Hong Kong-listed Fong’s Industries Co. Ltd. recently announced that it has acquired a 100 per cent stake in A Monforts Textilmaschinen GmbH & Co. KG (Monforts) from Germany-based L Possehl Co. & GmbH (Possehl). Monforts is based in the Western German city of Mönchengladbach. The acquisition includes Monforts’ Austrian subsidiary Montex-Maschinenfabrik Ges.m.b.H. with its machine production site in St. Stefan. The 50 per cent stake in the Monforts Fong’s Textile Machinery Co. Ltd., the jointly controlled entity between Fong’s and Monforts Group, is also part of the transaction. In addition, Possehl has agreed to subscribe a 9.9 per cent stake in a Fong’s subsidiary, which directly holds Monforts and Monfongs.
Through their joint venture Monfongs, which was established in 1998, Monforts and Fong’s have already built up a strong and successful partnership. A further milestone in their co-operation is the soon to be inaugurated “textile machine factory of the future” planned in the Chinese city of Zhongshan. The closing of the deal is subject to approval by the relevant authorities and customary closing conditions. Fong’s and Possehl agreed not to disclose the financial terms of the transaction. “Monforts and Fong’s fit together perfectly,” said Alex Wan, Chief Executive Officer of Fong’s. “Monforts is the leader in innovation in textile finishing machinery. It will considerably strengthen our international competitiveness, which has set course for worldwide leadership and excellence in the textile machinery business.”
Roland Hampel, Managing Director of Monforts said, “Today’s announcement intensifies our long-standing co-operation with Fong’s and opens up new opportunities for Monforts. Innovation stands at the core of our daily work and we look forward to strategically developing new business areas for our customers with our trusted and successful partners in China.” One of the main areas of future business that the heads of both companies emphasised is that of technical textiles, a new and innovative technology which offers even more specialised and tailor-made machinery solutions for its customers.