KION swallows Dematic: In a buying mood

Material flow: Are the effects of the takeover already being felt on the German market at the moment?

The transaction is expected to be completed in Q4 2016. Once combined, the two companies, with their sales and service centers, technologies and resources, will be able to seamlessly offer the full range of material handling products and services to customers of all sizes in a variety of industries around the globe. The offering will be the most comprehensive on the market.

MFL: Are there plans to cut jobs? Will the companies be gradually merged?

In future under the KION umbrella: warehouse high-tech from Dematic.

Both companies are essentially complementary in terms of products and regional aspects. This makes them a good fit and we expect further profitable growth.

MFL: Will the Dematic brand be retained? And what will become of Egemin? Harm: Dematic will form the fifth operating unit of the Kion Group, which will also include Egemin and Retrotech. This will bundle the Group's expertise in the areas of automation and logistics systems.

MFL: What strengths does Kion bring to the new collaboration, and what strengths does Dematic bring? Harm: Both companies complement each other with their respective product portfolios and strong regional market positions, which opens up further opportunities for sales growth. Dematic will leverage the Kion Group's network and brand reputation in key markets such as Europe, China and Brazil, while the Kion Group will benefit from Dematic's strong position in the US and European automation markets. The combination of the Kion Group's sales and service network with Dematic's large installed base also offers potential for further revenue growth from the service business and system retrofits.

MFL: What will the newly formed intralogistics giant be able to do better?Harm: The acquisition of Dematic will make the Kion Group a leading global provider of intralogistics 4.0 solutions. The Kion Group is thus strengthening its position as a one-stop provider of intelligent supply chain and automation solutions and is therefore ideally positioned to participate in the attractive and profitable growth driven by megatrends such as Industry 4.0, digitalization and e-commerce. Our customers will be the main beneficiaries of this offering.

MFL: What is Kion's strategic goal with the acquisition?

The Kion Group is already one of the two largest providers of forklift trucks, warehouse technology and related services. With the acquisition of Dematic, the Group has become one of the world's leading providers of intelligent intralogistics solutions. Over the past twelve months, the Kion Group had already begun to build a strong position as a provider of automated system solutions with the acquisition of Egemin Automation and Retrotech in order to make further progress in this attractive and growing market.

KION strategist Christian Harm is unsurprisingly positive about the Dematic takeover.

MFL: How was the news received by Dematic customers?Harm: Dematic customers were informed very promptly. They received the news very positively. The most important aspect was certainly the new complete intralogistics offering that the Kion Group will be able to provide in future.

MFL: Are further acquisitions planned at the moment?Harm: Weare currently concentrating our efforts on the integration of Dematic. However, M&A is part of the history and DNA of the Kion Group, and there have always been acquisitions in the history of the Group.

MFL: Is it true what the market is whispering - namely that TGW is the next target?Harm: As a matter of principle, we don't commenton speculation.

MFL: Thank you very much for the interview.

Editor-in-chief Martin Schrüfer spoke to Christian Harm.

Contact:

KION Group 65189 Wiesbaden Phone: 0611 / 7700