Halder sells Aqua Vital to trade

Oscar Geen
23 July 2018

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German buyout firm Halder Beteiligungsberatung has sold commercial water dispenser provider Aqua Vital to US-based trade buyer Culligan International.

The transaction ends a five-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 five portfolio companies remaining, according to its website.

Aqua Vital completed several add-on acquisitions under Halder's ownership, including Revos Watercooler in 2014, Kalimba in 2017 and patents from Oxymount Technology in 2018. This resulted in revenues doubling in the holding period to €37m in 2017 with €40m projected for 2018.

Previous funding
Small-cap German buyout firm Aheim Capital bought Aqua Vital in 2008 in a management buyout alongside CEO Jürgen Linde. The GP had a maximum equity investment of €10m at that time.

Aheim made a 2.4x return on the deal when it sold to Halder in July 2013.

Company
Aqua Vital is a commercial water cooler business based in Neuss. The company has installed 60,000 dispensers for small and medium-sized businesses since it was founded in 1999 and expects a turnover of €40m in 2018. The company employs 303 people,- according to Halder's website.

People
Halder Beteiligungsberatung – Mathias Fackelmeyer, Philipp Scheier (partners).

Advisers
Vendor – CMS Hasche Sigle, Oliver Wolfgramm, Dirk Baukholt (legal); IMAP, Carsten Lehmann, Lisa Haug, Atanas Petkov (corporate finance); Willkie Farr & Gallagher, Jan Wilms, Laura Pfirrmann (legal).