Fidelium Partners buys Summit Research Labs Dental

The deal was completed in December 2019.

Asked about the GP's growth strategy for the company, Rafal Grabarkiewicz, managing partner at Fidelium, told Unquote that the firm intends firstly to separate the business from its parent company and secure its operations: "The first step is to carve out the business from Elementis, especially on the administrative side, and when it comes to finance, IT and supply chain. There are some links that need to be disentangled. We will support the company in becoming an independent company, rather than a department of a large listed corporate. We will need to replace a number of functions."

Grabarkiewicz added: "We will 'de-corporate' the company in terms of speed, decision-making and sales, making it faster and more agile."

Fidelium Partners is backed by a number of Germany-based industrial family offices. It has an evergreen fund capacity of €103m and makes long-term investments. The acquisition of SRL was an all-equity deal, Grabarkiewicz told Unquote.

"We always invest in companies facing operational challenges or with operational improvement potential," Grabarkiewicz said. "We have a very long-term investment horizon. When I look at an investment opportunity, it's about making the company more stable and profitable. If, further down the road, the best new owner is somebody other than us, we will consider an exit, but we are not exit driven."

Previous funding
One Rock Capital Partners bought SRL from MVC Capital in 2013 for $63m, according to Unquote sister publication Mergermarket.

UK-headquartered chemicals company Elementis bought SRL from One Rock Capital Partners in February 2017. Press reports at the time cited a deal value of $360m. The deal was financed via Elementis's cash resources and new debt facilities of $475m, according to Reuters.

Company
Based in Ludwigshafen, SRL produces and distributes gypsum-based materials and specialised alloys for medical and dentistry use. The company uses 3D printing techniques and designs product molds. It traces its roots back to 1893 and its products are distributed in 75 countries.

Its parent company, Elementis, reported turnover of $874m in 2019, compared with $822m in 2018, according to its latest annual report. Its adjusted operating profit fell by 7% to $123m.

People
Fidelium Partners – Rafal Grabarkiewicz (managing partner).
Summit Research Labs – Oliver Hagedorn (CEO).

Advisers
Equity – Core Legal (legal).
Company – Capital Concepts International (M&A); Weil Gotshal & Manges (legal).

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