NEWLY formed investment company Heramba and its parent company Heramba Holdings have entered into a definitive agreement with subsidiaries of Knorr-Bremse to acquire Kiepe Electric.
Kiepe Electric specialises in electric traction equipment for main line and urban rolling stock, including designing, manufacturing and installing power electronics products, electric drives, and vehicle control hardware and intelligent software for fleet and energy management..
Knorr-Bremse and Vossloh signed an agreement for the purchase of Kiepe Electric, then known as Vossloh Kiepe, in December 2016.
Heramba was formed in January. Its headquarters are located in Berlin, Germany, and Atlanta, United States. The company is led by managing director, Dr Hans-Jörg Grundmann, formerly CEO of Siemens Mobility. Piper Sandler is acting as financial advisor to Heramba, and Latham & Watkins and Smith, Gambrell & Russell as legal counsel.
“The acquisition of Kiepe Electric is an exciting step forward for our team," Grundmann says. “Since its foundation, Kiepe has demonstrated a long history of evolving its business to deliver innovative solutions. With a focus on enabling sustainable mass transit, a portfolio of high-quality products and services, long-standing partnerships with leading global customers and an attractive backlog, we believe Kiepe is in a position to become a leader in commercial electrification.”
Kiepe Electric has more than 580 employees in six countries and had revenue in excess of $US 120m in 2022, according to Heramba.
The acquisition is expected to close in the second half of this year, subject to customary closing conditions.
