DBAG exits Dr Vogler after 39 years

The Senger Group has bought the shares held by DBAG and by descendants of the dealership's founding family. DBAG held a 51% stake via its first fund, while a fund managed by DBAG held a further 18%. DBAG is currently investing its sixth private equity fund.

The divestment is understood to be worth in the region of €1-5m and comes in the final quarter of DBAG's financial year.

DBAG stated the company had not been the focus of its core business for the last 10 years, but it had been cash generative and had paid several dividends. A spokesperson for the company said the time was right to sell now as the business environment had changed; Mercedes Benz is in the process of trying to redraft agreements it has with car dealerships in the region.

According to DBAG, 10 of 21 companies account for 90% of its portfolio's enterpise value; Dr Vogler was one of the 11 companies making up the remainder.

The name Dr Vogler will be retained by Senger, as will all 370 employees. The group stated it intends to grow in southern Germany; its next acquisition will be in the state of Hesse.

Previous funding
DBAG's predecessor, DBG, first acquired an interest in Dr Werner Vogler in 1975. DBG became a silent partner, investing DM 1m. DBG later acquired an additional limited partnership interest.

DBG and subsequently DBAG continued to provide additional funding to Dr Vogler in order to finance expansion into new locations and to establish an automotive paint shop.

Company
Founded in 1927 as a Mercedes dealership by Werner Vogler, the business now operates from eight locations in the greater Rhine-Main area, including Friedberg, Königstein and Rosbach. Headquartered in Bad Homburg, the company generated revenues of €135m in 2013.

Founded in 1953 as a Daimler-Benz workshop, Senger sells new and used cars and vans from Mercedes-Benz, Audi, Porsche, Volkswagen, Peugeot, Seat and Skoda, as well as DAF trucks. Headquartered in Rheine, Westphalia, it also conducts repairs and maintenance and is a service partner to manufacturers of truck superstructures.

Senger posted sales of €630m in 2013 from its 30 operational facilities in 24 locations across seven German states. It has almost 1,500 employees.

People
Andreas Senger is managing partner of the Senger group. Jens Peter Hensel is managing director of Dr Vogler.

Adviser
Vendor – MCF Corporate Finance (M&A).

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