News

IK Investment Partners has agreed to sell svt Group to Ergon Capital Partners. Financial terms weren’t announced. Svt Group, of Germany, provides passive fire protection products and services, as well as restoration management services.

PRESS RELEASE

IK Investment Partners (“IK”) is pleased to announce that the IK Small Cap I Fund (“the Fund”) has reached an agreement to sell svt Group (“svt” or “the Company”), a leading provider of passive fire protection products and services as well as restoration management services, to Ergon Capital Partners III (“Ergon”). Financial terms of the transaction are not disclosed.

svt is the leading company in Passive Fire Protection (PFP) and Restoration Management (RM) in Germany with c. 50 years of experience. The PFP business comprises the full value chain from R&D to manufacturing as well as installation services of fire preventing and resistant products that are sold either to OEM or construction customers. svt is a pioneer in passive fire protection systems since 1977 and the only player being forward integrated into PFP installation business. Blue chip customers like Siemens, Bombardier, CRCC, Airbus, OBO Bettermann and Würth rely on svt PFP products. Landmark PFP Installation references include European Central Bank building and Eurotower in Frankfurt.

In addition, svt offers one-stop-shop services in Restoration Management specialising in fire, water and natural hazard damage restoration as well as pollutant removal.

During the Fund`s ownership, the Company grew its revenues from €80m to ca. €114m and its employees from 322 to 450 while investing significant resources into R&D and product development. svt obtained for the first time in its history a large number of licenses from the international certification organisation/company Underwriters Laboratories (UL), enabling the further internationalization of the products. Consequently, the Company built out its international presence by opening new locations in Singapore and Ajman to serve the international markets with its strong product base. svt`s acquisition of AIK Flammadur Brandschutz in 2016, to further expand the PFP products offering for transportation OEMs, underscores IK`s focus on supporting its portfolio companies to grow via add-on acquisitions.

As a consequence, svt has increased its revenue with PFP Products to the OEM customers by more than five times and also doubled, as a Group, its absolute operating earnings during the Fund`s investment period.

“It has been a pleasure working with Steffen Gerdau and his team, and we would like to thank all of svt’s employees for their hard work over the last years. Together we have managed to grow the business significantly, both in Germany and abroad. svt was the first investment in the IK Small Cap I Fund, and clearly demonstrates IK’s approach to value creation, by way of enlarging the products offering, drive internationalisation and growing via acquisitions,” said Anders Petersson, Partner at IK Investment Partners and advisor to the IK Small Cap I Fund.

“We enjoyed working with the IK team. With their support, we have completed a synergetic add-on acquisition with AIK Flammadur, invested into our development capabilities and product offering as well as expanded our international footprint. I am now looking forward to continuing the internationalization and growth with Ergon,” said Steffen Gerdau, CEO of svt Group.

Completion of the transaction is subject to merger control approvals.