The shareholders of the Eckart Group (“Eckart”) are selling their shares to GESCO SE (“GESCO”) as part of a succession plan.
Eckart, headquartered in Schlüchtern, Hesse, specializes in the development, production, and distribution of hydraulic rotary actuators and valve actuators, as well as rotary-linear actuators. These products are used in a wide variety of mobile machinery applications, such as in all areas of mining, but also in intralogistics, in the construction machinery segment, and in stationary mechanical engineering applications.
The company currently employs around 150 people, most of whom are engaged in production, assembly, and quality assurance due to the high level of vertical integration. The previous Managing Partner, Markus Eckart, will continue to lead the company moving forward.
The acquisition of Eckart GmbH represents a significant milestone in GESCO SE’s strategic growth trajectory, as outlined in detail at the Annual General Meeting on June 25th, 2025. The transaction is retroactively effective as of January 1st, 2025, and further strengthens the Industrial Assets & Infrastructure segment.
Both parties have agreed to keep the purchase price confidential.
CEO Johannes Pfeffer emphasizes the significance of this acquisition: "Eckart GmbH is an excellent fit for GESCO's requirements catalog for M&A targets - particularly with regard to the criteria of ‘differentiating value creation,’ 'innovative capability,‘ and 'customer success-relevant offering’ - and thus fits perfectly into our portfolio. Eckart's expertise in hydraulic drive technology complements our existing business areas and underscores GESCO's importance as a partner to small and medium-sized enterprises in succession planning. We believe in Eckart's development potential and want to help the company gain further market share and develop innovative products."
In close collaboration with the shareholders, the Taurus Advisory team David B. Kauter, Sabrina Sauer, and Marc Zajonc structured and supported the entire transaction process on the seller’s side, successfully implementing a succession solution tailored to the shareholders' needs.
"Over the past decades, the Eckart Group has evolved into a well-established and sustainably successful company within a highly attractive niche. Through a structured and competitive bidding process, we successfully secured GESCO SE as the ideal strategic partner and new owner for our client. GESCO brings extensive experience in the long-term development of mid-sized industrial enterprises and will support the Eckart Group both strategically and operationally in its continued growth," said David B. Kauter, Managing Director at Taurus Advisory.
"Despite the challenging economic environment in our segment, we felt extremely well supported throughout the entire transaction process thanks to the experience and commitment of the Taurus deal team. Taurus managed to present us with a range of attractive options and provided us with expert guidance in our decision-making process. We were able to rely on their reliability and expertise at all times, especially in challenging negotiation situations. The quality and focus on results exceeded our expectations in every respect."
MARKUS ECKART, PREVIOUS MANAGING PARTNER OF ECKART
