Orth Kluth has advised the mining equipment manufacturer Schmidt, Kranz & Co. GmbH on the sale of GHH Group to Komatsu. The parties agreed not to disclose the purchase price.

The family-owned company Schmidt, Kranz & Co. GmbH (Schmidt Kranz Group), headquartered in Velbert-Langenberg, North Rhine-Westphalia, is a manufacturer in the field of mechanical engineering and offers solutions in underground and tunnel construction, mineral processing and disposal, high-pressure technology, automation and services. The company was founded over 130 years ago and is now represented in over 25 countries.

GHH Group, based in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, is a manufacturer of underground vehicles. The company is part of Schmidt Kranz Group and offers customized solutions for the entire mining cycle from drilling, loading and hauling to ground consolidation. Its specialty vehicles are custom-built to meet a wide range of requirements.

Komatsu Group, headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of construction, mining, forestry and industrial heavy equipment. With the acquisition of GHH Group, Komatsu strengthens its product offering in the underground mining sector.

The transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2023.

The advising Orth Kluth team consisted of Dr. Kai-Michael König, Dr. Tim Christian Gießelmann (both lead counsel), Boris Koerner, Martina Stasch, Nikola Lachmann (all Corporate M&A), Carolin Bergermann (Real Estate), Dr. Moritz Dästner (Investment Control), Dr. Ulla Kelp, Elisaveta Breckheimer, Dr. Anja Doepner-Thiele (all IP/IT/Data Protection), Dr. Michael Sitsen, Alexander Falk (both Environmental Law), Jana Ross (Labor Law).