Deal Announcement 01/25: Industrial Products / Energy

The Deal

The PwC M&A team is pleased to announce the successful establishment of the strategic partnership between EEW Group, a leading specialist in the production of longitudinally welded pipes, and Sumitomo Corporation, one of the largest integrated trading and investment companies in the world.

The strategic partnership comprises the acquisition of a minority equity stake by means of a capital increase in the EEW Offshore Wind Holding with revenues of ca. EUR 600m by Sumitomo Corporation. The majority shares remain with the EEW Group and its shareholding families.

EEW Offshore Wind Holding is one of three holding companies within the EEW Group, structuring the company by business segments. It consolidates the world-wide leading monopile business, including the Rostock production site (EEW SPC), associated mechanical engineering activities (AWS Schäfer, Siegen, Germany), and the service company EEW Management Services GmbH. The further two holding companies remain unaffected.

The shared goal of Sumitomo and EEW is to to support the circular green economy with production of monopiles and to further expand sustainable energy generation through offshore wind power by manufacturing high-quality foundations. By joining forces, EEW Offshore Wind Holding actively drives the expansion of green energy and further strengthen the leading position in the industry. 

The transaction was closed in January 2025.

Seller

EEW Group is a family-owned company headquartered in Erndtebrück, Germany, with more than 2,000 employees worldwide. The company excels in manufacturing large-diameter pipes and pipe components primarily for the offshore wind, oil, gas, and chemical industries. EEW Group has a strong global presence with six international manufacturing facilities.

Buyer

Sumitomo Corporation, based in Tokyo, Japan, employs nearly 80,000 people in 65 countries. The company has extensive expertise in the international steel market. Sumitomo Corporation is committed to contributing to the green transformation and the global shift to renewable energy.

PwC

The global PricewaterhouseCoopers network is a worldwide association of independent auditing and consulting companies which together employ more than 370,000 people in 149 countries. Our global network comprises over 2,900 M&A professionals all over the world, realising approx. 400 successful transactions per year. We specialise in a wide range of independent M&A services including advice on acquisitions and disposals, mergers, public takeovers, privatisations as well as structured financing.

PwC M&A Germany acted as exclusive financial advisor to EEW-Group and its shareholders on this transaction – underscoring PwC’s extensive M&A expertise on this landmark deal. The transaction team consisted of Timo Klees (Partner), Martin Schwarzer (Partner), Wilfried Böckmann (Senior Manager) and Ibrahim Günal (Senior Associate).

In addition to the M&A Lead Advice, PwC supported EEW with Transaction Services (Financial Factbook), Tax Structuring, Carve-out Advice, Valuation Services, ESG Assessment and SPA Advice.