Silverfleet buys Pumpenfabrik Wangen

The buy-in is the fifth investment from Silverfleet's second fund, which closed on its €870m hard-cap in June 2015.

Pumpenfabrik Wangen was expected to sell for 12x its €10-11m EBITDA, with leverage pitches in the 3-3.5x range, according to unquote" sister publication Debtwire. This valuation reportedly deterred other private equity bidders, including Deutsche Beteiligungs AG, Emeram Capital Partners, Equistone and Quadriga Capital, which left the auction.

The eventual sale price was closer to 10.5x, according to a source close to the situation. 

Putting together a winning bid for the company required bringing in a management team including a CEO and CFO, which Silverfleet is expected to announce shortly, said the source. 

The source added that Silverfleet, assisted by Goetzpartners, took a more positive view on the German biogas sector than the sell side corporate finance adviser MCF. It predicts that demand will remain strong in the medium to long term. 

The company reported EBITDA of €6.3m from €31m in sales for 2015, the last figures publicly available.

Bernd Stütz will lead the company after the transaction. He previously led Quadriga portfolio company M&R Automation, which was sold to Chinese trade buyer PIA in May. Stütz has experience in the pump manufacturing industry and helped the GP find a CEO, according to the source. 

The fresh capital will be used to boost international growth and diversify the company's technologies across industries such as cosmetics and pharmaceuticals.

Debt
The financing for the transaction was arranged by Blackrock but fronted by NIBC for regulatory reasons, according to the source. It comprises a super senior component as well as junior debt.  

Company
Pumpenfabrik Wangen was founded in 1969 and is headquartered in Wangen. The company designs and manufactures screw pumps for highly viscous or abrasive substances. Its clients include the Royal Navy (pumps for frigates), Schwarzkopf (hair care products) and Wirtgen Group (the road construction division of John Deere). The company employs 200 people and generates revenues of €37m.

People
Silverfleet Capital – Klaus Maurer (partner); Jennifer Regehr,  Benjamin Hubner (investment executives); Guntram Kieferle (analyst).
Pumpenfabrik Wangen – Bernd Stütz (chairman).

Advisers
Equity – Deloitte (financial due diligence, tax); Goetzpartners (commercial due diligence); Latham & Watkins (legal); Shearman & Sterling (legal); GCA Altium (debt advisory); H&Z (operational due diligence); Ramboll Environ (ESG due diligence).
Vendor – MCF (corporate finance).

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• Topics
• Buyouts
• DACH
• Industrials
• Germany
• Silverfleet Capital
• Management Buy-in