Cathay Capital Private Equity signs its first investment in Germany with the acquisition of WST
May 4, 2020
Europe
Cathay Capital Private Equity, the first self-made global private equity firm and a leader in cross-border investment in Europe, China, and North America, continues to successfully deploy its Midcap fund by investing in the precision turned parts manufacturer WST Präzisionstechnik GmbH (WST). Cathay Capital thus signs its first acquisition in Germany, led by Andreas Holtschneider as German Partner from the recently opened local office in Munich. This is a key step in the firm’s ongoing development of its capacities for partnering with companies of the German middle-market.
Founded in 1993 and based in Löffingen (Bade-Wurtemberg), WST designs and manufactures precision turned parts, in steel and in aluminum, mainly for the automotive industry. WST is a large and well established player on the German market, which has built long-term relationships with Tier-1 clients, such as Mercedes, Volkswagen, Kendrion or ThyssenKrupp. It owns two state-of-the art manufacturing facilities in south Germany, close to its major customers.
The capital of the company is today owned by German small cap PE Fund Finatem – which is selling its stake to Cathay Capital -, by founder Georg Willmann – who will remain involved as a shareholder -, and by the management team – which will increase its stake with the new ownership. Capitalizing on its platform spanning three continents and its vast international experience, Cathay Capital intends to assist the company in its geographical expansion strategy, primarily in the USA, where current clients need WST to be close to them, and then in Asia in the coming years.
Georg Willmann, Managing Partner and Founder of WST, stated: “We have chosen Cathay Capital as a new partner in our capital structure alongside the management to help us with our ambitious international expansion strategy. Our common ambition is to grow from the solid positioning we have built in Germany to a new stage of growth on a global level. We are thankful to the Finatem team for their contribution since 2012 and welcome Cathay Capital to support our international project.”
Andreas Holtschneider, Partner at Cathay Capital, added: “Cathay Capital’s teams are delighted to have been chosen by WST’s management team to support the company’s development beyond its current borders. Thanks to our unique ecosystem, we will provide WST with our proven experience in partnering with companies looking to enhance their international dimension. We are looking forward to be working with a talented management and to be contributing to the international success story of this German hidden champion.”
Mingpo Cai, President of Cathay Capital, concluded: “We are very happy to welcome WST into the Cathay family. This first investments in Germany illustrates our strong local commitment following the appointment of Andreas Holtschneider and the opening of our office in Munich. The German market is very important for our ecosystem and for the Midcap Fund strategy in order to create new value beyond borders for our current and future portfolio companies. WST exemplifies our local approach to investment, and we are confident that it will highly benefit from working with our team and unique platform across three continents.”
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