PRESS RELEASE
New owners for LGI Logistics Group International
- Kajo Neukirchen GmbH and M Cap Finance Mittelstandsfonds GmbH & Co. KG acquire the successful contract logistics provider LGI from the Willi Betz Group
- The new constellation enables Willi Betz to intensify expansion of shipping and transportation activities in Eastern Europe
[Reutlingen, 29.12.2011] - Kajo Neukirchen GmbH, a family owned business specialised in the acquisition of medium-sized family firms and corporate spin-offs, and M Cap Finance Mittelstandsfonds GmbH & Co. KG, one of the leading providers of mezzanine capital and equity for medium-sized companies in Germany, are acquiring LGI Logistics Group International (LGI). As a subsidiary of the Willi Betz Group, LGI has developed in the past 16 years to become one of Europe’s most successful industrial contract logistics providers.
“With LGI, we have invested in an outstanding company with a strong market presence in contract logistics,” says Dr. Kajo Neukirchen. “We see plenty of long-term potential which we want to develop by expanding the services on offer into new sectors.”
With the sale, the Willi Betz Group wants to concentrate more intensively on the core business of the shipping and transportation services and to expand activities in Eastern Europe more intensely than up to now. Wolfgang Bisinger, a board member of the Willi Betz shipping division, says: “LGI has an excellent market position in the logistics sector with durable potential for further international expansion. The focus of Willi Betz, however, is in the expansion of the transport and shipping activities in Eastern Europe which we now want to pursue more energetically than ever. Contract logistics currently offers few synergies which would justify the division remaining within the Group. LGI has always been a very independent company without becoming enmeshed in the Group’s other divisions.”
All parties have agreed confidentiality in matters of price and ownership share.
“The new constellation enables LGI’s success story to continue along the route it has been able to follow up to with support of the Betz corporation,” says Dr. Andreas Bunz, LGI CEO. “We are happy that, with the new owners, we have investors who both safeguard continuity and who want to continue with the existing business unchanged, while simultaneously creating the necessary framework conditions in order to trigger the next growth level.” Bunz has led LGI from the first day on and has contributed significantly to its stable, positive development. He will continue as LGI’s CEO and will thus step down from the Board of the Willi Betz Group.
About Kajo Neukirchen GmbH
Kajo Neukirchen GmbH is an Eschborn-based family owned business. The company is specialised in acquisitions of medium-sized family owned firms and corporate spin-offs. Among other companies the IDS Group with a turnover of € 70mln and the Surfactor Germany GmbH with a turnover of € 48mln (formerly Coveright Surfaces Germany GmbH) are part of the company’s portfolio. Based on their modern product range, both have a strong market presence in its sectors and are excellently positioned for further growth. The IDS Group consists of several companies in the field of telecontrol engineering and drive control for utility companies and manufacturers. The Surfactor Germany GmbH produces resin impregnated surfaces for the Plywood Industry and for the furniture, transport and construction industry.
About M Cap Finance Mittelstandsfonds GmbH & Co. KG
M Cap Finance is an independent management company and initiator of mezzanine capital investment funds in Germany. Founded in 2004, the experienced management team in Frankfurt-am-Main invests in established medium-sized companies in Germany, always with the aim of long-term involvement. The focus, across the sectors, is on growth and investment financing, reinforcing equity as well as stabilising financing as a whole.
About the Willi Betz Group
Since it was founded in 1945 the Willi Betz Group has developed into one of Europe’s leading shipping and logistics companies. Around 4,700 staff at 70 locations work to keep the Group’s 2,300 vehicles rolling to 20 countries.
About the LGI Logistics Group International GmbH
The LGI Logistics Group International is a logistics services provider with 1,900 staff at 29 locations in Europe. Founded as an outsourcing of Hewlett Packard Deutschland GmbH in 1995, LGI’s head office is in Böblingen and, until being acquired by Kajo Neukirchen GmbH and M Cap Finance Mittelstandsfonds GmbH & Co. KG, was a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Willi Betz Group. LGI designs and implements warehouse logistics, production processes and transport management for companies in the automotive, electronics, industrial and health care sectors. Resting on long-term customer relations, LGI delivers high-quality solutions for complex problems.
Press Contact
Ulrich von Rotenhan +49 172 8516357