HSI Heizung-Sanitär-Industriebedarf acquired by Zander Gruppe

Zander Gruppe acquired the whole of HSI Heizung-Sanitär-Industriebedarf in January 2026 from its managing shareholder Stephan Margull, through its Fischer-J.W. Zander subsidiary. Margull remained with the business following completion. Based at Wernau on the Neckar, HSI Heizung-Sanitär-Industriebedarf distributes heating and plumbing supplies to the installers working in its region, holding stock of boilers, radiators, pipework, fittings and sanitary ware for collection or delivery the same day. It employs around 15 people and records annual revenue of €0–5M. Proximity rather than price governs this trade. An installer whose work is interrupted for want of a fitting buys from the nearest counter holding it, and will not change supplier over a small difference in price, which is what gives an established local wholesaler a customer base that an entrant cannot readily take. Scale has become necessary to hold that position. German plumbing and heating wholesalers reported falling sales and margins through 2025 while warehousing and logistics costs rose, and insolvencies in the sector increased by 14%, conditions under which an independent business of this size carries inventory on terms that a national group obtains more cheaply. The transaction settled the succession of an owner-managed business and extended the acquirer’s branch network in southern Germany, where its plumbing and heating range was less developed than its electrical one. Nachfolgekontor advised the selling shareholder exclusively, through Benedikt Pohlner and Alexander Portz, with GÖRG as legal counsel.