German woodworking machinery manufacturer Holz-Her Reich Spezialmaschinen Gmbh has been taken over in an investment company-backed management buyout.
The move takes the company out of Reich family ownership and into a future led by general managers Wolfgang Augsten and Rudolf Vogl, who together have bought a 10% shareholding. Investment company Hannover Finanz Gruppe now hold 90% of shares.
In a statement, the new management said it wanted to further strengthen development, production and marketing of high quality machines for the woodworking industry and craft trades, including edgebanders, CNC machining centres, horizontal beam saws and vertical panel saws.
Mr Augsten and Mr Vogl said they wanted to promote growth through suitable investments and carry on the tradition of a family enterprise.
“With Holz-Her, we have acquired a company which posesses a strong growth potential,” added Hannover Finanz Austria, a subsidiary of Hannover Finanz Gruppe.
“We want to further expand this with the previous management team and support the development of the enterprise for the long term.”
Holz-Her’s headquarters in Nürtingen, Germany and production site in Voitsberg, Austria, will remain unchanged.
The Reich Spezialmaschinen Gruppe was created in 1983 from a group of companies founded by the Reich family in 1914. In 2007 the group recorded sales of €111m and employees numbered 600 worldwide.
The purchase price of the company has not been disclosed.
