GEA has sold Bock to German private equity business, Nord Holding. The transaction includes Bock GmbH and its subsidiaries in the Czech Republic and India, and its sites in Australia and China. Details of the transaction have not been revealed and the deal stays subject to regulatory clearance. Transaction is expected to be closed by early 2021.

The sale intention was announced in October 2019. GEA explained that it was part of its desire to focus on its core markets, such as the food, chemical and pharmaceutical industries. 

Bock is part of GEA’s Refrigeration Technologies division, and it’s a leading supplier of open and semi-hermetic piston compressors in the lower and medium refrigeration capacity range for stationary and transport-related cooling applications. In 2018, it generated sales of around €90M.

Bock operates in 10 sales locations worldwide, with about 340 employees. Its production sites are in Suzhou (China), Bangalore (India), Kostelec u Stříbra (Czech Republic) and the company’s headquarters is in Frickenhausen (Germany), where two thirds of the employees work.

“It is our firm conviction that Nord Holding will develop Bock’s business potential as a producer of commercial compressors mainly for use in stationary and transport-related cooling applications in the best possible way,” commented GEA CEO Stefan Klebert. 

“In GEA’s Refrigeration Technologies division, we will concentrate in the future on our industrial compressors business. Our portfolio here includes customised solutions for the optimum use of waste heat, enabling our customers to operate their production facilities ever more sustainably or even become carbon neutral”.

Bock was founded by Wilhelm Bock and Hans Göldner in 1932 as a refrigeration contractor. It started its own production in 1937, and became Bock & Co KG a year later. 

In 2011, it was acquired by GEA.

Nord Holding was founded in 1969, and with over €2bn assets under management, Its focus is on structuring and financing company succession models, expansion financing of medium-sized companies and acquiring parts of larger groups/subsidiaries.