HgCapital sells Qundis for 3.5x money

The exit represents a 3.5x money for HgCapital and a 30% gross IRR. HgCapital will also retain a minority stake in the company and has announced that, combined with cash proceeds of £36.9m, the retained stake represents an uplift of £9.4m or 25 pence per share over the carrying value of £33.9m.

Since acquiring the company in 2012, HgCapital has consolidated Qundis's production facilities and invested in the development of gateway software solutions. The company has also benefited from broader market trends such as mandatory actual consumption billing under the European Energy Directive.

This transaction is the 12th realisation from HgCapital 6 fund and the second exit for the Munich team in the last six months. The team also made investments in Dutch HR company Raet and legal software company STP in 2016.

HgCapital 6 has now returned 120% of the original investments made and delivered overall returns of 2.3x and a 24% gross IRR. The GP anticipates a number of further realisations from the fund in the coming months.

Previous funding
Qundis was created by HSH Private Equity in 2008 when it merged Kundo Systemtechnik with Qvedis to create an electronic metering company with 220 employees and a turnover of €40m.

HgCapital then acquired a majority stake in the group in 2012 for €160m including a €75m debt package.

Company
Qundis supplies a range of submetering and communications devices to measure, collect and transmit accurate consumption data for water and heat usage at the household level. It supplies independent sub-metering suppliers and building technology markets across Europe. It is active in 30 countries but its largest markets are Germany and Italy. The group now employs around 250 people.

People
Hgcapital – Justin von Simson (managing partner).
Kalorimeta – Jan-Christoph Maiwaldt (CEO).
Qundis – Dieter Berndt (CEO).

Advisers
Equity – Rothschild (corporate finance); Latham & Watkins (legal); Deloitte (financial due diligence); EY (tax).

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