3i invests €77m in GIF

GIF co-founder and CEO Ulrich Rohs joined the private equity house in the buyout and is now a minority shareholder. The enterprise value of the transaction stands at around €100m, equating to a 7x EBITDA entry multiple.

The fresh capital will be used to enhance the firm's global reach in the transmission, axles and brakes testing sector for the automotive industry.

Other management buyouts completed in Germany this year include Halder Beteiligungsberatung's investment in Wback, a bun producer, in July. Deutsche Beteiligungs also backed the MBO of support services company Formel D in February.

Company
GIF was founded in 1986. The firm's headquarters are based in Alsdorf, with further offices in Aachen, Wolfsburg, Suzhou (China), Alexandria (USA) and Tokyo (Japan). GIF employs 430 staff.

The firm provides transmission testing, working together with original equipment manufacturers in the automotive industry. The firm expects the transmission testing market to experience a 6.6% CAGR until 2018, with China expected to show the most growth.

In January last year, former CEO Rolf Laufs left the company and was replaced by Ulrich Rohs.

People
Ulf von Haacke is managing director at 3i. Simon Borrows is 3i's CEO.

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• Topics
• DACH
• Buyouts
• Support services
• Germany
• 3i