AAC Capital Partners has agreed to sell FABORY, formerly known as Borstlap “Masters in Fasteners” Group, to HgCapital for an enterprise value of € 345 million. Founded in 1947, FABORY is a leading international distributor of fastening products with more than 100 branches in 14 countries and 1,800 employees. The company’s product range comprises more than 55,000 mechanical fasteners in all shapes and sizes, a range of chemical fasteners (tapes, adhesives and sealants) and related hand and power tools. The agreement is subject to usual approvals by the relevant competition authorities and positive advice by the work council.
AAC Capital Partners acquired Borstlap “Masters in Fasteners” Group, together with senior management in December 2004 in a management buy-out from the company’s founders. Since the buyout, the company has successfully accelerated its strategy to establish itself as a leading European fasteners distributor. As part of this transformation, the company has been renamed FABORY after its successful store concept and introduced the FABORY brandname across all its products and services. It will have increased the number of FABORY Centres from 50 in 2004 to 89 by the end of this year. New centres have been opened in The Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, France and Central & Eastern Europe. Furthermore, the company has established its sourcing activities in China and optimised its warehouse activities. With an efficient organisation and the strong FABORY formula, the company is now in perfect shape for further growth.
HgCapital is well positioned to support the company in this next stage. HgCapital has a successful track record in investing in distribution companies and the relevant experience to support the development of FABORY. The future growth of the company will be organic by opening new FABORY stores.
Marc Staal, Managing Partner of AAC Capital Partners, said: “HgCapital expressed an interest in the business and we agreed with management that it was in the company’s interest to move to a new shareholder that could support them throughout the next phase of FABORY’s growth strategy. We achieved our investment goal by generating over the past 3 years a good non-operational and operational cash flow and are happy to have delivered a strong return for AAC Capital Partners. We wish the management team all future success under its new ownership.”
Alfons van der Aa, Chief Executive of FABORY, said: “AAC Capital Partners helped us in streamlining the business and re-positioning the company with a highly scalable and successful B2B retail concept. We are looking forward to taking the company to the next level with the full support of HgCapital.”
This is AAC Capital Partners’s first exit under its new brand name and follows the successful exits of TMI, Iittala and Park Resorts earlier this year.
For further information please contact:
FD (for AAC Capital Partners)
Lucy Kelly 020 7269 7256
Notes to Editors Advisers to the seller
Corporate Finance BNP Paribas and Nielen Schuman Commercial Bain & Company
Financial PricewaterhouseCoopers
Tax & Legal Loyens & Loeff
Insurance AON
Advisers to the management team
Tax & Legal Simmons & Simmons
AAC Capital Partners
AAC Capital Partners (formerly ABN AMRO Capital) is one of Europe's leading private equity firms, with teams operating in three countries in Northern Europe (the Netherlands, UK, and Sweden). Total funds under management by AAC Capital Partners (as at 30 June 2007) were € 3.1 billion. AAC Capital Partners’ main focus is to back management buyouts and management buy-ins of profitable, cash-generative Northern European companies, usually with a value between € 50 – 500 million in the industrial, services and consumer sectors.
So far in 2007, AAC Capital Partners has executed six buyouts (Dunlop Aircraft Tyres, OyezStraker, T.G.I. Friday’s, Baarsma Wine Group, Sdu, Vetus). AAC Capital Partners has recently completed exits from FABORY, TMI, Park Resorts and Iittala.
www.aaccapitalpartners.com
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