Gilde Buy Out Partners sells HG International to Cobepa

The management team will continue to be a significant shareholder in the company, according to the GP. The terms of the agreement have not been disclosed and completion of the transaction is expected to take place in February 2017, Gilde stated.

Several sources reported that the enterprise value for the deal could be in the region of €200-250m. The Cobepa group represents several family offices, including the Belgian De Spoelberch family, Benjamin de Rothschild, German pharma-focused group Boehringer Ingelheim, and Dutch dredging and offshore contractor Van Oord.

Other interested parties in the deal reportedly included private equity firms EQT, IK Investment Partners and Triton.

With Gilde’s backing, HG further strengthened its market position in the Benelux and accelerated its growth throughout western Europe – mainly in France and the UK – according to the GP. Prior to the Gilde's entry into the group, the company's turnover amounted to €35m, compared with €55m in 2015.

Previous funding
Gilde Equity Management (GEM) acquired a majority stake in HG from the main shareholding family in 2009, marking the seventh investment from its GEM Benelux fund, which closed in September 2006 on €150m. ING and Rabobank provided senior debt to finance the transaction.

Four years later, GEM sold its stake to sister division Gilde Buy Out Partners. HG's management reinvested as part of the deal, retaining a significant stake in the business, unquote" reported at the time.

Details of the fund used by Gilde to acquire HG from GEM were not disclosed, but the GP had closed its Buyout Fund IV on €800m shortly before the transaction.

Company
Originally founded in 1962 in Sweden, HG is a European supplier of specialist consumer cleaning and maintenance products.

With a base of DIY chains, supermarkets and pharmacists in the Netherlands and Belgium, HG is also expanding its sales to food and DIY retailers throughout western Europe – including in the UK, France, Germany, Spain and Italy.

HG manufactures, distributes and sells an assortment of 250 cleaning and maintenance products for bathrooms, kitchens, fabrics, gardens, floors and furniture.

The group moved to Oldenzaal in the Netherlands in the 1970s, when it was acquired by Dutch business Van Altena. Now headquartered in Almere, HG employs 200 people and had revenues of €55m in 2015 with an EBITDA of €17m, according to Mergermarket.

People
Cobepa – Jean-Marie Laurent Josi (managing director).
HG International – Peter de Heer (managing director).
Gilde Buy Out Partners – Ruben Maase (associate director/partner); Gianluigi Manna (investment director/partner).

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