3i invests €181m in Schlemmer

Katharina Semke
31 May 2016

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3i has acquired German cable protection producer Schlemmer from Hannover Finanz and Mackprang Holding.

The total purchase price remains undisclosed. Schlemmer's management also acquired a minority stake.

3i hopes the company will benefit from trends in the automotive industry such as connectivity, e-mobility and autonomous driving in the coming years. It also plans to strengthen its presence in the US market.

Bernd Gottschalk, former Daimler management board member and former president of the German automotive industry association VDA, will join the board as chairman. Günter Hauptmann will join the board as non-executive director. He is a former management board member of Siemens VDO and member of the advisory board of Norma Group.

The sale process took around six months, in which Hannover Finanz considered offers by strategic buyers as well as investors. Hannover Finanz said it sold Schlemmer after reaching its goals earlier than anticipated: Mackprang Group's logistics businesses were sold and the investor grew the independent company Schlemmer.

Previous funding
In June 2012, Hannover Finanz acquired Germany-based auto parts and engineering firm Mackprang Holding (now Schlemmer Group) in a buyout transaction. The deal was funded by equity from the group's HF Fund VII, HF Fund IX and HF Fund X vehicles.

Company
Founded in 1954 and headquartered in Poing, Schlemmer develops and produces cable protection for automotive and industrial applications. The group employs 2,500 people globally, and generated gross sales of €220.2m in 2015, including 50% of the sales generated by a joint venture in China. It has 23 plants in 14 countries.

People
3i – Ulf von Haacke (managing director).
Hannover Finanz – Jörg Caesar (partner)
Schlemmer – Josef Minster (CEO).

Advisers
Vendor – Baird, Joachim Beickler, Sven Harmsen (M&A); Latham & Watkins, Burc Hesse (legal); Deloitte & Touche, Volker Krug, Alexander Gehring (financial due diligence); Matthias Müller, Stephane Müller (commercial due diligence); Jens Ballerstein, Lars Brinkmann (tax); Rödl & Partner, Dagmar Möller-Gosoge (tax); ERM, Werner Schulte (environmental due diligence).