Carve Out & Integration in the Sanitary Industry

Key data

Project period

01.09.2020 – 31.03.2021

Topic

Carve Out & Integration, Reporting to the Board of Directors

Photo: De Beer Breidenbach GmbH & Co. KG

Client

A global industrial leader in advanced H&C piping systems for building, infrastructure and industrial applications (~3 billion € turnover p.a., ~20.000 employees).

Background

Carve-out of the after-sales division of the company (~ 100 million €), its spare parts business, and its transfer and integration into a sister company (~ 90 million €) at another location in Germany, as preparation to the divestment of the target company. All this under difficult corona conditions.

Goals

Phase 1: Precise analysis of the spare parts business within the company, evaluation of the assets of the business, getting to know the processes and the people. Creation of a structured project plan.

Phase 2: A smooth implementation of the defined project plan in the specified time frame, no loss of sales as part of the transformation process. Ensure that all stakeholders, especially managers and employees, are informed and motivated, i.e. that they are "taken along".

Regular feedback to the auditors and lawyers, and acceptance of their instructions.

Strategy & Execution

Study of the spare parts business on site at the carve-out object through discussions and interviews with employees. Understand the history
Analysis of suppliers, customers, processes, contracts and trademark rights
Weekly coordination (team meetings) of all steps with senior management (M&A)
Definition of a predefined time and project plan for the carve-out, taking into account the COVID19-related lockdown in Germany
Communication to employees of the vision, taking into account NDA and early involvement of the key people for the redistribution of tasks on both sides
Establishment of inter-company teams according to functional areas (purchasing, sales, internal sales, logistics, master data, finance and law)
Weekly coordination (team meetings) of the sub-goals set and follow-up of the actions. Provide extra resources if necessary
Training of employees: inside the customer service at the target object through training and structured transfer of product and customer know-how
Draft internal and external communication letters (customers and suppliers)
Reporting to external auditors and internal and external lawyers (M&A)

Results

Smooth relocation of the spare parts business from one company to another

Go live date after 8 months on the key date (April 1, 2021), carve-out & integration successfully completed

Through transparency of the process, clear communication up and down as well as an occasional defense of the workforce's point of view to the management, both teams had confidence in the process, were motivated and committed (commitment through involvement)

Created the trust basis to enable smooth negotiations with all affected employees, either to transfer to the new organization, or to remain in the old one

Exclusively positive customer feedback about the strategy and its implementation

Successful and timely transfer resulted in a manifold increase of the valuation of the spare parts business

Following my integration of the after-sales business in the target company Sanitärtechnik Eisenberg GmbH (SANIT), it was successfully divested by Aliaxis and acquired by the Spanish Roca-Group in May 2021.

I can support you at short notice, to solve acute restructuring challenges.

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