On 8 November, both companies signed a joint venture agreement in which BITZER will be the majority shareholder of the newly established Wurm Holding GmbH from 1 January 2019. As a leading manufacturer of electronic system solutions for refrigeration, air conditioning and ventilation applications, all national and international Wurm companies will be integrated into the new holding company. The cooperation is still subject to the approval of the competition authorities.

As a managing partner, Dr Horst Peter Wurm will join the management of the new Wurm Holding GmbH and will step down from the operational management of the individual Wurm companies in mid 2019. In the holding company, he will supervise the long-term development and strategic orientation of the group in coordination with BITZER. No changes will be made to the management of the Wurm Group, which is made up of senior employees, or to any of its operational sites in Germany or abroad. ‘It will even be business as usual for all of our customers who will keep the same representatives’, says Dr Horst Peter Wurm.

Mutual profit and driving intelligent solutions

The people in charge at BITZER and Wurm have known one another well for over a decade and often exchange ideas about technological challenges in the refrigeration and air conditioning industry. ‘We realised how much we could profit from one another technologically and stimulate the market in these challenging times’, says Rainer Große-Kracht, member of the Management Board and Chief Technology Officer at BITZER.

By working together, both companies are gaining a strong strategic partner with which they can continue to shape technological developments in the refrigeration and air conditioning industry. Together, BITZER and Wurm can provide their customers with new intelligent solutions and ensure the independence of two innovative family-run companies in the long term.