Deal Announcement 06/15: Automotive
PwC M&A acted as exclusive financial advisor to NORD Holding, BayBG and the management on the majority sale of Rhodius Holding GmbH to Equistone Partners Europe
The Deal
PwC M&A advised NORD Holding Unternehmensbeteiligungsgesellschaft mbH, BayBG Bayerische Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH and the management on the majority sale of Rhodius Holding GmbH and its subsidiaries (Rhodius) to the private equity investor Equistone Partners Europe (Equistone). PwCM&A was selected by the vendors in a competitive beauty contest among others due to its in depth automotive experience as well as its international M&A network. PwC initiated a structured sales process with strategic and financial investors to find a new best owner for Rhodius, who supports the further profitable international growth strategy. The agreement to acquire Rhodius Holding GmbH was recently closed.
"It was important for the existing shareholders and the management that with Equistone an international investor was found to further support the successful expansion of the company", commented Rainer Effinger, CEO of NORD Holding.
Rhodius
Rhodius is one of the world’s top manufacturers of mechanical components and modules for the airbag industry. Main products include airbag tubes and airbag filters. Within the field of Chemical Process Engineering Rhodius has leveraged its core competencies in knitted wire mesh to offer market leading and highly customized filter system solutions and filter products for many industries. Main products include droplet and coalescence separators, catalytic converters, filtration cassettes, column internals and vandalism protection.
From its administration centre in Weißenburg in Middle Franconia, Rhodius coordinates its four production sites in Germany, Hungary and China. Established in 1925 as a family firm to produce wire meshes for scouring pads, today Rhodius has an annual turnover of 45 million euros (2014) and more than 400 people on its payroll.
Equistone Partners Europe
Equistone is one of Europe’s leading investors in mid-market buyouts with a strong, consistent track record spanning over 30 years, with more than 350 transactions completed in this period. Rhodius is the second investment of Equistone’s newly raised Fund V.
NORD Holding
With its 45-year history NORD Holding is one of the leading private equity investors for upper mid-sized companies. Their main activity is the structuring and financing of corporate succession models, the acquisition of parts of groups and subsidiaries, and the expansion and financing of SMEs. NORD Holding is invested in more than 25 companies in Germany and German-speaking countries. Through its fund of funds division, NORD Holding also has € 500 million invested in other European private equity companies and thus offers their partner companies an international network.
BayBG Bayerische Beteiligungsgesellschaft
The BayBG is the leading Bavarian medium-sized enterprise-oriented investment company. BayBG currently strengthens the capital base of around 500 Bavarian medium-sized businesses. Through its commitment, the BayBG enables its companies to realize expansion and innovation plans, make corporate succession plans as well as optimize the capital structure and implement turn-around measures.
PwC
The global PricewaterhouseCoopers network is a worldwide association of independent auditing and consulting companies which together employ more than 195,000 employees in 157 countries. Our global network comprises nearly 1,550 M&A professionals all over the world, realizing approx. 390 successful transactions per year. We specialize in a wide range of independent M&A services including advice on acquisitions and disposals, mergers, public takeovers, privatizations as well as structured financing.
The PwC M&A team in Germany acted as exclusive financial advisor to the shareholders of Rhodius Holding GmbH.
The following PwC M&A team members were involved:
Martin Schwarzer (Partner), Hanns-Michael Arenz (Manager), Florian Sonntag (Consultant).
