Buy-&-Build: VR Equitypartner acquires minority stake in Zimmer & Hälbig

Frank­furt am Main / Biele­feld ‑VR Equi­typ­art­ner has taken a mino­rity stake in Zimmer & Hälbig GmbH, a leading provi­der in the field of plan­ning instal­la­tion and main­ten­ance of refri­ge­ra­tion, air condi­tio­ning and venti­la­tion tech­no­logy in the DACH region. The aim of the new part­ner­ship is to increase orga­nic and inor­ga­nic growth through a targe­ted buy & build stra­tegy. — Proven­tis Part­ners advi­sed Zimmer & Hälbig on this tran­sac­tion. The tran­sac­tion is still subject to appr­oval by the anti­trust authorities.

The seller of the company shares is the previous sole share­hol­der Herold Albrecht, a private inves­tor who is not invol­ved in the opera­tio­nal busi­ness. Albrecht is selling Z&H due to his perso­nal life plans, but will conti­nue to contri­bute to the company after the sale through a reverse investment.

Toge­ther with VR Equi­typ­art­ner, Z&H now intends to expand its orga­nic growth, driven in parti­cu­lar by energy-rela­­ted refur­bish­ments, with the help of a targe­ted buy & build stra­tegy. VR Equi­typ­art­ner has alre­ady demons­tra­ted the exper­tise requi­red for this with its invest­ment in the Kälte Eckert Group, which has since been sold. In addi­tion to VR Equi­typ­art­ner, the three mana­ging direc­tors Michael Böhm, Achim Hense­ler and Heiko Panhorst as well as the indus­try expert Dr. Cars­ten Voigt­län­der also participate.
“We deli­bera­tely looked for an inves­tor who could support our growth course with expe­ri­ence and know-how, espe­ci­ally in the inor­ga­nic area,” says Z&H CEO Michael Böhm. “VR Equi­typ­art­ner has precis­ely this exper­tise, brings with it a network that is valuable for us and knows the indus­try inside out. These were clear points for VR Equi­typ­art­ner, and we look forward to further deve­lo­ping Zimmer & Hälbig toge­ther,” add the two co-mana­­ging direc­tors Heiko Panhorst and Achim Henseler.

“Zimmer & Hälbig impres­ses with high project deve­lo­p­ment and manage­ment compe­tence, coupled with outstan­ding tech­ni­cal exper­tise. Stan­dar­di­zed work and trai­ning proces­ses provide a strong foun­da­tion for scalable orga­nic and inor­ga­nic growth,” says Chris­tian Futter­lieb, Mana­ging Direc­tor of VR Equi­typ­art­ner. “The fact that all three mana­ging direc­tors remain on board and also parti­ci­pate under­lines the confi­dence in the company’s growth poten­tial. Ther­e­fore, we are parti­cu­larly plea­sed to contri­bute our expe­ri­ence with the deve­lo­p­ment of plat­form stra­te­gies and to jointly exploit the sustainable oppor­tu­ni­ties of the energy trans­for­ma­tion in the buil­ding sector.”

Proven­tis Part­ners acted as exclu­sive M&A advi­sor to the previous sole share­hol­der Herold Albrecht and the three mana­ging direc­tors Michael Böhm, Achim Hense­ler and Heiko Panhorst.

