“ Fresh breeze blows at SSB“ – major investor joins the SSB group

Parcom Deutsche Private Equity GmbH joined the SSB group as an investor at the end of July. Parcom Deutschland I GmbH & Co. KG acquired an interest in SSB with the assistance of DPE Deutsche Private Equity GmbH. The German joint venture partner of ING Bank, a major European bank, has access to considerable funds available for long-term equity investments. The investment fund, focused on sustainable investments, particularly invests in sectors whose development is characterized by a strong growth and which according to its own sources ”will demonstrate long-term success as a result of fundamental growth factors“.

Evidently the SSB group has such growth factors according to Mr. Volker Hichert, Managing Director of Parcom Deutsche Private Equity GmbH: “The markets for motive power engineering and wind energy and, in particular, products for wind energy and the provision of service in this industry show high growth rates. A combination of the sectors as currently offered by the SSB group, is highly interesting for us as an investor.“

SSB with its three divisions (Motive power engineering, Wind energy engineering and WTGS Full Service Packages) employs approx. 500 employees worldwide. Approx. 330 of these employees produce motors and systems for motive power and wind energy engineering applications in Germany. In addition, some 100 employees in China predominantly produce pitching systems as well as switchgear and control equipment for WTGS. A further 70 employees are employed in the Service division.

For Parcom Deutsche Private Equity there are several reasons for investing in the SSB group: already today, SSB is one of the two world-wide leading producers of pitching systems and also operates in China – with its own production facilities and a growing customer base - one of the most attractive markets for wind energy. “ SSB Service is also by far the leading German provider of Full Service Packages for WTGS “, stated Volker Hichert. Consequently the SSB group already now offered an “excellent platform“ for the investor.

With Parcom Deutsche Private Equity as a strong financial partner, the SSB group is now able to meet the challenges of the world-wide markets. “We will meet the growth of the world-wide market by for instance forming further subsidiaries in interesting wind energy markets“, commented Ulrich Schomakers, Managing Director of SSB on the commitment shown by the investor.

The SSB group aims to use part of the injected capital for reinforcing its R & D activities. SSB has been offering a new line of full control and visualization products for WTGS for some months and intends to further extend this line.