Expansion of the Huber Group

 We are pleased to announce that Peter Huber Kältemaschinenbau SE has acquired a new sister company “J. Schneider Elektrotechnik” with effect from 1 January 2024. With this acquisition, a highly successful family business is added to the Huber family's company group. The Huber family is proud to have gained the trust of its direct neighbour. After an intensive, joint preparatory phase, the shareholders of J. Schneider Elektrotechnik have decided to hand over their shares in the business. This is the first time that the Huber family has diversified its business interests.

For the employees of J. Schneider Elektrotechnik GmbH, nothing will change as a result of the acquisition. All 420 employees will continue to work for the company in the future. Both companies will remain independent businesses. In order to ensure a seamless transition, the management of J. Schneider Elektrotechnik will remain in the hands of the managing partner Bettina Schneider and the previous Managing Director Rolf Anti through 2025 to ensure a smooth and seamless handover of business operations. Both Bettina Schneider and Rolf Anti have been responsible for the business operations since 1999 and will supervise the transition to the Huber family.

Daniel Huber, the CEO of Peter Huber Kältemaschinenbau SE said: ”with the successful J. Schneider company, we will complement our existing business areas and continue to develop the business in the spirit of the Schneider shareholder family." 

"Taking responsibility for our employees and a collegial and informal approach are firmly anchored in both corporate cultures," emphasises Daniel Huber, adding "flat hierarchies, open doors, excellent working conditions, always looking into each other's eyes, fair cooperation, sticking together through thick and thin - these are soft skills that are part of our DNA."

The future security of the company, the preservation of jobs and the Offenburg location as well as the maintenance of the family spirit and the identity of J. Schneider Elektrotechnik played a key role in the decision for both families.

With regard to the regional roots, Daniel Huber says: "Both companies are owner-managed family businesses, founded in Offenburg and closely rooted with many people in the region. We will maintain our shared values and both companies will focus on their respective strengths and markets in parallel. Both companies are already very successful in their respective niches. In the future, we will exchange ideas, learn from each other and constantly improve together in order to make the best possible use of our growth opportunities. We look forward to the joint tasks of tomorrow."

 
"The Huber family is the perfect partner," says Bettina Schneider, who is also delighted with the conclusion of the "trusting sales negotiations", which were initiated with the proviso that neither an anonymous financial investor nor a large corporation would be allowed to take part. " We had already been thinking for some time about how our family business could continue, especially as there is no successor within our family. My idea has always been to maintain the family spirit to ensure that the employees continue to have their professional home at J. Schneider," Bettina Schneider continues, adding "we are now handing over a healthy and economically very successful company that is involved in the important fields of the future."  

The company will close 2023 with a turnover of over 100 million euros. The family business was founded by their grandfather Johann Schneider, who laid the foundation for this development in 1939 with the opening of a repair workshop for electric motors and was expanded into a major family business by Karl Schneider between 1972 and 1999. During this time, the business areas were continually expanded. The service centre for electrical machines was joined by transformer construction and the electronics division with the product areas UPS (uninterruptible power supplies) and HSV (high-voltage power supplies). The customer base is located in various industrial sectors and focuses primarily on renewable energies, industry, mechanical and plant engineering, building infrastructure, safety and railway technology. The family-owned company has four production sites in Offenburg.