30.03.2021

BLANCO Professional now a wholly owned subsidiary of the BLANC & FISCHER Family Holding

Holding takes over the remaining share of BLANCO Professional from the previous minority shareholders

• Holding boss Dr. Johannes Haupt sees good future prospects for the company despite the current coronavirus turmoil
• Digitalization, the hygiene sector, and catering products as focus topics with significant growth opportunities

BLANCO Professional GmbH + Co KG based in Oberderdingen, Germany, has been wholly owned by BLANC & FISCHER Family Holding since the end of March. The holding company previously held around 70 percent of the shares. Individual descendants of founder Heinrich Blanc owned the remainder. BLANCO Professional was created in 2007 as a spin-off from BLANCO GmbH + Co KG, which specializes for the water place in the kitchen.

A challenging market environment due to the coronavirus pandemic

“This is an excellent development for BLANCO Professional,” says Dr. Johannes Haupt, CEO of BLANC & FISCHER Family Holding, who is also Chairman of the Board of Directors at BLANCO Professional GmbH + Co KG. “We look forward to shaping the future of BLANCO Professional, which currently faces several challenges through no fault of its own. We have a great deal of confidence in the new ownership structure. While the other subgroups of the BLANC & FISCHER Family Holding have performed well and, after a brief slump, achieved their objectives despite the difficulties caused by the pandemic, BLANCO Professional, with its focus on the Catering and Industrial business units, has suffered considerably from the consequences of the coronavirus. The company suffered a double-digit decline in sales in 2020, and this trend is expected to continue in 2021. It is, therefore, essential now to quickly align the company with high-growth business areas. BLANCO can better achieve this with a homogeneous shareholder structure wholly owned by a strong and economically very solidly positioned corporate family. Coordination with a larger group of shareholders naturally takes more time, and the new structure supports decisive, rapid action,” Dr. Haupt is convinced. At the same time, he thanks the departing shareholders for constructively supporting the company over the past years. 

Many commercial kitchens, especially catering and food service, are still suffering badly from the lockdowns in response to the coronavirus pandemic. The market has also been very challenging in the Industrial division, which has the automotive supply industry as a significant proportion of its customers, over the past two years. Dr. Haupt emphasizes that the decline in sales at BLANCO Professional last year and this year was a logical consequence of the market situation. According to him, the company reacted quickly. It developed a collective restructuring agreement, which has been in force since the beginning of October 2020. With a term that continues until the end of 2023, the agreement calls for the socially responsible reduction of around 100 of the approximately 700 jobs at BLANCO Professional. Despite this rapid response, the CEO anticipates that some financing will be required over the next two years to partially realign the company. “As the parent company, BLANC & FISCHER Family Holding can and will easily raise these funds, thanks to the positive developments at the other subgroups,” assures Dr. Haupt. “And this is a worthwhile investment: We are absolutely confident that we can also transfer this company to the positive level of the other companies in our group.”

Establishing and expanding future-oriented business areas

The funds are to be invested primarily in the development and expansion of high-growth business areas. To this end, BLANCO Professional has also been restructured in terms of corporate management: With Egon Kofler, the company has had a CEO since October 2020, who has already proven his ability to orient companies towards the future as a managing director in other BLANC & FISCHER Family Holding subgroups. Bernd Rupprecht, an experienced sales professional from the company group, has permanently taken on his new role at BLANCO Professional and will be assisting him. “We are in a difficult situation in an extremely challenging year,” says Kofler. “However, this situation also offers opportunities. As hard as the cuts are, we are also convinced that we are laying the foundation to be sustainably successful again in the medium term. We can and will achieve this together – and at the Oberderdingen site, to which we are clearly committed.”

Growth in the divisions of Hygiene and Digitalization

The primary objective is to establish a competitive organization, partly by reducing structural and personnel costs. Also, sales will be restructured, and the focus will be centered on the product portfolio, business areas, and target groups. The Catering and Industrial business units are to operate largely independently in the future. The new management sees excellent opportunities, for example, in the divisions of Hygiene and Digitization in the professional kitchen environment: “Because of the coronavirus, the already high importance of hygiene in medical facilities and nursing homes has grown even more. We are developing an attractive product portfolio here, which we will continue to expand and refine. We also see great potential for the future in the digitization of professional kitchens. In private kitchens, digitization is primarily a convenience issue that can also contribute to better cooking results. In professional kitchens, the same applies, but there, digitization is also a significant productivity factor,” Kofler emphasizes. As part of the BLANC & FISCHER Family Holding, BLANCO Professional has access to all the technologies and know-how necessary for solid growth in this segment. The Managing Director is correspondingly optimistic: “We'll see another drop in sales this year, but from 2022 on, we'll be back on track for growth.” 

About BLANC & FISCHER Family Holding

BLANC & FISCHER Family Holding shapes kitchen living spaces worldwide. The group companies include ARPA, the French specialist manufacturer of stovetops and hobs with various types of heating and extractor fans; the specialist for the water place in the kitchen BLANCO; the producer of investment goods for commercial kitchens and industrial suppliers, BLANCO Professional, the internal service provider for IT and group-wide used functions BLANC & FISCHER CORPORATE SERVICES, and the component supplier for manufacturers of household appliances E.G.O. The companies employ about 8,300 people worldwide in 23 countries and at 56 locations. In 2019, the group recorded a turnover of around €1.2 billion. The holding company is wholly owned by the Blanc and Fischer families.

BLANC & FISCHER Family Holding: Two families. Five companies. One common objective.

More information is available on the website www.blanc-fischer.com