Castik acquires Customs Support Group from Mentha

Unquote sister publication Mergermarket reported in September 2019 that Mentha had mandated PwC to lead the sale process for CGS. Sources told Mergermarket that the company's EBITDA was in the region of €8-10m.

Castik had been in exclusivity to acquire the business for six weeks, having begun talks with the management team and Mentha Capital in early 2020.

Unquote sister publication Debtwire reported in September 2020 that Castik had acquired exclusivity, with opening leverage pitches of 6x based on EBITDA of €11-12m.

Castik deployed equity via Epic II, which held a final close in October 2020 on €1.25bn. The fund deploys equity tickets of €100-300m and targets businesses with EVs of €200-700m.

The deal is financed by both debt and equity.

Oscar Driessen, founder of CSG, will remain a minority shareholder in the business, and the company's management will reinvest in the new structure alongside Castik.

Castik intends to support CGS's organic growth and also plans to make add-on acquisitions in the company's existing markets, namely Germany, Benelux, France, the UK and Poland, as well as in new European countries. The GP will seek both brokerage businesses and in-house departments of freight forwarders that would like to outsource their customs functions and/or form joint ventures. Castik will pursue both small and larger targets.

Following the fund close, Castik has a pipeline of deals in the services, healthcare, software and technology sectors, and will also seek add-ons for its existing portfolio companies.

Previous funding
Mentha acquired CSG in 2013, deploying equity via Mentha Capital IV, which held a final close in March 2015 on €107m. The fund deployed equity tickets of €5-15m, focusing on businesses with enterprise values of €15-75m, EBITDA of €2-10m and revenues of €25-75m.

The company made 18 bolt-ons during Mentha's investment period, including Germany-based Speditions-Kontor Gotthold Kunow in January 2020.

Company
Founded in 1980, CSG provides customs services, including import and export documentation, as well as certificates of origin, fiscal representation and veterinary declarations. The company is headquartered in Rotterdam, and operates in the Netherlands, the UK, Germany, France and Poland, employing 450 people. It has an EBITDA of more than €10m.

People
Mentha Capital – Gijs Botman (partner).
Castik Capital – Michael Phillips (managing partner); Marc-Oliver Jauch, Michael Groeber (investment partners).
Customs Support Group – Frank Weermeijer (CEO).

Advisers
Equity – Skadden (legal); EY (financial due diligence); Kearney (commercial due diligence); Houlihan Lokey (debt advisory); White & Case (debt advisory); PwC (tax); Ommax (IT due diligence); Netlight (IT due diligence).
Vendor – PwC (M&A).

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• Topics
• Buyouts
• Exits
• Benelux
• Industrials
• Secondary buyout
• Netherlands
• Mentha Capital
• Castik Capital