Reifenhäuser GmbH & Co. KG Maschinenfabrik, Troisdorf and Brückner Technology Holding GmbH, Siegsdorf announce that retroactively as of January 1, 2009 all their equity interests in Kiefel Extrusion GmbH, Worms, engaged in the blown film extrusion lines business, will be sold by Brückner to Reifenhäuser. With the takeover, Reifenhäuser has substantially strengthened its own commitment to this market segment.
Today has seen a landmark merger in the promising business area of blown film extrusion: Reifenhäuser GmbH & Co KG Maschinenfabrik from Troisdorf has taken over Kiefel Extrusion GmbH in Worms and in doing so has set the course for growth and market leadership in this business field. Worms will be the headquarters of the new business unit Reifenhäuser Kiefel Extrusion. "With the takeover, we are creating the best prerequisites to consolidate and further develop our leading position in the global market for extrusion lines", says Ulrich Reifenhäuser (53), managing director of the traditional family enterprise.
There is hardly any other name in the plastics sector that epitomises innovative strength like the name Reifenhäuser. The group with its seat in Troisdorf is the largest provider of machines and lines for the extrusion of thermoplastic materials worldwide.
In 2008, Kiefel Extrusion GmbH together with its subsidiaries realised turnover proceeds of some 40 million Euros. With its approximately 200 employees, the company is among the world's leading providers of blown film extrusion lines and other machinery for the production and conversion of high-quality flexible films. Worldwide the products are used both in the consumer goods segment, for example in food packaging and also in industrial goods packaging. Sales are effected via a global network.
"Through the joining of our technical competencies at the Troisdorf and Worms sites, we have created the world's largest development and know-how pool in this sector and moved to the top of our market", explains Bernd Reifenhäuser (43), managing director of the parent company, Reifenhäuser GmbH & Co KG Maschinenfabrik.
"Together, we offer the most comprehensive range worldwide of extrusion lines for blown film applications", emphasises Edgar Gandelheidt, former managing director of Kiefel Extrusion GmbH and also future managing director of Reifenhäuser Kiefel Extrusion GmbH in Worms. "This brings benefits to our customers whom we support as innovative partners and of course to our employees for whom we are reliable and solid employers going forward," the 47-year-old adds.
In 2007, Brückner acquired the whole Kiefel group of companies from J.M. Gesellschaft für industrielle Beteiligungen mbH & Co. KGaA, Worms. With a total turnover volume of some 120 million Euros in 2008, in addition to Kiefel Extrusion GmbH in Worms, this group also comprises Kiefel GmbH in Freilassing, which together with its subsidiaries achieved a turnover of some 80 million Euros in 2008.
World-Leading Technology Center Reifenhäuser Kiefel Extrusion
The new company possesses a global network of its own service and sales companies and has production sites at Troisdorf and Worms. Further proof of worldwide high-level performance is the fact that the Reifenhäuser Group operates the largest private technology center for plastics extrusion from which the new company will drive long-term benefits. "Our technology center puts us in the position of being able to globally develop and implement extrusion solutions in line with market requirements", says managing director Bernd Reifenhäuser, explaining their corporate philosophy." "Against this background, we see our acquisition as the next major step towards shaping the future of our company and its employees, making it secure and sustainably successful."
Brückner Focussing its Activities and Planning Further Expansion
With its now completed divestment, Brückner is concentrating its Kiefel corporate division on Kiefel GmbH's thermoforming and welding machines. "In this field of technology with its product areas packaging, medical and automobile technology we see major growth potentials; we are going to increasingly tap into these in the context of our corporate strategy", explains Peter Wellenhofer, chairman of the management board of Brückner Technology Holding GmbH.
Brückner is continuing to pursue an expansive corporate strategy. "On the basis of our strong technological position in the sector of plastics processing machinery and in plant construction as well as in growth markets, primarily in Asia, our objective is to grow and further develop the Brückner Group through targeted strategic acquisitions", explains Maximilian Schneider, managing director of Brückner Technology Holding GmbH. "We specifically see the next one to two years as a favourable period for this objective".