Grohe acquires WaterTech portfolio of Dawn company

(Photo: Grohe.com)

The new company to be named Grohe Dawn WaterTech Holdings Pty Ltd will be owned 51% by Grohe and 49% by Dawn.

The brands include Cobra, which is coming home to the Grohe Group given both companies were founded by the same Friedrich Grohe. The transaction was announced today. It is still subject to regulatory approval as well as the approval by Dawn's shareholders and is set for closing in autumn.

With gross sales of around € 110 million, Dawn’s sanitary fittings business segment grew by approximately ten percent in the last financial year. Dawn has a significant sanitary fittings market share in South Africa, which means that Grohe becomes one of the country’s leading suppliers of sanitary fittings as a result of the transaction.

The deal offers Grohe outstanding prospects for further sustained growth in the African market. Grohe gains production facilities in South Africa and will further expand its distribution network and business activities in neighbouring markets in the southern and eastern regions of the African continent. The partners of the new company agreed that this company will become the exclusive distributor for Grohe and Joyou products in South Africa and other selected markets in sub-Saharan Africa.

- For us, acquiring Dawn’s WaterTech business is another major step inspired by compelling industrial logic - said David J. Haines, CEO and Chairman of the Grohe Group.

- As part of our sustainable growth strategy, we held our initial talks and negotiations with Dawn as early as the middle of last year with a view to expanding our activities in Africa’s southern region. Dawn’s position of strength in the South African market makes it the perfect partner, also for the continued expansion of the Grohe and Joyou brands. In return, the new company will benefit from our expertise in research & development as well as design.

Following the acquisition by Grohe, the management teams in the operating companies will remain unchanged. The executive committee of the new company shall be led by Julian Henco, previously Vice President Emerging Markets at Grohe and Derek Tod, CEO of the Dawn Group.

Through the joint endeavour with Dawn, Grohe is once again demonstrating its entrepreneurial vision in systematic pursuit of its sustainable growth strategy with partner Lixil at its side.