Rite-Hite sells Caljan to Swedish Latour

Frankfurt/Stockholm/Boston — Alan­tra, a global invest­ment banking and asset manage­ment firm focu­sed on the mid-market segment, has advi­sed US-based family-owned Rite-Hite, on the sale of Caljan, a leading inter­na­tio­nal provi­der of auto­ma­tion tech­no­logy for e‑commerce appli­ca­ti­ons, to private equity firm Invest­ment AB Latour (“Latour”). As part of the tran­sac­tion, Alan­tra had the exclu­sive M&A advi­sory mandate and conduc­ted a compe­ti­tive inter­na­tio­nal auction process. The closing of the tran­sac­tion is subject to EU merger control approval.

Caljan is the market leader in auto­ma­tion tech­no­logy for parcel hand­ling in the logi­stics and e‑commerce sectors. The product range includes teles­co­pic convey­ors, auto­ma­ted docu­ment hand­ling and labe­l­ing solu­ti­ons, and auto­ma­tion solu­ti­ons for parcel deli­very bases. Foun­ded in 1963, the company is head­quar­te­red in Denmark and has subsi­dia­ries in Germany, France, the UK, Latvia and the USA. Net sales are around 100 million euros, with an opera­ting margin of over 15% and strong growth. The company employs 450 people.

“We are very plea­sed with the outcome of this tran­sac­tion and are convin­ced that Latour is the right part­ner for Caljan and all of its employees. Alantra‘s sector know­ledge, exper­tise in the Scan­di­na­vian markets, and close and through support from expe­ri­en­ced staff were criti­cal to the success of this tran­sac­tion,” said Paul Maly, CEO of Rite-Hite.

Henrik Olesen, CEO of Caljan, added: “We have worked inten­si­vely with Alantra’s experts for much of 2019. Their deep sector know­ledge, under­stan­ding of our busi­ness, and commit­ment have been a great help throug­hout the sales process. In parti­cu­lar, we were impres­sed with how Alantra’s global sector experts worked as an inte­gra­ted team with Alantra’s Scan­di­na­vian and US offices.”

Frank Merkel, Mana­ging Part­ner at Alan­tra, said, “We are proud to have been selec­ted as advi­sors to Rite-Hite in the sale of Caljan. Follo­wing the sale of Trans­norm last year, this tran­sac­tion repres­ents another mile­stone for our Indus­trial Auto­ma­tion & Machi­nery Prac­tice and high­lights our deep sector exper­tise. We wish Caljan well on its jour­ney as part of Latour.”

The sales process was led by the Indus­trial Auto­ma­tion & Machi­nery team in Frank­furt toge­ther with Alantra’s office in Stock­holm. The team was supported by inter­na­tio­nal Alan­tra offices in approa­ching local buyers.

About Alan­tra
Alan­tra is a global invest­ment banking and asset manage­ment firm focu­sed on the mid-market segment with offices in Europe, the US, Asia and Latin America. With over 330 experts, the Invest­ment Banking unit provi­des inde­pen­dent advice on M&A, corpo­rate finance, loan port­fo­lios and capi­tal market tran­sac­tions. The Asset Manage­ment unit mana­ges assets of around 4.5 billion euros in the asset clas­ses private equity, active funds, private debt, real estate and wealth manage­ment. www.alantra.com.