Robert Bosch, the parent company of Bosch Rexroth, has decided to sell its packaging machinery division to private equity firm CVC Capital Partners. This is not the first time Bosch has gotten involved in mergers and acquisitions. In fact, Bosch Rexroth is the result of a 2001 merger between Mannesmann Rexroth AG and the Automation Technology Business Unit of Robert Bosch GmbH.
That wasn’t the start of the connections.
Rexroth had already brought some of these companies together:
- Indramat GmbH
- Mannesmann AG
- Rexroth AG
- Hydromatik GmbH
- Brueninghaus GmbH
- Lohmann & Stolterfoht GmbH
- Deutsche Star / Star Linear
- Mecman Pneumatics
- Uchida
- Hägglunds
The rest have been brought into the fold since then.
Rexroth calls itself “The Drive & Control Company.” For us, since we specialize in electric industrial automation drive and control systems, the most important part of that list is Indramat.
Indramat revolutionized the servo motor market with its brushless servo motors back in the 20th century. Rexroth, looking for an electric motor and drive division, snapped Indramat up and absorbed the company at the beginning of the 21st century.
That’s why you might see “Indramat” on some legacy components. If you ever open up a cabinet to do some troubleshooting and see “Indramat” on the unit inside, call us.
That’s also why names like IndraDrive still show up in Rexroth machinery today. It’s a tip of the hat to Indramat.
So Rexroth, which started out with a forge in 1795, building iron hammers in Germany, grew and brought in other companies till it reached the impressive size it has today, employing more than 31,000 people worldwide. The packaging machinery division employs 6,100 people in 15 countries.
Bosch is expecting significant growth in the packaging division, under its new management.
As for the electric drive division, it continues to support is motion control systems, all the way back to the Indramat days. If you need service or support for any Rexroth electric motion control devices, we can help.