Industri Kapital acquires Minimax from Investcorp

Industri Kapital has signed an agreement with Investcorp to acquire Minimax, a leading European full service provider of fire protection systems as well as services.

Founded in 1902 and head-quartered in Bad Oldesloe (Germany), Minimax is the third largest global supplier of integrated fire protection systems and services. Its product portfolio comprises water based systems (sprinkler systems), special water systems (e.g. mist and foam), gas systems, special solutions, service and industrial detection.  The group has over 3,200 employees.

Minimax benefits from its position as the clear leader in Germany as well as a number of international markets. It also has technology leadership with strong product development capabilities and a clear focus on industrial and special hazard situations. 

The company generated revenues of approximately €443 million in 2005, up €24 million compared with 2004 and its EBITDA in 2005 was €48 million in 2005, compared with €41 million in 2004. Minimax attracts high recurring business, with approximately 64 % of its revenues derived from recurring service and refurbishment.

Investcorp acquired Minimax in 2003 from Barclays Private Equity.

The global fire protection market is worth about €32 billion annually, with fire suppression representing 30 % of the total fire protection market. The global active fire protection market is a stable and growing market, having grown circa 4% p.a. over the past four years and its key growth drivers are regulations, insurance requirements and construction/GDP development. 

Detlef Dinsel, Partner at Industri Kapital said “We are delighted to have acquired Minimax and we are looking forward to working with the management team. Minimax benefits from its leading market position and from the steadily and growing nature of the market for fire protection. We together with management will continue to grow the business organically as well as to further internationalise the business and implement Industri Kapital’s successful buy-and-build strategy via add-on acquisitions. The final goal will be to significantly grow the business and bring it to a different size category of a billion euro plus of sales.”    

Klaus Hofmann, Managing Director at Minimax, said “We are delighted to have found in Industri Kapital a new investor committed to supporting the further development of Minimax into a real global player. We intend to accelerate the speed of our organic growth, both in terms of geographic coverage and new customer segments. Among those areas where we are already active, China, India and Eastern Europe will be of special interest. We also plan add-on acquisitions to further bolster our international presence, especially in countries like US, Korea and Japan, as well as develop segments such as explosion protection.”

Yves Alexandre, Managing Director at Investcorp, said “We are very pleased with this investment, but, more importantly, we value the partnership we developed with this excellent management team. Under the leadership of Klaus Hofmann and Dr. Volker Bechtloff Minimax has been able to extend its leadership in the German fire protection market and to accelerate an extremely successful internationalization strategy. We are convinced that Industri Kapital is the right partner to support Minimax’s plans for continued growth. We would like to thank the management team and all employees for their outstanding commitment and drive for excellence demonstrated during our ownership.”

The transaction is subject to customary merger control approvals.

Contacts:
Industri Kapital:
Detlef Dinsel, Partner
Phone: + 49 40 369 885 15

Anne Holm Rannaleet, Partner
Phone: + 46 8 678 95 50

Minimax:
Katja Flencker, Corporate Communications
Phone: + 49-4531 803 261
E-Mail: Flenckerk@minimax.de

Investcorp:
Deborah Botwood-Smith
Phone: + 44 20 7629 6600