Former Barclays-owned Novem in talks about sale

The business had been taken over by Barclays Private Equity in 2008 but fell into the hands of its debt providers only a year later following a breach of its loan agreements.

As a result, a majority stake was handed over to escrow holder Schultze & Braun who then opened a sales process in autumn 2010. DZ Bank and Unicredit provided debt for the Barclays-backed buyout.

Interested parties include Deutsche Beteiligungs AG (DBAG) and Bregal, the private equity arm of the Brenninkmeijer family. DBAG has made a bid, set just below the company's annual turnover.

The supplier to the automotive industry has been in private equity hands for over a decade, starting with a management buyout backed by CVC Capital Partners and GS Capital Partners in 1995. The investors exited Novem to Taros Capital and 3i in 2004, before it was sold to Barclays Private Equity.

Vorbach-based Novem is a provider to the automotive sector, supplying high-quality real wood, aluminum and carbon trim parts for instrument panels, centre consoles, and door and roof linings. Customers include BMW, Mercedes, Audi, Volkswagen, Volvo, Range Rover, Rolls Royce, Maserati, Lincoln and Cadillac. Novem was founded in 1947 and has 3,400 employees at production sites in Germany, Italy, Slovenia, the Czech Republic, China, the US and Honduras. In the 2009/10 fiscal year the company had a turnover of €291m.

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

• Topics
• DACH
• Exits
• Germany
• Barclays Private Equity
• UniCredit