Principia sells Comecer to trade

Alessia Argentieri
20 December 2018

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Principia has sold its 45% stake in Italian biotech company Comecer to Toronto-listed ATS Automation Tooling Systems.

In addition to Principia's stake, ATS also acquired the majority holding controlled by the Zanelli family for a total purchase price of €113m.

According to a statement, ATS will fund the acquisition primarily from cash and its credit facilities. It expects the return on invested capital associated with this acquisition to achieve double digits within five years.

ATS is a Canadian company founded in 1978 and based in Cambridge, Ontario. It specialises in automation for the life sciences, chemicals and electronics industries. It employs 3,900 people at 21 manufacturing facilities and has 50 offices located across North America, Europe, south-east Asia and China. For the financial year ending in March 2018, the company reported revenues of $1.1bn.

Previous funding
Fondo Italiano d'Investimento (FII) invested €7.5m in Comecer in 2011 in return for a 33% stake.

In October 2015, Principia bought a 33% stake in Comecer from FII and a 12% stake from Recomec, the holding company of the Zanelli family, who retained the remaining 55%. The deal was valued at around €22m.

The GP deployed capital from its Principia III – Health fund, which was launched in 2014 and held a final close on €206m in August 2017. The vehicle is currently 80% deployed.

Company
Established in 1974 and based in Castel Bolognese, Comecer specialises in designing, manufacturing and servicing aseptic containment and processing systems for the nuclear medicine and pharmaceutical industries. The company supplies radiation shielding systems used by radiopharmaceutical specialists in the production, handling and dispensing of drugs, and provides isolator and incubator equipment used in advanced therapy medicinal production (ATMP), a regenerative cell therapy that uses patient cells to grow new tissues.

The company employs 320 staff and has a production site in Castel Bolognese, a technical and assembly centre based in Joure, Netherlands, and sales and service offices located in North America, Europe and Asia. Comecer expects to generate revenues of €67m in 2018, with a low double-digit EBITDA margin.

People
ATS Automation Tooling Systems – Andrew Hider (CEO).
Comecer – Alessia Zanelli (CEO).
Principia – Paolo Siviero (fund manager).