IK Investment Partners’ IK VII Fund is to acquire CID Lines, a provider of innovative hygiene solutions, from Gilde Buy Out Partners (Gilde). Financial terms of the transaction have not been disclosed.
Established in 1988 and headquartered in Belgium, CID Lines is a leading supplier of innovative hygiene solutions for the agricultural, food, vehicle care and institutional industries. With a network of over 750 distributors and importers, the Company exports its solutions to more than 90 countries. CID Lines offers its customers a complete product range of branded, effective and high quality solutions. Over the past years, CID Lines has continued to realise strong growth across all of its segments, supported by an increasing awareness of food safety and use of hygiene products to guarantee safe food throughout the food chain.
“CID Lines’ high quality product portfolio supported by its unique distribution platform puts the Company in an ideal position to benefit from the accelerating market consolidation. We are truly impressed by the Company’s performance over recent years, and we are looking forward to supporting the management team in executing its growth ambitions,” says Remko Hilhorst, Partner at IK Investment Partners and advisor to the IK VII Fund.
“Together with management, we have supported CID Lines to become one of the leading actors in Europe, with a strong and growing presence on other continents. We now believe CID Lines is ready for a next step in its development with a new supporting shareholder. We are pleased that IK has agreed to continue the journey with management to further develop and strengthen the Company’s market position,” says Nicolas Linkens, Partner at Gilde.
Koen Brutsaert, Founder and CEO of CID Lines, adds: "Under the stewardship of Gilde, CID Lines has realised a track record of average annual revenue growth of over 10 per cent per year over the past five years. We are excited to partner with IK as they understand our business and share our ambitions. This transition in ownership is excellent news for all parties involved, including our employees and customers, as we will be able to continue our strong growth strategy on a stand-alone basis.”
ing a Partner has energised us. They are an international leader in developing strategies to address environmental sustainability and are a leading institutional investor voice in Europe on climate and carbon issues.”
“We're looking forward to a very productive relationship and working together to help drive a rapid transition to a low-carbon and climate resilient economy as envisaged by COP21 goals and INDC objectives."
