Date: 07.11.2023
Czech Precision Forge a.s., a Pilsen-based forge specialising in die and free forging, will acquire new owners as of 1 November 2023. They are the MANSAKO Group, CE Industries and the investment fund MaeG Investment SICAV managed by the consulting firm Moore Czech Republic. They are buying a 100% stake in the company from the existing co-owners, who were Vladimír Rada, Henry Drew Danzinger and Joshua Michael Levy. The intention of the investors, whose skills are synergistically complementary, is to develop the traditional Pilsen forge in the long term, invest in technology, increase productivity and acquire new customers in various segments of the industry. The price of the transaction is undisclosed.
MANSAKO, a.s. will become the majority shareholder of Czech Precision Forge a.s. (henceforth CPF) with a 75 percent stake, CE Industries a.s. will acquire a 15 percent stake and MaeG Investment SICAV a 10 percent stake. The new owners agree that CPF has unique technologies and a skilled team of people, but the problem is the low degree of automation and high human labour requirements compared to the current industry benchmark. They have therefore formed a joint team with the intention of applying their skills synergistically for the benefit of the acquired company.
The MANSAKO Group is the parent company of DEL a.s., which has been supplying solutions for automation, robotics, engineering and digitalisation of industrial production for over 25 years. CE Industries is a broad-based industrial group doing business in the railway and energy industries, among others. Moore Czech Republic is a consulting, auditing and technology group that is a specialist in financial management and related information technology.
Jiří Kabelka, Chairman of the Management Board of MANSAKO a.s., says: "CPF is one of the few forges in the Central European region with the ability to produce die forgings of larger sizes and weights, or with complex shapes. It has managed to successfully survive several crises, but needs investors strong in terms of capital and know-how for its further development. Through its subsidiary DEL, MANSAKO has the ambition to bring new technologies to CPF that will guarantee a higher degree of automation and robotization of production processes. This will significantly increase productivity and thus the company's competitiveness."
Adam Šotek, Chairman of CE Industries, adds: "Our contribution to CPF will be mainly to expand the business contacts we have thanks to our presence in the railway industry or energy sector. We expect CPF to expand its product portfolio for these sectors. We consider CPF to be a strategic company for the Czech industry, which may in the future be involved, for example, in the construction of a new unit of the Dukovany nuclear power plant or other similar projects in Europe."
Petr Kymlička, partner at Moore Czech Republic, says: "Our firm was significantly involved in the complex management of this transaction and intends to focus on optimising the management of the company on the basis of the MaeG fund management."
Vladimir Rada, Chairman of the Board of Directors of CPF, comments on the transaction. These are top companies in their fields that can bring both the necessary modernisation of the company and new business. I am handing over CPF in good condition to strong investors who will develop the company further. I am confident that we have sold CPF into good hands and that it can start a successful new chapter in its existence."
About MANSAKO
MANSAKO is a family-owned holding company that represents a number of business activities of the Kabelek family from Žďár nad Sázavou. The most important asset of the group is the engineering and manufacturing company DEL, which has a production plant in Vysočina and branches all over the country.
DEL is one of the most important Czech engineering companies dedicated to automation, robotics and engineering. The company offers complex deliveries and assembly of technological units, including repairs and modernization of production and assembly equipment. DEL manufactures electrical switchboards, creates charging infrastructure for electromobility and provides complex deliveries of photovoltaic power plants. The company is active in the automotive, mechanical engineering, light and heavy industry and energy sectors. The company's customers are mainly in Central Europe, but many deliveries are worldwide. In 2022, the company's turnover was almost CZK 750 million.
About CE Industries
CE Industries is a dynamic industrial holding company operating in the European markets of rail transport, raw materials recycling, energy and FMCG. It consists of twenty companies with more than 2,500 employees and generates an annual turnover in excess of CZK 15 billion. The holding, owned by Czech businessman Jaroslav Strnad, develops industry for a sustainable future with an emphasis on responsibility and respect for the environment and human society. It currently operates in the markets of Central and Southern Europe, namely the Czech Republic, the Slovak Republic, the Republic of Croatia and the Republic of Serbia.
About Moore Czech Republic
Moore Czech Republic is a consulting, auditing and technology group providing services to both private and public sector clients. The group, which is one of the largest and most important players in its field of activity on the Czech market and whose headquarters are in Prague (with offices in Brno, Ostrava, Pribram, Pardubice, Most and Bratislava), is led by managing directors and partners Petr Kymlička and Radovan Hauk. They have started building the group under the Moore brand as of 1 January 2020 on the basis of the original BDO Advisory company, focused on management and transaction advisory services, as well as educational and IT activities.
About Czech Precision Forge
Czech Precision Forge (CPF) is a traditional Czech company with a strong position on the global and domestic market in the field of die and free forging. CPF's roots lie in its past as a forging company with a diverse range of products for global manufacturers in the energy, marine, transportation, aerospace, petroleum and other engineering industries. CPF's core manufacturing activities include die and free forging of steel alloys, non-ferrous metals and specialty materials up to 4000 kg unit weight. Of course, in-house production of forging tools, in-house heat treatment, performing destructive and non-destructive testing and surface treatment including roughing are all part of the overall production process.