Mutares sells Klann Packaging to Accursia Capital

Klann was formerly the decorative packaging business of Huber Packaging Group, which Mutares acquired in a carve-out in June 2011. However, the company no longer fitted with Mutares's investment or holding period criteria, Johannes Laumann, chief investment officer of Mutares, told Unquote.

During the investment period, Laumann told Unquote that Mutares implemented a turnaround strategy and also invested in new equipment for the company. Mutares did not engage external advisers to assist with the deal.

Mutares plans to make two platform acquisitions in Q2 2020, as reported.

Asked about the deal process, Oliver Würtenberger, partner at Accursia, told Unquote: "It was a proprietary deal. We were approached at the end of January, but Covid-19 dragged the process by around one month."

Würtenberger added that the company is expected to be fairly resilient to the coronavirus crisis due to its client base. "A lot of Klann's customers are consumer goods companies, which is fairly stable and provides us with some security on the resilience of the business."

Accursia plans to follow a buy-and-build strategy for the company, according to a statement. The GP also plans to support the GP's growth by working with management, Würtenberger said. "We are targeting revenes for Klann on a stand-alone basis of euro-million mid-teens in 2020, as long as there is no major impact in the second half of the year or a significant change in sentiment due to coronavirus."

Accursia did not use debt to acquire the company, Würtenberger said: "The transaction is all equity at the moment, given the time frame and market environment. We will refinance if we are able to, but right now it is not the best use of the management's time."

The deal marks the GP's second investment in the packaging sector, following the acquisition of A Maier Präzision from insolvency in March 2020.

Accursia invests in companies in the industrials sector, with a focus on automotive, packaging and logistics. The GP generally focuses on companies with revenues of more than €20m and EBITDA margins from negative figures to 5%.

Würtenberger explained that the GP does not invest via a typical private equity fund structure. "We raise on a deal-by-deal basis, backed by private individuals and principals interacting in the transaction. We would not rule out raising a fund, but for restructuring, turnaround and carve-out cases, if you think about how value creation is really performed, some things take more time than others, and that does not always go hand in hand with a fund timeframe. We think of ourselves as an industrial group with a private equity method, rather than the other way around."

Company
Founded in 1947 and based in Landshut, Klann produces a range of tins for use in packaging, and also offers production and personalisation services. Its customer base is largely in the consumer goods sector and includes food products and cosmetics producers. The company has 98 employees and reported 2019 revenues of €12m.

People
Mutares – Johannes Lauman (chief investment officer).
Accursia Capital – Oliver Würtenberger (partner).

Advisers
Equity – Dentons, Alexander von Bergwelt (legal).

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