Chinese Mengtai Group becomes new owner of apt Group

An integrated Sino-German team of Livingstone has advised exclusively on the sale of 100% of the shares of the apt Group, Monheim/Rhein, to Inner Mongolia Mengtai Group Co., Ltd. Ordos, China.

apt Group is one of the leading companies in the European aluminium industry. The group manufactures and refines high-quality aluminium profiles at four locations and supplies well-known customers from the fields of construction/architecture, transportation, automotive and industrial appliances in Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium in particular. The added value ranges from co-engineering, aluminium extrusion, mechanical processing to surface refinement and assembly of ready-to-install parts. With an extrusion capacity of around 80,000 tons of aluminium profiles at the Monheim and Roermond (NL) sites, its own anodizing and powder coating facilities in Monheim, Roermond (NL) and Eckental with an annual capacity of 6 million sqm and a capacity for mechanical processing of around 15,000 tons, apt Group is one of the largest manufacturers in Europe. The company employs nearly 1,000 people and realizes a turnover of about EUR 250 million.

In a structured and competitive international sales process organized by Livingstone, Chinese Mengtai Group was able to establish itself as the final successful acquirer. The parties have agreed not to disclose the terms of the transaction.

Mengtai Group is a family-owned group of companies headquartered in Ordos, Inner Mongolia, China, with over 5,000 employees and a turnover of approximately EUR 2.0 billion in 2019. The group was founded in 2001 by AO Fengting and is already one of the ten largest privately owned companies in Inner Mongolia. In recent years, the Ao family has driven the development of the company into a diversified conglomerate with a downstream focus on the Chinese market. Today, Mengtai is a business group operating in the fields of coal, electricity and district heating as well as the production of primary aluminium with an annual production capacity of up to 500,000 tons per year.

The current management team will continue to manage the day-to-day business activities of apt Group. The Ao family expresses its confidence into the local European management team and, as a financially strong shareholder, will support the further growth and internationalization of apt Group.

AO Fengting, founder and president of the Mengtai Group, says: “The acquisition of apt Group gives us the opportunity to further strengthen the aluminium processing expertise of our growing group of companies. On the one hand, we would like to strengthen the apt Group in Europe and provide close support to both the existing management team and the workforce on its further growth course. On the other hand, we also want to bring apt’s outstanding know-how to China and offer our customers and apt’s customers first-class extruded, coated and processed profiles in our market. To this end, we are planning to build up downstream capacities in extrusion and processing technology in China, for which we can act as a supplier of primary materials.”

Thomas Boddenberg, CEO of apt Group, adds: ”The management team of apt Group is pleased that with Mengtai Group and the Ao Family a new shareholder has been found, who will support the long-term national and international development of apt Group in the core segments of aluminium extrusion and further processing into ready-to-install components, and who also wants to open new doors for us, particularly in the Chinese market. At the same time, we remain one of the largest independent manufacturers in Europe and intend to play an active role in future market consolidation.”

“Mengtai Group quickly distinguished itself in the negotiations by its high reliability and speed and was always interested in finding a cooperative solution. I am convinced that in Mengtai and the Ao Family, excellent owners have been found for apt Group”, adds Guido Pühse, Managing Partner of GP Holding GmbH and majority shareholder of apt Group. “Livingstone’s deal team comprising of Christian Grandin, Johannes Faber and Baoshan Bao was able to conduct a successful sell-side process for us again. Their contacts into the Chinese Market, an unparalleled understanding of the company and know-how of the market as well as the he right feeling to archive suitable solutions in complex negotiation situations made an attractive deal possible for all parties involved. Despite the currently everchanging and stressed market environment due to the Covid-19 pandemic the integrated Sino-German deal team was able to deliver a fully competitive M&A process until the best suited acquirer was found. I wish the Ao family and the entire team at apt group a successful future.”

Christian Grandin, responsible Partner at Livingstone in Düsseldorf, says: “After advising the shareholders of apt Group back in 2014 on their first step of the succession plan, it has been a pleasure for us to support the company and its management team again in a complex international M&A process. We would like to thank all team members for their trust in our capabilities and for the exiting and successful cooperation in a challenging market environment.”

This has been the third successful transaction within the European aluminium extrusion industry within the last five years for Livingstone as well as the sixth successfully advised transaction within the metals sector in the last 24 months.