Noerr has advised listed venture capital company Aurelius Equity Opportunities on the largest exit in the company’s history to date – the sale of The Secop Group, which has production facilities and branches worldwide, to Japanese group Nidec at a valuation of EUR185 million.
At the same time, Aurelius has proposed that the dividends to be announced in the upcoming general meeting be doubled.
Secop is a global supplier of specialised compressors for refrigerators and freezers in the “household” and “light commercial” segments. Secop’s Household division is a leading supplier of compressors for refrigerators and freezers in Europe. Its Light Commercial division sells compressors for commercial use worldwide, such as frozen goods counters in supermarkets and hermetic compressors.
In 2010, Aurelius took over the household compressors division from the Danish Danfoss Group and turned it into a profitable high-tech niche supplier as a result of intensive operational measures. Secop is headquartered in Flensburg, Germany and additionally has production facilities in Austria, Slovakia and China.
Nidec, a supplier of electric motors as well as components and accessories, is expanding its product portfolio with its acquisition of Secop.
The exit meant that Aurelius was able to increase its invested capital around 11-fold, achieving a positive earnings impact of around EUR100 million.
The transaction is subject to approval by the competent antitrust authorities and is expected to close in the coming months.
A Noerr team led by Christian Pleister, co-head of the private equity practice group, advised Aurelius on the transaction. Noerr also acted as lead counsel, coordinating the international law firms and providing stock and capital markets advice through Gerald Reger and Julian Schulze De la Cruz.
Noerr has frequently advised Aurelius in the past, for example on the conversion of Aurelius AG into a partnership limited by shares (SE & Co. KGaA) and on stock market and capital markets-related topics.
