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Press Release

Grant Thornton advises Klöckner & Co on the intended strategic divestment of four European country organizations

Duesseldorf, January 10, 2024

Klöckner & Co, a leading steel distributor and steel service company, has received an irrevocable offer by the Spanish Hierros Añon S.A. to acquire its European country organizations in France, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Belgium, combinedly accounting for c. 1,500 employees (as of September 30, 2023) as well as about ten percent of the Group’s total sales volume. The proposed transaction represents a continuation of Klöckner & Co’s strategy to prioritize businesses with higher value-added products and services along the value chain of its customers to drive profitability and reduce the company’s dependence on volatile commodity markets. Closing of the transaction is expected to occur in the first half of 2024.

Grant Thornton provided cross-border sell-side services to Klöckner & Co on this strategic divestment project. Comprising a joint team of professionals from Germany, France, United Kingdom and the Netherlands, our Grant Thornton team headed by our experts Tobias Kluth, Alexander Griesmeier and Alexander Schwendemann contributed to the successful completion of the transaction by providing vendor transaction and project assistance as well as carve-out advisory services.

Klöckner & Co is one of the largest producer-independent distributors of steel and metal products and leading steel service companies worldwide with operations on around 160 sites in 13 countries. The Group supplies more than 90,000 customers with around 7,800 employees globally and its shares are listed in the SDAX® index of Deutsche Börse.

Hierros Añon is a family-owned Company with operations comprising a comprehensive portfolio of steel distribution and steel processing services across Spain.

Team

Transaction and Project Assistance 

Germany
Tobias Kluth
Partner
+49 211 9524 8106
tobias.kluth@de.gt.com

Alexander Schwendemann
Assistant Manager
+49 211 9524 8947
alexander.schwendemann@de.gt.com

France
Nicolas Tixier
Partner
+33 (0)141 25 9081
nicolas.tixier@fr.gt.com

Axel Martin Carlotti
Manager
+33 1 41 25 89 08 
axel.martin-carlotti@fr.gt.com

United Kingdom
Oliver W. Bridge
Partner
+44 (0)20 7865 2229
oliver.w.bridge@uk.gt.com

Rahala Begum
Associate Director
+44 (0)121 232 5348
rahala.begum@uk.gt.com

Netherlands
Wilfred van der Lee
Partner
+31 (0)6 31 91 37 87
wilfred.vander.lee@nl.gt.com

Ryno Swanepoel
Senior Manager
+31 (0)6 25 14 83 08
ryno.swanepoel@nl.gt.com

Operational Deal Services
Alexander Griesmeier
Partner
+49 89 36849 4383
alexander.griesmeier@de.gt.com

Florian Gottermeier
Senior Manager
+49 69 90559 8624
florian.gottermeier@de.gt.com

Ricardo Raetz
Assistant Manager
+49 341 5908 3845
ricardo.raetz@de.gt.com

About Grant Thornton in Germany

Grant Thornton is one of the ten largest auditing firms in Germany. Around 1,900 employees at eleven locations serve not only the upper midmarket but also publicly listed companies. The auditing and consulting firm consists of the Audit & Assurance, Tax, Advisory, Business Process Solutions, Legal and Private Finance divisions. The company is the German member firm of Grant Thornton International Ltd. With around 73,000 employees in 149 countries, the Grant Thornton network advises companies all over the world. www.grantthornton.de

Contact

Angela Ott
Head of Corporate Communications
+49 211 9524 8796
angela.ott@de.gt.com

 

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