Crédit Mutuel Equity buys stake in CF Group

The investment is intended to support the company's further growth. Crédit Mutuel was initially contacted by CF Group for a mezzanine financing for the business, but an equity share was agreed on in order to allow for a sustainable partnership.

The GP will take a seat on CF Group's board. Cedrik Mayer-Klenk, managing partner of CF Group, will remain the majority shareholder.

The GP generally writes tickets of €5-150m for minority investments.

CF Group is the firm's third investment in the DACH region in 2019, and its second investment of the year in Germany, according to Unquote Data. In March 2019, the firm bought a majority stake in Germany-based biomass disposal and supply business Brüning Group.

Company
CF Group is headquartered in Wendlingen am Neckar, Baden-Württemberg. The group was formed in October 2019 via the merger of Germany-based Chemoform, which was founded in 1962, and France-based FIJA, which was founded in 1974. The association between the two family-run groups dates back to their joint investment in Aqualux in 2014.

The pool equipment and materials company has a headcount of 800 and operates in 40 countries. It produces products ranging from bespoke pool covers to water treatments and generates annual sales of more than €200m.

People
CF Group – Cedrik Mayer-Klenk (managing director).

Advisers
Equity – Benten Capital (M&A); Dr Wieselhuber & Partner (commercial due diligence); Warth & Klein Grant Thornton (financial due diligence, tax); Heuking Kühn Lüer Wojtek (legal); KMZ (legal).

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• Topics
• Expansion
• DACH
• Industrials
• Germany
• Credit Mutuel Equity (ex CM-CIC Investissement)
• Minority investing