Secop

Secop GmbH (formerly known as Danfoss Compressors GmbH) is a manufacturer of hermetic compressors for cooling circuits. Secop designs, develops, manufactures and distributes compressors for three application ranges: household refrigerators and freezers, small commercial refrigeration systems and cooling solutions for the mobile area (12/24/48 volt DC compressors). According to the manufacturer, the compressors are characterized by low energy consumption, low noise emission and environmental friendliness due to the use of CFC-free refrigerants.[3]

Secop GmbH
GmbH (Private company)
IndustryRefrigeration and cooling compressors
FoundedNovember 2010
HeadquartersFlensburg, Deutschland
Key people
Ricardo Alexandre Maciel [1]
OwnerESSVP IV, managed by Orlando Management AG [2]
Number of employees
approx. 60 (Germany), approx. 1,650 worldwide
Websitewww.secop.com

The headquarters of Secop are located in Flensburg/Germany, where approximately 110 employees (as of November 2014) work in research and development, the sales division and the product support department. Secop also operates production facilities in Slovakia and in the People's Republic of China, a plant for parts manufacturing in Slovenia and worldwide sales and customer service companies.

On April 25, 2017, Japanese company Nidec has signed an agreement to acquire Secop.[4]

History

Under the name of Danfoss Compressors GmbH (temporarily Danfoss Household Compressors GmbH), the current company Secop was part of the Danfoss Refrigeration & Air Conditioning Division of Danfoss A/S until 2010. The group headquarters are located in Nordborg/Denmark.[5][6]

On 29 November 2010, the Danfoss Group concluded the formal and legally binding separation from this segment of its compressor program. Danfoss Compressors GmbH was taken over by the Munich industrial holding company Aurelius AG. As a close partner of the Danfoss Group, Secop still continues to market its compressor-solutions via the Danfoss Sales Network.[7][8]

The companies did not disclose the value of the transaction. According to estimates made by the media, the deal was relatively small for Danfoss: Danfoss is one of Denmark's largest industrial companies with an annual turnover of more than 3.4 billion euros (at the time of the transaction) and 26,000 employees worldwide. For Aurelius (turnover 2009: 760 million euros) the takeover was regarded as a major growth step.[9] Dirk Markus, CEO of Aurelius, stated: "We are delighted that the Danfoss Group (...) decided to sell another subsidiary to Aurelius."[10]

The acquisition by Aurelius contained the complete operations in Germany, China, Slovenia and Slovakia with a total of approximately 3,000 employees.[11] As part of the acquisition Danfoss Compressors was renamed and from then on conducted its business with a new brand under the name Secop. So the Secop GmbH is a newly formed company that can look back on a history of more than 60 years.

Times of crisis

Even before the takeover by Aurelius, measures were taken to counteract financial crises and to counteract the decline in sales. In 2005 Danfoss already issued a press release in which years of loss-making production of household compressors were criticized and the plan to cut the workforce in half was announced.[12] In 2009 Danfoss Board member Kim Fausing reported weekly losses of millions of euros due to sales declines.[13] Between 2005 and 2010 the staff in Flensburg was cut down from 1,450 to 200. The compressor production was relocated to Slovakia and China in 2010.[14][15] As mentioned above, only the research and development department, the sales division and the product support remain in Flensburg.

Under Aurelius, the order situation worsened again in July and August 2011. Mogens Søholm, Chief Executive Officer of Secop, informed the public that 20% less compressors had been sold in these months. The introduction of short-time work was the consequence. Søholm explained that this should help spanning the time until the conversion increased again. It was agreed upon that the short-time work was supposed to end in September 2012. After one month of short-time work, in November 2011, a social plan that had been negotiated in 2008 was terminated by years end. Mogens Søholm justified the termination of this plan by saying that the agreement had been made for the Danfoss production staff in 2008 and thus was a contract from another time.[16] The situation lead to uncertainty in the workforce and indignation on the part of the works council and the union.

At the beginning of 2012 Secop announced further layoffs. The approximately 180-strong workforce was again decimated by around 60 people.[17][18] The employees protested.

Present

Currently (2019) Secop counts approx. 60 employees in Flensburg. 1,650 people work in the four subsidiaries of the Group worldwide.

On the China Refrigeration Exhibition in April 2013 in Shanghai, 1,146 manufacturers presented their compressors, refrigeration and air conditioning systems.[19] Secop presented the X Series for R600a. The XV received an Innovation Award for its compactness and low weight.[20] Secop itself stated: "Based on a completely new and innovative platform, the XV variable capacity compressor ensures up to 40 % efficiency compared to the highest efficient standard compressors, sets new low noise standards with 32 dB(A), increases useable volume by the revolutionary low height of 100 mm and reduces costs and raw material consumption with its extremely low weight of 4.8 kg."[21]

In April 2013 Secop took over the insolvent company ACC Austria GmbH in Fürstenfeld/Austria[22] for more than 25 million euros.[23] In the course of the bankruptcy of the Italian mother company and a German subsidiary in late 2012, the Austrian compressor manufacturer had been forced to file for bankruptcy as well. In 2012, ACC had accomplished a turnover of approximately 150 million euros. With ca. 700 employees, the company was the largest employer in its home region.[24] Secop declared it wanted to sustain the location as far as possible.[25] At present, ACC employs 500 staffers.[26]

