RENK Group acquires General Kinetics, the North American Leader in Suspension Systems for Combat Mobility from CIEL Capital

January 30, 2023

Ontario, Canada –

RENK Group, through its suspension specialist Horstman, acquires General Kinetics, a portfolio company of CIEL Capital, and combines it with its existing advanced mobility center of excellence to create Horstman Canada.
The new company continues to provide superior mobility solutions and now joins with RENK’s strong US, European, and global footprint to deliver a full range of suspension and vibration mitigation. Horstman Canada provides combat proven mobility to both wheeled vehicles such as the Stryker family, and tracked vehicles such as the UK FV430, US Bradley and the M88 Recovery Vehicle.
“Becoming part of RENK’s Horstman team reinforces our support to the Canadian and U.S. Army, and our allies,” Horstman Canada President Chuck Williamson said. “The new organization combines our long established operational excellence with advanced technology and international resources to provide best value to customers and the highest mobility to operators”.
RENK CEO Susanne Wiegand noted “With this acquisition, we are consistently pursuing our path of growth and further internationalization. Furthermore, we are increasing our market share in the most powerful defense market of North America.” Michael Masur, head of RENK’s Vehicle Mobility Solutions division added “Horstman Canada will increase our market share in the wheeled vehicle market and will further strengthen RENK Group’s global excellence in research and development, systems integration, manufacturing and service”.
“We intend to lead the globally competitive, high growth market for vehicle mobility solutions with the efficiencies and opportunities created by this merger of industry leaders,” says Horstman group CEO Ian Pain. Horstman will adopt the Brampton, Ontario facility as its Canadian headquarters and merge the mechatronics, simulation and active suspension engineering from its existing Woodbridge based team.
Horstman expects to retain all North American employees. In addition as part of the transaction, Horstman also acquired the US subsidiaries of General Kinetics – with those employees taken on board Horstman’s team in Michigan, USA.
About RENK Group:

Headquartered in Augsburg, Germany, the RENK Group is a leading global player for high-end gear units, power packs, hybrid propulsion systems, suspension systems, plain bearings, couplings and test systems. The company caters to a multiplicity of end markets, focusing especially on security and defense, energy and infrastructure. With more than 3000 employees, the RENK Group has revenue on the high side of EUR 850 million.

For further information, please visit: www.renk-group.com

About Horstman Group:

A company of the RENK Group, Horstman has been headquartered since 1913 in Bath, UK with operations also in the US and Canada. Horstman combines world leading simulation, design and manufacturing capabilities and delivers mobility solutions for the global wheeled and armored markets’ hardest challenges. With the addition of the experienced employees and five decades of lean manufacturing expertise of General Kinetics, Horstman employs 250 people and approaches EUR 90 million revenue.

For further information, please visit: www.horstmangroup.com

About General Kinetics:

General Kinetics Engineering Corporation was founded in Canada in 1982, to deliver properly engineered suspension components to our military customers and has never strayed from that vision. With facilities in Canada and the US, General Kinetics is the pre-eminent designer and manufacturer of suspension dampers for a vast majority of the allied fleets, both wheeled and tracked, as well as the manufacturer of ActiveShock™ semi-active damping systems, used in the most demanding EA seating applications.

For further information, please visit: www.generalkinetics.com

About CIEL Capital:

CIEL Capital is a private equity investment firm based in Toronto, Canada. CIEL focuses on majority investments in founder-owned businesses, recapitalizations, succession, management buyouts, and corporate divestitures. As a family office comprised of committed capital, CIEL looks for companies with a historical track record of positive cash flow, earning stability, and a strong balance sheet. Unlike most private equity firms who have set investment timelines, our time horizon is indefinite and target transaction structures are flexible.

For further information, please visit: https://ciel.capital/