Steadfast's AVS acquires Trimborn

Harriet Bailey
04 August 2014

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Steadfast Capital’s AVS Group, a provider of traffic safety equipment and services, has purchased traffic services provider H&T Trimborn-AVE Verkehrseinrichtungs.

Steadfast Capital bought a majority stake in traffic safety provider AVS Group from the firm's owner in 2013, in deal valued at €20-50m.

Steadfast used its €128m Capital Fund III vehicle to finance the deal, with debt financing provided by Kreissparkasse Köln and Landesbank Hessen-Thüringen.

Steadfast funded the original purchase of AVS with enough capital to fund future buyouts, but raised additional debt to finance the purchase of Trimborn.

The acquisition is in line with AVS's strategy of establishing a network of offices across Germany.

Steadfast partner Marco Bernecker told unquote" that Trimborn is highly profitable and boosts the EBITDA of AVS Group significantly. The company will be fully incorporated into the AVS brand by the end of the month, adding 50 employees to the group's 350.

Bernecker also said that AVS was in the process of acquiring another company and the deal would be completed by the end of 2014.

Both companies had worked together in a cooperative partnership for many years prior to the deal, with AVS supplying products to various companies including Trimborn.

Debt
A full debt facility was provided by existing AVS lenders, including Landesbank Hessen-Thüringen, Kreissparkasse Köln and NRW Bank.

Company
Headquartered in Euskirchen and founded in 1976, Trimborn provides traffic services in western and southern Germany. It secures construction sites to ensure traffic safety and traffic flow.

Trimborn has an enterprise value of €10-30m and an EBITDA margin exceeding 20%. The company has approximately 50 employees.

People
Marco Bernecker is partner at Steadfast Capital. Hans Willi Trimborn and Reiner Schmitz are managing directors of Trimborn. Dieter Berghaus is managing partner at AVS Group.

Advisers
Equity - Classen Fuhrmanns & Partner, Dirk Classen (Legal); EY, Christian Biel (Tax); Optika, Martin Franke (Financial due diligence); King & Wood Mallesons SJ Berwin, Birgit Hübscher-Alt (Legal).