Munich, June 2021 – Advisors of Kloepfel Corporate Finance GmbH acted as exclusive M&A advisors to the shareholders of EWK Umwelttechnik GmbH (“EWK”) on the sale of 100% the shares to Valmet Technology Oy (“Valmet”), a subsidiary of Valmet Oy listed on NASDAQ Helsinki (Ticker: HLSE:VALMT). The closing took place on June, 30^th 2021.

Valmet has acquired one of Europe’s leading providers for manufacturing and supplying of air emission control systems and after-installation services. Within the scope of the investment, a succession solution in a medium-sized family business is made possible. In the scope of the transaction, advisors of KCF also executed a carve-out of a Swiss subsidiary and managed a sale and leaseback transaction.

Founded in Kaiserslautern in 1868, EWK is a provider of turnkey solutions in the area of flue gas cleaning by offering innovative electrostatic precipitators (ESP) in a variety of end-markets such as the wood-based, mineral wool and glass industry. The company looks back on a history of more than 150 years of success operating worldwide. Based in Kaiserslautern the EWK accounts for a net sale of approximately EUR 22 million in 2020 with 50 employees.

Peter Ohlenschläger, Managing Director of EWK, sees an opportunity with Valmet to roll out its comprehensive technology offering to a global customer base, thereby leveraging additional market potential. “Joining Valmet is a start of a new chapter in our history. We bring new technology and industry competences to Valmet and I’m convinced that together we will be able to serve our current and future customers with a more comprehensive technology offering and service presence globally,” As part of the transaction, a successful succession solution was realized, which was intended to secure a long-term continuity of the company and its employees.

“Combining Valmet’s and EWK Umwelttechnik’s emission control offerings expand the solutions we can provide our customers and widens the industries that our technologies cover. This creates new business opportunities for our environmental systems business. EWK has a very skilled team, and I am happy to warmly welcome the 50 professionals to be part of Valmet,” says Bertel Karlstedt, Business Line President, Pulp and Energy, Valmet. Valmet is a leading global developer and supplier of process technologies, automation and services for the pulp, paper and energy industries. Valmet’s strong technology offering includes pulp mills, tissue, board and paper production lines, as well as power plants for bioenergy production. Valmet’s net sales in 2020 were approximately EUR 3.7 billion. Valmet is based in Espoo, Finland and employs 14,000 people around the world.

Advisors of Kloepfel Corporate Finance were exclusively mandated with the structured process and provided comprehensive advice to the shareholders of EWK. The transaction was carried out within the framework of an international competitive auction. The deal team led by Dr. Heiko Frank consisted of Viktor Peters and Marius Matis.