Long-standing partner CORDET acquires international automotive supplier FLABEG

– The takeover involves the entire FLABEG Group, comprising the German companies in Nuremberg and Furth im Wald with around 220 employees, as well as all subsidiaries in five additional countries with around 900 employees.

– Already since 2016, CORDET has been one of the major investors in the FLABEG Group, a global market and technology leader for automotive mirror glass and glass display covers for vehicle interiors. The investor intends to lead the entire Group into a successful future.

– The new owner has a long-term focus, and, despite the challenging market situation, sees a strong future demand for FLABEG’s pioneering high-tech glass products that are not reliant on a particular engine type. 

Nuremberg, 1 October 2020. Investor CORDET is taking over the whole business of the FLABEG Group, an automotive supplier with global operations and a total of around 1,100 employees. With a long-term focus, the new owner intends to lead the entire Group into a successful future. Closing of the transaction is expected to be completed by 6 October 2020; the parties have agreed not to reveal any details of the deal.  

CORDET has been one of FLABEG’s major investors since 2016. In 2018, for instance, it provided additional growth capital to enable FLABEG to invest in a state-of-the-art production facility for the fast-growing segment of glass display covers for vehicle interiors. Together with the Group’s traditional mirror glass business, this laid the foundation on which FLABEG, with its new-found financial stability, seeks to build and grow over the coming years.

The Group is a global market and technology leader for automotive exterior and interior mirror glass, glass display covers, head-up display components and instrument glass, making it a perfect fit for the new owner which specialises in investments in mid-market companies that are leaders in their respective niches (also called ‘hidden champions’).

‘Despite the uncertain situation at the moment in view of the global economy, and the automotive sector in particular, we are convinced that FLABEG’s products are pioneering and that there will be an increasing demand for them in the future,’ says Magnus Lindquist, Co-Managing Partner at CORDET. ‘The Group’s products are not reliant on a particular engine type and benefit from a general trend to more and higher value glass in vehicles in the mid-term. As an investor with a long-term perspective, we regularly provide follow-on capital to our portfolio companies to support additional growth,’ Lindquist adds and clarifies the objective for the FLABEG Group.

For Andreas Katzer, CEO of the FLABEG Group, the takeover demonstrates that the investor has a high level of trust in FLABEG and sees plenty of potential in the Group. ‘Now we intend to lift this potential in close collaboration with our customers and suppliers for the benefit of everyone,’ he says.

The whole business of the German companies in the FLABEG Group – the parent company, FLABEG Automotive Holding GmbH in Nuremberg, and FLABEG Deutschland GmbH in Furth im Wald – and their 220 employees will be taken over by CORDET as part of an asset deal, after the two companies have successfully been restructured through insolvency proceedings. The insolvency proceedings became necessary because the companies suffered a significant drop in turnover, largely as a result of COVID-19, which was impossible to absorb because of high investments made in future technologies. FLABEG’s international subsidiaries located in France, Hungary, China, Brazil and the USA, with a total of around 900 employees, were not affected by the insolvency proceedings.  

The FLABEG Group makes glass to meet 21st-century industrial requirements. The company was founded in 1882 as the Glashütte glassworks in Furth, with three ovens for mirror glass. Today, more than 130 years later, FLABEG is one of the leading companies worldwide producing various glass and mirror applications. In the automotive industry, FLABEG is a market and technology leader for exterior and interior mirrors, glass display covers, head-up display components and instrument glass on several continents. FLABEG is constantly enhancing its technologies for specialist coatings for distortion-free precision bending and other glass functions. Headquartered in Nuremberg, the company most recently generated annual turnover of over 85 million euros worldwide. For more information see www.flabeg.com

CORDET, based in London, Luxembourg and Stockholm, is an investor committed to enabling transformational growth in European mid-market businesses, often niche leaders in their markets. CORDET aspires to act as a trusted partner to the companies it invests in, to ensure that they are optimally positioned to succeed. CORDET is an ‘all weather investor’ with experience and expertise in investing across all levels of the capital structure and frequently provides follow-on capital to support the growth initiatives of its portfolio companies. CORDET invests exclusively within its circle of competence, meaning sectors in which the team has extensive knowledge and experience. With Magnus Lindquist, Co-Managing Partner of CORDET and former Group Vice President and CFO of Autoliv, Inc., the team is led by someone with a significant track record in the automotive industry. For more information see www.cordet.com

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Holger Voskuhl
rw konzept GmbH, communication consultancy
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