Vision Capital has acquired a portfolio of three companies from Paragon Secondary Partners LP (Paragon); the remaining investments in Paragon’s 2005 fund. This transaction marks Vision Capital’s first portfolio acquisition in Germany.
For this transaction, Vision Capital has partnered with Rubicon Partners (Rubicon), an industrial management and holding company with significant operational experience in the DACH region.
The companies are German-based ABL Technic (ABL) and Metallwarenfabrik Gemmingen (MG), and Swiss-based Swisshaus (Swisshaus). ABL is Europe’s leading provider of specialist paint stripping services to industrial plants; MG is an engineering firm with two divisions – Gensets, a niche manufacturer of power generators, and Motor Components, which produces customized die-castings and stampings for electric motors in a wide variety of industrial applications. Swisshaus is a specialist architect and general contractor in the residential system housing market in Switzerland. Aggregate revenues for the three businesses in 2010 were circa EUR200m. The companies will benefit from follow on investment for organic growth and add-on acquisitions, in support of their significant expansion plans.
Julian Mash (pictured), Chief Executive of Vision Capital says: “I am very pleased to announce the acquisition of ABL, MG and Swisshaus and our first portfolio deal in Germany. We see opportunities to expand each of the companies in the portfolio and are looking forward to working with Rubicon and the management teams to realise this growth potential.”
Ian Fisher, Managing Partner of Rubicon Partners adds: "We are delighted to be working with Vision Capital in a partnership which combines our comprehensive strategic and operational capability with the financial strength and expertise of the Vision Capital team. This is our first German portfolio investment since establishing our office in Munich and we look forward to working with Vision Capital to support all three portfolio companies through the next stage of their development”.
In May, Vision Capital announced the acquisition of a portfolio of assets from Banco Popolare in Italy, including a majority stake in Bormioli Rocco, the international glass and plastic packaging manufacturer. Both acquisitions are made from Vision Capital Partners VII LP, the firm’s latest EUR680m fund which was raised in 2009.
