HLD-backed Kiloutou buys Werner Middeke

With this add-on, Kiloutou intends to boost its international expansion and strengthen its presence in the German market. The company plans to further expand across Germany with additional selective acquisitions in the coming months.

Kiloutou is a specialist in the renting of equipment for the construction industry. Headquartered in Lille, the company generates revenues of around €606m and employs 4,500 people across 30 branches in Poland, 19 in Spain, three in Germany and 10 in Italy.

Investment holding HLD Europe and HLDI, the investment arm of the Dentressangle family, acquired Kiloutou from PAI Partners and Sagard in November 2017 in a deal that valued the company in the region of €1.5bn (7.5x EBITDA). The acquisition was backed by a €800-850m senior term loan B debt. 

Previous funding
Sagard backed the €170m buyout of Kiloutou in 2005 to obtain a 51% shareholding from company founder Franky Mulliez. Societe Generale and Crédit Agricole were joint arrangers of the banking syndicate, which underwrote debt facilities for the transaction. Leverage represented 60% of the deal value.

PAI acquired Kiloutou from Sagard in 2011 in a deal that valued the business at €535m (7x EBITDA). The debt arranged in 2011 by PAI amounted to 3.5x EBITDA. Sagard and other existing shareholders reinvested alongside the new owner; 450 of the company's staff also secured a stake in the business. PAI, which invested via PAI Europe V, made a preemptive offer to bypass the auction process.

Company
Werner Middeke specialises in the rental of aerial lifts, mobile elevating platforms and material lifting equipment in the North Rhine-Westphalia and Thuringia regions.

The company is headquartered in Erwitte, with branches in Erfurt, Münster and Holzwickede. It operates 530 aerial lifting platforms and telescopic forklifts, and employs 50 staff.

People
Kiloutou – Olivier Colleau (executive president).
Werner Middeke – Werner Middeke (founder, managing director).

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