Bain acquires Wittur in SBO

Harriet Bailey
05 January 2015

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Bain Capital has wholly acquired German lift manufacturer Wittur from previous owners Triton Beratungsgesellschaft and Capvis.

The deal is reportedly worth in the region of €600–700m and is the first investment from Bain Capital's fourth Europe-focused fund, Bain Capital Europe Fund IV. The fund held a first close on just over €2bn in July 2014.

Bain cited the company's strong customer relationships and the opportunity for consolidation in the industry as reasons to invest.

The new owners confirmed that the management team and employees would be unaffected by the sale.

Debt financing
It is believed Bain secured a debt package for the transaction comprising a mixture of loans and bonds at less than 6x EBITDA.

Previous funding
Triton and Capvis acquired Wittur in December 2010 in a secondary buyout. Capvis invested via its Capvis Equity III LP fund and took a minority stake. UniCredit was the lead mandated arranger of the €175m debt package.

Under Triton and Capvis's ownership, Wittur developed new products for emerging markets, strengthened the leadership team and improved production facilities. It also diversified its customer base and invested in operations and research and development.

Previous owners Cerberus Capital Management, CSFB Private Equity and Goldman Sachs Private Equity had acquired the company from founder Horst Wittur in 2005. The consortium initially planned to divest Wittur in 2008, but sales attempts fell through due to market conditions at the time.

Company
Founded in 1968 in Wiedenzhausen, Wittur manufactures and supplies elevator components. Its products include doors, cars, slings, counterweight frames, gearless drives and safety components. It has a global network of 11 production sites and 21 sales companies. Wittur employs 3,000 people worldwide.

Wittur is understood to generate more than €500m in sales per year. Europe accounts for 45% of turnover, while 40% comes from Asia.

People
Michael Siefke is a managing director at Bain Capital. Peder Prahl is a director at Triton. Walter Rohregger is CEO of Wittur.