Long-standing commitment to European mid-market investments
We have supported the European mid-market since 1985, and we have been active investors in each of our three principal markets – UK, France and Germany – as well as in the Nordic and Benelux regions.
We typically invest in high quality international businesses with an enterprise value of between €75 million and €300 million, which we look to back through their next phase of growth, which will typically include a buy & build, roll-out or expansion strategy.
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JOST
Business overview
Operating from a network of eleven production facilities across Europe, North and South America, Asia and Africa, JOST is one of the leading global manufacturers of safety-critical components to the truck and trailer industry. The Company supplies interface systems (fifth wheels, towing hitches, trailer couplings) to each of the major truck and trailer OEMs under the well recognised brand names JOST, Rockinger, Regensburger and Tridec. These brands have an established reputation for the highest quality and reliability.
Investment rationale
We completed the acquisition of JOST in 2005, attracted by the company’s strong management team and longstanding reputation for engineering, innovation, safety and service. We identified the growth opportunity of establishing JOST as a truly global platform, maintaining the strong position in established products in Europe, whilst pursuing opportunities within Asia (in particular China and India) and Russian/Eastern Central Europe. In addition, we looked to back the company’s pipeline of product developments, notably in the core fifth wheel and landing gear segments as well as entering into new product segments such as suspensions, axles, hydraulic components and loading systems.
In addition there was a potential opportunity to implement a buy and build strategy focussed on the three main development routes: product portfolio expansion, access to additional technological competencies and access to additional OEM customers through both, geographical extension and market share consolidation.
Value creation
Following our acquisition, we further strengthened the management team with the appointment of a non-executive chairman, Matti Paasila, as well as a CFO, both of whom had extensive experience of organic and acquisitive growth strategies.
We supported management’s initiatives to improve operational performance, such as the transfer of the Munich-based trailer couplings production facility to Hungary; the acquisition of JOST's South African distributor; a worldwide working capital reduction programme; the introduction of a number of new products, such as ‘AirRelease’ and ‘Lubetronic 2’; and the establishment of a Joint Venture with Kamaz covering Russia and the establishment of a new facility in Poland to cover the local markets in CEE.
Alongside these operational developments, we helped the company to pursue a buy and build strategy, acquiring Tridec, a forced steering systems producer in Western Europe.
Outcome
Having received a number of approaches from both trade and financial buyers, we initiated a sales process in January 2008, and concluded a sale to Cinven generating a 3.2x return and an IRR of 48%.
Post investment development
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Exit date
2005
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£262m
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Exit date
2000
Deal size (exit)
£499m
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