Wintergerst accompanies the disposal of the MBO Group to the Japanese Komori Corporation

Wintergerst Societät für Unternehmer-Beratung supported the shareholder family of the MBO Group in the sale of the firm to Tokyo based Komori Corporation in this international transaction.

In February 2020 the entrepreneurial family Binder entered into a purchase agreement with the Komori Corporation, Japan on the sale of the MBO Group. The brands MBO (Maschinenbau Oppenweiler Binder) and Herzog+Heymann will continue to exist after the acquisition.

Founded in 1965 and headquartered in Oppenweiler near Stuttgart, the MBO Group manufactures and distributes processing machines for digital and offset printing, as well as for mailing, pharmaceutical and special applications. In addition, MBO is a leading company in the development of automation and software solutions, notably for post-press steps in the printing industry.

Since its establishment in 1923, the Komori Group is well known for its high-quality offset printing machines as well as for their finishing units. Listed on the Tokyo stock exchange, the company achieved sales of approximately EUR 750 million (exchange rate converted) in 2019. Through the acquisition of the MBO Group the company has now established its presence in the post-press sector.

The transaction covers all manufacturing sites of the MBO Group, Oppenweiler and Bielefeld in Germany, Porto in Portugal as well as all international sales organizations with a total workforce of 450 employees. The transaction is to be carried out in the first half of 2020. The sale to Komori provides the employees of MBO and their business partners with reliability and ensures growth opportunities in a dynamic developing market environment.

“Being part of the Komori Group allows us to promote the development of digital process solutions significantly for the whole printing process and increase efficiency in our production sites in Germany and Portugal”, says Thomas Heininger, CEO of the MBO Group.

“As family shareholders, Komori convinced us with their strategic approach together with the traditional long-term philosophy of a family owned company”, adds Ms. Renate Binder, representative for the owners` family. We thank the Wintergerst consulting team for their dedicated support and high professionalism in managing the complex transaction process”.

The Wintergerst Societät exclusively and comprehensively advised the owner’s family as well as the MBO Group in the transaction process, which has effectively been achieved as an internationally oriented bidding process. “Due to the strategic realignment during the past years and the structure of the MBO Group with a number of international subsidiaries, it was of particular necessity to provide intensive guidance to the bidders”, explains Mr. Volker Wintergerst, project manager of the transaction process. “We are especially satisfied that we have succeeded in establishing a relationship with the Japanese management based on trust, in order to obtain an optimal result for the MBO Group and the shareholder family”.