KKR picks up LBO France’s Winoa through recap

The deal saw the company recapitalised by reducing its debt and providing liquidity to support future growth. The company's debt has been reduced from €340m to €188m, with a €60m cash injection.

The deal follows KKR's acquisition of 50% of Winoa's debt around six months ago. As LBO France originally acquired the company in 2005 from its White Knight 6 fund (the GP is currently raising its White Knight 9 vehicle), the private equity house sought an alternative to providing the company with further cash.

Winoa is the last asset from that fund, which has already returned 2.2x to investors. LBO France first launched a sales process in March and received several firm offers. However, through KKR's purchase of the company's debt, the listed private equity giant emerged as the most suitable buyer for the entire operation.

LBO France had previously carried out a dividend recapitalisation of the company in 2007, which saw the buyout house getting back around 50% of its initial investment.

The fresh capital will be used to aid the company's growth strategy, which focuses on opening industrial facilities in emerging markets (predominantly Russia and China), and by developing research and solutions services.

The investment was made via KKR's KAM Special Situations vehicle, which targets companies with stressed capital structures.

The deal follows LBO France's loss of clay tile and brick manufacturer Terreal, which was taken over earlier this year by its creditors, including Goldman Sachs, ING and Park Square Capital.

Previous investment
LBO France acquired Winoa (formerly Wheelabrator Allevard) in 2005 alongside Royal Bank of Scotland, which provided both mezzanine and debt funding. The value of the deal stood at €373m, equivalent to 6.7x EBITDA. RBS's debt and mezzanine package amounted to around €300m, according to unquote" data.

LBO France picked up Winoa via an auction process organised by Rothschild, seeing off rivals Advent International, Doughty Hanson and Bain Capital. The firm acquired the business from Wendel Investissement.

Company
Established in 1961 in France, Winoa has 12 operating facilities across four continents, employing 1,077 people and serving 10,000 direct customers globally. Furthermore, the company operates 80 sales offices and depots in 30 countries.

Winoa reported revenues of €370m and an EBITDA of €50m in 2012. The company's EBITDA stood at a similar €50m when it was acquired by LBO France in 2005. 

Winoa manufactures steel abrasives and stone cutting services, providing its clients with surface transformation solutions. It notably offers solutions for cleaning, preparing and strengthening metal surfaces. Clients typically hail from the automotive, steel and construction industries.

People
Mubashir Mukadam is head of special situations for KKR Europe. Jacques Garaialde is head of KKR operations in France. Yves Barraquand is the chairman and CEO of Winoa.

• Tweet  
• Facebook  
• LinkedIn  
• Google plus  
• Send to  

• Topics
• Exits
• France
• Industrials
• Buyouts
• LBO France
• KKR
• Refinancing