Yesterday the Belgium-based Connect Group signed the agreement to acquire IKOR. IKOR, a developer and manufacturer of electronics with locations in Spain, Mexico and China, had been part of the ebm-papst Group headquartered in Mulfingen since 2016.

"As part of our strategic alignment we will focus even more intensively on our core business in the field of fans and motors in the future," explains Stefan Brandl, CEO of the ebm-papst Group. "With the transaction of IKOR to the Connect Group, a successful electronics manufacturing specialist, we strengthen IKOR and enable further synergies. IKOR will remain a very important supplier for us, especially in China." 

In addition to maintaining the business relationship, ebm-papst will retain a minority stake in IKOR shares alongside Connect Group as the majority owner.

The acquisition of IKOR expands Connect Group's portfolio and geographic reach. "This is an important milestone for Connect Group," says CEO Jeroen Tuik, "as we can now focus even more effectively on serving worldwide customers and offer them the benefits of a 'glocal' - a global and local - presence they can count on." 

Marco Duarte, CEO of IKOR, outlines, "We are very excited about the prospect of working with Connect Group to better serve our clients with a broader geographic spread and new, complementary services. Importantly, the acquisition allows us to capture sales opportunities across both customer bases. For us, this ultimately means a stronger position as a brand and for our customers it means that we can widening the offer."