DBAG wraps up Fund V with Heytex exit

Rachel Lewis
03 January 2023

Tweet
Facebook
LinkedIn
Google plus
Send to

German sponsor DBAG has liquidated its fifth fund with the sale of local technical textile producer Heytex to Dutch sponsor Bencis Capital Partners.

The 2006-vintage DBAG Fund V has returned more than 2.5x of committed capital to LPs, said the sponsor in a statement.

The fund acquired Heytex from NORD Holding in late 2012 for EUR 32.7m, with 19% of the share capital acquired directly by the sponsor.

Buyer Bencis Capital closed its latest buyout fund, Bencis Buyout Fund VI, in November 2020 on EUR 575m. It has closed three investments, Belgian IT solutions provider Geo Square, German chemical company Höfer Chemie, and Dutch motorcycle parts wholesaler PePe.

DBAG attempted to exit Heytex in 2018, tapping Baird to advise and marketing the asset off around EUR 14m-EUR 15m, as reported by Unquote's sister publication Mergermarket.

The sale was reignited in mid-2021, at the time being described as a turnaround case with it posting EBITDA of EUR 10m-EUR 12m that year, as reported.

DBAG said that inorganic growth was key to the development of Heytex, citing its entry to North America in 2014; the operational turnaround of its Chinese production site; and the 2021 acquisition of TenCate Outdoor Fabrics, a Dutch producer of tents and awnings.

The sponsor divested the bulk of Fund V investments between 2016-2017, with the most recent comprising the mid-2017 sales of processing technology group ProXES to Capvis, and quality assurance provider to the automobile industry Formel D to 3i.

DBAG saw the net-asset value of its portfolio drop by 15.1% to EUR 573.7m through the 2021/2022 financial year, it announced in December. The GP is planning a ninth buyout fund targeting EUR 1.3bn-EUR 1.5bn in 2023, as reported by Unquote in May last year.

Company
Heytex manufactures laminated and coated technical textiles as well as textile print media. The latter are used in the advertising industry and in trade fair construction, for example as banners on facades or as translucent advertising media.