GESCO acquires specialist supplier for pharmaceuticals, food, water technology and chemicals

Wupper­tal — GESCO AG, listed in the Prime Stan­dard, has taken over Sommer & Strass­bur­ger GmbH & Co KG, Bretten. Foun­ded in 1973, the company designs and manu­fac­tures process plants, espe­ci­ally for the phar­maceu­ti­cal, food, water tech­no­logy and chemi­cal industries.

As a high-end stain­less steel proces­sor, Sommer & Strass­bur­ger has posi­tio­ned itself as a tech­no­lo­gi­cally leading supplier in the rele­vant custo­mer indus­tries with its own brands Asep­tra­Line, Filtra­Line and Membra­Line for process vessels, filter and membrane housings. At the ACHEMA trade fair in June 2018, the company also presen­ted the Resi­Line product line, a new type of corro­­sion-resistant membrane housing made of poly­­mer-coated stain­less steel for the passage of subs­tances with a high salt or chlo­rine content, for example.

GESCO AG takes over 100 % of the shares, the owner Michael Hilpp remains active in the company as mana­ging direc­tor. With around 125 employees, Sommer & Strass­bur­ger gene­ra­tes sales of just under €20 million. Within GESCO Group, the company is allo­ca­ted to the Produc­tion Process Tech­no­logy segment. The acqui­si­tion is subject to appr­oval by the anti­trust authorities.

Sommer & Strass­bur­ger has deca­des of expe­ri­ence, inten­sive mate­ri­als know-how and its own system deve­lo­p­ment. The company has the process engi­nee­ring exper­tise to under­stand its custo­mers’ proces­ses and deve­lop func­tion­ally relia­ble solu­ti­ons. A high level of verti­cal inte­gra­tion, inclu­ding in-house surface treat­ment, offers high-end quality for the respec­tive custo­mer industries.

Michael Hilpp: “In order to ensure the success and contin­ued exis­tence of my company, I have trans­fer­red it to an indus­trial group. In doing so, GESCO, as a long-term orien­ted owner, secu­res my succes­sion and actively supports me with its indus­trial exper­tise in the next growth steps. My company reta­ins its inde­pen­dence and at the same time bene­fits from the support of GESCO AG as well as from the exch­ange with its sister compa­nies — an ideal constel­la­tion in my opinion.”

Ralph Rumberg, Spokes­man of the Execu­tive Board of GESCO AG: “Sommer & Strass­bur­ger has consis­t­ently deve­lo­ped from a contract manu­fac­tu­rer to a focu­sed supplier with its own product range over the past 20 years. The company serves deman­ding custo­mers in attrac­tive markets with high-quality tech­no­logy — all in all, a true hidden cham­pion that is an excel­lent fit for GESCO Group. We look forward to inte­gra­ting Sommer & Strass­bur­ger quickly and actively deve­lo­ping it further toge­ther with Mr. Hilpp.”

About GESCO
GESCO AG is an indus­trial group with market and tech­no­logy leading compa­nies in the capi­tal goods indus­try with a focus on produc­tion process tech­no­logy, resource tech­no­logy, health and infra­struc­ture tech­no­logy and mobi­lity tech­no­logy. As a company listed in the Prime Stan­dard, GESCO AG gives private and insti­tu­tio­nal inves­tors access to a port­fo­lio of hidden cham­pi­ons in the German indus­trial SME sector.