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Successful business stories often begin in garages, small workshops, or basements. This was also the case for Wilfried Krömker from Bückeburg near Hanover. Now 65 years old, he turned a small side business into a medium-sized company with 40 employees. Today, W. Krömker GmbH develops a wide range of medical systems—from articulated arms and mounting systems to chassis and electronic components. Its customers include major medical technology companies such as Dräger, Hamilton Medical, Maquet, and B. Braun. But Krömker doesn’t just provide a blueprint for the proverbial self-made man. His example also shows that successful corporate stories can continue even as the founder gradually steps back.
A Gradual Withdrawal
At the end of 2012, Krömker took the decisive step toward succession by selling the majority of his company shares to two investment firms. He had already been thinking about this issue for several years prior. “My daughter and son didn’t want to join the company. So I started thinking relatively early on about how the company should move forward once I stepped back from day-to-day operations,” says Krömker.
In his attempt to handle the succession plan on his own, Krömker learned some hard lessons: He brought a second managing director into the company who wanted to take it forward. “But that turned out to be a big mistake,” Krömker openly admits. That’s when the decision to sell the company took shape.
With the support of his tax advisor, the process gained momentum. In his search for potential buyers, Krömker initially reached out specifically to people in his client network. However, none of them were suitable candidates. This was especially true because it was important to Krömker that his company remain at its current location, thereby securing jobs in the region. “That’s why I had the idea to bring an investor into the company,” says Krömker. His long-standing partnership with Volksbank Schaumburg paid off here.
“Even when the company was just getting started, Volksbank supported me with project financing,” recalls Krömker. That was in the mid-1970s. Back then, while working as a helicopter mechanic for the German Armed Forces, Krömker was tinkering with articulated arms for medical technology in a basement workshop. Success wasn’t long in coming. The first orders were followed by more. At first, Krömker ran his company part-time with four employees. When a major order came in at the beginning of the 1990s, he quit his full-time job so he could devote himself entirely to the company. Volksbank Schaumburg has supported this development throughout the years.
An Ideal Partner by His Side
It was the Volksbank Schaumburg that put Krömker in touch with VR Equitypartner during his search for an investor. “I didn’t know at the time that the Cooperative Financial Group offered something like this,” Krömker admits. When he heard “private equity,” he tended to think of investors looking for a quick profit. But he immediately trusted the source. The fact that this trust is mutual is underscored by the “Germany – made by Mittelstand” initiative, through which the Genossenschaftliche FinanzGruppe expresses its gratitude for the economic contributions of small and medium-sized enterprises.
With these investors on board, Krömker was able to start planning again. VR Equitypartner and the second firm intend to remain invested for years to come. “Both partners fully met my expectations regarding how we would structure our collaboration,” Krömker praises. This also applies to the selection of the new managing director. “In Michael Meier, I’ve found the ideal manager for the company. He comes from the industry. He was drawn to the challenge of being able to make a bigger impact in a small company than in a large corporation,” says Krömker.
