KKR sells WMF to Groupe SEB for €1.59bn

The transaction values WMF's equity at €1bn with €565m of debt. In addition, Groupe SEB takes over €125m of early retirement and pension liabilities.

Groupe SEB emerged as the winner from an auction process that included appliance producers Electrolux from Sweden and Italy-based DeLonghi, alongside Chinese bidders. The deal is expected to close in H2 2016.

The acquisition comes one week after Groupe SEB announced the bolt-on of competitor Emsa, a German SME manufacturer of household goods, garden equipment and garden accessories.

Last year, Groupe SEB tapped private equity for the bolt-on of Nordic appliances maker OBH Nordica, acquiring it from Triton.

Previous funding
KKR bought a 37% stake in WMF from Capvis Equity Partners-managed Crystal Capital for €238m in 2012.

The GP acquired 52% of voting shares in the listed company for €47 per share and a further 5% of preferential shares. The market cap at the time was €590m and the deal saw Capvis exit completely.

By September 2014, KKR had acquired 90.3% of WMF's share capital and later took the company private.

Capvis had bought its stake in the company for €92m in 2006.

Company
WMF was founded in 1853 and is based in Geislingen. It specialises in coffee machines, small domestic equipment such as cookware and domestic appliances, and equipment for the hotel industry. Geographically, three quarters of revenue are generated in Europe, the rest in the US, China, Japan and Korea. WMF has four production sites in Germany and one each in Switzerland, the Czech Republic and China.

WMF posted revenues of €1.1bn and EBITDA of €118m in 2015. The estimated EBITDA for 2016 is €140m.

People
KKR – Philip Wack (director of industrial investment team in Europe); Johannes Huth (head of KKR in Europe, Middle East and Africa).
Groupe SEB – Thierry de La Tour d'Artaise (chair, CEO).

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