Knorr-Bremse won its largest multi-system order with Stadler, supplying braking, entrance and HVAC systems for 606 metro cars for Berlin operator BVG, with options up to 1,500 cars. The order includes spare parts and digital maintenance services for 32 years.

IDEX Corporation completed its acquisition of German piston and diaphragm pump maker ABEL GmbH, which has been part of IDEX since March 2021. ABEL will join IDEX's Fluid and Metering Technology segment.

Fan maker ebm-papst is investing almost EUR 20 million in three new buildings at its headquarters in Mulfingen and Mulfingen-Hollenbach, Baden-Württemberg, including R&D space and a machinery building. Construction is expected to take about 15 months for two of the buildings.

POLIFILM EXTRUSION GmbH acquired 100% of SAXA Packaging GmbH, which operates a blown film plant in Neukirchen/Pleiße, Germany. The deal adds broad and barrier films to POLIFILM's portfolio. The purchase price was not disclosed.

BorgWarner and AKASOL signed a Business Combination Agreement on 15 February 2021 for a strategic partnership. BorgWarner's subsidiary will launch a voluntary public takeover offer of EUR 120.00 per share, a 23.4% premium, with founders holding 59.4% of shares committed to tender.

PACCOR plans to invest more than 40 million euros in 2021 in capacity, automation, logistics and technology. The investment includes new injection molding capacity at its Ravensburg site in Germany for in-mold labeled PP cups and lids.

Helvetia Packaging is increasing capacity by 30% at its aluminium can manufacturing facility in Saarlouis, Germany, this year. The plant previously had a maximum capacity of around 1.2 billion cans and ends per year.

BHS Corrugated acquired an 18-hectare property in Weiherhammer, Germany, for a logistics park; the first project is a €40 million automated spare parts logistics center planned to go live in early 2023.

Mexico's Envases Universales Group agreed to buy the HUBER Packaging Group, a European tinplate packaging maker with about 900 employees and plants in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, UK and Hungary. VIRETUM CONSULT acted as sole financial advisor to the shareholders.

Wuppertal-based MIB Industriebeteiligungen acquired Verpackungstechnik Frielinghaus GmbH, a plastic hollow-body maker, in a succession arrangement. Ebner Stolz advised the buyer on financial and tax due diligence.

Netzsch Pumpen & Systeme plans a new production hall with office units at its Waldkraiburg site, consolidating three local plants into a campus. Groundbreaking was planned for the first quarter of 2021.

Hillenbrand agreed to sell Abel Pumps L.P. and affiliates to IDEX Corporation for $103.5 million in cash, subject to post-closing adjustments. The deal is expected to close in Hillenbrand's second fiscal quarter.

Worthington Industries has acquired PTEC Pressure Technology GmbH, a German designer and maker of valves and components for hydrogen and CNG storage systems, based in Burscheid, Germany. The company has 11 employees.

FLSmidth agreed to sell its Germany-based Möller (FLSmidth Hamburg GmbH) pneumatic conveying systems business to French group REEL. The agreement was signed on 29 December 2020 and the terms are confidential.

Envases Europe, a subsidiary of Envases Group, agreed to acquire Huber Packaging Group, a German maker of tinplate and plastic packaging with about 900 employees at six European sites. The deal, subject to competition review, is expected to close in Q1 2021.

NETZSCH shareholders approved on 27 November 2020 the centralization of its Waldkraiburg facilities, investing EUR 50 million in a new production unit on Geretsrieder Straße that will integrate the assembly hall and offices from the current plant.

Nuremberg-based Gossen Metrawatt acquired WPT and all its subsidiaries, and WPT was renamed Global Power Technology (GPT).

Spectris plc sold Brüel & Kjær Vibro GmbH, a Darmstadt-based machinery protection and condition monitoring supplier, to Japan's NSK for EUR 180 million (GBP 163 million).

GE Gas Power won an order from RWE Generation for 11 LM2500XPRESS gas turbine units for a 300MW gas-fired grid reserve plant in Biblis, Hesse, expected to start operation in late 2022.

Mauser Packaging Solutions completed a new production space in Erkelenz, Germany in summer 2020, housing an IBC wash line and an automated IBC rebottle line, and increased post-consumer resin production.

Progroup's PM3 containerboard paper factory in Sandersdorf-Brehna, Germany, started operating in August 2020 and has reached more than 2,000 tonnes a day, with full run-up expected by the end of Q2 2021 and output of up to 750,000 tonnes a year.

Marelli is opening a production facility for electric drivetrains in Cologne, Germany, on 18,000 square metres, with production slated to start in the first half of 2021 and about 160 employees.

Mondi's Ansbach plant in Southern Germany has installed new machinery under a €30 million investment, expanding its corrugated packaging portfolio and capacity ahead of full project completion in 2021.

EUROJET Turbo GmbH signed a contract with the NATO Eurofighter & Tornado Management Agency to supply 56 new EJ200 engines for the German Air Force's Tranche 4 Typhoon order. Final assembly will take place at MTU Aero Engines, with deliveries scheduled to begin in 2023.

