10. January 2023
MWS Group: INVEST AG and OÖ Invest take over majority in leading Aluminum
casting niche player in the automotive supply sector
In the course of corporate succession, INVEST AG and Raiffeisen OÖ Invest GmbH & Co OG, two associated companies belonging to the Upper Austrian Raiffeisen Banking Group, took over 62.5 percent of the MWS Group1. The previous managing directors Josef Stiegler and Detlef Buchmann will continue to manage the operational business and will continue to hold a 32.5 percent stake in the company. The remaining 5 percent remain with the non-operative former shareholders.
MWS is a company specializing in aluminum casting and CNC machining, whose three operational locations in Austria and Slovakia manufacture highly complex, ready-to-install aluminum parts using sand casting and permanent mold casting. Josef Stiegler, founder and CEO, on the background of the transaction: "Since there is no successor generation available in our - although private, but now aged - ownership structure, we have initiated a gradual medium-term corporate succession in good time. We have had a trusting, professional relationship with the Raiffeisen Group since it was founded. With Invest AG, we have brought a partner on board who will provide the best possible support for further growth and acquisition opportunities. The main customer of the MWS Group is the upper class of the German automotive industry, which we can perfectly supply with our niche technology. In this segment, we were also able to cope well with the Corona crisis and did not feel the lack of chips in recent years. We enjoy such a high level of trust from our customers that we supply all products as a single source.”
“With this investment, we are ensuring another successful corporate succession. Our understanding of
entrepreneurial performance, trusting negotiations and a concept adapted to the ownership structure
confirm that we are a reliable partner for succession situations. The business continuity for customers,
employees and suppliers is ensured by the unchanged management team. Despite a challenging
environment, the MWS Group, as a regular series supplier for the German blue-chip automotive
industry, has had a very high order backlog for several years. This ensures further organic growth and
a gradual transformation towards e-mobility - we will also support further acquisition opportunities," says Andreas Szigmund, CEO of INVEST AG.
About the MWS Group
MWS is a company specializing in aluminum casting and CNC machining, producing complex aluminum parts using sand casting and gravity die casting. With around 250 employees at the three locations in Klagenfurt and Ternberg/Steyr (Austria) and Hlinik/Hronom (Slovakia), the entire group achieved sales of almost 40 million euros in 2022. The core competencies include thin-walled, highly demanding casting, CNC machining of geometrically highly complex components and the "one-stop solution" for customers in the manufacture and delivery of ready-to-install parts (CAD design, prototyping, series production, pre-assembly). The core segment of MWS is the vehicle industry, which, due to the increasing use of light metal for weight reduction (fuel savings in combustion engines or Range extension for electric motors) is characterized. In addition, MWS produces components for the areas of rail transport, mechanical engineering and some other industrial applications.
About Invest AG and OÖ Invest of Raiffeisen Invest Private Equity
The Raiffeisen Invest Private Equity Group consists of four legally and organizationally independent investment
companies, which are owned by the Raiffeisen Banking Group. Upper Austria and partly by the Raiffeisenlandesbank Steiermark and the Raiffeisenverband Salzburg are financed. With an aggregate fund
volume of around EUR 500 million, they are Austria's leading private equity companies. Since it was founded,
Invest AG alone has invested more than EUR 700 million in equity and mezzanine capital in around 180
companies from a wide range of sectors. In addition, the funds of the Raiffeisen Invest Private Equity Group
support the companies as a sparring partner in important decisions such as investments, strategy or corporate
development. Details unter: www.raiffeisen-invest.at