maconda supports Syngroh Capital in the acquisition of a majority stake in Carl Benzinger
maconda News January 2024
Syngroh Capital has acquired a majority stake in Carl Benzinger GmbH, a leading manufacturer of high-precision turning and milling machines, including for the watch and jewelry industry. maconda, the consulting boutique particularly active in demanding niche markets, supported Syngroh with a focused Commercial Due Diligence (CDD), analyzing Benzinger’s competitive positioning and market prospects.
Carl Benzinger specializes in customized CNC machines and offers engineering, construction, programming, and setup of machine tools for customer-specific workpieces—all from a single source. The company has its roots in the jewelry and watch industry, but today equips demanding customers from many industries with high-quality turning and milling centers—wherever precision in the micrometer range is required.
Market and technology leadership as well as special process expertise in the machining of precious metals for the watch and jewelry industry are outstanding strengths of Benzinger. maconda analyzed in detail Benzinger’s product range and its areas of application, as well as the customer groups addressed and their underlying markets.
Particular attention was paid to Benzinger’s positioning in the competitive environment. This is dense and fragmented in some of the industries addressed—nevertheless, it was determined that its unique solution and development expertise represents a significant competitive advantage for Benzinger even in these industries: diverse automation options and high flexibility characterize Benzinger machines. Combined with high quality and reliability, this leads to a high return on investment on every Benzinger machine purchased for the very loyal customers.
As always, the maconda consultants, experienced in niche markets, used a very broad range of sources that were compared, weighted, and evaluated in combination—here the advantage of maconda’s highly analytical approach became apparent again, since “major” studies cannot reliably map specialized markets. Therefore, the relevant trade magazines and blogs, information from associations such as VDMA, as well as annual reports and a wide variety of other information on customers, competitors, and suppliers were primarily reviewed. For verification and, above all, to obtain current knowledge, numerous interviews were conducted with market participants and other experts.
About Carl Benzinger
Founded in 1916 and now managed in the fourth generation by the Jehle family, Carl Benzinger GmbH is a leading manufacturer of high-precision turning and milling machines based in Pforzheim. The globally operating mechanical engineering company offers a product range of diverse turning and milling machines for, among others, the watch and jewelry industry, optics, precision mechanics, medical, dental, electrical and control engineering, fluid and bearing technology, automotive supply industry, as well as aerospace. The particular strength of Benzinger CNC machines is rooted in both the company and product structure. Benzinger offers everything from a single source, from engineering to the construction and setup of machine tools to after-sales service.
About Syngroh Capital
As a family investment company, Syngroh Capital consolidates the entrepreneurial direct investments acquired by the Klaus Grohe family. As entrepreneurs, the family members have themselves successfully mastered a wide variety of challenges and want to contribute this wealth of experience in a value-oriented manner to further investments. Syngroh Capital invests in mid-sized companies with convincing product and service ideas that have their headquarters in German-speaking countries and an enterprise value between 10 and 200 million euros. The focus is on succession solutions, support for transformation and internationalization processes, as well as the divestment of business units that do not belong to the core business. In line with the family’s entrepreneurial DNA, the entrepreneurial idea, value-driven action, and a long-term growth strategy play a decisive role in investment decisions.
maconda continues to expand its expertise in mechanical engineering and automation technology
The maconda team has significantly expanded its expertise in mechanical and plant engineering as well as automation technology in recent years, including personnel, and has successfully completed various projects in this area. These include several Commercial Reviews and Commercial Due Diligences, strategy engagements, and projects to improve operational performance. The engagements covered a wide range of industries, often niches, but also “major” markets. These include, for example, manual woodworking, specialized packaging machines or special-purpose machines in the automotive supply industry, but also resellers of machine components and electronic parts. Since mid-2023, Matthias Mennel-Klingspor has been supporting maconda as a partner, particularly for the manufacturing industry and various B2B services.
Intensive industry experience: CNC machining | Digital printing | e-mobility | Woodworking | Refrigeration technology | Plastics processing | Sensors | Control and regulation technology | and much more
About maconda
For more than 20 years, maconda has been supporting companies with acquisitions, performance optimization, and restructuring. With over 800 consulting and implementation projects and more than 450 transaction-related engagements, maconda has extensive experience to pragmatically support even demanding projects. Clients include mid-sized companies, business units of large corporations, as well as international Private Equity investors and family offices.
maconda industry expertise: Mechanical engineering | Manufacturing industry | Future technologies & software | B2B services (incl. business process outsourcing) | B2C services | Consumer goods | Food | Apparel & textiles | Retail & eCommerce | Packaging | Healthcare & MedTech
maconda Core Topics: transaction advisory | business model development | performance management