Expansion

Expansion capital is provided to support the growth and expansion of an established company and must include an element of equity financing. Funds may be used to enable increased production capacity, market or product development and/or to provide additional working capital. Acquisition finance provided to a new or existing investee company to support its acquisition of a target or targets is also included in this section.

Mountain Partners et al. - EUR5m

Investor

Mountain Partners has, via Cleantech Invest AG, Mountain Super Angel AG and historical investor Sirius Venture Partners, invested EUR5m in listed consulting firm BGI EcoTech AG as a capital increase.

The new funds have enabled BGI EcoTech AG to acquire Ralos Vertriebs GmbH, forming a company with a total of 110 staff, 10 offices in Germany and four offices in Europe.

Company

BGI EcoTech AG was founded in 1990 as zu Hone & Klussmann GbR and listed in 1997 in Stuttgart and Frankfurt. The company consults on aspects such as recycling, engineering, geotechnology, environmental technology and analysis, project management and renewable energies. Before the merger, BGI had offices in Berlin, Bochum, Griesheim, Hamburg, Heidelberg, Kassel, Leipzig and Nuremberg and 50 employees. The company expects a turnover in the area of three digit euro millions and an EBIT between high single digit and low double digit euro millions.

People

Jurgen F Habichler handled the transaction for Mountain Partners, while Friedrich von Diest represented Sirius Venture Partners.

Advisers

Equity - AFR Aigner Fischer Radlmayer, Roderich Fischer (Legal).

Company - Heuking Kuhn Luer Wojtek, Dr Mirko Sickinger, Dr Thorsten Kuthe, Rolf Uecker, Mirja Wurring, Sven Radke, Tobias Nagel (Legal).

BayBG - EUR4m

Investors

BayBG has taken a minority stake in electrical boat engines company Torqueedo GmbH as well as entered a silent partnership (stille Beteiligung), for an undisclosed amount. The funding will be used to further internationalise the business and introduce new products.

The investor expects that the company's 'cleantech' solution can claim market share from fuel-operated engine producers.

Company

Torqeedo GmbH develops and manufactures electrical boat engines that are more energy efficient and less harmful to the environment than fuel-operated engines. The company's main markets are Germany, Austria, Switzerland and the US. Since entering the market in 2006, the company has sold 7,000 engines. The company employs a staff of around 30 and received the German founder's award (Deutscher Grunderpreis) in the category start-up in June 2008.

People

Alexander Ullmann handled the investment for BayBG.

Mountain Partners - n/d

Investors

Mountain Partners has, via Cleantech Invest AG and Mountain Super Angel AG acquired an 8% stake in photovoltaic company Sinosol AG. The investor had been in contact with serial entrepreneur Rafael Krause previously and decided to back this company.

Sinosol is positioned as a German/Chinese company and able to cost-efficiently source in China and implement German technology and knowhow. The company expects to benefit from the investor's industry network and financing experience.

Company

Sinosol AG develops and markets photovoltaic parks, is also active as a wholeseller of photovoltaic components and produces and distributes photovoltaic tracker systems that are based on its patents and offers, together with partners, project financing solutions for large solar parks.

With seven subsidiaries in Germany and China, Sinosol focuses its activities on Europe and China. The company generated a turnover of EUR12m in financial year 2006/07, and reported a turnover of around EUR36m for the first six months of financial year 2007/08. Since inception, the company has been growing profitably and reported an EBIT of EUR2.2m for the first six months of financial year 2007/08.

People

Jurgen F Habichler handled the transaction for Mountain Partners.

TVM Capital - n/d

Investors

TVM Capital has led a first round of funding for OEM technology solutions provider Winbox Technologies AG. Angel investor Robert Schneider, founder and CEO of listed SCM Microsystems, also invested.

With the financing Winbox has transformed its legal structure into a share company under German legislation registered under the new name of Winbox Technologies AG. The investor plans to support the CEO in building Winbox into a premier OEM-brand in the market for connected consumer TV, video and audio devices.

As more consumers use on-demand content, such as TV shows, videos or other digital media and while many use computers to watch TV shows or videos, Winbox's technology aims to enable the TV set with internet browser functions. This allows consumers to download content from the internet and transform it into a digital media axis as centre of a home entertainment system that can be connected wirelessly to share media between computers and the TV and display content in quality formats such as HD (high definition). As Microsoft Windows is the dominant software player on the mass consumer market, Winbox AG has partnered with Microsoft.

