Mid Europa Partners (Mid Europa), a private equity firm focused on Central and South Eastern Europe, has signed an agreement to increase its stake in the leading CEE road freight transport company Waberer’s International Nyrt from 56.8 per cent currently to 97.1 per cent.
Mid Europa is acquiring the shares held by the founder and CEO, György Wáberer and acquiring full control of the Company. The transaction is subject to anti-trust clearance.
Wáberer decided to retire from active participation in Waberer’s after 35 successful years of building the business. As part of his retirement, Wáberer decided to sell his remaining shares in the Company to Mid Europa, his financial investor partner since 2011. In accordance with this, he will resign from all positions he currently holds in the Company.
Mid Europa will continue to build on the Company’s achievements over the last five years of cooperation and partnership with Wáberer, during which Mid Europa enabled and accelerated Waberer’s dynamic growth and internationalisation, commencing with a significant equity capital injection in 2011. Since 2010, the Company has grown its truck fleet from some 2,300 vehicles to approximately 3,500 currently, its workforce from less than 4,000 to approximately 6,000, and its revenues by c. 60 per cent to over EUR520 million. At the same time, Waberer’s has expanded its regional presence by opening sales offices in Belgium, Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland and the UK.
“We thank Wáberer for his contribution to building the pre-eminent road freight transportation company in CEE. We are ready to support Waberer’s in its next phase of growth, and are very excited about the prospect of building the Company into a major European brand and further strengthening its leading position in European asset-based road freight transportation and logistics. We are pleased to pursue and achieve these goals together with the current management team,” says Nikolaus Bethlen, Partner and Head of Mid Europa’s Budapest office.
Ferenc Lajkó, deputy CEO and CEO-designate of Waberer’s, adds: “We are delighted to continue our excellent partnership with Mid Europa and are excited to accelerate the internationalisation of a Hungarian National Champion and take advantage of the growth opportunities in the European transportation sector.“
