Silverfleet pays €137m for Axcel’s Cimbria

The deal saw Silverfleet acquire a majority stake in the business while management reinvested a significant amount for a minority share. Nordea Bank provided debt for the deal.

Silverfleet became acquainted with the vendor through another sales process a year earlier in the same sector.

Silverfleet now intends to support Cimbria's organic growth, particularly expanding its manufacturing capacity through a new facility in Czech Republic. Add-on acquisitions will be considered if they help to add products or new territories, according to Silverfleet, though there are no immediate plans to do so.

This deal is the sixth from Silverfleet's €670m fund, its first independent vehicle, and should complete within the next few months, subject to competition clearance.

Previous funding
Axcel acquired the business in June 2011 from EQT with equity of DKK 500-600m contributing roughly 50% of the value. Nordea provided debt for the deal. At the time, the business posted EBITDA of DKK 70m on revenues of DKK 700m and employed 600 people.

EQT had acquired the business as part of Kimba Holding in July 2007 and doubled its EBITDA during the holding period. That deal saw the founding family owners, Sven and Ole Toftdahl Olesen, invest to retain a significant stake in the business and maintain key positions. When EQT bought Cimbria, it generated revenues of DKK 1.250bn (£168m) and employed 900 people throughout its network of subsidiaries and offices in 20 countries.

Company
Cimbria, founded in 1947 and headquartered in Thisted, produces equipment for the processing, handling and storage of cereal and seed corn. The company offers project design and process control, as well as development, manufacture and installation of individual machines, systems and plants.

Cimbria operates two production facilities in Denmark and one in each of Austria, Czech Republic and Italy, and today has approximately 740 employees. Total sales are approximately DKK 1.05bn (€140m), with EBITDA of DKK 145m (€19m).

The target has grown under previous private equity stewardship. Around 95% of the company's sales are export-driven.

The firm was awarded "Growth Company of the Year" in Denmark in 2012 by former finance minister Claus Hjort Frederiksen.

People
Silverfleet partner Gareth Whiley led the deal and will join the board as a non-executive director. Silverfleet's Alfa Chan also joins as a non-executive director. Johannes Huttunen and Robert Knight also worked on the deal for Silverfleet. Karsten Larsen has been CEO of Cimbria during both periods of previous private equity ownership and will remain in place under Silverfleet's stewardship.

Advisers
Equity – Handelsbanken Capital Markets, Peter Olesen (Corporate finance); Deloitte Transaction Services, Thomas Strand (Financial due diligence); PricewaterhouseCoopers, Chris Temple (Commercial due diligence), Travers Smith, Phil Sanderson (Legal); Accura, Henrik Juul Hansen (Legal).
Vendor – Carnegie (Corporate finance).

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• Topics
• Nordics
• Buyouts
• Exits
• Denmark
• Silverfleet Capital
• Handelsbanken
• PricewaterhouseCoopers
• Travers Smith
• Deloitte
• EQT