Atlas Copco agreed to acquire Ehrler and Beck GmbH, a distributor of vacuum equipment and services based in Renningen, Germany with 15 employees. The purchase price was not disclosed and the deal is expected to close in January 2021.

The Carlyle Group agreed to acquire Flender GmbH, a mechanical and electrical drive technology maker, from Siemens AG. The deal is subject to regulatory approval, and Jeantet advised Carlyle on it.

Smurfit Kappa is investing about EUR 50 million at its Brühl, Germany plant to raise corrugated board output above 200 million square meters a year by mid-2023 and create around 50 jobs.

Merck celebrated the topping-out of its new membrane factory in Darmstadt, an investment of more than €140 million that will produce Millipore Express membranes for sterile filters and create about 55 jobs. Construction is due to finish in 2022.

Stiebel Eltron agreed to acquire a majority shareholding in Zimmermann Lüftungs- und Wärmesysteme, a Freudenberg, Germany maker of heating and heat-recovery systems under the Proxon and Atarus brands.

GEA will discontinue production at its Bodenheim site near Mainz, Germany, by the end of 2024 as part of a consolidation of its global production network.

PAPACKS plans to build a further production facility on its acquired Arnstadt site in 2022, doubling the area in use and raising capacity from 180 million to 360 million units per year.

PAPACKS is investing over €10 million in its GIGAFACTORY 1 in Arnstadt, Germany, creating around 20 new jobs for molded paper fiber packaging. The topping-out ceremony was held on 25 September 2020.

EBARA Precision Machinery Europe invested about €1.6 million in a new overhaul centre for vacuum pumps in Dresden-Weixdorf, Germany, announced on 25 September 2020. The site is the second overhaul centre after Livingston, Scotland.

GEA has agreed to sell compressor maker Bock, including Bock GmbH and its subsidiaries in the Czech Republic and India plus sites in China and Australia, to German private equity firm Nord Holding. Financial terms were not disclosed and closing is expected in early 2021.

Neway Valve called off its planned EUR 11.3 million takeover of Germany's Econosto International Holding due to Covid-19 market changes, and will pay EUR 500,000 in compensation.

Hydraulic component maker STAUFF has put into operation the second of several planned CNC turning centers at its Werdohl Ehrenfeld site to produce STAUFF Connect steel pipe fittings. The investment was in the mid six-figure euro range.

AWP is investing 5.5 million in modernizing production at its Prenzlau site, with work running until 2026 and aimed at expanding capacity.

KHS GmbH agreed, pending antitrust approval, to acquire a stake in Ferrum Packaging AG, while Ferrum Packaging Inc. takes over KHS's can seaming business to combine can technology in a joint offer.

Progroup started operating its new PM3 paper factory in Sandersdorf-Brehna, with a containerboard paper machine of 750,000 tonnes annual capacity, raising its output to about 1.85 million tonnes.

Panther Packaging commissioned new fully automatic Göpfert Evolution rotary die-cutters in August 2020 at Altonaer Wellpappenfabrik in Tornesch, Südwestkarton in Illingen and Wepoba in Wustermark, adding capacity and flexibility as part of a more than €60m investment programme.

Auer Packaging added a third production hall with 3,000 square meters of manufacturing space and nine new injection molding machines at its Amerang site in Bavaria. Four of the machines are expected to start up soon.

Liveo Research will add 20,000 tons of coating capacity for pharma blister packaging films at its Boetzingen, Germany site, with commissioning expected in Q3 2021 and total capacity above 50,000 tons.

Progroup will start up a new paper machine at its Sandersdorf-Brehna mill at the end of August 2020, on schedule. The mill investment totals EUR 465 million and raises containerboard capacity from 1.1 million to about 1.85 million tpy.

Waterland Private Equity Investments is acquiring Joh. Leupold, a German folding carton producer, including its subsidiary Schneller, as part of a succession plan. The article is dated 5 August 2020 and no value was disclosed.

Balcke-Dürr Nuklear Service GmbH, a Mutares portfolio company, won the D05.1 Krümmel contract from Vattenfall GmbH to dismantle machine-hall components at the Krümmel nuclear power plant over about two years. The announcement is dated 4 August 2020 and the awarded package is in the low double-digit million euro range.

Atlas Copco acquired the assets of THN Druckluft and Produktions GmbH & Co.KG, a compressed air and service provider based in Erkelenz, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, on August 4, 2020. The purchase price was not disclosed.

Waterland Private Equity is acquiring all shares of folding carton producer Leupold and its subsidiary Schneller, based in Schwabach, Germany, as part of a family succession plan. The deal is subject to German competition approval and terms were not disclosed.

Italian pump maker Bertolini Pumps acquired German sprayer component maker altek GmbH, with all employees retained and managing director Thomas Schwert continuing. The acquisition was announced on 29 July 2020.

Ansaldo Energia was awarded EPC and long-term service agreement contracts worth over €100 million by EnBW for a 300 MW open-cycle power plant in Marbach, Baden-Württemberg, to be operational by October 2022.

Faller Packaging produced the complete packaging for the sippa drinking aid from Munich start-up iuvas, supporting it from planning and artwork through production.