As part of the regulatory approval process, the referral to the European Commission had been completed in September 2013. The acquisition of ACC Austria GmbH by Secop was approved on 11 December 2013.[27][28]

On August 1, 2017 the whole Secop group was sold by Aurelius and bought by the Japanese stock corporation Nidec for the price of 185 million euros.[29] On August 16, 2018 the name was changed to Nidec Global Appliance Germany GmbH.[30] On June 4, 2019 antitrust concerns about additional acquisitions by the Nidec Corporation in the refrigeration compressor industry led the company to sell off Secop which transitioned to ESSVP IV in September 2019 managed by Orlando Management AG.[31] The transaction is officially completed on September 10, 2019 and from this date forward Secop acts as an independent company again.[32]

Locations and subsidiaries
Company nameAddressCountryEmployees (approx.)
Secop GmbHMads-Clausen-Str. 7, 24939 FlensburgGermany 110
Secop Compressors (Tianjin) Co., Ltd.Wuqing Development Zone, No. 27, Kai Yuan Road, 301700 TianjinChina 500
Secop s.r.o.Továrenská 49, 953 01 Zlaté MoravceSlovakia 1.055
Secop kompresorji d.o.o.Heroja Stariha 24, 8340 CrnomeljSlovenia 440
Secop Austria GmbHJahnstraße 30, 8280 FürstenfeldAustria 550
Note

The figures given in the context of layoffs refer to announced job cuts. The layoffs actually made are not explicitly traceable. Staff numbers are adventitiously the result of reinstatements, termination requested by the employee, pension entrances etc.

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References
  1. "Secop GmbH Legal Notice".
  2. "Who we are Secop".
  3. Website of Aurelius AG. Accessed on 9 November 2014.
  4. Nidec to Acquire Secop Group (Secop Holding GmbH and Other 3 Entities), a German Compressor Manufacturer
  5. Website of Secop GmbH. Accessed on 9 November 2014.
  6. Website of Danfoss Group. Accessed on 9 November 2014.
  7. Press release of Aurelius Group from 5 November 2010. Accessed on 9 November 2014.
  8. Press release of the Danfoss Group 5 November 2010. Accessed on 9 November 2014.
  9. Article of Reuters UK from 12 July 2010. Accessed on 9 November 2014.
  10. Press release of Danfoss Group 2010 (German). Accessed on 9 November 2014.
  11. Article in Finance Magazin of 13 July 2010 (German). Accessed on 9 November 2014.
  12. Press release of Danfoss Group of 20 January 2005 (German). Accessed on 9 November 2014.
  13. Press release of Danfoss Group of 27 May 2009 (German). Accessed on 9 November 2014.
  14. Article in Hamburger Abendblatt of 27 May 2009 (German). Accessed on 9 November 2014.
  15. Article on diekaelte.de of 31 March 2010 (German). Accessed on 9 November 2014.
  16. Article in Flensburger Tageblatt of 3 November 2011 (German). Accessed on 9 November 2014.
  17. Article in Flensburger Tageblatt of 20 January 2012 (German). Accessed on 9 November 2014.
  18. Protocol of the 50th meeting of the Economic Committee of the State of Schleswig-Holstein from 1 February 2012, pp 10/11 (German; PDF, 46 kB). Retrieved on 9 November 2014.
  19. Information about China Refrigeration Exhibition. Accessed on 9 November 2014.
  20. Article on hydrocarbons21.com of 16 April 2013. Accessed on 9 November 2014.
  21. Landing page of Secop GmbH for the XV-compressor. Accessed on 9 November 2014.
  22. Article on juve.de of 10 May 2013 (German). Accessed on 9 November 2014.
  23. Article in the Kleine Zeitung of 24 April 2013 (German). Accessed on 9 November 2014.
  24. Press release of Aurelius Group on 25 April 2013 Germam. Accessed on 9 November 2014.
  25. Press release of Secop GmbH on 25 April 2013. Accessed on 9 November 2014.
  26. Article on meinbezirk.at on 15 January 2014 (German). Accessed on 9 November 2014.
  27. Listing of EU mergers and takeovers on reuters.com. Accessed on 9 November 2014.
  28. Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 Merger Procedure (Office for Publications of the European Union). Accessed on 9 November 2014.
  29. "Nidec to Acquire Secop Group" (PDF). www.nidec.com. April 25, 2017. Retrieved October 30, 2019.
  30. "Change of Legal Name from Secop GmbH to Nidec Global Appliance Germany GmbH | Secop". www.secop.com. Retrieved 2019-10-30.
  31. "Nidec to Sell Its Secop Compressor Business to ESSVP IV – Advised by Orlando Management AG | Secop". www.secop.com. Retrieved 2019-10-30.
  32. "ESSVP IV Completes Acquisition of Secop from Nidec | Secop". www.secop.com. Retrieved 2019-10-30.
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