Buyout specialist Advent International has agreed the acquisition of a majority stake in KAI Group, Bulgaria’s largest manufacturer of interior and exterior floor, wall and decorative cera
Buyout specialist Advent International has agreed the acquisition of a majority stake in KAI Group, Bulgaria’s largest manufacturer of interior and exterior floor, wall and decorative ceramic tiles. The deal gives Advent a 70% stake in the company.
KAI Group, which employs over 1,000 people, currently produces over 14 million square metres of tiles per year at two production facilities and also comprises a transportation business and a clay mining company. The company’s plants, built with the support of Italy’s SACMI IMOLA, meet international standards.
KAI Group’s management team, led by CEO Spas Shopov, has built the company into Bulgaria’s market leader, focusing on high standards of service, strong cash flows and efficient logistics. Advent International will help the company strengthen senior management, improve IT systems, develop sales and marketing, enhance its product range and significantly increase capacity.
The company plans to consolidate its local market position, while expanding sales regionally with initial focus on Greece and Romania, where KAI believes its products compete well on design and price against more expensive imports.
Ivo Evgeniev, Chairman of KAI comments, ‘The partnership with Advent, a firm with a deep local knowledge and presence across all of Central Europe, is exactly the platform we need to accelerate our regional expansion. I anticipate KAI growing to a capacity of 30m square metres within a very short period.’
The Advent team on this transaction were Chris Mruck and Tamas Nagy. Advisers were, for Advent International: Schoenherr (legal), PwC (accounting), Ernst&Young (structuring), AMR (commercial) and Unicredito (debt) and, for the vendors: Cameron McKenna (legal).
