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Management

Jwell Machinery acquires Kautex Maschinenbau

2:25 min Management
Suzhou City, China

Kautex Maschinenfabrik GmbH, specializing in the development and manufacturing of extrusion blow molding systems, has been extended since January 1, 2024 due to the acquisition of Jwell Machinery.

Except for the Kautex Shunde entity, all the property rights of Kautex Machinery Manufacturing Co., Ltd. and related entities have been sold to Jwell Machinery. All the company’s physical assets and mechanical engineering company business operations have been transferred to the Chinese investors. As of January 1, 2024, the new company – Kautex Machine Systems GmbH – will take over all responsibilities of the former company. The parties have agreed not to disclose the purchase price or further terms of the restructuring.

“With Jwell as a strong new partner for Kautex Machinery Systems GmbH, our future is bright. Jwell is a strategic fit for us, they have a strong background in plastic machinery manufacturing and have With sufficient funds to complete the transformation of Kautex, they will help us continue to deepen localized manufacturing and services, with the goal of creating a world-class market leader in the extrusion blow molding business,” said Thomas, CEO of Kautex Group . Kautex is an independent operating company under Jwell Machinery.

Jwell has taken over more than 50% of the employees of Kautex Maschinenfabrik GmbH in Bonn and 100% of the employees of other companies, and intends to continue to focus on improving production solutions at the Bonn plant, which remains focused on manufacturing, R&D and Service headquarters.

Establishment of job transfer company and first personnel management adjustment

For those employees who were not transferred to the new company, a transfer company was established to further qualify them for new external job opportunities. The opportunity is popular, with approximately 95% of employees taking advantage of it to advance in their careers.

Kautex remains an independent operating company under Jwell Machinery and will become its high-end brand. At present, the company’s personnel base is relatively reasonable. At the same time, the first adjustment within the management has been implemented. Julia Keller, former Chief Financial and Human Resources Officer of Kautex, left the company and was replaced by Mr. Lei Jun as Chief Financial Officer. Maurice Mielke, who was Kautex’s global head of research and development until the end of December 2023, will be promoted to chief technology officer and chief human resources officer. Paulo Gomez, former chief technology officer of Kautex Group, has decided to leave the company with effect from February 1.

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Mr. He Haichao, Chairman of Jwell, expressed his highest gratitude to all employees for their focused and dedicated work over the past month, making this transaction a reality. He said that all these together have realized his dream of investing in Kautex a few years ago, making Kautex and Jwell become leaders in the global extrusion blow molding market.

Context: Self-management in response to external developments

Since 2019, numerous external factors have forced Kautex Maschinenbau to undergo an ongoing global transformation process with the aim of realigning. This is partly due to having to deal with the transformation of the automotive industry, a disruptive shift from internal combustion engines to electric motors.

Kautex Maschinenbau has successfully completed most of the transformation processes it initiated and implemented proactive measures. A new corporate strategy has been developed and implemented globally. In addition, a product program has been launched that positions Kautex directly as one of the market leaders in the new market segments of industrial packaging and future mobility solutions. The Kautex plants in Bonn, Germany, and Shunde, China, successfully harmonize product portfolios and processes.

However, since the beginning of the transformation, many exogenous factors have hindered and slowed down the transformation process. For example, the global COVID-19 pandemic, supply chain disruptions, and supply bottlenecks have all negatively impacted restructuring. Factors such as rising prices due to inflation, global political uncertainty, and a shortage of skilled workers in Germany further complicate the situation.

As a result, Kautex Maschinenfabrik GmbH and its production site in Bonn, Germany, have been in a state of preliminary self-administration since August 25, 2023.

www.jwellmachine.com   www.kautex-group.com

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