Deal details

HIT Holzindustrie Torgau GmbH & Co. KG / Investors of Orlando Group HIT Holzindustrie Torgau GmbH & Co. KG has established as one of the largest wood processing companies in Germany, generating a total output of around € 165 million with 600 employees. The company is the world’s biggest EPAL pallet manufacturer and with a 30% share market leader in Germany. In recent years, the company has established one of the largest European pallet production sites in Torgau, Northern Saxony, close to Leipzig. The facility possesses production capacities of 20 million pallets/year. The company has invested approx. € 200 million in the implementation and extension of a highly automated and fully integrated production process covering all stages of the value chain – from sourcing raw timber to producing and delivering pallets and other wood products. The wood recycling materials accrued, such as wood bark, wood chips or sawdust, are used for the production of intermediate products, such as pallet-blocks made from sawdust, or the production of marketable end products (briquettes, pellets, sawn timber). Five biomass heating plants are operated with the wood recycling materials.  In June 2018, the founders of HIT Holzindustrie Torgau GmbH & Co. KG, Günther Hilmer and Karlheinz Lippmann, sold the majority of the shares in the company to investors of the Orlando Group as part of a succession arrangement. The investors of the Orlando Group have equity in the mid three-digit million range and invest primarily in German and European medium-sized businesses. Orlando has many years of experience in the acquisition and continuation of industrial companies in the wood processing industry.   CVM Capital Value Management GmbH was mandated by the sellers to support the search for an investor in the context of a succession arrangement. The team of CVM Capital Value Management GmbH with the partners Jörg Schuppener and Andreas Knaup conducted the entire sales process, from the identification of potential investors and the selection of the ideal partner to the successful finalization of the transaction in June 2018.