German intralogistics company Jungheinrich has taken over Munich-based robotics company Magazino in which it held a minority stake.

Magazino will continue as an independent unit within Jungheinrich under the management of co-founders Frederik Brantner and Lukas Zanger as well as Dr. Moritz Tenorth, Jungheinrich said in a statement.

For Jungheinrich, the full takeover of Magazino is a strategically important step towards strengthening its automation expertise. 

Jungheinrich has had a shareholding in the robotics company since 2020, and last year increased its stake to 21.7%.

Jungheinrich has had a shareholding in Magazino since 2020

In a transaction that took immediate effect, Jungheinrich acquired all shares held by the company founders as well as the previous co-shareholders, a.o. Cellcom, Fiege Logistik and Körber.

The purchase price was not disclosed.

Jungheinrich chairman Dr. Lars Brzoska says: “Magazino is a successful company with a very good management and top experts in the market. It has outstanding software competencies and has developed solutions that have the potential to shape the future of intralogistics in the long term. 

“In the group, we will leverage these competencies to jointly drive the further development of innovative automation and robotics solutions.”

Magazino chief executive officer and co-founder Frederik Brantner says: “The need for warehouse automation is growing constantly. By steering robots in this complex environment, we have developed a unique expertise that we want to further expand. 

“With Jungheinrich, we will continue to extend our intralogistics technology leadership and also expand internationally.”

Magazino, which has 130 staff, has developed a platform that enables logistics robots to operate in a mixed human-machine environment. 

The robots are able to intelligently navigate in the warehouse as well as selectively pick up and transport objects. 

Magazino's system and robots are already in use in warehouses of various industrial customers, online retailers and logistics service providers.