About Zimmer & Hälbig GmbH

Foun­ded in Biele­feld in 1974, Zimmer & Hälbig GmbH (Z&H) is a leading supplier in the field of plan­ning, instal­la­tion and main­ten­ance of refri­ge­ra­tion, air condi­tio­ning and venti­la­tion tech­no­logy in the DACH region. With around 250 employees at its sites in Biele­feld, Leip­zig, Colo­gne and Osna­brück, the company recently gene­ra­ted a total output of over 65 million euros, with North Rhine-West­­pha­­lia curr­ently forming the specialist’s core market. In addi­tion to public buil­dings, the health­care sector, the indus­trial sector and the clean­room tech­no­logy sector, Z&H is also focu­sing on increased sales acti­vi­ties in the areas of energy consul­ting and energy-rela­­ted reno­va­tion. As a tech­ni­cal buil­ding equip­ment (TGA) company for non-resi­­den­­tial buil­dings, Z&H offers its custo­mers both the tech­ni­cal know-how for project plan­ning (consul­ting, tech­no­logy selec­tion, cons­truc­tion plan­ning) and the instal­la­tion of logi­sti­cally and tech­ni­cally deman­ding refri­ge­ra­tion, air condi­tio­ning and venti­la­tion systems. The company’s verti­cal range of added value extends from smal­ler instal­la­tion orders to major cross-trade projects (inclu­ding turn­key projects). Z&H’s compe­tence in project selec­tion and project plan­ning is also confirmed by its high success rate in tender participations.

About VR Equitypartner

VR Equi­typ­art­ner is one of the leading equity finan­ciers in Germany, Austria and Switz­er­land. The company supports medium-sized family busi­nesses in a goal-orien­­ted manner and with deca­des of expe­ri­ence in the stra­te­gic solu­tion of complex finan­cing issues. Invest­ment oppor­tu­ni­ties include growth and expan­sion finan­cing, corpo­rate succes­sion or share­hol­der chan­ges. VR Equi­typ­art­ner offers majo­rity and mino­rity invest­ments as well as mezza­nine finan­cing. As a subsi­diary of DZ BANK, the central insti­tu­tion of the coope­ra­tive banks in Germany, VR Equi­typ­art­ner consis­t­ently puts the sustaina­bi­lity of corpo­rate deve­lo­p­ment ahead of short-term exit thin­king. VR Equitypartner’s port­fo­lio curr­ently compri­ses around 60 commit­ments with an invest­ment volume of EUR 400 million.

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Consul­ting firms invol­ved in the tran­sac­tion by VR Equitypartner:

Legal and ESG Due Diligence:
Arqis with Lars Laeger, Thomas Chwa­lek and Fried­rich Gebert

Finan­cial and Tax Due Diligence:
Mazars with Jörg Maas and Axel Löntz

Commer­cial Due Diligence:
Munich Stra­tegy with Constan­tin Greiner

About Proven­tis Partners
Proven­tis Part­ners is a part­­ner-led M&A advi­sory firm whose clients include a majo­rity of mid-sized family busi­nesses, corpo­rate subsi­dia­ries and private equity funds. With more than 35 M&A advi­sors, Proven­tis Part­ners is one of the largest inde­pen­dent M&A consul­tancies in the German-spea­king region and looks back on more than 20 years of M&A expe­ri­ence and nearly 400 comple­ted tran­sac­tions. The M&A advi­sors with offices in Zurich, Hamburg, Munich and Düssel­dorf are active in the sectors Indus­tri­als, Chemi­cals & Advan­ced Mate­ri­als, Busi­ness Services, Consu­mer & Retail, TMT and Health­Care. Exclu­sive member­ship in Mergers Alli­ance — an inter­na­tio­nal part­ner­ship of leading M&A specia­lists — enables Proven­tis Part­ners to assist clients in 30 count­ries in key markets world­wide. Mergers Alli­ance members, with over 200 M&A profes­sio­nals, provide Proven­tis Part­ners’ clients with direct access to local markets in Europe, North America, Latin America and Asia.

The role of Proven­tis Partners

The consul­ting services included the selec­tion of poten­tial buyers, discus­sions and nego­tia­ti­ons with the buyer, the coor­di­na­tion of the due dili­gence as well as the struc­tu­ring and nego­tia­tion of the econo­mic terms of the execu­ted share deal. The tran­sac­tion team of Proven­tis Part­ners consis­ted of Jan Wetter (Part­ner, Zurich), and Chris­toph Stud­inka (Part­ner, Zurich) and Jonas Hessel­dieck (Analyst, Zurich).