Billionaire German brothers Andreas and Thomas Struengmann are nearing a deal to acquire Schuelke & Mayr GmbH, the maker of hand sanitizer owned by EQT AB, people with knowledge of the matter said.
(Bloomberg) — Billionaire German brothers Andreas and Thomas Struengmann are nearing a deal to acquire Schuelke & Mayr GmbH, the maker of hand sanitizer owned by EQT AB, people with knowledge of the matter said.
The Swedish buyout firm and a group of investors led by the Struengmanns’ family office, Athos Service, may announce an agreement as soon as Monday, according to the people, who asked not to be identified discussing confidential information. The deal could value Schuelke at about €1.4 billion ($1.5 billion), the people said.
EQT acquired Schuelke in 2020 from Air Liquide SA of France. The German firm was founded more than 130 years ago in Hamburg by Rudolf Schuelke and Julius Mayr, who started producing Lysol disinfectant. Now, the company is present in more than 100 countries and makes disinfectants for hands, skin and surfaces, as well as wound antisepsis products, according to the EQT website.
The Covid-19 pandemic triggered a surge in demand for infection-protection supplies, as have longer-term trends related to an aging population, hospital-acquired infections and stricter regulatory requirements.
The Struengmann brothers set up their family office, Athos Service, soon after drug giant Novartis AG announced in 2005 it was buying their drugmaker, Hexal, along with their stake in affiliate EON Labs for a combined €5.7 billion.
Since then, they’ve made a fortune investing in health-care firms including BioNTech SE, the German firm that developed the Covid-19 vaccine with Pfizer Inc. The brothers are worth a combined $25 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
Representatives for EQT and Athos couldn’t be immediately reached for comment outside of regular business hours.
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