Company

Furtwangen-based Winbox Technologies AG is a provider of OEM technology solutions for Windows Embedded based TV-centric consumer electronics. IPTV receivers, video on demand systems (VoD), hard disk video recorders (PVR/DVR), connected TV-sets and set-top-boxes can be realized with less development investments and time by using Winbox Technologies' products. Customers can either source so-called 'Turnkeys' which contain a complete OEM solution including hardware, software and production services or licence specific technology modules for in-house development. Partners and customers include Microsoft, NXP, ASUS, Sling Media, Medion, 1&1 and ProSiebenSat.1. The company was founded in 2003 and employs a staff of 50.

People

As part of the transaction, co-investor Robert Schneider and TVM Capital's Christian Claussen, join the company's supervisory board to support founding CEO Christof Winker.

Advisers

Equity - Holme Roberts & Owen (Legal); Weitnauer (Financial due diligence).

Morgan Stanley, BAST Investment Group - n/d

Investors

Morgan Stanley Private Equity and BAST Investment Group have agreed to acquire a 38.5% stake in steel producer Breitenfeld AG from the majority stakeholders Fides Privatstiftung and Fortis Privatstiftung. Of this stake, approximately 90% will be owned by Morgan Stanley Private Equity.

DZ Equity Partners held the majority of the stake being acquired from the private foundations Fides Privatstiftung (owned by Rudolf Jurak) and Fortis Privatstiftung (owned by Herbert Buhl). Fides Privatstiftung remains the majority owner of Breitenfeld AG. The new investor group will support the company in the next phase of its expansion. On signing the deal on 17 June all parties expressed their interest in Breitenfeld AG going public in the medium term.

Company

Founded in 1942, Breitenfeld AG produces specialty steel, with key industries for Breitenfeld's products including power generation, oil and gas, mechanical engineering, transportation (aviation and shipbuilding) and tool steel. Breitenfeld's specialty steel plant is located in Mitterdorf/Wartberg in Styria, where the company also operates a forgery. Its biggest markets are Italy, followed by Austria and Germany.

People

Michael Hehn handled the investment for Morgan Stanley Private Equity.

Advisers

Acquirer - Morgan Stanley (Financial due diligence).

EGB Capital Invest GmbH - n/d

Investor

EGB Capital Invest GmbH, a subsidiary of Erste Bank, has acquired a 42% stake in printing company Leykam Let's Print AG for an undisclosed amount. Prior to the investment, Leykam Medien AG held AG 48%, Leykam manager Anton Schubaschitz (together with Johann Gneist via TSB Troubleshooting und Beteiligungsverwaltungs AG) held 26%, and ASTZ Beteiligungs GmbH held a further 26%. The Let's Print management exited their stake, which were held via ASTZ Beteiligungs GmbH. Leykam Medien AG continues to hold its 48% stake, 6.5% remain with Anton Schubaschitz, 3.5% are owned by Johann Gneist.

The capital will be used to fund the company's expansion strategy into the CEE countries with a focus on Croatia and Serbia. The company is expected to benefit from Erste Bank's network and activities in the CEE region. The investor will not take a seat on the supervisory board and will not influence the company's operations.

Company

Leykam Let's Print is a web offset printer of advertising brochures and magazines. Currently, the Graz-based company produces at three locations in Austria (Graz, Neudorfl and Mullendorf) and Hoce in Slovenia and employs a total of 900 staff, which generate a turnover of around EUR200m. The company has distribution offices in Laibach, Zagreb and in Malmo (Sweden) and another office in Budapest.

New Value - CHF 2.6m

Investors

New Value AG has led a CHF 2.6m early expansion round in Qualilife SA, a software vendor in the area of IT accessibility technology, together with a family office and a private investor. New Value invests a total of CHF 2m in three tranches to help fund further growth. In the initial tranche, New Value will acquire an 18.2% interest in Qualilife. Its interest will increase to 30.2% once the third stage of funding is completed.

Qualilife has set up business alliances with both local enterprises and global companies and institutions. Due to demographic developments in industrialised countries and the importance of the internet as a means of communication and information, the need for solutions that also offer elderly and disabled people accessibility is increasing. According to the investor, nursing costs can also be reduced by facilitating communication between patients and nursing staff and the retrieval of patient data. The fresh capital will be used in particular to expand the company's international sales structure and for the development of new products. Qualilife's sales strategy will initially focus on rehabilitation hospitals in Western Europe. Global distribution via system administrators is planned at a later date.

Company

Lugano-based Qualilife SA has developed an IT solution that gives elderly or disabled people access to computer technology. Qualilife's IT solution enables elderly and disabled people to use assistive technologies like webcams, switches for building management or voice control. Applications enable hospital patients to access various applications of information technologies or write emails using patient terminals equipped with Qualilife software. Administrative processes like ordering meals, checking in or checking out can be performed automatically.

People

Peter Letter and the team of New Value's investment manager EPS Value Plus AG handled the transaction for New Value, with Peter Letter joining the company's supervisory board.

Advisers

Equity - Wenger Vieli (Legal).

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