Agreement on the sale of the Scholz Group to Derichebourg
Agreement on the sale of the Scholz Group to Derichebourg
- Agreement reached on the sale to the French recycling and waste management company
- This creates a European heavyweight in the circular economy for steel and metal scrap
- Closing of the transaction expected in the second half of 2026
An agreement has been reached on the sale of the Scholz Group to Derichebourg Environnement SAS. Derichebourg is a family-influenced leading recycling and waste management company; its parent company, Derichebourg S.A., is listed on the Paris stock exchange. The Scholz Group is one of the key companies in Germany and Europe in the field of raw materials recycling. It is a process and technology leader in the collection, recycling, and trading of steel and non-ferrous scrap.
The transaction marks a milestone in the further development of the Scholz Group. The Group is currently in a transitional phase due to the financial situation of its previous owner. As announced, in August 2025 an international lender to its previous owner enforced security over shares in the holding companies of the Scholz Group and subsequently appointed representatives from a consulting firm as joint and several receivers and managers over the aforesaid shares.
The objective of the new management has been to stabilize the company and carry out an orderly sale in order to transfer it into a long-term stable shareholder structure. To this end, a structured sales process was initiated in the fourth quarter of 2025, which attracted very strong interest from numerous investors worldwide.
Peter Lammers, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Scholz Group, said: “This is a good day for the Scholz Group, for our employees, suppliers, and customers. We are pleased to have found in Derichebourg a strong European partner that is a perfect fit for us. Both companies share a common business focus and orientation and have complementary geographic footprints. Derichebourg has clear growth ambitions in the Scholz Group’s core markets, from Germany to Eastern Europe. The strong strategic fit creates excellent conditions to secure the long-term future of the Scholz Group and to contribute to the increasingly important recycling of secondary raw materials and the decarbonisation of the steel industry in Europe.”
Abderaman El Aoufir, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Derichebourg S.A., said: “This project would mark a pivotal step in our international expansion strategy. We have been able to nimbly seize a complex market opportunity thanks to the strength of our balance sheet and our industrial vision. The Scholz teams are demonstrating exceptional resilience, and we look forward to joining forces to build, thanks to our complementarity, a major European player in recycling, serving the green transition.”
Without any unforeseen circumstances, the transaction is expected to close in the second half of 2026, subject to the necessary regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions. The parties have agreed not to disclose the purchase price.
About the Scholz Group
The Scholz Group, with Scholz Recycling GmbH as its main German entity, is a global network of companies and shareholdings in the processing and treatment of steel and metal scrap. Thanks to this network, the group is one of the few recyclers able to offer all activities related to metal and scrap processing from a single source. To support this, the company operates hundreds of collection and storage sites with excellent transport connections, as well as recycling facilities for a wide range of needs. A global infrastructure enables the bundling of scrap into large material flows on a daily basis and its movement around the world. The Scholz Group employs over 3,500 people and operates more than 180 sites worldwide.
About the Derichebourg Group
Derichebourg is a major international operator in waste recycling, mainly metal, and public sector services. The Group’s activities notably include the collection, sorting and recovery of metals and other recyclable materials. In doing so, the company makes a significant contribution to resource conservation and the decarbonization of industry. In April 2023, the Derichebourg’s former Multiservices division was contributed to Elior Group and paid for by issuing new shares in this French contract catering and business services company, bringing the Derichebourg holding to 48%. Derichebourg currently operates in 13 countries and has around 5,500 employees worldwide and is listed on the Paris stock exchange.
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