As it expands premium offering.

Groupe SEB has acquired German group WMF to strengthen the company’s global leadership by gaining the position of world number one in professional automatic coffee machines and becoming the cookware leader in Germany.

The acquisition was executed on the basis of a €1.59 billion ($2.28 billion) enterprise value at December 31, 2015, the assumption of €125 million ($180 million) in pension liabilities on the same date and a €70 million ($100 million) payment to the seller in compensation for Groupe SEB retaining WMF’s results from January 1, 2016. The acquisition is financed entirely by debt.

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In its new setup, Groupe SEB 2016 pro forma sales will be approximately €6 billion ($8.6 billion) and the number of employees will exceed 30,000 people.

Groupe SEB CEO and chairman, Thierry de La Tour d’Artaise commented, “Today is the start of a fascinating adventure for the teams at Groupe SEB and for those at WMF, to whom I would like to extend a warm welcome. We have the greatest consideration for the WMF Group’s achievements and are excited about accelerating the development of the new entity with a long-term perspective.”

Groupe SEB Australia managing director, Wivina Chaneliere said, “Groupe SEB now have a full premium offer of cookware brands from around the world: Germany (WMF, Silit), Italy (Lagostina), UK (Jamie Oliver by TEFAL, USA (All Clad) and last but not least, France (Tefal).

“Cookware complements major cooking appliances very well. Consumers want to get the most out of their new oven or induction cooktop. They want the latest innovation and design in their cookware too,” she said.