Capvis sells Rena to Equistone

Oscar Geen
22 February 2019

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Capvis Equity Partners has sold industrial machinery manufacturer Rena Group in a secondary buyout to Equistone Partners Europe.

The company's management team led by CEO Peter Schneidewind will become shareholders alongside Equistone.

Equistone drew capital from its latest fund, Equistone Partners Europe VI, which held a final close on €2.8bn in March last year and was 8% deployed across five deals by the end of the year, according to Unquote Data.

Capvis made the divestment from Capvis Equity IV, a €720m vehicle that closed in 2014 and is now fully deployed across nine deals, according to Unquote Data.

The GP hired KPMG to sell the asset in October last year, based on EBITDA of €14m, according to Unquote sister publication Mergermarket. The report said several Chinese industrial companies had expressed interest in the asset.

Previous funding
Capvis acquired Rena out of administration in 2015, at which time it generated sales of around €100m.

Since then, it has invested in the company's R&D capability and diversified its business activities to reduce dependency on the solar industry and strengthen its presence in the medical technology and semiconductor industries, according to a statement by Capvis.

Company
Rena was founded in 1993 and is headquartered in Gutenbach. The company manufactures machinery for wet-chemical surface treatments and employs around 800 people globally. The company generated sales of €120m in 2018 and expects to increase this to €200m in the medium term, according to Mergermarket.

People
Equistone Partners Europe - Stefan Maser (partner); David Zahnd (investment director); Tanja Berg (investment manager).
Capvis Equity Partners - Andreas Simon (partner).
Rena Group - Peter Schneidewind (CEO).

Advisers
Acquirer - Goetzpartners (commercial due diligence); KPMG (financial due diligence, tax); Latham & Watkins (legal); ERM (environmental due diligence); Sherman & Sterling (legal); GCA Altium (debt advisory).
Vendor - KPMG (corporate finance); Paul Hastings (legal); Bonn & Schmitt (legal); EY (tax).