4/6/2021: Germany’s Leoni Group announced that it has sold Leoni Studer AG, part of the company’s Wire & Cable Solutions (WCS) division, to a consortium of buyers led by former Board member Bruno Fankhauser and Helvetica Capital.

A press release said that the sale was an important step towards focusing the Group on wiring systems business. The deal saw the Board of Directors and the Supervisory Board sell Leoni Schweiz AG, which is the holding company of Leoni Studer AG, a specialist in high-quality cables and wires for complex applications in the industrial and infrastructure sectors. Both sides signed a corresponding agreement after several months of negotiation. The transaction is expected to be completed before the end of the first quarter of 2021.

Leoni announced that the company will sell the units of the Wire & Cable Solutions (WCS) division to focus on the wiring systems business. In the past financial year, Leoni laid the foundation for the reorganization of WCS into units to be sold. Leoni Schweiz AG is now the first unit being sold.

“The sale of Leoni Schweiz AG shows that besides the sequential improvement of our operating performance, we are also making progress in focusing on the wiring systems business,” said Leoni AG CEO Aldo Kamper. “The market environment for transactions appears to be steadily improving, and we received tangible indications of interest for further WCS units. We will sell further units if we achieve fair value and if buyers present a viable concept.”

The buyer consortium’s business concept for Leoni Schweiz AG envisions that the company will realize its full potential quickly and flexibly on an independent and stand-alone basis. The business will be further developed in the field of special and safety cables, halogen-free, flame-resistant plastics as well as irradiation cross-linking and sterilization.

As a long-standing member of the management of Studer AG and Leoni Schweiz AG, Bruno Fankhauser has been familiar with the business and the market for over 20 years and will contribute this expertise to the further development of the company as the future CEO of the independent Studer Cables. “We intend to further expand Leoni Studer’s leading position and its core technical competencies,” said Fankhauser. “With this step we are also providing stability and continuity for our employees and business partners.”