Deutsche Beteiligungs acquires process equipment maker Pfaudler

Deutsche Beteiligungs AG (DBAG) has acquired Pfaudler Process Solutions Group (Pfaudler), a manufacturer of glass lined as well as fluoropolymer reactors and components for the chemical and pharmaceutical industries, from National Oilwell Varco Inc (NOV), ), a US-based supplier to the oil and gas industry.
 
Headquartered in Schwetzingen (Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany), Pfaudler manufactures glass lined vessels and other glass lined components (approximately 50 percent of revenues) at nine locations in four continents (Germany, Italy, the UK, the US, Brazil, China and India). In India, Pfaudler owns majority shares in the Gujarat-based GMM Pfaudler Limited - a leading supplier of engineered equipment and systems for critical applications in the global chemical and pharmaceutical markets.
 
Pfaudler also provides aftermarket parts and services (more than a third of revenues) as well as complete engineered systems based on its own products for the chemical or the pharmaceutical industries. Pfaudler expects revenues of some $ 200 million (about Euro 160 million) in 2014.
 
Pfaudler’s products serve as reactors for chemical processes and as storage tanks, columns and piping in chemical facilities. About 70 percent of its products are sold to the chemical industry; the pharmaceutical industry accounts for 30 percent. It is one of the few manufacturers that engineer and produce process critical equipment, such as large vessels and reactors, using state-of-the-art proprietary technology. These vessels must provide superior levels of resistance to corrosion, pressure and heat. Its unique competitive advantages are its many years of experience in the composition of glass frit and the skill of its staff, especially since key production steps are done manually. Both factors constitute high market-entry barriers for potential competitors.
 
“In Pfaudler, we will once again invest in a quality company operating in a global niche market. With our support, that business is to be expanded – as has been done successfully in the past at other mechanical engineering companies in the portfolio. The potential for increasing investment in capital goods in Asia is another factor in favour of our investment in Pfaudler,” said Torsten Grede, Spokesman of the Board of Management of Deutsche Beteiligungs AG.
 
Andrew Wills, CEO of Pfaudler Process Solutions Group, added, “We are delighted that our new shareowner considers us a core business. Greater autonomy, which DBAG’s investment will provide, will allow us to exploit the potential inherent in our business to an even greater extent than in the past. I am certain we will also benefit from DBAG’s many years of experience in mechanical engineering and plant construction.”