INVESTOŘI V MSK

The Exceptional Successes of a Czech

Company on the German Market

It is not every day that a Czech company successfully manages an acquisition west of our border.

We talked to Jakub Weimann, a board member at BONATRANS GROUP a.s., about just how this

came to be accomplished and how it can be used to inspire other Czech companies.

Mr Weimann, in last year’s interview you outlined your

plans and goals for the future. Did any of these plans come

to fruition? What is new at BONATRANS GROUP a.s.?

Throughout this last year, we, along with everyone

else, have been faced with the coronavirus pandemic

and I believe we have been doing well. We managed

to maintain 24/7 production uptime and were able to

reach record performance. We also managed to increase

our market share, mainly in the supply of materials for

newly assembled wagons. We additionally established

a framework agreement with the Škoda Transportation

group, making us their exclusive wheelset supplier.

Furthermore, we successfully took part in the Trenitalia

tender, making us one of two wheel suppliers for the

Italian market, accomplishing one of our strategic goals.

Thanks to these events, I believe that we had a successful

year. At the same time, we also continued investment in

company development. Over the last two years, the figure

of this investment rose above a billion Czech crowns and

we managed to secure the follow-through of the funding.

In 2014, you acquired the German company GHHRadsatz and created the GHH-BONATRANS group.

What was the origin behind your motivation to enter

the German market?

The German railway market is the largest one in Europe,

involving top-class companies, which makes it a reference

market. The decision itself stems from the early 90s, when

BONATRANS began entering into western markets. We

obtained a certificate from the German railway company,

which was key. Gradually, we became the biggest supplier

of wheelsets for the German railway, for both passenger

and freight transport, and for all types of rolling stock,

which was a very important milestone for us.

A while later, in 2014, we acquired GHH-Radsatz, which is

a company that supplies products that are complementary

to our own. While we specialize in so-called heavy rail

products (aimed at trains and majority of metro cars),

GHH-Radsatz focuses on light rail vehicles (such as trams

and minority of carriages for metro systems). When we

saw the opportunity to acquire a German company, which

so perfectly complemented our own, it was a very logical

step, and our shareholders agreed.

When you were expanding into Germany, did you

turn to the Chamber of Commerce or another similar

organisation?

The entire process was built on the fact that we understood

(and still do) the market and our competition very well;

GHH-Radsatz was included in this, so there was no need.

Detailed knowledge of the market is one of the main

reasons why BONATRANS has been so successful.

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Did you encounter any issues that you had to overcome

in the acquisition process?

Of course we did. It was a merger of two companies from

vastly different environments, with differing histories and

products. GHH-Radsatz is located in Oberhausen, an

industrial region similar to Ostrava, also a former center for

metallurgy and coal mining, however, it is also in western

Germany, sporting a very different culture. The merger

mainly involved the consolidation of processes necessary

to run the company along with the familiarization of

business and technology. Therefore our mentalities were

different, however, our goal was the same and the mutual

respect the two companies held for each other in their

fields helped us come together.

The path Czech companies have to take to enter the

German market is a difficult one. How can they achieve

success in a foreign market? Do you have any tips?

It is key to understand the mentality of people already in

the market and how the market functions—not only who the

customer is, but often also who the customer’s customer is.