Paragon sells Inprotec to industrials group

Inprotec was put on the market during the summer with the business, which provides industrial and spray drying services, marketed at around EBITDA of EUR 13m to EUR 15m, according to Unquote sister publication Mergermarket.

Munich-based Paragon acquired a majority stake in the business in 2018 via Paragon Partners Fund II, which raised EUR 400m in 2014.

During the holding period, the GP invested more than EUR 20m into expanding production facilities, it said in a statement.

Over the course of the last four years, Inprotec has further strengthened its market position for complex large-scale granulation and drying processes, broadened its customer base, and profitably grew with a "high double-digit CAGR" per annum, according to the same statement.

Its top line revenue grew by 50%, while EBITDA grew by more than 50% during the four years of ownership, said Paragon M&A director Nico Kranzfelder.

Paragon acquired the company as it saw strong resilience for the underlying end-products, including dishwasher tabs and animal feed, Kranzfelder said, noting that customers usually have long-term contracts in place.

"Changing a granulation provider is nearly impossible in the short term. It can only be achieved by investing in ongoing existing capacities where the lead time could be between three to five years," he said. "Competition in the space is also very limited."

The GP is currently deploying equity via Paragon Fund III, which raised EUR 780m, above the EUR 500m target, in 2019.

Company
Based in Heitersheim, Inprotec is a contract manufacturer for industrial drying and granulation services using fluidised-bed spray granulation, coating, matrix encapsulation and spray drying technologies. In recent years, the company has handled more than 2,500 starting materials and intermediate products across several industries (consumer goods, animal feed, cosmetics industry, plastic additives). Inprotec operates two production sites in Heitersheim and Genthin and employs around 270 employees.

People
Paragon - Christian Bettinger (partner); Andreas Baranyai and Pierre Schwerdtfeger (managing shareholders).
inprotec - Dr. Steve Döring (CEO); Karsten Zastrow (CFO).

Advisers
Vendor - Houlihan Lokey (M&A); goetzpartners (Commercial); KPMG (financial & tax); Clifford Chance (legal); Gütt Olk Feldhaus (legal financing); and PwC (ESG).
Acquirer - PwC (financial & tax); Value Partner (commercial); Taylor Wessing (legal); ERM (environmental).

[Editor's note: The article was updated to incude Paragon M&A director Nico Kranzfelder's comments.]

• Tweet  
• Facebook  
• LinkedIn  
• Google plus  
• Send to  

• Topics
• Exits
• Industrials
• DACH
• Paragon Partners GmbH
• Germany
• DACH