PERI acquires majority stake in KERN Tunneltechnik

Falsework and formwork manufacturer PERI SE has acquired a majority stake in KERN Tunneltechnik, based in Lugano (Switzerland). 

No financial details of the transaction have been given.

The KERN Group currently has around 80 employees at three locations and is a leading provider of secondary lining solutions for tunnelling projects - the production of in-situ concrete inner shells for the construction of tunnels using the mining method. Its main markets are the DACH (Germany (D), Austria (A), and Switzerland (CH)) region, the UK and the USA, alongside logistics solutions and engineering services.

The company will continue to operate as an independent unit within the PERI Group under its current management, brand and company name. All KERN employees and company locations will be retained.

In the course of the takeover by PERI, the WALO Group (Walo International AG, Zurich, Switzerland) is selling its shares in the KERN Group. As a strategic investor, the company had "intensively supported and accompanied KERN's success story" since 2017. KERN and WALO will continue their successful co-operation in the field of further and new developments of construction and logistics machines with a strategic partnership in the future.

"The merger with PERI opens up new perspectives for both companies and allows us to be stronger on the market in the future - worldwide. This means that both we and PERI can place our service to customers on an even broader basis and fulfil further requirements," said Reiner Kern, CEO of KERN Tunneltechnik.

"The acquisition of KERN Tunneltechnik is an important step in broadening our engineering expertise in infrastructure construction," said Peri CEO Christian Schwörer. "This brings together two strong partners who complement each other perfectly. With this merger, we are creating an international solution provider in tunnelling technology for our customers."