Munich, September 2021 – Kloepfel Corporate Finance GmbH acted as exclusive M&A advisor to Fire Holding GmbH on the cross-border acquisition of significant shares of ABBS Group, which has its headquarters in Belgium. Closing took place in October 2021.

The acquisition of internationally active ABBS Group with 7 subsidiaries represents another significant milestone for Fire Holding on its way to becoming the quality leader in international active fire protection. Together, a successful succession solution for ABBS Group was made possible in the mutual interest of buyer and seller. Mr. Wolfgang Huebner, as the company founder and one of the managing directors, was able to a successfully implement a succession solution for ABBS-Group by joining Fire Holding. Ms. Sylvia Broja, as the second managing director, accepted the attractive offer of continuing to hold shares and thus, as an essential key person, ensures the continuity of the operative day-to-day business. Furthermore, she adds many years of experience to the sustainable growth of the group of companies and supports a successful integration. Within the scope of the transaction, KCF supported Fire Holding in consolidating the company shares as well as in streamlining the group structure of ABBS Group.

ABBS Group is a supplier of automatic fire extinguishing systems founded in Belgium in 2000. As a fully integrated provider, the range of services includes the design, installation, repair and maintenance of sprinkler, water mist, gas and foam extinguishing systems. Through continuous customer growth, ABBS Group expanded to Germany, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Hungary and Poland over time. With transport & logistics, retail and wholesale as well as the automotive industry, ABBS Group serves similar end markets as Fire Holding already does, so that the customer bases strategically complement each other, and the industry distribution diversifies across the entire group. Ms. Broja and Mr. Huebner see the future of ABBS Group within Fire Holding as an optimal strategic fit and are confident about a successful future. “With Fire Holding we have found the right partner to jointly become a stronger provider in the market and to be able to keep up with the large providers due to high quality and performance requirements,” they sum up full of positive expectations.

Fire Holding continues to expand and, with the takeover, is adding another market participant to the group of companies. With existing locations, Fire Holding can expand existing markets in Eastern Europe as well as open new markets in Western Europe. A comparable service portfolio allows the merger of the operative business and enables the expansion of the markets. “The takeover of the ABBS Group was strategically a very sensible and necessary step to expand the business areas of Fire Holding, especially in Benelux. Both companies will greatly benefit from this merger. I would like to thank Dr. Frank and his team for their full support during the process, which was carried out in a solution-oriented, efficient and forward-looking manner, as usual,” says Mr. Skube, pleased with the cooperation.

Kloepfel Corporate Finance acted as exclusive M&A advisor to Fire Holding GmbH and Deutsche Beteiligungs AG and was able to structure, negotiate and successfully conclude the purchase of ABBS Group with its client as part of a bilateral M&A process. Under the leadership of Dr. Heiko Frank, the deal team consisted of Ms. Laura Schläger as project manager, as well as Mr. Marius Matis and Mr. Caspar von Hoensbroech.