After completing the privatization of Little Swan, the home appliance giant Midea Group, which has a total market value of more than 480 billion yuan, will plan to fully control and privatize another listed company.
On the evening of November 23, Midea Group issued an announcement that the company intends to fully acquire the equity of kuka Aktiengesellschaft ("KUKA"), a German Frankfurt exchange-listed company controlled by the company, through a wholly-owned subsidiary. After the completion of the acquisition, KUKA will become a wholly-owned overseas subsidiary of Midea Group and will be delisted from the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.
Midea Group stated that this acquisition will help KUKA focus on business operations and enhance the company’s internal resource synergy and sharing in roboticsand automation-related business areas. The company will promote KUKA’s localized operations in China and increase its efforts in product development and application. Invest.
The target company is the leader in the robotics industry
KUKA, together with Swiss abb, Japan's fanuc (Fanuc), and Japan's YASKAWA (Yaskawa Electric), are known as the "Four Big Families of Robots".
KUKA's official website shows that the company is headquartered in Augsburg, Germany and has approximately 14,000 employees. As one of the world's leading suppliers of intelligent automation solutions, KUKA provides customers with one-stop solutions: from robots, work cells to fully automated systems and networking, the market covers automotive, electronic products, metal and plastics, consumer products, E-commerce/retail and healthcare.
In 2016, Midea Group initiated three cross-border business strategic cooperation, and the acquisition of KUKA was one of them. That year, Midea Group initiated a comprehensive tender offer to acquire KUKA, and the delivery was completed in January 2017. After the completion of the settlement, Midea Group holds 94.55% of KUKA's shares and enters the robotics and automation industry. In January 2017, Midea Group also completed the acquisition of Israeli high-tech companies. So far, Midea Group has built a robotics and automation system segment mainly composed of two companies, KUKA and Gaochuang.
But KUKA's performance after the acquisition was not satisfactory. Midea Group's annual report shows that in 2017, the company's robotics and automation system segment achieved revenue of 27.037 billion yuan; in 2018, achieved revenue of 25.678 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 5.03%; in 2019, achieved revenue of 25.192 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 1.89%; In 2020, the revenue will be 21.589 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 14.30%. Specifically, KUKA's 2017-2020 net profit was 693 million yuan, 100 million yuan, 76 million yuan, and -827 million yuan, respectively, with year-on-year growth (decrease) of 2.19%, -85.65%, and -23.62%, respectively. , -1162.89%.
Promote KUKA's operations in China
Robots and automation, together with smart home, industrial technology, building technology, and digital innovation, constitute the five major business segments of Midea Group.
Midea Group introduced in the semi-annual report that in the first half of the year, KUKA launched a series of new products. Midea Group also continued to promote the integration and expansion of robotics business in the Chinese market, deepen the promotion of marketing reforms, and focus on industry applications and key customers. In the first half of 2021, the number of new business opportunities obtained by KUKA China increased by nearly 50% year-on-year, and the proportion of new customer orders increased to 15%. While maintaining its leading position in the automotive field, it has greatly increased the proportion of orders and shipments in the electronics, machinery, arc welding and laser industries. In the first half of the year, shipments increased by more than 80% year-on-year.
On the product development side, the Chinese R&D team has taken initial shape and has released six new products, which accounted for nearly 10% of the overall orders in the first half of the year. The R&D and testing laboratory in Shunde Park, Guangdong was officially put into use to establish comprehensive performance tests for reducers. Motor parameter testing, EMI testing and other independent testing capabilities, adding robot testing stations to enhance new product R&D testing capabilities; continue to increase R&D investment, while insisting on implementing new product development and complementing the product matrix, KUKA China has passed and Midea The Academia Sinica and other units cooperate to develop core components and carry out basic technology research, and promote the implementation of the "three generations" research and development model.
On the manufacturing side, in the first half of the year, KUKA's Shunde plant in China launched the second phase of construction to meet future business development needs. At the same time, it gradually established and improved the regional supporting industrial chain to shorten the product delivery cycle and improve the operational efficiency of the value chain.
According to the forecast of the International Federation of Robotics (IFR), in addition to the low base factor in 2020, considering that robots can increase the flexibility of manufacturing capacity, governments will continue to increase investment in production and manufacturing technology, and the impact of the epidemic will lead to the return of manufacturing industries. , The global industrial robot industry will resume growth in 2021.
Midea Group stated that it will promote KUKA's localized operations in China, increase investment in product development and application, and research and innovation of core components and software systems; on the market side, it will maintain its advantages in the automotive field and actively expand General industry, electronics, medical and logistics, services and other new businesses; on the operating side, focus on research and development, supply chain management, operational excellence and digitalization, and accelerate the creation of core competitiveness in robotics and industrial automation businesses.
(Editor in charge: Jiang Ninglu)
Manly Battery
which located in Shenzhen,China. A leading Lithium battery manufacturer over 12 years ,widly used for Robostic industry,if there is any project need to evluate ,pls feel free tosend email to info@manlybatteries.com
