IK buys Gilde's CID

José Rojo
14 December 2015

Tweet
Facebook
LinkedIn
Google plus
Send to

CID Lines, a Belgian hygiene specialist owned by Gilde Buyout Partners since 2010, has been sold to new majority shareholder IK Investment Partners.

CID Lines' management team, led by founder and CEO Koen Brutsaert, will invest alongside IK. The company's enterprise value was not disclosed but IK typically deploys up to €150m per deal and seeks businesses below the €500m valuation mark.

Pending regulatory approval, the takeover is expected to complete in early 2016. It will see IK draw equity from its eighth buyout fund, which fell short of its initial €1.7bn target when it closed on €1.4bn in October 2013.

According to a source close to the situation, CID is the 11th deal to be financed by IK VIII, which is approximately 70% invested as of mid-December.

The transaction is IK's second foray in Belgium in the space of a week. On 10 December, the GP announced it had scooped up Salad Signature from mid-market investor AAC Capital Partners, the company's owner since May 2012.

Debt
The deal was financed with a debt package arranged as a traditional club deal. The facility was supplied by a mix of local and international lenders, unquote" understands.

Previous funding
The SBO marks the exit of Gilde after five years of ownership. The GP became a majority shareholder in November 2010, when it invested via its €600m third buyout fund.

At the time of the acquisition, CID was thought to generate €40m in revenues and between €12-13m of EBITDA. Under Gilde's five-year tenure, CID claims to have experienced an average uptick in sales of 10% per year.

Company
Founded in 1988, CID develops disinfectants and other hygiene products sold to clients within the agro-food and vehicle care industries, among others. Headquartered in Ieper, the business is active in more than 90 countries via a 750-strong network of distributors. Aside from its Belgian base, the company operates via subsidiaries in Poland, France, the UK, Spain and the Middle East, and employs 150 staff worldwide.

People
IK was represented by Remko Hilhorst, a partner and adviser to its eighth fund. Gilde Buyout Partners was represented by partner Nicolas Linkens. Koen Brutsaert founded CID Lines and is the company's current CEO.

Advisers
Equity – ING (M&A); Natixis Partners (M&A); Freshfields (Legal); Bain (Commercial due diligence); FTI Consulting (Corporate finance); PwC (Tax); Tauw (Environmental due diligence).