Berlin 18 September 2018. Peter Jark advised the SFO Group, a holding company of an entrepreneurial family from Munich, on the acquisition of the traditional Swabian company SHW Werkzeugmaschinen GmbH as well as the associated real estate.
Insolvency administrator Martin Mucha of Grub Brugger law firm has managed that the entire workforce and the German subsidiary SHW Bearbeitungstechnik GmbH remain in the hands of the South German investor.
SHW Werkzeugmaschinen GmbH mainly develops and produces large machining centres with extremely long traverse paths. The company employs around 280 people at its headquarters in Aalen-Wasseralfingen and in sales and service branches in China, India and the USA. Despite a good order situation, SHW had to file an application for the opening of insolvency proceedings in May after negotiations with the shareholders and the financing banks had failed.
Insolvency administrator Mucha has, since initiation of insolvency proceedings, stabilized business operations and continued existing customer projects. The insolvency administrator and his advisors managed to acquire new orders during the current insolvency proceedings. SHW was supported by its employees and suppliers. The all-round support made it possible to negotiate with various investors. The SFO Group with years of experience in restructuring medium-sized companies in the mechanical engineering sector, was awarded the contract. The takeover took place just in time for the start of AMB 2018 in Stuttgart.
In addition to the operative business of SHW Werkzeugmaschinen GmbH, SHW Werkzeugmaschinen Service GmbH and SHW Bearbeitungstechnik GmbH, the operational real estate in Aalen-Wasseralfingen was also sold. The buyer would like to retain this location in the long term in order to secure the valuable know-how and experience of the mechanical engineering company’s employees. For this reason, the entire SHW Group workforce was retained.
“The intensive reorganization and restructuring measures initiated in recent months have led to a successful result for all parties,“ emphasizes Mucha. „With Wolfgang Schepp and Dr. Boris Liffers from the SFO Group, two proven experts in mechanical engineering and plant construction are taking over the lead at SHW.“
Bernd Grupp, managing director of the restructuring division, adds: „The purchasers have asserted themselves in a highly competitive, international M&A process and quickly understood where the levers lie in the business model of SHW Werkzeugmaschinen. We, the management and the staff, are looking forward to a successful cooperation“.
Wolfgang Schepp, managing director of the family holding company, is enthusiastic about the technological competence, the brand and the enormous potential of SHW Werkzeugmaschinen’s business model. „We are very proud to have a veteran of the German machine tool industry in our portfolio“.
Dr. Boris Liffers adds: „We are familiar with insolvency purchases and know that we must first stabilize the company. Together with the motivated workforce and the well-known customers, however, we would like to return to normal business as quickly as possible and are therefore working intensively with the insolvency administration on the execution of the company purchase agreement concluded on 17 September 2018.“
Peter Jark of BBL commented: „We are pleased that with our very experienced clients, in particular Mr. Schepp and Dr. Liffers, we can once again provide perspective to an established company. The experience, the great cooperation and the target-oriented approach have enabled the conclusion of the deal, which was advantageous for all parties involved.
Advisor SFO (buyer)
Peter Jark (Lawyer – Corporate, Restructuring)
BBL Bernsau Brockdorff & Partner
Insolvency administration
Grub Brugger
Insolvency administrator Martin Mucha
Karl Sebastian Schaefer
Advisor to insolvency administrator
Menold Bezler
Dr. Jost Rudersdorf
Dr. Axel Klumpp
Advisor M&A (Seller)
Wintergerst – Sozietät für Unternehmer – Beratung
Dipl. Kaufmann Volker Wintergerst
Dipl. Kaufmann Bernd Grupp
