Sale of Rüeger to Ashcroft

On April 30, 2019, Messrs. Bernard and Jean-Marc Rüeger have sold Swiss based Rüeger holding S.A. (Rüeger) and Dutch-based Stiko Meetapparatenfabriek B.V. (Stiko) to Ashcroft, Inc., which is headquartered in Stratford, CT, USA, and is a subsidiary of Tokyo Stock Exchange listed Nagano Keiki Co., Ltd.

Rüeger is a recognized leader in highly engineered temperature and pressure measurement products, with locations in Switzerland, Germany, China and Malaysia. Rüeger’s innovation has spanned over 75 years leading to the development of multi-point temperature sensors for critical refining and petrochemical reactor applications, and proprietary technology for extremely high accuracy temperature sensing up to 1050°C.

Stiko is a specialized manufacturer of temperature and pressure measurement instruments as well as laboratory calibration products. Founded over 50 years ago, Stiko’s customized products are tailored for safety critical applications in the Subsea, Oil/Gas, Marine, Pharmaceutical and Food/Beverage markets.

Lenz & Staehelin advised Messrs. Bernard and Jean-Marc Rüeger in this transaction. The team was led by partner Andreas Rötheli (Corporate and M&A) and included partner Lucien Masmejan (Tax) and associates Ralph Kaufmann (Corporate and M&A), Nathalie Adank (Real Estate) and Alexandra Hirt (Tax). Stibbe N.V. advised on Dutch law aspects.