KISTENPFENNIG AG to enter into a strategic alliance with IPH Group

To further improve its competitive position and prepare itself for the challenges of the future, KISTENPFENNIG AG has decided to join forces with IPH Group.

KISTENPFENNIG AG is a leading technical distributor with sales above €80 million, 24 sites in Germany and other sites in Luxemburg, Poland and Romania. KISTENPFENNIG has a broad range of products including roller bearings, power transmission and drive technology, pneumatics, hydraulics, sealing technology, adhesive and lubrication technology, personal protection equipment, and tools.

With sales of more than €1 billion, IPH is one of the most important technical distributor groups in Europe. Over the past 10 years, IPH has actively driven consolidation of the industry by adding a number of powerful European players. Today, IPH Group is present in Europe with many strong brands, notably ZITEC in Germany, OREXAD in France, MINETTI in Italy and BIESHEUVEL TECHNIEK in the Netherlands.

“This is the right step and the right time to now become part of an alliance with IPH Group, one of the leading companies in the industry in Europe,” explains Fritz KISTENPFENNIG, Chairman of the Supervisory Board and founder of KISTENPFENNIG. “This will strengthen the development of KISTENPFENNIG. As part of this process and in line with our long-term commitment to the industry and to KISTENPFENNIG AG, the family is also becoming a shareholder in IPH.”

Sven KISTENPFENNIG, CEO of KISTENPFENNIG AG, emphasizes: “The market is changing fast. Here, in Germany, both KISTENPFENNIG and ZITEC really complement one another both geographically and in terms of products. The alliance with IPH will allow us to prepare ourselves better for the changes in the markets and continue on our dynamic growth path. Furthermore, it will give us greater flexibility in particular in the areas of e-commerce, logistics, and large customers’ access.”

“We have known the KISTENPFENNIG family for a very long time and respect KISTENPFENNIG as one of the leading players in Germany”, state Pierre POULETTY, CEO of IPH, and Walter NEMETZ, Chief Strategy and Development Officer of IPH. “With a common base of close to € 250 million, we are looking forward to working with the KISTENPFENNIG family members to continue developing our base in Germany.”

“Both KISTENPFENNIG and ZITEC have a long history of profitable growth”, adds Otto Max SCHAEFER, Director in charge of the German market and Eastern European countries for IPH, “the joining will create a leader in technical distribution in Germany.”

The company will remain under the leadership of Sven KISTENPFENNIG, who will also lead integration into IPH. He will work together with the project team to develop a strategy on how to strengthen the market position in Germany with the two brands KISTENPFENNIG and ZITEC. This will call for strong relationships to the main suppliers and strong growth to continue in Germany.

Patrick KISTENPFENNIG will be in parallel responsible for the integration and supervision of the activities in Poland and Romania. In addition he will be CEO of SAFE AG, a subsidiary of KISTENPFENNIG in charge of the development of International Accounts. He will also join IPH at the group level to drive IPH’s growth with international key accounts. In this field he will work in close cooperation with Olivier LARIGALDIE, IPH Group Director of National and International Key accounts.

Boris KISTENPFENNIG will take over the IT integration for the group and will then be focused on the e-commerce development, e-commerce being a top priority for IPH in Europe.

The new German entity composed of ZITEC and KISTENPFENNIG reaches 250M€ turnover and therefore takes a clear leadership positon in technical distribution.

The transaction is subject to authorization by the relevant competitive bodies.

About KISTENPFENNIG

KISTENPFENNIG is active in 4 countries: Germany, Poland, Luxemburg and Romania. In Germany the company operates under the names of KISTENPFENNIG, DRECHSLER KFZ TEILHANDEL ltd., CARGO DRECHSLER ltd, in Luxemburg and Romania under the name of KISTENPFENNIG and in Poland under the name of ROBOD. Overall KISTENPFENNIG represents a network of 32 branches with more than 460 employees and develop a global revenue of more than 80M€.
KISTENPFENNIG operates in 6 products segments, with a major part (more than 50%) done in power transmission and connected products. It has also a production capacity in PPE in Poland.
KISTENPFENNIG via its subsidiary S@FE has developed partnerships to serve International Accounts throughout Europe.
KISTENPFENNIG has nearly 20.000 active customers and 3.500 well diversified suppliers.

About IPH

IPH is known under the name of OREXAD in France, D’HONT in Belgium, ZITEC in Germany, BIESHEUVEL TECHNIEK in the Netherlands, NOVOTECH in Romania and MINETTI in Italy. IPH has a turnover of 1.1bn euros through more than 280 branches and has close to 4000 employees.
While being among the leading player on the European market, IPH or its subsidiary is N°1 in France, N°1 in Germany in power transmission, N°1 in Italy in power transmission, N°2 in the Netherland and N°3 in Belgium.
IPH has circa 100,000 active customers and 10,000 suppliers. IPH operates in 6 product segments: Power transmission, Machining, Tools (hand and motorized), Assembling, Workshop Equipments and Personnel Protection Equipment. Power Transmission segment represents 40% of the sales.