Significant expansion of industrial automation

Stabilus SE, one of the world's leading suppliers of motion control solutions for a wide range of industries, signed an agreement to acquire the business of Destaco, which supplies industrial automation components, from Dover Corporation, a global diversified industrial manufacturer headquartered in the USA. The closing of the transaction is expected in the first half of the calendar year 2024 and is subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals and the finalization of certain local transactions.

The complementary acquisition is an important next step in the targeted implementation of Stabilus’ long-term strategy, STAR 2030, which, among other things envisages strengthening of the Industrial business unit and a target revenue split between the Automotive and Industrial business units of 50% each. With this transaction, Stabilus will significantly expand its Industrial Automation business.

Destaco achieved US$213 million in revenues in 2022

Founded in 1915, DESTACO is headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan, USA, and is one of the world's leading companies in the development and manufacture of automation, workholding and remote handling components and solutions. As such, the company's product portfolio is an excellent complement to Stabilus' offering in the industrial sector. DESTACO's core product offerings include clamping systems, gripping systems, linear positioning systems such as conveyors, rotary positioners, and robot tooling, such as robotic end effector gripping systems. As an industrial automation expert, DESTACO serves customers across the globe in a wide range of end markets. The company's products for equipping manufacturing areas and lines serve industries such as consumer products, packaging, aerospace, automotive, life sciences and nuclear. DESTACO became part of Dover Corporation in 1962.

In 2022, DESTACO generated revenues of US$213 million. DESTACO employs approximately 650 employees across 13 locations in the USA, Europe, India, China and Thailand. The workforce and the individual locations are fully included in the scope of the transaction and DESTACO will continue operating as an independent brand under the Stabilus umbrella.

Stabilus and DESTACO to jointly continue growth path

Michael Büchsner, CEO of Stabilus, said: "DESTACO is a company with more than one hundred years of tradition and has a strong position in the growth market of industrial automation. This megatrend will be further strengthened by reshoring of production sites from emerging economies back to industrialized countries, especially because production processes need to be further automated due to the shortage of skilled workers. This is exactly where DESTACO's core competence lies: precisely gripping, fixing, placing, moving and repositioning workpieces in a production line. DESTACO products can help customers to significantly increase their productivity, which makes DESTACO products a perfect complement to our product range. We look forward to welcoming DESTACO under the Stabilus umbrella and to continuing our growth path together towards becoming a global leader in motion control solutions."

Immediate positive impact on revenue and adjusted EBIT margin of the Stabilus Group

Stabilus expects the acquisition to result in a significant increase in revenues with an immediate positive impact on its adjusted EBIT margin after the completion of the transaction and full consolidation of DESTACO.

Stefan Bauerreis, CFO of Stabilus, explained: "With the acquisition of DESTACO, we are significantly strengthening our industrial business, and underlining our setup as an industrial and automotive supplier. The integration of DESTACO into the Stabilus Group will not only significantly increase Group revenue but will also have a positive impact on our adjusted EBIT margin. Our net leverage ratio will be below two and a half times EBITDA after closing of the transaction, so that the Group will still have sufficient financial flexibility to develop the business in a targeted manner and support our growth."

Stabilus has already completed various value-accretive acquisitions in recent years. In 2016, the Group acquired the industrial suppliers ACE, HAHN Gasfedern, Fabreeka and Tech Products from the SKF Group. This was followed in 2019 by the acquisition of General Aerospace, a supplier of motion control solutions for the aircraft industry, and CLEVERS and Piston, manufacturers of gas springs and dampers based in South America and Turkey, respectively. In 2021, Stabilus took a minority stake in the Italian Cultraro Group, which specializes in small-format motion control solutions, and increased this stake to 60% in July 2023. As part of its digitalization strategy, Stabilus also entered into a strategic partnership in 2021 with a minority stake in the German company Synapticon GmbH, which specializes in compact and integrated motion control electronics.