FFT is to be acquired from ATON GmbH, a German family-owned private investment company, through the funds managed by the subsidiaries of Fosun International.
Fosun was founded in 1992 in Shanghai and is listed on the Main Board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. The company is a leading investment group taking roots in China with a global foothold.
Founded in 1974 and headquartered in Fulda, Germany, FFT provides flexible automation turn-key solutions, customised engineering designs, and various smart factory solutions for renowned first-line original equipment makers (OEMs) in Germany, the USA, Japan, China and other countries. FFT also provides non-automotive solutions for clients in many countries including the USA, Sweden and Germany. FFT's solutions can enable full production and specific aspects of manufacturing. The group has the strong ability and potential to expand the use of its capabilities in numerous sectors outside of the automotive industry, as successfully proven during the business expansion into white goods in recent years. In 2017, FFT recorded revenues of over €850 million and employed over 2,600 people.
This acquisition of FFT supports Fosun's strategy of investing in companies which support "makers" and have strong market positions. Through this acquisition, Fosun significantly upgrades its capacity to offer new manufacturing solutions for its own portfolio companies such as Nanjing Nangang Iron & Steel United, Eurocrane and Zhejiang XCC Group.
