IMAP advises Buchholz Textilreinigung on the sale to CWS Group

Buchholz Textilreinigung GmbH & Co. KG, a full-service industrial laundry and textile rental company situated in Malbergweich near Bitburg, was taken over by CWS Group. With the acquisition of this traditional and modern industrial laundry, CWS, an integrated solution provider for health and safety, is expanding its portfolio and strengthening its sustainability strategy. The jobs in the medium-sized company will be retained. The previous owner and managing director, Patrick Schweyen, will continue to act in an advisory function for CWS Healthcare Deutschland GmbH & Co. KG.

Founded in 1939 as a family business in Prüm in the Eifel region, the Buchholz laundry today is a medium-sized company with around 90 employees. Buchholz provides services to about 200 customers in the three verticals healthcare, HoReCaand workwear /personal protective equipment (PPE). This includes washing and processing as well as textile rental. With the company's own fleet of vehicles, Buchholz also ensures that customers' laundry is picked up and delivered again punctually and reliably. The company's geographical focus is in the western part of Germany between the Ruhr area in the north and Luxembourg in the south.

CWS Group operates internationally as an integrated solution provider in the field of health and safety and generated in 2019 sales of over 1.2 billion EUR with 10,800 employees. In its Healthcare division, CWS offers care homes, senior citizen facilities and nursing services an all-round laundry supply in a rental service: from bed linen and terry toweling to a comprehensive workwear assortment and the care of residents' laundry, they receive everything from a single source. With the acquisition of the Buchholz laundry, CWS is further expanding the business unit. "Above all, high-quality service, state-of-the-art, sustainable work processes, a diversified customer portfolio and a strong regional market position make Buchholz Textilreinigung GmbH & Co. KG a valuable new addition to CWS Healthcare," explains Markus Schad, Director Cleanrooms & Healthcare at CWS.

"We are very much looking forward to working with CWS Group and would like to thank IMAP for their professional and dedicated support throughout the entire M&A process," emphasizes Patrick Schweyen.

"With CWS we were able to find a buyer with a clear strategic interest. The well positioned company Buchholz complements the healthcare segment of CWS excellently, offers additional laundry capacities and access to the interesting Luxembourg market", comments Torsten Denker, responsible partner at IMAP M&A Consultants AG.

After the sale of Kruppert Textilservice KG to Ufenau Capital Partners, this is already the second successful mandate in the textile service sector for IMAP Germany. On an international level, IMAP recently advised on the acquisition of the Finnish Lännen Tekstiilihuolto Oy by Lindström Group and the sale of Blesk InCare (Russia) to Elis.

The IMAP team around Torsten Denker and Mathias Bosse has exclusively advised the shareholder of Buchholz Textilreinigung GmbH & Co. KG throughout a structured M&A process and supported him in negotiating and successfully closing the transaction.