DPE preps sale of engineering firm VTU

The vendor has appointed Houlihan Lokey to advise on a sale process that could kick off later this year, the sources said. Pitches for the sellside were held in June, according to one of the sources.

The sellside is expected to undertake premarketing with financial sponsors ahead of a sale launch, one of the sources said.

VTU is set to be marketed off around EUR 20m-EUR 25m EBITDA, the sources said. The company’s performance and outcome of the sale are likely to be affected by the state of its own end-markets, with bidders likely to be more interested in VTU if its business is more weighted towards stable industries such as pharma, one of the sources said.

In 2021, VTU generated EUR 134m sales, up from EUR 102m revenue in 2020 due to “innovations” in the life-sciences sector, new sustainability technologies and digitization in engineering, according to a company press release. It also opened five more location sites across Europe and founded a subsidiary in Belgium, the release continues.

DPE acquired a 70% stake in VTU in 2018 for an undisclosed sum, with the founding shareholders retaining a “significant” minority stake, according to Mergermarket data.

In 2021, VTU acquired ifss, an Austrian consultancy focused on strategy implementation in the life sciences and pharmaceutical industries, for an undisclosed sum.

Founded in 1990 and headquartered in Grambach near Graz, Austria, VTU provides engineering, good manufacturing practices (GMP) and digitization services for companies in industries including chemicals and metallurgy, oil and gas and life sciences, according to its website.

The company has around 1,100 employees at 34 sites across seven countries in Europe, according to its website. Its customers include pharmaceutical groups Novartis [SWX: NOVN] and Boehringer Ingelheim and German speciality chemicals firm Evonik [ETR: EVK].

Other services it offers include general planning and project management, process and electrical engineering, 3D layouts and piping and automation.

Houlihan Lokey declined to comment. DPE and VTU did not respond to a request for comment.

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• Topics
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• Houlihan Lokey