IK Investment Partners to sell Minimax Viking Group

Funds advised by IK Investment Partners (“IK”) are pleased to announce their agreement to sell Minimax Viking GmbH (“Minimax Viking” or the “Company”), a leading global player in the active fire protection market, to Kirkbi A/S (“Kirkbi”), a Danish investment company, and Intermediate Capital Group plc (“ICG”), a specialist asset manager. Financial details have not been disclosed.

Hamburg – IK acquired Minimax together with the company’s management in June 2006, at a time when the Company was a regional market leader in Europe and Germany and ranked third worldwide in its market. In the past eight years, Minimax has successfully transformed into a global market leader with a fully integrated offering covering fire suppression products & distribution, system integration and services, thereby more than doubling its revenues to approximately EUR 1.2 billion in 2013 and growing its number of employees from 3,200 to more than 7,000. This has been achieved through a combination of organic growth and significant acquisitions forming today’s Minimax Viking Group.

In 2007, Minimax acquired CFP, a US-based installation and service provider, which significantly improved Minimax’s position in the US. In 2009, Minimax acquired the Viking Corporation, a US-based global manufacturer and distributor of fire suppression products, forming Minimax Viking Group. The Company today offers products and distribution, system integration and services. In addition, Minimax Viking has established a fast growing presence in Asia with a local production plant, and has significantly grown its service operations. The Company’s strong positioning is further enhanced by its propriety R&D, enabling Minimax Viking to establish a track record of product innovations.

Since the acquisition of the Viking Corporation in 2009, Minimax Viking Group is owned by Funds advised by IK Investment Partners, management and the Viking family. Both management and the Viking family will remain shareholders going forward. The new majority owners, Kirkbi and ICG, intend to maintain Minimax Viking as a stand-alone business. Kirkbi A/S is a family holding company with a long-term investment horizon, and is for example the majority shareholder of Lego A/S.

Detlef Dinsel, Managing Partner at IK commented: “The investment in Minimax Viking has been a great success. The Company commands market leading positions across the fire protection market and has successfully transformed into a global market leader with a fully integrated offering covering fire suppression products & distribution, system integration and services, more than doubling revenues to EUR 1.2 billion in 2013. We thank management and all employees for their hard work over the past eight years. We are proud of having had a role in building such a fantastic company. We believe Kirkbi A/S and ICG, together with management and the Viking family, are the best possible new owners and we are confident that the Company will continue to thrive under their ownership led by the existing management team.”

This acquisition is subject to customary conditions including anti-trust approval.

Enquiries:

IK Investment Partners
Detlef Dinsel, Managing Partner Tel: +49 40 369 8850

Anders Petersson, Partner Tel: +49 40 369 8850

Charlotte Laveson, Director Communications Tel: +44 20 7304 7136
Email: charlotte.laveson@ikinvest.com