Deutsche Beteiligungs AG Acquires Stephan Machinery

Deutsche Beteiligungs AG (DBAG) has acquired German business Stephan Machinery, a manufacturer of food processing machinery, in an MBO valued at €40m.

DBAG's acquisition of Stephan Machinery, which the GP bought from Italy-based IMA Group, is expected to be completed within the next three months. The GP invested €3.7m from its balance sheet for a stake of about 19%. The co-investing fund, DBAG Fund V, and the company's management provided the rest for the remaining stake.

IMA was looking to divest Stephan Machinery to be able to focus on its core packaging machinery business. The company hired Interfinanz to find a buyer and arrange an auction process. DBAG soon entered exclusivity because of its close ties to the vendor, the GP said.

DBAG has experience with companies in the food processing sector from its investment in Romaco. Romaco's subsidiary Fryma-Koruma, which provides machinery for the cold processing of food products, shares some of its customer groups with Stephan Machinery.

Stephen Machinery plans to expand into new markets following the investment. The company had no debt on its books prior to investment.

Company
Stephan Machinery was founded in Hameln, near Hanover, in 1953 as a family-run business. The company was taken over by Italy-based Sympak Group in 1999, which, in turn, was acquired by IMA in 2011. Stephan Machinery designs and builds machines for the thermal processing of liquid and semi-liquid food products such as sauces, soups or baby food. The company has its own engineering centre, which is able to design complete plants and offer customers integrated production line solutions.

In 2012, the company generated revenues of about €42m. It employs 180 staff, of whom 120 work in production, assembly and engineering at its headquarters in Hameln. The company operates a development centre near Hamburg. Almost 50 employees are located across sales offices in France, the UK, Belgium, Poland, Russia, Singapore and the US.

Stephan Machinery's customer base encompasses international food producers in the product segments it serves. The company is well positioned in some niche markets; for example, it has a 30% market share in processed cheese technology.