Doughty Hanson completes acquisition of Moeller

Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team Sep 23, 2005

Doughty Hanson has completed the acquisition of a majority stake in Moeller Group from Advent International.

Doughty Hanson has completed the acquisition of a majority stake in Moeller Group from Advent International, which had been announced on 20th July 2005.

Following antitrust approval, Doughty Hanson closed the transaction within the expected period of time.

The private equity firm now owns a 75% stake in Moeller, a leading international supplier of low-voltage electrical distribution and automation components for industrial, commercial and residential use.

Doughty Hanson acquired the majority stake in Moeller for a purchase price of Eur1.1bn, including pension liabilities and financial debt.

Advent will own a 15% minority stake in Moeller, while the remaining shares will be held by the management.

With Doughty Hanson as the new shareholder, the management intends to consolidate the market position of Moeller and to enhance its customer relations.

Moeller also plans to expand in high-growth markets.

"We will support the management in the further development of the core strengths and the competitiveness of Moeller as well as in pursuing growth opportunities in Eastern Europe and Asia", said Claus Felder of Doughty Hanson.

The acquisition of Moeller is in line with Doughty Hanson's strategy to acquire market-leading, medium-sized to large-sized businesses.

In conjunction with the acquisition, David McLemore has departed the management team of Moeller Holding, and Uwe Alwardt has switched to the company's partner committee.

Theo Kubat (CEO), Robert Gartner (CFO) and Joachim Goddertz, who have run the company for an extensive period, will continue in their current positions and work to achieve the continual development of the company.

Theo Kubat, CEO of Moeller Holding, had the following to say on the completion of the acquisition: "Together with our new partners, we will continue to expand our extraordinary market position - in selected new markets, through innovative products, new developments and targeted, calculable acquisitions".

"Moeller will continue on its march to the top of the electronics sector".

"The groundwork for our objective has already been laid".

The first concrete undertakings will be the opening of the new logistics centre in the Czech Republic, the erection of a production facility in India and the opening of a foreign subsidiary in Bulgaria.

The Moeller Group exceeded its goals for the completed fiscal year.

Moeller achieved a total turnover of Eur869 million.

The company's core business turnover increased from Eur670 million, for the previous year, to Eur760 million.

The group's bank liabilities declined further at the end of the fiscal year.

The operative cash flow of Eur71 million was Eur46 million higher than that of the previous year.

Following a strong first quarter, which saw considerably growth in both turnover and result, Moeller is targeting core business growth in excess of 5% and an increase in EBITDA for the current 2005/2006 fiscal year.

During the first three months of the current fiscal year (1st May 2005 to 30th April 2006) the Moeller Group was able to repeat last year's positive business development.

The group enjoyed a 14% increase in turnover in the case of core business and a 10% increase in EBITDA.

On the Doughty Hanson acquisition, Paul Corbett, Managing Director of Moeller Electric, said: "The sale of Moeller by Advent to Doughty Hanson is extremely positive as it assures the continued presence of the Moeller brand and its association with value for money, high quality, innovative products".

"In the UK, Moeller will continue to increase its share of the industrial control, automation and distribution equipment markets".

"For UK customers it is business as usual".