- Investment company of the Harald Quandt family acquires majority stake in Europe's market leader in test fixture construction
- Company founder Hans Drexler remains co-partner and managing director
- New building planned in Puergen to accommodate further growth
Bad Homburg / Puergen, 27. January 2020.
Harald Quandt Industriebeteiligungen GmbH ("HQIB") acquired a majority stake in ATX Hardware GmbH ("ATX") at the end of January 2020. ATX is Europe's market leader in test fixture manufacturing for testing electronic assemblies and printed circuit boards. One of the company's founders, Hans Drexler, will remain with the company as shareholder and sole managing director and will continue to operationally manage the day-to-day business. Commercial management will remain with authorized signatory Robert Schulz. The parties have agreed not to disclose further details of the transaction.
"The use of complex electronic assemblies continues to increase. This is accompanied by increasing quality requirements, especially in safety-critical and networked application areas. ATX is therefore operating in a growth market and is ideally positioned to benefit from the increasing demand for corresponding test adapters," says Gregor Harald May, Managing Director of HQIB. "Together with Hans Drexler, the first-class management team and the highly qualified employees, we want to continue ATX's successful course as a long-term partner. We will continue to invest in the business. Acquisitions as well as strategic investments and cooperations will also be considered."
"With the industrial and strategic expertise as well as the network of the Harald Quandt family, we want to further expand our market leadership in Europe and grow internationally," says Hans Drexler, founder and CEO of ATX. "The strategic partnership with HQIB enables us to invest even more in the technological progress of our products and service. This will allow us to further differentiate ourselves from the competition through the highest quality "Made in Germany" and our technological edge. Our growth course will be supported by the establishment of a new state-of-the-art operating and manufacturing facility."
ATX is currently planning the construction of a new headquarters in Puergen and is thus sticking to its location in Upper Bavaria. ATX is thus continuing the company's growth course on an expanded site. The second location in Weil im Schoenbuch (Baden-Württemberg) already offers sufficient space for future growth.
About Harald Quandt Industrial Holdings
Harald Quandt Industriebeteiligungen GmbH is an investment company of the Harald Quandt family and a small number of selected (industrial) families and partners. HQIB invests in small and medium-sized companies in German-speaking countries that are active in established, future-oriented and technically sophisticated sectors with attractive growth potential. As an industrial holding company, HQIB pursues a long-term and sustainable investment strategy and is not subject to maturity restrictions or limited holding periods.