Friedr. Gustav Theis cold rolling mills
| Friedr. Gustav Theis Kaltwalzwerke GmbH
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| legal form | GmbH |
| founding | 1910 |
| resolution | July 2017 |
| Reason for dissolution | Takeover by Waelzholz and integration into the Waelzholz Group |
| Seat | Hagen |
| management | Bertram C. Liebler |
| Number of employees | approx. 750 (as of June 2017) |
| Branch | Cold strip, strip steel,
Precision steel strip, stainless steel strip, galvanically refined cold strip, organically coated cold strip, flat wire, narrow strip and profiles, packaging tape, packaging equipment |
The Theis Group was an international group of companies in the metalworking industry. The group's management company was Friedr. Gustav Theis Kaltwalzwerke GmbH in Hagen-Fley , until the company was taken over by the Waelzholz Group, also based in Hagen, in the summer of 2017 . Theis produced metal strips and solid profiles by cold rolling . The products have been used in the automotive , medical, packaging and tool industries.
history
The company was founded in 1910 by Friedrich Gustav Theis in Hohenlimburg . First of all, he manufactured reed rails for looms.
Cold strip production was added from 1920. In 1938 the company was expanded to include a plant in Hagen-Halden .
In 1971 Viola Hallman , the founder's granddaughter, was incorporated into the company's management and after the death of her father in 1972 also took over the management.
In 1975 a factory for the manufacture of steel packaging strips was acquired from the Stanley Corporation. The following year, the Hagen-based ribbon finishing company Alte und Schröder was taken over. In 1978, Friedrich Gustav Theis GmbH relocated its headquarters from Hohenlimburg to Hagen-Fley .
In 1986 the steel division of the American Wallace Barnes Group in Bristol (Connecticut) was taken over (afterwards Theis Precision Steel). In 1990 a division of the Spanish company Alvarez Vazquez was split off into Theis Ibérica in Basauri near Bilbao . Also since 1990, rust-free precision strips made of stainless steel have been produced in the newly built Fley plant.
In 1996 a new 20-roll rolling mill was built in the Hagen-Fley plant.
In 1998 two French cold rolling mills were acquired (Gorcy La Roche in Montigny-sur-Chiers / Lorraine and Les Usine Laprade in Arudy / Aquitaine), and in 1999 another (Paturle Aciers) in Saint-Laurent-du-Pont / Rhône-Alpes. In 1999, the small-volume manufacturer Kuhbier + Knörr in Lüdenscheid joined the Theis Group. In 2001, cutting centers were founded in Segano , Italy near Milan (Theis Italiana) and in Singapore (The Theis Hutchison Group). In 2002 a cutting center followed in Kingswinford, UK (Theis Highley Steel) and in 2006 a cutting center in Poland ( Theis Polska ). In 2008 all shares in the Unna steelworks were acquired .
At the end of March 2009, the company filed for insolvency proceedings after orders had collapsed by more than half in the wake of the global economic crisis . At that time, the company still had 1,465 employees, 650 of them in Germany. Management errors that occurred were held responsible for the bankruptcy. It was intended to carry out an insolvency plan procedure for restructuring in self -administration. On December 21, 2011, the creditors' meeting approved the insolvency plan for the takeover by the FN Steel Group. The new majority shareholder was thus the Dutch van den Hombergh Holding BV, the previous managing director Viola Hallman only held 10% of the company.
Since March 2012, the company has been officially saved. The FN-steel Group, part of the Dutch industrial investment group Hombergh Holdings BV, has taken over 90% of Theis company.
In 2013 the company shares were transferred to a foundation.
On June 14, 2017, the company announced that the Waelzholz Group had fully acquired the shares in Friedrich Gustav Theis Kaltwalzwerke GmbH. After approval by the antitrust authorities, the takeover of 100% of the shares was completed on July 6, 2017. At that time, the company still had 10 locations worldwide with around 750 employees, around 400 of them at the German locations in Hagen , Lüdenscheid and Gelsenkirchen .
Technologies and Products
Various types of steel belts were mainly produced.
Cold strip is used for strip thicknesses that can not be produced using the hot rolling process. This is suitable for all punching , bending , drawing and deep-drawing purposes and is therefore used, for example, for building hardware , steel, sheet metal and metal goods, profiles , pipes , for pressure vessel construction , nuclear plant construction and safety parts.
A special product here was the THENOX precision strip, which was produced from rust, acid and heat-resistant stainless steels in the cold rolling process from hot-rolled steel strip. It had even tighter dimensional tolerances than standard products, different surface designs and consistently homogeneous structures. It was mainly used in automobile construction , chemical process engineering , medical technology , thermal process technology , telecommunications , textile machine construction and environmental technology .
Another product was electrolytically surface- refined strips, whose properties are corrosion resistance, paintability and a uniformly homogeneous layer thickness. The surface finish of the steel carrier material is glossy or matt galvanized and then optionally colorless, blue or yellow passivated and / or phosphated . The Zincaband manufactured by Theis was processed into telescopic rails for the furniture industry, housings for small drive motors in cars, ceiling suspensions and hose clamps, among other things . The coated strips were also used in the automotive industry in the construction of catalytic converters .
In addition to steel strips, flat wire and profiles up to complex solid profiles were manufactured . These were used, among other things, to manufacture chain saw teeth, mowing knives, ski edges and chain sleeves as well as for various products in the automotive industry.
Theis also manufactured packaging systems comprising various steel and plastic straps, tensioning and locking tools, locking sleeves and system accessories, with the sleeveless locks with higher locking strength developed by Theis playing an important role.
Web links
- Former website of the Theis Group ( memento from March 23, 2016 in the Internet Archive )
References and comments
- ↑ Theis Group filed for bankruptcy , derwesten.de, Hagen edition, March 25, 2009
Coordinates: 51 ° 23 '14.5 " N , 7 ° 30' 32.9" E