IK buys Klingel from Halder

The transaction ends a five-and-a-half-year holding period for Halder, which acquired the company with equity from Halder-Gimv Germany II, a €325m buyout fund that held a final close in February 2008.

The fund secured a two-year extension at the start of January in a process led by Rede Partners where existing LPs were given the opportunity to sell their stakes to selected buyers. LGT Capital Partners and Idinvest were the lead buyers, according to press reports at the time.

Halder-Gimv Germany II now has six portfolio companies remaining, according to its website.

It is the 11th acquisition from IK VIII Fund, which held a final close on €1.85bn in 2017. The vehicle was 35% invested across seven investments as of December 2017, and was estimated to be between 45-50% invested prior to the latest transaction.

IK partner Anders Petersson explained the investment thesis to Unquote: "This acquisition takes advantage of the trend of med-techs outsourcing their manufacturing while they focus more on R&D, marketing and sales. This company has a lot of potential for growth, both through growth with existing customers and acquisition of new customers, as well as through acquisitions."

The business was marketed based on an EBITDA figure of €10.8m and attracted leverage pitches of up to 5.25x through unitranche, according to Unquote sister publication Debtwire.

However, the structure selected was more conservative, Petersson said: "The debt was an all-senior package provided by a good consortium of LBBW, SEB and Siemens. They backed it as a potential buy-and-build and are prepared to support that with further financing."

Halder already began the consolidation process when it bolted on Josef Ganter Feinmechanik in 2016. Due to this, and a successful rebranding and capacity expansion effort, the company's revenues improved from €23.6m to €36.5m under Halder's ownership. The GP said it supported the changes with €15m of capex.

However, IK hopes to take the company to the next level. "Klingel is headquartered in Germany and its manufacturing facilities are currently in Germany. We will support the internationalisation of the business and cross-border acquisitions should not be ruled out," said Petersson.

Previous funding
Odewald & Compagnie acquired Klingel in 2008, using capital from Odewald KMU, its €150m 2008-vintage buyout fund. Halder then acquired Klingel from Odewald in 2012 with the intention of expanding marketing and sales capabilities.

Company
Klingel was established in 1986. The company specialises in customer-specific, micro-machined precision parts made from high-quality steels and titanium. Its client base is mainly in the medical technology industry. The company generated revenues of €36.5m in 2017 and employs 300 people.

People
IK Investment Partners – Anders Petersson, Mirko Jablonsky (partners); Alexander Dokters, Adrian Tanski (associate directors); Daniel-Vito Günther (associate).
Halder – Michael Wahl (senior adviser); Christian Muschalik (partner).

Advisers
Acquirer – Quarton International, Lars Veit, Rolf Holtmann (corporate finance); Alvarez & Marsal, Georg Hochleitner (commercial due diligence); Ebner Stolz, Claus Bähre (financial due diligence); Renzenbrink & Partner, Ulf Renzenbrink (legal).
Vendor – William Blair, Philipp Mohr, Moritz Rottwinkel (M&A); Graf von Westfalen, Lutz Zimmer, Ernst Lindl (legal).

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• Topics
• Buyouts
• Exits
• DACH
• Industrials
• Germany
• IK Investment Partners
• Halder Beteiligungsberatung GmbH
• Alvarez & Marsal
• William Blair
• Secondary buyout