ChemChina to Buy KraussMaffei Group

Last month, China’s largest chemical group, China National Chemical Corp. (ChemChina) agreed to purchase KraussMaffei Group from Onex Corp., a Toronto-based private-equity firm, which acquired KM in late 2012. With approximately $40 billion in revenues, ChemChina ranks as the ninth largest chemicals group globally.

According to KM CEO Frank Stieler, KraussMaffei “will remain a German company” based in Munich (U.S. office in Florence, Ky.) and will retain its current locations in Germany, Switzerland, and elsewhere, and will continue with its existing corporate structure and its own managing board. “We expect that KraussMaffei Group will maintain its identity and independence. They want us to run the operating business and make operational decisions,” Stieler said of ChemChina. He also said, “We were a late player in the Chinese market,” but he expects KM to benefit from improved access to the Chinese market as a result of the acquisition and of China’s shift from purely high-volume production toward manufacturing higher-quality products, for which KM machines are designed. He said KM plans to hire up to 150 people this year in Germany alone—and more worldwide—to fill open positions and add personnel. KraussMaffei Group, which includes the KraussMaffei, Netstal, and KraussMaffeiBerstorff brands, expects that final sales figures for 2015 will show 10% growth over the previous year.