Business with armor
Motorbauer Deutz joins the drone business
Deutz is the oldest engine builder in the world, its origins go back until 1864. Since then, business has had a ground, for example with excavator engines. Now the company is looking up its gaze.
The engine farmer Deutz wants to benefit from the increasing military expenditure of the NATO countries and joins the drone business as a supplier. After the Cologne-based company founded its own defense unit at the beginning of the year, the takeover of the drive specialist Sobek from Hirschberg in Baden-Württemberg now announced. The transaction is expected at short notice.
With 70 employees, the company is no longer a start-up, but profitable, emphasized Deutz boss Sebastian Schulte. There is a low to medium-sized double-digit million-euro annual turnover. The purchase price should be a very low three-digit million euro amount. Schulte said the purchase price was eleven times higher than the operating result (EBITDA). In 2025 Sobek expects an EBITDA of 10 to 12 million euros.
Demand for drones increases
Sobek produces electric drives and control electronics, which are mainly used in drones. The Ukrainian army uses drones in which Sobek is. “Defense is changing through new technologies and changing warfare rapidly, the demand for military drones will continue to increase,” said Deutz manager Schulte.
With the purchase of the company, you position yourself “early as a relevant system partner in a young, rapidly growing market”. Drones play an increasingly important role in the Military editions of the NATO countries in order to be prepared for an impending confrontation with Russia.
Deutz mainly produces internal combustion engines for heavy equipment, such as cranes, lifting platforms and agricultural machinery. A few years ago, the company ventured into a still quite new electrical market area with the purchase of the electric ship engines manufacturer Torqeedo, but this purchase failed and the subsidiary was returned.
Deutz is already active in the armaments business, so the company delivers the internal engine for a Polish troop transporter and auxiliary motors for combat tanks. In addition, the company installs new engines into old tanks so that they can be used for longer. So far, the defense business for Deutz has been more of a niche with a double-digit million-euro annual turnover. For comparison: In 2024, Deutz AG with its 5,200 employees came up with sales of around 1.8 billion euros.
dpa
Source: Stern
