KKR acquires WMF shares from Capvis

The GP acquired 52% of voting shares in the listed company for €47 per share and a further 5% of preferential shares. It plans to make a voluntary public offer for the remaining shares, offering €47 for ordinary shares and €31.8 for preferentials. The current market cap of the company is €590m. Capvis has wholly exited.

KKR will invest through its European fund and place the company in newco Finedining Capital, formerly Blitz12-463. The GP bought WMF from Capvis's holding company Crystal Capital, which will transfer the proceeds to Capvis's fund Equity II.

KKR plans to take WMF into a phase of global expansion in the US and Asia and to capitalise particularly on the coffee machine business, according to a source. WMF already announced plans to take over espresso coffee machine maker CMA in April, which will allow it to enter the professional coffee machines market.

Capvis told unquote" that it had decided to exit because it was satisfied it had achieved its goals. At the time of its original investment in 2006, WMF's shares were trading at €25.5 per ordinary share and €19.3 per preferential share on average, company accounts show.

Capvis appointed Commerzbank, Macquarie Group and financial advisory services company Lilja & Co to examine dual track options – including a potential flotation – in March 2012 before putting the shares up for auction. Bidders included private equity houses and strategic buyers. KKR is said to have convinced vendors with its sophisticated global network and strong investment story in Germany.

Also invested in the business is Austrian investor Fiba, which owns around 35% of ordinary shares. Further shares are traded on the Frankfurt stock exchange.

Previous funding
Capvis bought its stake in the company for €92m in 2006. Since then, WMF's turnover and EBITDA has more than doubled, achieving sales of €979m in 2011 and an EBITDA of €93m.

Capvis focused on building the company's coffee machine offering and reorganised the business in five divisions: retail, consumer goods, consumer electric, professional hotel equipment and coffee machines. It also expanded WMF into the Czech Republic and Asia.

Prior to Capvis's investment the company was already an established household brand in the German-speaking regions but the firm rejuvenated the brand's image, a source said.

Company
WMF was founded in Geislingen an der Steige in 1853. The company specialises in making metal cutlery, kitchen utensils and automatic coffee machines. It plans to enter the professional espresso coffee machine market. WMF employs more than 5,500 staff.

People
Silke Scheiber is director at KKR. Daniel Flaig and Marc Battenfeld handled the transaction for Capvis.

Advisers
Vendor – Commerzbank (Corporate finance); Macquarie Group (Corporate finance); Lilja & Co (Corporate finance).

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• Topics
• DACH
• Buyouts
• Consumer
• Germany
• KKR
• Capvis AG
• Macquarie Group