GEA sells Bock to private equity business

GERMANY: GEA has sold refrigeration compressor manufacturer Bock to German private equity business Nord Holding.

The transaction includes Bock GmbH and its subsidiaries in the Czech Republic and India, as well as its sites in China and Australia. The financial details of the transaction have not been revealed and the deal remains subject to regulatory clearance. Closing of the transaction is expected in early 2021. 

The intended sale was announced last October, with GEA explaining that it was part of its desire to focus on its strategic core markets – the food, chemical and pharmaceutical industries. 

Part of GEA’s Refrigeration Technologies division, Bock is a leading supplier of open and semi-hermetic piston compressors in the lower and medium refrigeration capacity range for stationary and transport-related cooling applications. It generated sales of around €90m in 2018.

Bock operates over 10 sales locations worldwide and employs around 340 people. It has production sites in Frickenhausen (Germany), Kostelec u Stříbra (Czech Republic), Bangalore (India) and Suzhou (China). Two thirds of the employees work at the company’s headquarters in Frickenhausen, Germany.

“It is our firm conviction that Nord Holding will develop Bock’s business potential as a producer of commercial compressors mainly for use in stationary and transport-related cooling applications in the best possible way,” commented GEA CEO Stefan Klebert. 

“In GEA’s Refrigeration Technologies division, we will concentrate in the future on our industrial compressors business. Our portfolio here includes customised solutions for the optimum use of waste heat, enabling our customers to operate their production facilities ever more sustainably or even become carbon neutral,” he added.

Founded in 1969 and with over €2bn assets under management, Nord Holding focuses on structuring and financing company succession models, acquiring parts of larger groups/subsidiaries as well as on expansion financing of medium-sized companies.

The Bock company was founded by Wilhelm Bock and Hans Göldner in 1932 as a refrigeration contractor. It started its own production in 1937, becoming Bock & Co KG a year later. It was acquired by GEA in 2011.

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