Dürr is accelerating the expansion of its automation business in medical technology with another acquisition. Effective July 1, the Group has acquired 100% of the German engineering company Hekuma with sales of around €40 million. The company is one of the leading suppliers of automatic systems for the large-scale production of disposable plastic products used in medication, diagnostics and laboratory technology. Hekuma’s product range perfectly complements the Medtech range of automation specialist Teamtechnik, which is also part of the Dürr Group. Dürr acquired a majority stake in Teamtechnik in February, forming the platform for the targeted growth in the medical technology sector.
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“With the acquisition of Hekuma, we are taking the next logical step in building a leading center of competence for automation in medical device production under the umbrella of Teamtechnik,” said Dr. Jochen Weyrauch, who—as Deputy CEO of Dürr AG—is responsible for the Medtech automation business. Inhalers, injectors, blood collection tubes, pipette tips and infusion sets, for example, are manufactured in quantities of several million per year on systems from Hekuma and Teamtechnik. The world market for such disposable medical products is growing by around 8% per year. The main reasons for this are the growth in the world’s population, rising life expectancy and the increasing quality of medical care.
Hekuma GmbH, based in Hallbergmoos near Munich, employs around 180 people. Following successful restructuring in previous years, the company expects a positive operating result in 2021 and successive increases in results in the coming years. Since its foundation in 1974, Hekuma has installed around 5,000 systems worldwide. Systems from Hekuma work in the environment of injection molding machines. They remove freshly manufactured plastic parts, such as trays, vials and sleeves, and add further plastic parts to these in an automated assembly process to form products or preliminary products. This is often followed by further assembly and testing steps, which Teamtechnik serves
with its systems. Therefore, Dürr can cover a large part of the automated value creation in medical device production through the combination of Teamtechnik and Hekuma. Furthermore, the customer base is growing, as there is hardly any overlap in the customer bases of Hekuma and Teamtechnik.
In addition to the medical technology sector, which accounts for a good 50% of sales, Hekuma also supplies the automotive industry (25% share of sales). For example, it produces ABS and sensor housings, plug-in connections or parts for transmission electronics on Hekuma systems. Plastic elements for personal care products are also produced with the help of Hekuma technology, such as parts for razors or electric toothbrushes.
Under the umbrella of the Dürr Group, Hekuma will benefit from synergies, for example in purchasing, sales and service. Hekuma’s customer access will improve, particularly in the large markets of China and North America. In addition, Hekuma and Teamtechnik together have a broader and more attractive range of products.
Dürr is acquiring the shares in Hekuma from elexis AG. elexis is a world market leader in the fields of web and strip guiding systems, quality assurance systems and safety components for heavy load logistics and belongs to the plant engineering group SMS group. The parties have agreed to keep the purchase price confidential. The completion of the transaction still has to be approved by the competent antitrust authority.
Dr. Rolf Merte, CEO of elexis AG: “Twenty years ago, the decision to have a diversified product portfolio and to position ourselves in diversified markets was the right decision for our elexis. However, our new strategy is to focus on markets in which we have already achieved stable innovation and market leadership with our high-tech products thanks to our global presence, and to expand our spectrum vertically upwards and also horizontally there. We have not been able to leverage the synergies in our group with HEKUMA that Dürr can now offer them. We are pleased that HEKUMA, with its excellent management team and high technology products, will now be part of a global infrastructure where it will have the opportunity to grow successfully much faster.”
