­ner (Finan­cial and Tax) 

Advi­sor Deut­sche Betei­li­gungs AG advi­sed DBAG Fund VII: Heuking (Legal)

About Syng­roh Capital

As a family invest­ment company, Syng­roh Capi­tal bund­les the entre­pre­neu­rial direct invest­ments acqui­red by the Grohe family. As entre­pre­neurs, the family members have them­sel­ves successfully maste­red a wide variety of chal­lenges and want to contri­bute this wealth of expe­ri­ence to further invest­ments in a value-orien­­ted manner. Syng­roh Capi­tal invests in medium-sized compa­nies with convin­cing product and service ideas that are head­quar­te­red in German-spea­king count­ries and have an enter­prise value of between 10 and 200 million euros. The focus is on succes­sion solu­ti­ons, support for change and inter­na­tio­na­liza­tion proces­ses and the carving out of non-core busi­ness areas. In line with the fami­ly’s entre­pre­neu­rial DNA, the entre­pre­neu­rial idea, value-driven action and a long-term growth stra­tegy play a decisive role in invest­ment decis­i­ons. — www.syngroh-capital.com

About Kraft & Bauer fire protec­tion systems

Kraft & Bauer, foun­ded in 1990, deve­lops, produ­ces and installs fire protec­tion systems for a wide range of machine tool types. The focus is on micro­­pro­ces­­sor-control­­led extin­gu­is­hing systems that detect a fire based on sensors and initiate the extin­gu­is­hing process. Kraft & Bauer’s systems are used in machi­nes with an increased risk of fire, such as milling, turning and grin­ding machi­nes, which operate with parti­cu­larly high precis­ion and speed. With around 110 employees, the company gene­ra­ted sales of around EUR 30 million in 2024. In addi­tion to its head­quar­ters in Holz­ger­lin­gen (Baden-Würt­­te­m­­berg), Kraft & Bauer has another produc­tion site in Bann­wil (Switz­er­land) and 19 service loca­ti­ons in Germany, Switz­er­land, Italy, Slova­kia and China. — https://kraft-bauer.com/