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Brockhaus Capital Management AG (BCM), an independent technology holding with a focus on investments in innovation and technology leaders, will become the new majority shareholder of Palas GmbH, a company specializing in particle measurement technology. The Karlsruhe-based company develops technologically leading and high-precision instruments for the measurement, characterization and generation of particles in the air, especially in the fine dust and nanoparticle range. Following the successful private placement at the end of 2017, this is another milestone for BCM on its way to the planned IPO.
As part of a succession plan, BCM has acquired a majority stake in Palas GmbH. The co-founder and majority shareholder Leander Mölter leaves the company. Dr. Maximilian Weiß, managing director for many years, development and production manager and minority shareholder, will continue to hold a significant stake in the company and will continue to lead it as CEO in the future.
With its unique optical measurement technology and more than 20 active patents, Palas is the global technology leader for high-precision instruments for measuring particles in the air. The product range includes certified fine dust and nanoparticle analyzers, aerosol spectrometers and generators as well as associated systems and software solutions. With around 270 customers from over 60 countries – including BASF, Siemens, BMW and Bayer – Palas products are used particularly in the public sector, the pharmaceutical industry, medical technology, the industrial sector, the automotive industry as well as in laboratories and clean rooms. The market for particle measurement technology is experiencing high growth rates due to a growing global awareness of the health risks of air pollution and the resulting increasing regulation.
“The successful succession plan offers optimal conditions for the continuation of our extraordinary growth history,” explains Palas founder and retiring shareholder Leander Mölter. “In selecting the new majority owner, it was decisive for us that BCM was not only very familiar with the needs of rapidly growing medium-sized technology leaders and able to support us with a broad network of industry experts, but also, as a technology holding company, was committed to a long-term partnership and, unlike conventional financial investors, was not subject to a predetermined investment horizon,” Mölter continued.
“The global market for particle measurement technology is currently expanding rapidly, not least due to a growing awareness of the health risks posed by air pollution and the resulting stricter regulation,” explains Dr. Maximilian Weiß, CEO of Palas, under whose management the current core product Fidas® for fine dust measurement was developed and introduced. “The unique technological know-how and outstanding network of our new majority shareholder BCM gives us the opportunity to continue our successful expansion, above all by opening up new international markets and additional areas of application,” continues Weiß.
“As an experienced technology investor who has accompanied companies such as Wirecard and 360T through their success story, we are convinced that Palas is a technology leader in a class of its own,” says Marco Brockhaus, CEO of BCM. “The company has a globally unique technology for optical particle measurement and is ideally positioned in a niche whose impressive growth is driven by global megatrends. Palas not only stands for exceptional dynamism combined with high profitability, but also for the best growth prospects in the long term. The acquisition of Palas is an important milestone in the development of our BCM portfolio and in the preparation of our planned IPO”, adds Brockhaus.
