Weber family in asset deal for Ardian-backed Weber Automotive

A spokesperson for Ardian told Unquote that in the course of the insolvency proceedings of Weber Automotive, some individual assets have been acquired by the Weber family from Weber Automotive GmbH. These assets are to be transferred to a new company, but the transaction has not closed yet, the spokesperson added.

The spokesperson clarified that there has been no change in the shareholder structure of the company and that Ardian has not sold its shares.

Ardian acquired a majority stake in Weber Automotive in October 2016, while the Weber family retained a minority stake and continued to lead the company operationally until September 2018. Ardian deployed equity from Ardian LBO Fund VI and a co-investment vehicle. The fund held a final close in September 2016 on €4.5bn and was fully deployed as of July 2019.

Weber Automotive entered self-administration proceedings in July 2019, citing a decrease in profitability and the subsequent breaking of covenants. The Weber family withdrew equity from the company at the time, according to a report from Boersen-Zeitung.

Christian Gerloff of Gerloff Liebler was appointed as provisional insolvency administrator. Martin Mucha of Grub Brugger was mandated as restructuring adviser in the self administration process.

The company was subsequently put up for sale, while Ardian continued to support the company and its management. The business secured a €130m loan from a bank consortium that included NIBC Bank, IKB Deutsche Industriebank, HSBC, ING Groep, Sudwestbank and Helaba, according to a report from Bloomberg. By 2017, €95m still remained outstanding, according to company statements.

In September 2019, Ardian filed a fraud complaint against the Weber family shareholders, as reported. The GP argued that the shareholders had committed collective fraud and credit fraud, facilitating the inaccurate presentation of the company's net assets, financial position and financial results for 2016.

Ardian's spokesperson added that the GP maintains its allegations of fraud against the former shareholders and that the investigation by the public prosecutor's office in Frankfurt am Main remain ongoing.

In October 2019, a report from Unquote sister publication Mergermarket cited trade publication Econo as stating that the company had attracted interest from three potential bidders in its sale process.

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• Topics
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• Ardian (formerly Axa PE)
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