Automotive supplier Prevent
The supplier group became known in the summer of 2016 due to its dispute with the Volkswagen Group.
The German-Bosnian automotive supplier group Prevent surprises with another acquisition. Prevent takes over the medium-sized casting company Halberg Guss from Saarbrücken, as the supplier confirmed on Monday. For the purchase price, both sides did not provide any information. As industry sources said, Prevent should have paid a maximum in the low three-digit million amount. Last Friday, the Federal Cartel Office had released the acquisition.
Prevent is in the summer of 2016 through his involvement with the Volkswagen Group known. Had at that time VW Orders worth several hundred million euros canceled. Prevent responded with a delivery stop and compensation claims. For a few days then rested production in several VW plants, the Wolfsburg company had to return to the negotiating table. Part of his demands, the Prevent Group then actually enforce.
Halberg Guss, which is now acquired through a subsidiary of Prevent, has an annual turnover of around 500 million euros. At three locations in Saarland, Saxony and Cape Town (South Africa), around 3,000 employees work for the new Prevent subsidiary. Halberg Guss specializes in the production of crankcases, cylinder heads and crankshafts for cars and trucks. To the most important customers belong Daimler and Opelbut also Volkswagen again.
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In Wolfsburg, the purchase of the Prevent group may have been closely monitored. In the summer of 2016, the Saxony-based Prevent subsidiary ES Automobilguss discontinued supplying the VW Group with highly specialized cast parts, forcing production to stop. VW was missing important parts for the gearbox production.
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From the perspective of Prevent, the purchase of Halberg Guss is an important addition to its own product portfolio. The supplier group could thus also offer larger castings right up to engine blocks in future, according to company circles.
After revisiting Prevent, Volkswagen had revised its own supply structures. If possible, orders should always be distributed among two suppliers so that they no longer depend on a single supplier.
Prevent has been working on setting up its own supplier group for about ten years. Behind the company is the owner family Hastor from Wolfsburg, which in turn has Bosnian roots. Prevent uses German know-how, but also benefits from low wages in its plants in Bosnia. Apart from the automotive sector, the Hastor family is also involved in the textile business and furniture.
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The Prevent Group specializes in taking over troubled companies that are comparatively cheap. After being included in its own subcontracting group, Prevent Management tries to achieve further cost reductions. The seller of Halberg Guss is the Süddeutsche Beteiligungsgesellschaft, which held the shares for only half a year. Before that, the Dutch financial investor HTP was the owner. In 2011, Halberg Guss had undergone bankruptcy proceedings.
Not all takeover attempts by the Prevent Group succeeded in the end. Last year, the supplier had the takeover of his Oberpfälzer competitors Grammer started. However, the Hastor family could not prevail at the Annual General Meeting, Prevent had to settle for a minority stake.
Outside the automotive industry, Prevent has tried to take over. The most important example is the South German kitchen manufacturer Alno, Prevent could not refurbish the company – Alno now belongs to another company.