Varova’s Nordeon acquires insolvent Hess

Nordeon acquired a 100% stake of listed Hess, which fell into insolvency in February this year.

The Dutch private equity-backed company aims to expand across Europe. In March this year, Nordeon acquired Vulkan, also a German lighting manufacturer, then owned by Hess.

Nordeon was founded by Varova, after the firm bought the company as a spin-off from Philips in October last year. It now has production sites in Germany, France and the US, and employs around 600 staff.

Varova focuses on European companies in the manufacturing and industrial sector. It typically invests in mid-market companies with annual revenues of €5-150m.

Company
Hess was founded by Willi Hess in 1947 and is now based in Villingen-Schwenningen. It has sales offices and production sites in Scandinavia and the US. The firm employs 180 staff.

Hess reported revenues of  €36.7m in H1 of 2012. In 2011, the firm reported revenues of €68.1m.

People
Patrick van Rossum is partner at Varova. Pierre van Lamsweerde is CEO of Nordeon.

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