China’s Truking Group is set to become the new owner of the Romaco Group. Deutsche Beteiligungs (DBAG) sold 75% of its shares in Romaco to Truking, an engineering company.
The remaining shares of DBAG will be sold during the course of the next three years.
DBAG, a German private equity firmed based in Frankfurt am Main, acquired the Romaco Group from the listed US company Robbins and Myers in April 2011.
During the period as a DBAG portfolio company, Romaco increased its annual sales by nearly 50% to €134m in the 2016 fiscal year.
Four major transactions were successfully completed in the 2011 to 2017 period. These include the purchases of Romaco Kilian and Romaco Innojet; the integration of Medipac in Romaco Siebler; and the sale of Romaco subsidiary FrymaKoruma.
With the support of DBAG, Romaco also opened five Sales and Service Centres in China, France, Russia, Brazil and the USA.
As a DBAG portfolio company, Romaco has developed to become the leading provider of packaging and processing technologies for the pharmaceuticals industry.
DBAG board member Rolf Scheffels commented: “The sale successfully implements a buy and build concept which we had worked out with management at the very beginning of our involvement.”
DBAG, in its role as a Romaco shareholder, played a key part in supporting the development of the corporate group.”
“In Truking we have found a buyer that wants to invest in the group’s global expansion and to further enhance Romaco’s pharmaceutical profile.”
Truking
Truking was founded in the year 2000 and currently has a workforce of around 2,600. The company manufactures plant and equipment for the pharmaceuticals industry and generated annual sales of around €154m in 2016.
Truking’s core competencies lie in technologies for the processing and filling of sterile and non-sterile pharmaceutical liquids. Its portfolio fits with Romaco’s focus on the production and packaging of pharmaceutical solids.
Yue Tang, Chair of Truking, said:
“Romaco will benefit from the change in ownership through an increased share of the Chinese market and Truking will also be able to exploit outstanding opportunities for growth on European and transatlantic markets.”
Romaco gains
“The product portfolio and the regional strengths of both companies complement each other without overlapping,” said Paulo Alexandre, Romaco CEO.
“Romaco will continue to have a completely free hand to pursue its business objectives. This autonomy includes the entire value chain, from product development through to customer service.”
“Work will continue on developing Romaco's global brands; investments will be targeted to strengthening Romaco’s four production locations in Germany and Italy alongside its worldwide Sales and Service Centres.”
