AEQUITA
Munich-based investment group that buys mid-sized companies and corporate carve-outs in special situations, with 11 portfolio companies including Velogy.
Industry: Industrial investment group (special situations and carve-outs) | Location: Munich, Germany | Founded: 2018
About AEQUITA
AEQUITA is an international investment group based in Munich, Germany, with further offices in Summerville, South Carolina, and Tokyo. It partners with mid-sized companies and corporate carve-outs in special situations, and its legal entity is AEQUITA SE & Co. KGaA. The group says its approach runs from acquisition through strategy implementation and growth to a sale to a strategic owner.
Dr. Axel Geuer and Christoph Himmel founded AEQUITA in 2018, according to their biographies on the company's website. Geuer is Managing Partner and Chairman of the Management Board, and Himmel is Managing Partner and a member of the Management Board. Ralph Westphal is Partner and Chief Financial Officer, and Thomas von Petersdorff-Campen chairs the Supervisory Board.
The website reports about 15,000 employees, roughly EUR 10 billion in revenues, 65 sites and more than 90 operational experts across its holdings. Its 11 portfolio companies include Velogy, an olefins and polyolefins platform, Dürkopp, Breyden and KTX in foundry and bearing products, Manage Now, TMD Friction, Signata, Willi Elbe, PEINER SMAG and SMAG Mobile Antenna Masts. It also lists Pentagon Technologies, a supplier of precision cleaning to the semiconductor industry.
On 1 May 2026 AEQUITA completed the purchase of select European olefins and polyolefins assets from LyondellBasell, which operate as Velogy from Rotterdam. Velogy has sites in Berre, Münchsmünster, Carrington and Tarragona, about EUR 2.5 billion in revenue and more than 1,700 employees. On 13 May 2026 AEQUITA signed an agreement to buy 100 percent of Pentagon Technologies from Kurita Water Industries.
On 8 January 2026 AEQUITA agreed to acquire the European olefins and polyolefins business of SABIC, with four sites in Geleen, Gelsenkirchen, Genk and Teesside, about USD 3.5 billion in sales and about 1,900 employees. The price was not disclosed in the announcement, although Indian Chemical News reported a value of about USD 500 million when it covered the European Commission's clearance in October 2026. The buyer plans to fold the business into Velogy, and closing was expected by the end of 2026.
Leadership
- Axel Geuer, Managing Partner and Chairman of the Management Board
- Christoph Himmel, Managing Partner and Member of the Management Board
- Ralph Westphal, Partner and Chief Financial Officer
- Robert Roiger, Partner and Chief Operating Officer
- Thomas von Petersdorff-Campen, Chairman of the Supervisory Board
- Franz Eckl, Member of the Management Board
- Rafael Ratzel, Member of the Management Board
- Lennart Harendza, Member of the Management Board