BDO advises WKS Druckholding GmbH on the acquisition of inline Rollenoffset Ploch & Strube OHG and S

A mutli-disciplinary BDO team led by Achim Schroer, Jan Odewald (BDO AG, Düsseldorf) and Thorsten Schumacher (BDO Legal, Düsseldorf) has advised Wassenburg-based WKS Druckholding GmbH on the acquisition of all partnership interests in inline Rollenoffset Ploch & Strube OHG and der Strube Druck und Medien OHG. After completion of the transaction, the sellers will help to drive forward the management of the WKS Group and the further development of the group of companies led by WKS Druckholding GmbH.
In recent years, consolidation on the customer and supplier side of roll-offset printers in Germany has progressed further and competition and price pressure have increased significantly. The distortions on the raw material markets are reflected in massive increases in the costs of paper, ink and energy for printers, which have further aggravated the competitive situation in recent months.
WKS Druckholding GmbH meets this challenge and with this transaction forms a group of companies which is one of the leading web offset-printers in Germany. The four production sites in Wassenberg, Essen, Felsberg and Queienfeld have one of the most modern machine parks with complementary machines and are ideally located in Germany. With the expanded group of companies, it will in future be possible to offer customers an ideal production route, guarantee very fast production times, create a back-up situation via the locations and generate logistical advantages for customers.
WKS Druckholding GmbH is the holding company of Westend Druckereibetriebe GmbH in Essen and Kraft-Schlötels GmbH in Wassenberg and one of the leading web offset companies in German-speaking Europe. The WKS Group currently employees about 370 employees at its sites in Essen and Wassenberg. After completion of the transaction, which is scheduled for 1 January 2019, the headcount of the WKS Group at its then four sites will rise to about 600 employees.

Advisors to WKS Druckholding GmbH

BDO AG Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaft:
Achim Schroer, Jan Odewald (both lead), Dietmar Flügel (M&A Advisory), Thomas Bücker (tax), Nicole Schneider (corporate finance, all Düsseldorf).

BDO Legal Rechtsanwaltsgesellschaft mbH:
Thorsten Schumacher (lead), Dr Patricia Sirchich von Kis-Sira (both M&A/corporate), Julia Dönch, Stephan Wetzel (both IP/IT), Dr. Franziska Hügel-Spohnheimer, Danny Sassek (both employment law), Dr Andreas Graef (public law), Julian Lappe (finance, all Düsseldorf) and Dr Martin Krüger (real estate, Hamburg).