Hg acquires Auvesy from Brockhaus

Auvesy's management will retain a significant investment, according to a statement.

Hg said in a statement that it sees significant growth potential in the industrial automation sector and that Auvesy is in a strong position to benefit from this.

The deal is the first investment from Hg Mercury 3, Hg said in a statement, The fund held a final close in October 2020 on €1.3bn and targets smaller deals than the GP's other strategies, focusing on companies with enterprise values of £50-250m. The fund makes investments of £30-60m.

Markus Reithwiesner, an industry adviser at Hg who holds board roles at a number of production and industry automation businesses, will join Auvesy as chair.

Unquote sister publication Mergermarket reported in March 2021 that Auvesy was up for sale and was to be marketed based on revenues of €15-20m and EBITDA of €10m. Sources told Mergermarket that Auvesy's revenues for 2020 were in the €12-20m range while its EBITDA was around €5-7m.

In September 2017, technology-focused GP Brockhaus acquired a majority stake in Auvesy in an MBO. The GP invested in Auvesy via Brockhaus Private Equity III (BPE III). The fund made equity investments of €5-25m per deal, focusing on businesses with EBITDA of €3-15m and enterprise values of €20-100m. Eurazeo provided debt to back the deal.

Brockhaus Private Equity (BPE) is a separate entity from Brockhaus Capital Management (BCM), under which BPE's investments are now held. BCM was formed in 2017, at the end of the investment period of BPE III, to allow the GP to shift from a fund-based investment structure to an evergreen structure, with the aim of becoming a stock corporation. The firm completed a €115m IPO in July 2020 and is now listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.

Brockhaus said in a statement that it had supported Auvesy's international expansion through the establishment of offices in China and the US.

Company
Founded in 2007 and headquartered in Landau, Auvesy is an industrial automation software platform that provides data management systems for automated production. The systems aim to store machine data securely and reduce plant downtime. Its clients include a range of German and international corporates such as Thyssenkrupp, Coca-Cola and Audi, according to its website.

The company generated revenues of €12m and EBITDA of €6.6m in 2019, compared with revenues of almost €12.2m and EBITDA of €6m in 2018. Prior to the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, the company had projected that it would achieve an EBITDA margin of 40-45%, but it said in its latest financial statement that the pandemic could put its growth plans on hold. The company has 65 staff.

People
Auvesy – Tim Weckerle (CEO).
Hg Capital – Beneditk Joeris (director).
Brockhaus Private Equity – Marco Brockhaus, (founder, managing director).

Advisers
Equity – Stephens (corporate finance).
Vendor – GCA Altium (corporate finance).

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