BIETIGHEIM-BISSINGEN (dpa-AFX) - Mechanical engineering company Dürr is expanding its automation technology business with the acquisition of BBS Automation from Bavaria. Depending on the development of this year's results of BBS, the enterprise value of the purchase is around 440 to 480 million euros, the MDax group announced in Bietigheim-Bissingen on Tuesday. The move is expected to more than double sales in automation technology in the coming year. The deal is expected to be completed by the end of the third or beginning of the fourth quarter. For now, there will be no change to the forecasts for day-to-day operations in 2023. On the stock market, the news pushed Dürr stock up significantly.

In the morning, the stock was listed at the top of the MDax index of mid-cap stocks, up 4.3 percent to 29.80 euros. The share price has been in upward mode anyway since it fell to its lowest level since the beginning of November 2022 in May following a lengthy consolidation. Thanks to the recent price gains, the minus since the turn of the year has now melted to around six percent.

The acquisition of BBS Automation is a good strategic move, said one trader. The price also seems "okay", even though Dürr has not yet provided any more detailed information on how BBS is currently performing operationally.

Dürr hopes that the BBS deal will enable it to more than double its sales in automation technology to about half a billion euros as early as next year. Dürr had originally targeted roughly this figure by 2030. The Group had already expanded this area in recent years with the acquisitions of Teamtechnik and Hekuma. By way of comparison, Dürr is targeting consolidated sales of 4.5 to 4.8 billion euros in 2023.

The seller of BBS is a consortium around the Swedish financial investor EQT, the statement added. In order to finance the deal, the MDax group is drawing on its own free cash resources as well as existing financing instruments and bridge financing.

BBS Automation, headquartered in Garching, Germany, says it develops flexible automation solutions for complex manufacturing and testing processes. More than half of the planned sales in 2023 are to come from automation technology for the production of car parts, especially in the field of electromobility. In addition to Germany, the company has sites in Italy, Poland, North America and China, among others.

Even after the takeover, company founder Josef Wildgruber is to continue managing BBS Automation. The company is to grow profitably under the umbrella of the Dürr Group, the statement added. After an expected 300 million euros in sales in 2023, BBS' earnings are expected to rise to 400 to 450 million euros in 2026. The profit margin before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization is expected to be 13 to 15 percent in three years. The targets would thus be in line with Dürr's own growth and earnings targets.

For the current year, however, Dürr does not expect the transaction to have a significant impact on its own targets. Only the forecast for the net financial position will change to minus 490 to minus 540 million euros, depending on the enterprise value of BBS, which determines the takeover price. Previously, this target had been minus 50 to minus 100.

Dürr's other targets, most recently confirmed at the quarterly balance sheet in May, call for an increase in sales, adjusted operating margin and after-tax earnings, while incoming orders are expected to fall after the record set last year./tav/mis/jha/