GCA Altium has continued to expand its European business, with the appointment in Frankfurt of Frank Merkel as a member of the management board in Germany and Head of GCA Altium’s Industrial Technology sector group in Europe.
Industrial Technology has become a key sector for GCA Altium in recent years. GCA’s North American and particularly its Asian operations have historically had a strong focus on this space, and the new team in Frankfurt complements their activities. Recent GCA transactions in this area include the sale of Wild Goose Filling to The Middleby Corporation, the sale of GANTNER Electronic to SALTO Systems and the acquisition of Central Conveyor Company by Tsubakimoto Chain Co.
Building on GCA Altium’s existing Industrial Technology platform and his strong track record in the sector, his responsibilities will include several subsectors that are all buoyed by the global automation and digitalisation megatrends, fitting well with GCA Altium’s strong Technology focus. Subsectors such as Material Handling Technology and Factory Automation will be the focus area of Michaela Pfeifenberger, while Packaging & Process Technology as well as Measurement & Testing will be the key segments of Jens Schmadel, who are both also joining GCA Altium’s Industrial Technology team alongside Frank.
Merkel joins GCA Altium from Alantra where he successfully completed more than 25 M&A transactions in excess of EUR4 billion enterprise value since he joined in 2016. At Alantra Frank co-led the German office, served as Chairman of the Nordic operations and was a member of the Global Executive Management Committee of the Investment Banking business. In addition, he was the global sector head for Industrial Automation.
Prior to joining Alantra, Merkel was a founding partner of CW Downer & Co’s business in the DACH and Nordic region, a global M&A boutique focused on cross-border M&A transactions, which merged with N+1 to become Alantra in 2016. His professional education includes studies at the International Business School in Bad Nauheim, Germany, where he received his Diploma in International Management, and a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Lincoln, UK.
