- Filed Under
LONDON — British bridge builder WFEL has been acquired by Krauss-Maffei Wegmann, the German armored-vehicles giant announced May 23.
No price was quoted for the Stockport, Cheshire-based company majority owned by private-equity investor Dunedin. Dunedin backed a 48 million pound ($75 million U.S.) management buyout at WFEL in 2006.
Frank Haun, the chief executive and president at KMW, said the purchase was a “perfect strategic fit with our existing operations. Expanding our bridge business by including the mobile bridge systems from WFEL is a rational addition to our product range within a growing market.”
The acquisition is KMW’s first such move in the U.K. market.
WFEL is the world’s leading manufacturer of mobile bridging systems, with customers in 40 different armed forces worldwide.
Sales have grown 70 percent since the buyout to stand at 36.2 million pounds in 2011.
Recent sales include a 40 million pound order from the U.S. Defense Department as the latest tranche of a dry support bridge deal going back to 2000, and a 57 million pound contract with Switzerland for the same type of system.
