Sunlight Group has acquired a 51% stake in Lehmann Marine GmbH

Through its acquisition of a 51% stake in Lehmann Marine GmbH, Sunlight Group continues to strengthen its position in the growing energy solutions market, while expanding its portfolio of innovative technologies. With over 30 years of expertise in producing lead-acid and lithium-ion batteries, Sunlight Group has established itself as a leader in advanced battery technology.

Lehmann Marine is a Germany-based leader in the shipping industry’s advanced lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery systems. The company’s innovative energy solutions are designed to meet the evolving needs of maritime operators, offering safety, reliability and sustainability through cutting-edge German engineering. Lehmann Marine’s success is driven by the thoughtful design of its battery systems. The modular and flexible design allows the batteries to be easily adapted to the specific requirements of various ships. This configurational flexibility, combined with straightforward maintenance due to small, easily accessible battery modules, provides customers with unmatched efficiency and reliability. Another significant advantage is the enhanced safety of LFP cells. Compared to traditional nickel-manganese-cobalt (NMC) batteries, LFP batteries are considerably safer, even in extreme situations where thermal runaway may occur. Unlike NMC batteries, LFP batteries are not susceptible to fires. In the event of thermal runaway, only gas is released and vented outside, making Lehmann Marine’s LFP battery solutions both safer and more environmentally friendly for use on board ships.

Sunlight Group is a leader in motive power batteries for intralogistics, particularly electric forklifts, as well as in energy storage systems (ESS) for on-grid, off-grid and residential applications. The company supplies the international market with innovative, cost-efficient products, manufactured and assembled in its state-of-the-art facilities in Greece, Italy, Germany, Israel and the USA. These products are distributed either directly or through an authorized partner network to over 115 countries. Sunlight also operates sales offices and provides customer support, after-sales services and warehousing in the countries where it has production facilities, as well as in Romania, the Netherlands, Denmark, France, the UK, Spain, Portugal and Australia. With a dedicated team of scientists at specialized R&D centers, Sunlight Group invests in emerging technologies to support the sustainable development of integrated, software-based energy storage solutions. The company combines its circular economy business model, supported by one of Europe’s most advanced recycling units, with a technology-agnostic approach and data-driven insights to develop environmentally friendly storage solutions for the industrial mobility, leisure mobility and ESS sectors.

Höpen GmbH is a family holding company based in Winsen an der Luhe. The holding company was founded in 2015 by Birgit and Dirk Lehmann. Höpen’s actively invests in sustainability companies, energy saving and alternative drives in mobility. All Höpen companies are continuously measured by their contribution to promoting an emission-free future.

“Lehmann Marine is a young and dynamically growing company with unique products for a safe, reliable and future-oriented energy supply in shipping. We will now accelerate our growth to date even further with Sunlight’s participation. Sunlight and Lehmann Marine each have specialized know-how in related industries, and we complement each other very well. The opportunities and potential for future cooperation are manifold. Thanks to Oaklins, we were able to quickly enter into C-level talks with Sunlight, which strengthened our confidence in such a collaboration. In the end, this also led to the ‘Hanseatic handshake’. Oaklins prepared us professionally for the sales process and successfully supported us through to completion,” said Alexander Lehmann, Managing Partner of Lehmann Marine.

Oaklins’ team in Germany acted as the exclusive M&A sell-side advisor to Lehmann Marine in a competitive international process.