Pava Partners has advised Fabmatics Holding GmbH (Fabmatics), a leading international semiconductor specialist based in Saxony, Germany, on the sale of its entire shareholding to SCIO Automation Group (SCIO). The shares in Fabmatics were held by Süd Beteiligungen (SüdBG), the founding shareholders Dr. Steffen Pollack, Lothar Andritzke and Manfred Jähnert and, via a sub-participation in SüdBG, by Wachstumsfonds Mittelstand Sachsen (WMS). With the sale, Fabmatics will strengthen the cleanroom segment within the SCIO Group in the future. The change of shareholders paves the way for sustainable growth of Fabmatics and completes the succession process of the Fabmatics founders.

Fabmatics, founded in 1991, works for almost all well-known chip manufacturers worldwide. The company, which is headquartered in Dresden, Germany, and has a site in Utica, USA, is one of the leading suppliers for the automation of material flows in the high-tech environment, especially in the semiconductor industry. It automates intralogistics processes in semiconductor fabs, semiconductor process plants and other high-tech production environments. In particular, the system integrator has a strong market position in the modernization of 200-millimeter semiconductor fabs worldwide and supplies cleanroom material flow solutions from a single source that ensure a more efficient, faster and safer production flow in a semiconductor fab. Fabmatics generates sales of around 45 million euros and employs around 300 people.

New owner SCIO is an international end-to-end automation platform. Its mission is to successfully support companies on their path to Industry 4.0. SCIO comprises more than ten medium-sized company brands with a total of over 1,100 employees at more than 30 locations in eight countries worldwide, which realize the Smart Factory for global players and hidden champions in a variety of industries.

SüdBG and WMS joined Fabmatics in 2014 to secure the succession and to promote further growth, while the three founding shareholders continued to hold shares.

“Together we have developed Fabmatics into a leading player in the automation of the semiconductor industry. We are now handing the company over to carefully selected new hands. We are convinced that with SCIO at its side, Fabmatics will benefit from international networking and continue its extraordinarily successful development,” says Dr. Steffen Pollack, founding partner of Fabmatics.

“The Pava Partners team actively helped to shape this next step and confidently guided us through the process – thanks to their in-depth market knowledge and keen interest in our company, we have found a real partner for the future. This is a great gain for the company and us shareholders,” explains Gunter Max, Managing Director of SüdBG.

The transaction is still subject to regulatory approvals. The partners have agreed not to disclose the details.