KraussMaffei listed in Shanghai, eyes 20% growth in China

Munich, Germany - German machinery company KraussMaffei Group has been listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange, through an asset-injection process completed last December.

In a statement on 15 Jan, KraussMaffei said the listing took place through the transfer of ChemChina’s stake in KraussMaffei to ChemChina’s majority owned subsidiary THY (Qingdao Tianhua Institute of Chemistry Engineering).

As THY is listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange, the process was not a conventional IPO and was accomplished through a so-called “asset injection”, a company spokesman explained to Plastics News Europe, an ERJ sister publication.

As part of the deal, the newly-expanded THY has taken over ChemChina’s production site in Sanming, China, where it will be producing new KraussMaffei-branded injection moulding machine models for the Chinese market.

The combined business will operate under the KraussMaffei brand, with the Munich-headquartered company contributing more than 80% of the its €1.5bn annual revenue.

With the move, KraussMaffei intends to “significantly expand” its presence in China and will take on the operational responsibility for the integrated production site in Sanming, China.

THY will also continue its existing business as a design institute and engineering company for components required in chemical plant construction.

With growing demand for high-quality products, KraussMaffei expects a CAGR annual sales growth of over 20% in China “in the coming years,” the German supplier said in its statement.

Frank Stieler and Harald Nippel, CEO and CFO of KraussMaffei, will lead the new integrated mechanical engineering company.

“We now have the opportunity to drive our growth even faster and better. The listing provides us with access to the Chinese capital market,” said Stieler in the company release. The move, he noted, will “significantly strengthen” KraussMaffei both in China and globally.

KraussMaffei currently has a production site in the Chinese city of Haian, near Shanghai.

“With the additional production site in Sanming we can further expand our presence in China,” Stieler said.

Under the new arrangement, the KraussMaffei Group will continue to be headquartered in Munich and drive its international business from Germany.

The German 'co-determination' rights, the legal status of the KraussMaffei Group GmbH  as well as employee and union agreements remain unchanged.

The rubber & plastics machinery supplier expects the access to the Chinese capital market will enable it to “further accelerate” its growth and contributed to its digitally-orientated “compass” strategy.

“We are expanding our product portfolio with new machinery series for volume markets and are broadening our digital services business. We are rapidly advancing local business models, especially in China,” Stieler further added.

The company’s “compass” strategy involves expanding its business models, especially in digital services. As part of this, KraussMaffei launched its new digital service solutions business in July last year.