Mutares industrial holding provides insight into Group strategy and confirms dividend target at Capital Markets Day 2019

Successful development of platform investments, in particular, Balcke-Duerr Group and Donges Group
Binding offer submitted: takeover of ÖBB subsidiary Q Logistics would already be the eighth transaction in 2019
Commitment to continued sustainable dividend policy at a high level
Dividend target of EUR 1.00 for the current financial year confirmed

Munich, October 23, 2019 – Mutares SE & Co. KGaA (ISIN: DE000A2NB650) successfully hosted its first Capital Markets Day yesterday. Mutares gave an insight into the group strategy, discussed the planned acquisition of Q Logistics GmbH, and confirmed the sustainable dividend policy.

More than 80 investors, analysts, and media representatives followed Mutares’ invitation to the Capital Markets Day in Frankfurt/Main. On this occasion, CEO Robin Laik gave an insight into the current situation and outlined the next strategic steps of the listed industrial holding company, which specializes in companies in special situations with operational improvement potential. To this end, Mutares pursues a buy & build approach and complements platform investments in a strategic and value-enhancing manner through targeted acquisitions, so-called add-on acquisitions as explained in detail by CFO Mark Friedrich. The success of this approach has recently been impressively demonstrated by the portfolio companies Donges Group and Balcke-Dürr Group.

At Donges Group, Mutares’ teams succeeded in developing the company from a non-profitable EUR 40 million sales to a group with over EUR 350 million annualized turnover and a clearly positive EBITDA margin within 24 months¹. Thus, Mutares built the Donges Group into a leading European and competitive supplier of bridge and steel construction as well as roof and facade systems.

Comparable success was experienced by the Balcke-Duerr Group, one of the leading manufacturers of components for increasing energy efficiency and reducing emissions for industry. Mutares continuously developed the group of companies with two add-on acquisitions and the expansion of the service portfolio. In particular, the impressive operative development in the international service business for modernization of coal-fired power plants represents excellent future exit potential.

“We now can see that our buy & build strategy is working and has yielded gratifying added value for our largest investments. Such successes we strive to achieve similarly with our latest platform investments Plati, the keeeper group, and KICO,” Mutares CEO Robin Laik explained.

Based on the announcements published last week, Mutares also announced the submission of a binding offer to acquire Q Logistics GmbH, a logistics subsidiary of Oesterreichische Bundesbahnen – Holding Aktiengesellschaft (ÖBB). As such it is a potential new platform investment with considerable potential for value appreciation, which is intended in particular to drive forward further expansion in the promising Services segment. In 2018, Q Logistics achieved sales of EUR 250 million and employed around 920 people.

“We are very satisfied with the business development to date and hope to have provided our shareholders, stakeholders, and media representatives with an exciting insight into Mutares and our approach, and to have answered all questions exhaustively at our first Capital Markets Day. Preconditions for continued promising business development is a favorable environment despite increasingly challenging external factors; the market for investment companies is in robust shape. For this reason, we want to continue to grow sustainably and at an appropriate rate. Always with the aim to have our shareholders participate in the company’s success also in the future, at least maintaining the current dividend level and continuing to expand it upwards,” CEO Robin Laik commented on Capital Markets Day 2019 with a view to the coming year.

1). Including Ruukki (after successful antitrust review)