Silver Investment Partners buys Lucien Ortscheit

The company's former owners, the Kloos family, will retain a minority stake in the company. The transaction came about as part of a succession solution, according to a statement, and Kurt Kloos will remain as the company's managing director.

Unicredit provided debt to support the acquisition.

Asked about the process, Philipp Amereller, managing partner at SIP, told Unquote: "There was a limited auction process run by Livingstone – it was just made up of family offices and financial investors as the current owners did not want their business to be integrated into a larger company."

The GP plans to assist the company with the consolidation of its position in existing markets and the expansion of its product base. SIP will also assist the company with expansion into new markets and will review add-on opportunities. As Amereller explained: "The add-ons will be opportunistic. We will approach potential targets and are already in discussion with some companies. We would like to expand the business both in the domestic market and internationally via add-ons, and grow organically on top of that."

SIP invests in companies with revenues of €5-100m, with a focus on those in the €10-50m turnover bracket, raising capital on a deal-by-deal basis from a cornerstone institutional investor, as well as high-net-worth individuals and family offices.

The deal and the company's operations were not significantly affected by the coronavirus pandemic, Amereller told Unquote. "Most of the face-to-face meetings took place before lockdown, and we had other meetings via Zoom. Otherwise, the business is fortunately unaffected; there have been no negative turnover or profit swings. The company has done a great job dividing teams and having people working in shifts or from home."

Company
Lucien Ortscheit is a pharmaceutical wholesale company that specialises in exporting pharmaceutical products that are approved in Germany or a third-party country, as well as importing products that are not yet approved in Germany. It also supports clinical studies and trials with comparative drugs. It has clients in more than 60 countries, according to a statement.

Based in Saarbrücken, the company was founded in 1963. The Kloos family took over the company in 2002. Lucien Ortscheit has seen growth of 5-10% in recent years and has revenues of €50m, most of which is generated from international exports. It employs 26 staff.

People
Lucien Ortscheit – Kurt Kloos (managing director).
Silver Investment Partners – Philipp Amereller (managing director); Florian Kunkel (investment manager).

Advisers
Equity – WMC (commercial due diligence); Rödl & Partner (financial due diligence); KWM Europe (legal, tax); Taylor Wessing (legal).
Company – Livingstone Partners (M&A); Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe (legal); Lintz Welsch & Kollegen (tax).

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• Topics
• Buyouts
• DACH
• Healthcare
• Germany
• Silver Investment Partners