Swedish investor buys German component manufacturer

Latour Industries, a wholly owned subsidiary of the listed investor AB Latour from Sweden, added a German component manufacturer from North Rhine-Westphalia to its portfolio at the beginning of 2024.

"We are very pleased to welcome BS Tableau to Latour Industries," explained Björn Lenander, managing director of Latour Industries, in a press release. BS Tableau provided high quality products, had longstanding customer relationships and was a valuable supplement for the portfolio of companies from the same sector. Latour Industries includes, among others, Aritco (Sweden) and vimec, Vega and esse-ti (all Italy).

"We look forward to cooperating with the entire workforce and further expanding the company," according to Lenander. Upon enquiry of the LIFTjournal, he added that the intention was to invest even more than in the past in customer relationships and product development. The previous managing director of BS Tableau, Rainer Bunk, would continue to be in charge of the company just as before. Moreover, after the acquisition, all employees were to be further employed. "They make a decisive contribution to the further development of the company," Lenander acknowledged.

Long-term orientation

Rainer Bunk was confident that BS Tableau would benefit from the industrial experience, long-term orientation and responsible proprietorship model of Latour. "I’m sure this will be to the benefit of our customers and employees," said the managing director and co-founder of the company, based in Zülpich.

According to Latour Industries, BS Tableau was a leading German lift component manufacturer. Founded in 1995, the company produced and distributed tailor-made installations for lift cars and a wide range of electronic components for lift operators and OEMs, which were for the most part used for modernisation projects. Net sales were approximately six million euros, which were generated chiefly on the German market. The company had a workforce of 40.

AB Latour Investment According to the company, AB Latour was a mixed investment company, consisting primarily of a wholly-owned industrial enterprise and an investment portfolio with market-listed participations, in which Latour was the principal shareholder or one of the principal shareholders. The investment portfolio was made up of ten major participations (including the Alimak Group) with a market value of about 76 million Swedish crowns (SEK) - equivalent to about 6.7 billion euros. The annual turnover of the industrial enterprise was about 26 billion SEK (about 2.3 billion euros).