M & A

SMA Solar gains access to the Middle Kingdom

Hessian photovoltaic and TecDax company SMA Solar Technology AG has acquired a majority stake in Jiangsu Zeversolar New Energy Co., Ltd. The transaction, for a stake of around 73 per cent, has been completed after the Chinese authorities had given the green light. The products of the inverter manufacturer Zeversolar are tailored to the needs of the Chinese market and allow SMA attractive growth opportunities, it claims: in 2013 alone, the Chinese government intends to expand photovoltaic capacity by ten gigawatts, and by 2015 as much as 21 gigawatts. SMA purchased the shares for the equivalent of around 40 million euros in cash.

Steilmann wants to take Adler fashion stores under its wing

The traditional company Steilmann wants to take over the Adler fashion chain. For about half of Adler Modemärkte AG, listed in the Prime Standard of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, Steilmann will spend some 53 million euros. The acquisition would provide both companies with big advantages, they claim: Adler would be a fitting complement to the Steilmann portfolio, but would also benefit from new strategic options for the fashion group. The Adler Board is examining the offer.

Adler’s turnover last year was about half a billion euros. Operating profit was 35 million euros – 14 per cent higher than last year.  Adler’s share price fell around 10 per cent in value after the announcement of its takeover plans.  Steilmann Holding AG, which since 2006 itself belongs to the Miro Radici Group, is planning a long-term commitment to Adler, and wants to keep the fashion chain in the stock market. Before its stock-market listing in 2011 Adler Modemärkte was once owned by the Düsseldorf-based Metro, and was acquired in 2009 by the Blu O company.

Allies in Toyland – Simba Dickie takes over Märklin

The ailing model-railway manufacturer Märklin now belongs to toys group Simba Dickie. The over 150-year-old traditional brand Märklin is to be preserved, as are the locations at Göppingen and at Györ in Hungary. The purchase price was not disclosed. The new owner is itself a family-run business and the Märklin group’s desired partner.

Simba Dickie CEO Michael Sieber and his son Florian Sieber want in future to bring the Märklin brand back close to very young target groups and also to export more. But they want this year alone to invest nine million euros in the expansion of the plant in Györ. Downsizing is not currently planned. The 1,100 employees in Germany and Hungary will get a job guarantee until 2019, if in return they renounce additional payments. The Bundeskartellamt antitrust agency still has to consider the acquisition.

Märklin already had to file for insolvency in 2009. This was followed by an austerity programme with reduced management, plant closures and massive job cuts. The new owner, however, operates quite successfully. Founded in 1982, Simba Dickie Group, with 3,700 employees, is number three in the German toy market, behind Mattel and Lego. The Fürth company reported sales growth for 2011 of around nine per cent, exceeding the growth rate for the sector.

Since 1998, the toy manufacturer – first under the name of Simba Toys – has saved many toy brands on the brink, including Eichhorn (wooden toys), Schuco (model cars), Noris (games) and Big (Bobby Cars).