Bosch moves forward in exploring sale of packaging unit

31 Jul 2018 --- Following the breaking news that German engineering group Bosch would be exiting packaging, the company has mandated investment bank Macquarie to explore options for the sale of its packaging machinery unit, Reuters reports. Estimates place the unit at a valuation of 500-700 million euros (US$583-US$815 million) in a potential sale, although the sales process is unlikely to begin this year.

The announcement that Bosch would begin looking for a buyer for its packaging machinery business, more specifically, the pharmaceuticals and food units of the Packaging Technology division, hit headlines in early July.

The group noted the reason for the planned sale as a desire to focus its resources on its core business, a lack of business or technology synergies within the group and that small-medium enterprise (SME) rivals are at a structural advantage in the packaging technology market.

Dirk Haushalter, a Bosch press spokesperson, tells PackagingInsights on the topic, “It is important to be clear that all companies and Bosch is no exception, continuously pursue a strategy of keeping themselves competitive. This includes constantly reassessing the market and reacting to changes there. For this reason, Bosch is continuously examining ways of appropriately adjusting its entire portfolio of products and services, as well as the way its units are organized.”

Bosch is reorganizing in order to focus their attention elsewhere. “This decision will allow Bosch to narrow its focus on issues of importance for its future, such as the transformation of the Bosch Group and its future digitalization strategy, including the internet of things, and to pool its resources accordingly,” says Dr. Stefan Hartung, the Bosch Board of Management member responsible for the Energy and Building Technology and Industrial Technology business sectors.

Bosch sold its brakes business to KPS Capital in 2012 and its starter motors and generators business to Zhengzhou Coal Mining Machinery last year.

PackagingInsights has reached out to Bosch for further comments.