Alpina exits Via Optronics in €47.4m trade sale

Greg Gille
17 August 2016

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German private equity firm Alpina Partners has sold its stake in optical display company Via Optronics to Philippines-based corporate Integrated Micro-Electronics (IMI).

IMI stated it would acquire a 76% stake in Via for €47.4m. Founder Jürgen Eichner will retain a 24% stake and will remain Via's managing director.

Alpina exited its 55% stake as part of the deal. The private equity house backed Via with €4.4m in 2010, joining existing shareholder BayBG, which had invested €500,000 in the company in 2007.

Alpina could not be reached for comment on returns at the time of publication.

Alpina rebranded from WHEB Partners as it closed its latest fund on €140m earlier this year, following a partner buyout. Partners in WHEB Group's private equity arm bought out WHEB's stake in the management firm. The independent entity is now a fully owner-managed investment manager that continues to manage all of WHEB Partners' private equity funds.

Company
Via is an optical bonding and display technology provider - its technology is used in products such as handheld devices, laptops, televisions and industrial devices. It was established in 2005 and has approximately 290 employees. The company is headquartered in Schwarzenbruck, Germany, and has research facilities and manufacturing sites in Germany and China. It also operates sales offices in the US and China.

People
Alpina Partners - Joerg Sperling (managing partner).

Advisers
Vendor - Gütt Olk Feldhaus, Attila Oldag (legal); Kloepfel Corporate Finance (M&A).