Alder + Eisenhut AG is now under the umbrella of the F.G. Pfister Foundation.

• The 132-year-old traditional Swiss company Alder + Eisenhut AG based in Ebnat-Kappel (St. Gallen) is a fourth-generation family business and the leading Swiss manufacturer and marketer of gymnastics and sports equipment for school and club sports. The company has also been involved in stage building since 2005.

• For the F.G. Pfister Foundation, this is the seventh investment in three years focusing on Swiss SMEs as part of a sustainable succession plan.

• Robin T. Alder will remain chairman of the board and CEO of the company.

• Nothing will change for the 150 employees of Alder + Eisenhut AG, all jobs are secure.

Suhr (Aargau), Ebnat-Kappel (St. Gallen), December 1st, 2023.

“We have been actively looking for a viable succession plan for several years. My family and I had key points in mind when it came to choosing a reliable partner: our focus was to ensure the future development of our traditional family company, maintain the high regard in which we hold our employees, and preserve and create new jobs on the Ebnat-Kappel site. A profit-orientated investor was therefore ruled out. We are delighted to have found the ideal partner in the F.G. Pfister Foundation, which shares our ecological and social values”, explains Robin T. Alder, who will continue to serve as CEO and chairman of the board of Alder + Eisenhut AG. The company is the leading manufacturer and marketer of gymnastics and sports equipment for school and club sports in Switzerland. Since 2005, it has expanded its activities to consulting, planning, building, maintaining and servicing stages for community and multi-purpose halls, theatres, television and companies. The family business, founded in 1891 and based in Ebnat-Kappel (Toggenburg) in the canton of St. Gallen, employs around 150 people and has been managed by Robin T. Alder for the fourth generation since 1995. Since 2022, the company has also been operating the only gymnastics equipment museum in Switzerland, whose operation will be maintained in the future.

“Alder + Eisenhut AG is a great SME success story in our country. We are proud to welcome this traditional family business under the umbrella of the F.G. Pfister Foundation. We believe it fits in with the F.G. Pfister Foundation’s long-term strategy of investing in companies that pursue sustainable business strategies and seek to preserve and create new jobs in the medium term, thus strengthening Switzerland’s industry”, says Rudolf Obrecht, chairman of the board of F.G. Pfister Holding AG, which is acquiring the shares of Alder + Eisenhut AG as part of the F.G. Pfister Foundation. This is the seventh investment in three years for F.G. Pfister Holding AG.

Focusing on Swiss SMEs for a sustainable succession plan

Studies show that over 10% of Swiss SMEs with 10 to 100 employees face succession issues. This equates to around 70,000 companies. Succession planning is one of the biggest challenges for SME managers. That’s why F.G. Pfister Holding AG (a company fully owned by the F.G. Pfister Foundation) mainly invests in Swiss SMEs from the industrial and service sectors that are looking for a sustainable succession plan. When assessing companies, the focus is as much on successful and effective business models as on company values in terms of corporate culture and management. And despite F.G. Pfister Holding AG’s growing portfolio, the independence of individual companies is ensured. “We are not looking to build a centrally organised conglomerate focused on creating synergies. We believe in the efficiency and strength of decentralised companies, each with their own unique corporate culture. We are building an intergenerational holding under the umbrella of the F.G. Pfister Foundation, aiming to bring companies more security, sustainability and, if so desired, access to our network and expertise. Maintaining the entrepreneurial freedom of the companies that we invest in is very important to us. Furthermore the F.G. Pfister Foundation is committed to Switzerland. Putting it simply, our plan is: buy, hold, expand and develop”, adds Rudolf Obrecht.