DPE's Calvias hits DACH auction pipeline

Johannes Koch
11 October 2021

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The sale of DPE's portfolio company Calvias is kicking off with adviser DC Advisory distributing sale documents to potential buyters for the German technical building services provider, according to three sources familiar with the situation.

Calvias is being marketed based on adjusted 2021 EBITDA of EUR 11m, the first two sources said.

The company provides its services to the commercial building sector, tying it to Germany's cyclical construction industry, and its EBITDA margins are fairly low, the sources added.

The group generated 2020 EBITDA of EUR 6.29m from sales of EUR 123.52m, according to its latest public filings. Its sales grew 25% year-on-year, while EBITDA, including an adjustment that accounts for projects that have yet to complete, reached EUR 9.51m last year.

Around 50% to 60% of the company's business is tied to new builds, but the refurbishment market could provide some protection in a downturn, the first source said. "I think they will manage to hold this growth," this source said.

Calvias, which DPE has built through a string of acquisitions since its 2015 buyout, will also ride the coattails of more stringent German building regulations as the country moves towards green infrastructure and demands greater energy efficiency, the first and a fourth source familiar said.

The technical service elements in buildings are growing as a share of the total cost of new builds, with this sub-segment of the construction industry growing faster than the construction market itself, the fourth source said. "If you take all this, in the next 10 years they have a strong growth profile," he pointed out.

Calvias acts as a general technical contractor and offers technical building services that encompass ventilation, cooling, heating, renewable energy, fire protection, pipework construction, plumbing, electric and automation technology.

Founded in 1947, the company has around 750 employees at eight sites dotted throughout Germany with its headquarters based in Rhineland-Palatinate's Trier. It is targeting EUR 200m in sales through a mix of organic and acquisitive growth, according to the company's website.

DPE declined to comment. DC Advisory did not return a request for comment.