Mutares sells Magirus firefighting business to Japan's Morita for EUR 65m

Mutares, the Frankfurt-listed investor that buys and restructures companies, has signed an agreement to sell the Magirus Firefighter Business Unit to Morita Holdings, a Japanese maker of fire trucks and specialty vehicles, for an equity value of EUR 65m, Mutares announced on 9 November 2026.

Morita confirmed the deal in a notice to investors dated 10 November. Its board approved the acquisition of 100% of Magirus GmbH on 9 November, and the transfer is expected in May 2027, subject to regulatory approvals. Private Equity International also reported the sale. The Magirus defence business is not part of the deal.

What Morita is buying

Magirus was founded in 1864 and is based principally in Ulm, Germany. Morita describes it as one of the world's leading brands in firefighting and disaster prevention, with aerial ladder trucks as its core product. According to Mutares, the firefighter unit employs more than 1,650 people at its main production and service sites in Ulm, Brescia in Italy, Chambéry in France and Premstätten in Austria.

Mutares said the unit has an order book of about EUR 780m for the coming years and expects sales of about EUR 400m in 2026, excluding defence. It also noted that customer call-offs are currently subdued, a development it said can also be seen in the defence business.

Morita's notice gives historical figures for Magirus and its group companies, prepared on a simplified, unaudited basis. Net sales were EUR 332.3m in 2025, up from EUR 270.2m in 2024, with an operating loss of EUR 49.2m in 2025 after a loss of EUR 47.8m a year earlier. Besides the equity price of EUR 65m, Morita expects advisory and related fees of about JPY 1bn.

A turnaround exit

Mutares bought Magirus from Iveco Group in January 2025. Since then, it says, it has reorganised management, run cost programmes, improved project governance and accelerated product development, and those changes are increasingly showing in higher production output.

"With the Magirus Firefighter business, we are selling a well-known brand that holds a leading position in firefighting and benefits from good capacity utilization and a solid order book for the coming years," said Johannes Laumann, CIO of Mutares. "We are convinced that MORITA is exactly the right partner to further advance the Firefighter business and fully unlock its potential."

Why Morita wants Magirus

Morita, founded in 1907 and listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange's Prime market, already owns Finnish aerial platform maker Bronto Skylift. It said that growing its fire fighting vehicle business abroad is a key part of its medium- to long-term strategy, and that it wants to build on the reforms carried out under Mutares by combining Magirus with its own technology and overseas business. Mutares said Morita intends to expand its European business with Magirus.

Magirus' subsidiaries in Austria, Italy, France, Switzerland and Romania will become part of the Morita group. Morita expects Magirus to be consolidated from its fiscal year ending 31 March 2028.

The defence business stays

Magirus Defense Systems GmbH will be carved out before closing. Mutares will keep it and run it independently under a new brand. Following its purchase of Achleitner Fahrzeugbau in Radfeld, Austria, in October 2025, Mutares plans to build the unit into a supplier of defence vehicles and system solutions, combining vehicle development in Ulm with protected vehicle know-how in Radfeld. It is examining protected vehicles of up to 18 tonnes and says it is in discussions with several major market participants.

What it means for European founders and investors

The deal shows two sides of today's European industrial market. A long-established civil manufacturer with losses but a full order book finds a strategic buyer from Asia, while the defence carve-out is kept back because investors see more upside there. Mutares made a similar move in defence with Steyr Motors, which Laumann cited as proof of its ability to build such businesses.

For founders in fire safety, emergency services and specialty vehicles, a Japanese owner with global ambitions could open new partnership and procurement channels. For investors, the price is notable: an equity value of EUR 65m for a business with expected sales of about EUR 400m reflects the losses still being worked through. Mutares has been an active seller this autumn, as shown by the irrevocable offer it received for last-mile platform Stuart, while governments are reshaping the defence vehicle market, as with Germany's planned stake in KNDS.

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