Recent History
On the China Refrigeration Exhibition in April 2013 in Shanghai, 1,146 manufacturers presented their compressors, refrigeration and air conditioning systems.[21] Secop presented the X Series for R600a. The XV received an Innovation Award for its compactness and low weight.[22] Secop itself stated: "Based on a completely new and innovative platform, the XV variable capacity compressor ensures up to 40 % efficiency compared to the highest efficient standard compressors, sets new low noise standards with 32 dB(A), increases useable volume by the revolutionary low height of 100 mm and reduces costs and raw material consumption with its extremely low weight of 4.8 kg."[23]
In April 2013 Secop took over the insolvent company ACC Austria GmbH in Fürstenfeld/Austria[24] for more than 25 million euros.[25] In the course of the bankruptcy of the Italian mother company and a German subsidiary in late 2012, the Austrian compressor manufacturer had been forced to file for bankruptcy as well. In 2012, ACC had accomplished a turnover of approximately 150 million euros. With ca. 700 employees, the company was the largest employer in its home region.[26] Secop declared it wanted to sustain the location as far as possible.[27] At present, ACC employs 500 staffers.[28]
As part of the regulatory approval process, the referral to the European Commission had been completed in September 2013. The acquisition of ACC Austria GmbH by Secop was approved on 11 December 2013.[29][30]
On August 1, 2017 the whole Secop group was sold by Aurelius and bought by the Japanese stock corporation Nidec for the price of 185 million euros.[31] On August 16, 2018 the name was changed to Nidec Global Appliance Germany GmbH.[32] On June 4, 2019 antitrust concerns about additional acquisitions by the Nidec Corporation in the refrigeration compressor industry led the company to sell off Secop which transitioned to ESSVP IV in September 2019 managed by Orlando Management AG.[33] The transaction was officially completed on September 10, 2019 and from this date forward Secop acted as an independent company again.[34]
At the end of October 2019, it was announced that the Fürstenfeld plant would be closed by March 2020. Production was relocated to China and Slovakia, and 250 employees were laid off.[35] In early April 2020, it was reported that 170 of 300 jobs at the Fürstenfeld site were secured. This was said to be made possible by the sale of Secop's Delta production line to Nidec. There is to be a social plan for the remaining employees.[36] Some were also contracted to work at the new Secop site in Gleisdorf, where Secop opened a new R&D center with 45 jobs in October 2020.[37]In November 2020, Secop celebrated the 10th anniversary of the brand - although the company's history as part of the Danfoss company goes back much further.[38]
According to the company, it underwent heavy restructuring in the year 2020 to make Secop more future-proof. For example, Secop now focuses on three main business areas – Light Commercial, Mobile Cooling and Medical Cooling. Secop's days as a manufacturer of compressors for the household sector had come to an end with the sale of the Delta production line and the closure of the Fürstenfeld site.[38]
