Halder exits Gealan for second time

The sale of Gealan marks the first divestment for the Halder-Gimv Germany II fund, which closed in February 2008 on €325m, exceeding its €275m target after only three months of fundraising.

Germany-based Veka is a provider of PVC profiles used in the manufacture of windows and doors. Its 2012 revenues stood at €795m. The buyout of Gealan is another step in the group's strategy to grow via acquisitions and consolidate the market.

Previous funding
Halder previously sold Gealan for €175m in December 2004 to Ardian (then Axa Private Equity). Halder had bought 90% of Gealan's equity in February 2002 for €64m as part of a management buyout. The private equity firm then bought the company back from Axa PE in February 2011 after a downturn in sales due to the financial crisis.

Company
Headquartered in Oberkotzau, Gealan has been operating since 1920 as a fur processing company, only producing plastic products from 1956. The firm manufactures and distributes PVC window and door profiles, employing approximately 1,250 people. Revenues for 2013 are expected to total €213m.

During Axa PE's period of ownership, Gealan's turnover increased by almost 50% to €220m in 2010, due to international expansion. At its peak, Gealan was seeing revenues of €280m, but the post-crisis market recovered more slowly than expected and is understood to still sit below pre-crisis levels.

People
Paul de Ridder is CEO of Halder.

Advisers
Equity – Otto Mittag Fontane, Gabriele Fontane, Hans-Jochen Otto, Thomas Hofacker, Elisabeth Huber-Sorge (Legal); Mayer Brown, Markus Strelow, Dirk-Peter Flow, Marc Bäumer, Fabian Arhelger (Legal); Latham & Watkins, Jörn Kowalewski, Frederick Staudacher, Hendrik Hauke (Legal); Altium Capital, Johannes Schmittat, Gerd Bieding, Nikolaus Clary, Adrian Nowitzki (Debt).

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