M & A

Steigerwald: Stomach remedy producer swallowed

DAX-listed Bayer AG intends to take over Steigerwald Arzneimittel GmbH and thus extend its range of treatments for stomach and intestinal disorders. The medium-sized company from Darmstadt specializes in herbal supplements, including the well-known remedy Iberogast. With the acquisition Bayer also plans to strengthen its presence in Germany and in Central and Eastern Europe.

Last year Steigerwald achieved a turnover increase of around six percent, for a total of about €61 million. The Darmstadt site with its 180 employees should be kept, according to Bayer. The Group did not specify the purchase price for the medium-sized pharmaceutical manufacturer. Bayer wants the acquisition in the bag by early July.

Indus: Replenished portfolio

Indus Holding AG took over the Swiss housings specialists Hakama completely in late April. The bulk of the SME already belongs to the Indus group, since 2010. Now the holding company has bought the remaining 40 percent of shares. The two successors of the Hakama founding family and partner, Marius Haberthür and Fritz Kasper, worked until recently as Managing Directors of Hakama AG.

The planned follow-up solution provided for Indus to acquire the remaining shares. The new CEO is Kristin Lindauer, a biologist with experience in the pharmaceutical, chemical and printing industries. Most recently, she worked as a manager of a medium-sized Swiss metal-processing company.

In Bättwil, Switzerland, Hakama produces housings and assemblies, primarily for medical systems, analytical and diagnostic equipment and coffee machines. The company has around 160 employees and a turnover of approximately €23 million in 2012. The portfolio of Indus Holding, now the sole owner, includes not only Hakama but 38 other companies. Still further investments are planned for 2013.

Leifheit: One step forward, two steps back

The sales discussions at Leifheit AG have surprisingly been cancelled. Originally the Schuler-Voith and Knapp-Voith families wanted to sell their majority stake of around 60 percent. After the company failed to agree with potential investors from home and abroad due to differing views, the owner stopped the sale plans.

Leifheit AG products can be found in almost every German household, especially scales and clothes dryers. All the same, the owner families wanted to get rid of the company's shares; but only 60 percent of them, which according to an insider unsettled interested parties like the Dutch retail group Blokker or the U.S. group Jarden.

Ownership circles say that the children of the Schuler-Voith family have other interests and the shares were therefore to be sold. Already in 2012, the family had sold their shares in the machine builder Schuler to the Austrian Andritz Group.