An important milestone in the reorganization of Kautex recently been reached: JWELL Machinery has invested in the company, thus ensuring its autonomous continuity of operations and future development.
Bonn, 10.01.2024 – Kautex, which specializes in the development and manufacture of extrusion blow molding systems, has been renewed since January 1, 2024 as a result of the acquisition by JWELL Machinery.
All Kautex Machinery Manufacturing Ltd. property rights and related entities, except for the Kautex Shunde entity, have been sold to JWELL Machinery. All physical assets of the company and the business operations of the mechanical engineering company have been transferred to the Chinese investor. Effective January 1, 2024, the new company – Kautex Machinery Systems Limited – will take over all the responsibilities of the former company. The parties have agreed not to disclose the purchase price and further terms of the reorganization.
“We have a bright future with JWELL as a strong new partner for Kautex Machinery Systems Ltd. JWELL is a strategic fit for us, they have a strong background in plastics machinery manufacturing and enough capital to complete Kautex’s transformation, and they will help us to continue to deepen our focus on localized manufacturing and services, with the goal to We aim to create a world-class market leader in the extrusion blow molding business,” said Thomas, CEO of Kautex Group. Kautex is an independent operating company of King & Wood Mills.
JWELL has taken over more than 50 percent of the employees of Kautex in Bonn and 100 percent of the employees of the other companies and intends to continue to focus on improving the production solutions at the Bonn plant, which remains the headquarters focusing on manufacturing, R&D and service.
Establishment of the transfer company and first personnel management adjustments
For those employees who were not transferred to a new company, a transfer company was established to further qualify them for new external job opportunities. This opportunity was well received and approximately 95% of the employees took advantage of this opportunity to progress in their careers.
Kautex remains an independent operating company under the JWELL Machinery umbrella and will be its premium brand. The current transferring company’s personnel base is still relatively reasonable, and in the meantime, the first adjustments within management have been executed. Kautex’s former Chief Financial and Human Resources Officer, Julia Keller, is leaving the company to be replaced as CFO by Mr. Lei Jun. Maurice Mielke, who was previously Kautex’s Global Head of Research and Development until the end of December 2023, will be promoted to Chief Technology Officer and Chief Human Resources Officer. Paul Gomez, former CTO of Kautex Group, has decided to leave the company as of February 1st.
Mr. Ho Hoi Chiu, Chairman of JWELL, expressed his highest appreciation to all employees for their focused and dedicated work over the past month to make this deal a reality. He stated that all of this together fulfills a dream he had several years ago to invest in Kautex and make Kautex and JWELL the global leader in the extrusion blow molding market.
Background: Self-management to cope with external developments
About Kautex
Eighty years of innovation and customer service have made Kautex one of the world’s leading suppliers of extrusion blow molding technology. With its philosophy of “Focus on the End Plastic Product”, the company helps its customers around the world to manufacture high-quality, sustainable plastic products.
Kautex is headquartered in Bonn, Germany, with a second fully equipped production facility in Shunde, China, and regional offices in the USA, Italy, India, Mexico and Indonesia. In addition, Kautex has a dense global service network and sales base.
About JWELL Machinery Co.
JWELL Machinery Co., Ltd. is one of the leading extruder manufacturers in China, specializing in providing high quality extrusion equipment for various industries. In addition to several plants in China, JWELL has expanded the number of overseas plants to three through this transaction. With its customer-focused philosophy and extensive experience and expertise in the extrusion field, JWELL has become a first-class extrusion solution company for its customers.
Website: www.jwell.cn
Since 2019, numerous external factors have forced the Kautex Group to undergo an ongoing global transformation process with the aim of realigning. This was in part due to having to deal with the transformation of the automotive industry, the disruptive shift from internal combustion engines to electric motors.
Kautex has successfully completed most of the initiated transformation process and implemented proactive measures. A new corporate strategy has been developed and implemented globally. In addition, a product program has been launched that makes Kautex directly one of the market leaders in the new market segments of industrial packaging and future mobility solutions. The Kautex plants in Bonn (Germany) and Shunde (China) successfully harmonized the product portfolio and processes.
However, many exogenous factors have hindered and slowed down the transformation process since it began. For example, the global new crown epidemic, supply chain disruptions and supply bottlenecks have negatively impacted the restructuring. Inflation-induced price increases, global political uncertainty, and a shortage of skilled labor in Germany further complicated the situation.
As a result, Kautex and its production site in Bonn, Germany have been in a state of preliminary self-administered insolvency since August 25, 2023.
Post time: Jan-16-2024