Quilvest PE buys stake in Acrotec

Carmen Reichman
03 July 2012

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Quilvest Private Equity, the private equity arm of French family-owned wealth manager Quilvest Group, has invested around CHF 30m in Swiss watch components maker Acrotec.

The all-equity growth capital deal coincided with the exit of EPF Partners, which invested in the company in 2006. Quilvest acquired all of EPF's stake in addition to some privately-held shares but left the majority stake with management.

The deal was initiated by EPF, which hired Genevan JPh Hottinguer Bank to find a new backer. Part of Acrotec's decision to partner with Quilvest rested on the GP's long-term strategy and its family capital-backed structure, according to the GP.

The business plans to capitalise on the long-term growth of the Swiss watch market and on recent news that Swatch's ETA division has successfully eased a Swiss law that obliged the company to supply most native watchmakers with movements, the inner mechanics of automatic watches, Quilvest told unquote".

Acrotec also plans to make further acquisitions, notably targeting family-owned businesses. The business aims to keep to the annual growth rate of 20-30% it achieved for the past few years.

Company
Acrotec makes precision parts for watches and instruments in the medical, connectivity, automobile and aeronautic sectors.

The group has a turnover of more than CHF 70m and consists of businesses KIF Parechoc, Générale Ressorts, Décovi and Vardeco. Its customers include several Swiss watch brands and manufacturers.

Acrotec is based in Develier where it was founded in 2006. However, part of the group's companies date back to 1850.

People
Maurizio Arrigo, Thomas Vatier and Guillaume Laboureix led the deal for Quilvest.

Advisers
Equity – Squire Sanders, Charles Fabry, Aymeric Malphettes (Legal); Vischer, Stéphane Konkoly, Janusz Marty (Legal); PricewaterhouseCoopers, Didier Sidois, Xavier Klein (Financial due diligence); Thierry Raes, Isabelle Spiegel (Environmental due diligence); Philippe Loiselet, Sébastien Sauvageot (Operational due diligence); MVS Consulting, Michel Safir (Commercial due diligence); CapD Consulting, Alain Guttmann (Commercial due diligence); PricewaterhouseCoopers Tax Suisse, Cédric Bignens, Jérome Verrey (Tax).
Vendor – JPh Hottinguer Bank, Boris Meylan, Philippe Bonhomme (Corporate finance); Athemis, Frédéric Büchler (Legal); Grant Thornton, Frédéric Zeitoun, Cyril Doukhan (Financial due diligence).