Nachfolgekontor accompanies toolmaker Graftec in takeover by Vamea Group

Boizenburg/Essen/Wetzlar — Graf­tec GmbH from Boizen­burg in Meck­len­burg, an inter­na­tio­nally successful tool­ma­king company for custo­mers in the cera­mics indus­try, will become part of the Vamea Group. The group of compa­nies from North Rhine-West­­pha­­lia focu­ses on medium-sized compa­nies in tool­ma­king, parts produc­tion and rela­ted areas and sees itself as a solu­tion provi­der for indus­trial growth sectors. The now comple­ted acqui­si­tion of Graf­tec marks an important acqui­si­tion for the Vamea Group, which was foun­ded at the end of 2021. Graf­tec was advi­sed exclu­si­vely by the Wetz­lar-based M&A consul­tancy Nach­fol­ge­kon­tor in asso­cia­tion with sonn­tag corpo­rate finance on the age-rela­­ted succes­sion plan.

Foun­ded in 2005, the special tool­ma­ker Graf­tec produ­ces custo­mi­zed pres­sing tools of the highest quality made of steel and their repla­ce­ment compon­ents such as punches and wear strips, espe­ci­ally for custo­mers in the tile indus­try. Thanks to state-of-the-art machi­nes ranging from CNC grin­ding machi­nes to HSC milling machi­nes, even high-alloy tool steels can be proces­sed quickly and to the highest quality stan­dards. The broadly diver­si­fied product port­fo­lio also includes rege­ne­ra­tion for all products, an in-house plan­ning depart­ment with quali­fied engi­neers and tech­ni­ci­ans, and modern equip­ment for auto­ma­ting produc­tion. The custo­mers are mainly from Germany and other Euro­pean count­ries such as France, Great Britain, the Nether­lands and Poland. The two mana­ging owners, Jörn Graf and Michael Harder, had deci­ded to sell the company for reasons of age. Mr. Graf and Mr. Harder will be joined on the Manage­ment Board by Mathias Welt­eroth, Member of the Manage­ment Board and Chief Opera­ti­ons Offi­cer (COO) of the Vamea Group.

Vamea AG was foun­ded by German entre­pre­neur and inves­tor Martin Kiene, among others, earlier this year. The Group’s primary objec­tive is to enable family-run mold­ma­king busi­nesses such as Graf­tec to succeed. At the same time, the compa­nies are expec­ted to bene­fit from signi­fi­cantly impro­ved condi­ti­ons and advan­ta­ges for custo­mers and employees as a result of the merger. The aim is to gradu­ally estab­lish a leading group of compa­nies in the market for the produc­tion of tools, parts and components.

“We warmly welcome Graf­tec and all of its employees to our company,” said Vamea foun­der Kiene. “With its port­fo­lio of services and, above all, its employees, we have found the ideal part­ner for our group of compa­nies in Graf­tec. We are looking forward to the jour­ney toge­ther.” The acqui­si­tion compri­ses all shares.

“After all these years, we as owners, but of course also for our custo­mers and the Graf­tec team, think it is great to have found a new owner in Vamea to conti­nue our work,” Graf­tec foun­der Graf and his busi­ness part­ner Harder comment on the hando­ver of their company.

Niklas Poppel­reu­ter, project mana­ger at Nach­fol­ge­kon­tor, adds: “The sale of one’s own company is always a complex process in which there are an enorm­ous number of aspects to consider and weigh up. The sale and inte­gra­tion into the Vamea Group not only allows Graf­tec to solve the succes­sion problem with a single step, but also to improve its start­ing posi­tion for a successful future in a growing group. We wish all parties invol­ved all the best for the future.”

About Nach­fol­ge­kon­tor and sonn­tag corpo­rate finance

Nach­fol­ge­kon­tor GmbH, in asso­cia­tion with sonn­tag corpo­rate finance GmbH, is one of the leading M&A consul­ting firms in the German SME sector. The team of almost 30 experts accom­pa­nies medium-sized entre­pre­neurs exclu­si­vely through the entire sales process. “Our task is to safe­guard life’s work,” is how we see oursel­ves. In doing so, custo­mers bene­fit from a unique approach that has won multi­ple awards from the busi­ness press, and which protects the iden­tity of their compa­nies to a special degree. Thanks to their excel­lent access to medium-sized compa­nies, Nach­fol­ge­kon­tor and sonn­tag corpo­rate finance have also estab­lished them­sel­ves as a strong part­ner at the side of renow­ned natio­nal and inter­na­tio­nal major compa­nies and inves­tors in acqui­si­ti­ons. www.nachfolgekontor.de, www.sonntagcf.com

About Graf­tec GmbH
www.graf-tec.de/

About Vamea Group
www.vamea.group