ND Industrial Investments acquires EGo Mobile
Netherlands-headquartered ND Industrial Investments has acquired Germany-based electric vehicle manufacturer EGo Mobile following the company's self-administration proceedings.
The company's management team has acquired a minority stake in the business as part of the deal, according to a statement from White & Case, the law firm of EGo Mobile's court-appointed administrator Biner Bähr.
The company was valued at around €1bn before it filed for insolvency under self-administration proceedings in April 2020 following liquidity issues due to the coronavirus pandemic. The company paused production, but expects to start its operations again once it has been granted approval, according to the same statement.
EGo announced in May 2020 that it was seeking growth capital investment, advised by PwC, to achieve serial production in the coming years. German press reports from the time stated that EGo's shareholders had provided a loan of €100m in October 2019 and a further loan of €30m in 2020. The firm established a joint venture with ZF Friedrichshafen in June 2018.
The company began to hold talks with potential national and international investors under self-administration protection in July 2020, it said in a statement.
Ulrich Hermann has joined the company as its new CEO.
ND Industrial is a subsidiary of ND Group. It aims to make long-term, flexible private equity investments, according to its website.
Company
Founded in 2015, EGo produces three electric car models: Ego Life, Ego Life Sport and Ego Life Concept Cross. The business employs 450 people and is based in Aachen, where it has been manufacturing vehicles at its production facility since 2018.
EGo generated revenues of €11.2m in 2018, according to its financial statements, reporting negative EBIT of -€23.2m in the same year, compared with negative EBIT of €21.7m in 2017. It also reported negative operating cashflow of -€31.3m in 2018, versus -€19.8m in 2017.
People
EGo Mobile – Günther Schuh (founder); Ulrich Hermann (CEO).
ND Industrial investments – Thomas Poplat (M&A manager).
Advisers
Company – White & Case, Biner Bähr, Murad Daghles, Felix Höpker, Thyl Haßler (legal); FRH Fink Rinckens Heerma, Paul Fink (legal); PwC (M&A).
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