China’s XCMG buys majority stake in Germany’s Schwing GmbH
19 Apr 2012
Chinese State-owned Xuzhou Construction Machinery Group (XCMG) today agreed to acquire a majority stake in German machinery manufacturer Schwing GmbH, for an undisclosed sum.
The acquisition comes less than three months after Chinese equipment manufacturer Sany Heavy Industry Co acquired family-owned German pump maker Putzmeister, whose pumps were used during the aftermath of Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan and the Chernobyl meltdown in the 1980s.
Founded in the 1930s, Herne, Germany-based Schwing produces equipment for the concrete industry including concrete boom pumps, truck mixers and batching plants.
Schwing, owned by the Schwing family, employs about 3,300 staff and had revenues of round €400 million ($525 million) in 2010. The company has not disclosed 2011 sales.
Its US subsidiary emerged from bankruptcy protection in 2010 after spending in the construction business virtually came to a halt due to the global financial crisis in 2008-2009.
Ahead of XCMG's investment, Schwing had eliminated 170 jobs from 800 in Herne, which was probably a pre-condition to the sale, according to German newspaper Financial Times Deutschland.
