Ergon divests Joris Ide in trade sale

Harriet Bailey
27 January 2015

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Ergon Capital Partners has sold its stake in Belgian insulation manufacturer Joris Ide Group to Kingspan Brussels in a deal that values the business at €315m.

This amounts to 8.75x EBITDA (based on the past 12 months's €36m figure), according to Kingspan. The company's net assets on completion are valued at €135m. Kingspan wholly acquired the business, refinancing the existing debt structure and negotiating additional facilities.

Founder Joris Ide's holding company Bremhove also divested its stake in the company as part of the transaction. Ide will receive 3 million shares in the new structure.

The company was scheduled to repay $158m in private placement notes in March this year, which Kingspan has fully refinanced with a bilateral loan note of €127.5m. The note has a weighted average maturity of eight years with a 1.92% coupon.

Under Ergon's ownership, the company completed two bolt-on acquisitions and created 500 jobs. The current management team will continue to run the business following completion, expected to occur by the end of Q1.

Kingspan is an Ireland-based insulation manufacturer with operations in the UK, Ireland, the Netherlands, Germany and central Europe.

Previous funding
Ergon acquired a 60% stake in Joris Ide in March 2007 via its second fund. The remaining 40% was acquired by founder Joris Ide and the company's management team. Fortis Bank provided senior financing of approximately €225m to facilitate the transaction.

Company
Headquartered in Zwevezele, Joris Ide manufactures steel-based construction materials for roofing and cladding. It has 17 production sites across Europe, operating in the Benelux region, France, Germany, eastern Europe and Russia.

Founded in 1985, the company now has 1,100 employees and generated turnover of €465m in 2014. It generates almost half of its revenues in France and around a quarter in Belgium.

People
Wolfgang de Limburg is managing partner at Ergon. Raymond Trost is CEO at Joris Ide.

Advisers
Vendor – Lazard (M&A); Baker & McKenzie (Legal).