Mutares Offloads Cimos to Management Team as Portfolio Reshaping Gathers Pace
Published on 09/22/2026 at 15:31 | Editorial boerse-global.de
Munich-based holding company Mutares has completed the sale of automotive supplier Cimos, handing the business to its own leadership in a management buy-out backed by Zagreb-based special purpose vehicle Vero Automotive 111. The transaction, announced last Friday, closes a chapter that began with Cimos's acquisition in 2022 and saw the unit folded into Mutares subsidiary FerrAl United Group.
Financial terms were not disclosed by either party. Mutares received legal counsel on the deal from law firm Schönherr, led by partner Alfred Amann.
A Restructuring That Left Its Mark
Cimos, headquartered in the Slovenian port city of Koper, develops and produces aluminium and iron castings as well as mechanical machining and forged components. Its operations span Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia and Bosnia-Herzegovina, where roughly 1,350 employees generate annual revenue of about EUR 120 million.
The company's time under Mutares ownership was defined by an extensive turnaround effort. Production was shifted in substantial part to Bosnia and Serbia, and the workforce was reduced noticeably as part of the restructuring measures. Those efforts ultimately fell short of stabilising the business: Cimos slid deep into loss territory once more, and a lasting external capital injection never materialised. By exiting, Mutares sheds both the ongoing operating losses and the need to keep propping the unit up financially.
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A Wider Pattern of Divestment and Acquisition
The Cimos disposal is the latest move in a rapid sequence of portfolio adjustments. It follows by roughly two weeks the completion of the sale of NEM Energy Group, a heat transfer technology specialist, to Hyundai Heavy Industries Power Systems.
At the same time, Mutares has been adding to other parts of its portfolio. About three weeks ago it finalised the acquisition of TREPEL Airport Equipment and MAFI Transport-Systeme, both formerly part of NDW. The two businesses — specialists in airport ground handling equipment and heavy-duty terminal tractors, respectively — contribute around EUR 150 million in revenue and bolster the Infrastructure & Defense segment.
Taken together, the flurry of deals reflects a deliberate push away from cyclical automotive exposure, where margin pressure and transformation costs are weighing on returns, and toward higher-margin industrial operations.
Guidance Holds Despite Portfolio Churn
Management has not wavered on its full-year targets amid the restructuring activity. For the 2026 financial year, Mutares is aiming for group revenue of between EUR 7.9 billion and EUR 9.1 billion.
In the first half, the group posted revenue of EUR 3.4 billion, up from EUR 3.1 billion a year earlier, with earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation of EUR 349 million.
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Investors will get a deeper look at the transaction activity and the broader growth strategy at the company's London Investor Day on 19 November.
Shares Drift Lower
Market reaction to the portfolio news has been muted. The Mutares share ended Monday's session down 1.2% at EUR 25.50, then recovered some ground on Tuesday with a 1.0% gain to EUR 25.80. Since the start of the year, the stock has lost 14% to 15%, underscoring that the brisk pace of disposals and acquisitions has yet to translate into sustained investor enthusiasm.
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