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06.11.2006
New Owner KION Group
The KION Group has been sold to a consortium comprising the financial investors Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. (KKR) and Goldman Sachs Capital Partners, subject to the approval of the appropriate competition authorities. The Supervisory Board of Linde AG has approved the transaction, and the contract will become effective once approval has been received from the appropriate competition authorities.
With a consortium comprising KKR and Goldman Sachs CP Linde has chosen a strong and strategically-oriented partner, who will ensure a seamless transition and a continuation of KION’s expansion and growth strategy. The investors show strong interest in the optimization of the multi-brand strategy and in increasing the business activities of Linde Hydraulics.
Johannes Huth, the Head of European Operations at KKR, and Alexander Dibelius, the Head of Central and Eastern European Operations at Goldman Sachs, think it is entirely conceivable that, with its undoubted growth and earnings potential, KION will be floated on the stock exchange in the medium term. This is another positive sign for sustainable success in the future.
The Linde board is utterly convinced that this is the right overall concept for the KION group. The consortium has given an assurance that it will honour all the agreements on safeguarding locations made by the Linde Executive Board with employee representatives in summer 2005.
Kohlberg, Kravis & Roberts (KKR) is a major international investment company known for its preference for long-term involvement. KKR has become increasingly active in Germany in the past few years. For example, it was instrumental in the success of Wincor Nixdorf, a manufacturer of cash dispensers acquired by Siemens AG, achieving an Initial Public Offering (IPO) for this company in 2004. This company is now one of the leading global providers of IT solutions for retail banks and trading companies.
Goldman Sachs Capital Partners is the investment company of one of the oldest and most renowned investment banks in the world and acts principally as a provider of financial services to major companies.
The change in ownership structure will not alter the company’s favourable prospects. KION is on the right course, and in the past few months KION’s business performance has been very good. With more than 20,000 employees, it is extremely well-positioned for the forthcoming challenges and will continue on the same path as before.
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