W. AG Funktion + Design GmbH produces and distributes innovative plastic cases, which it markets as German-made custom packaging solutions, at its production site and head office in Geisa. The company was founded in 1992 and now employs 150 people. It is led by Konrad Goldbach. W. AG came to prominence in 1997 with its Tekno plastic case, of which it has since sold more than 5 million units. It had revenue of around €20 million and made more than 2 million cases in 2016. W. AG is Germany's leading producer of custom cases for manufacturers.
The vendors in this transaction wanted to find an investor capable of providing long-term support for W. AG GmbH's international growth, while maintaining its independence.
"I am delighted to be working with Kieger AG and Crédit Mutuel Equity, which will be solid partners for our future and will support our long-term growth. As well as their in-depth knowledge of our sector and the quality of their international networks, I was particularly impressed by how closely our strategic views are aligned and by our personal chemistry," explained Konrad Goldbach
"Since Aheim bought into W. AG in 2014, the company's revenue and headcount has increased by more than 50% and significant investments have been made in increasing production capacity. The company's new shareholders are the ideal partners to support its future growth in Germany and abroad. I am looking forward to continuing to support the company as part of its supervisory board and as a shareholder," added Aheim's Frank Henkelmann.
"With the acquisition of W. AG, we are excited to be adding to our portfolio a medium-sized company with strong growth prospects, whose strategic development we will actively support with the help of the management team led by Konrad Goldbach", added Joscha Boehm, Head of Direct Investments at Kieger AG.
"W. AG's business model, its combination of a strong product range, good sales organisation, broad customer base, high product quality and impressive innovation are very appealing to us and make us confident about its future growth in Germany and abroad", said Sébastien Neiss, Director of the german private equity subsidiary named Crédit Mutuel Equity.
- Investors
-
Crédit Mutuel Equity
- Sébastien Neiss
Director
Frankfurt : T +49 69 274 021-87
Strasbourg : T +33 388 377 192
M +33 674 688 317
Advisors to the buyers
- Legal: Morrison Foerster (Dr. Joerg Meissner, Dr Dominik Moser, Dr. Monika Eva Obal), MLA Conseil (Marc Lochert)
Financial and tax : Ebner Stolz (Dr. Christoph Eppinger, Linda Schwachulla, Alexander Euchner, Christof Zondler)
Commercial: Auricon (Henning Heuser, Philipp Reinartz)
- Sébastien Neiss
- Company
-
W. AG
- Konrad Goldbach
Chief Executive Officer
Tel: +49 (36967) 674 225
Advisors to the vendors
- M&A: Quarton International (Tobias Seige, Andreas Kinsky)
Legal: CMS (Dr Jörg Lips, Dr Juliane Voigtmann, Dr Christoph Löffler)
- Konrad Goldbach