VR Equitypartner: KTP merges with Belgian conTeyor Group

Frank­furt am Main / Bous / Merel­beke — KTP Kunst­stoff Palet­ten­tech­nik (port­fo­lio company of Fran­k­­furt-based invest­ment company VR Equi­typ­art­ner) and conTeyor Inter­na­tio­nal (majo­rity-owned by Dutch inves­tor Gilde Equity Manage­ment) have merged to form a new market leader in the pack­a­ging sector.
The group combi­nes KTP’s exper­tise as a leading specia­list for reusable, foldable carrier and contai­ner systems made of plas­tic with conTeyor’s know-how in the field of textile inner pack­a­ging solutions.
Toge­ther, the group with around 1,000 employees will gene­rate global sales of appro­xi­m­ately EUR 200 million.
The tran­sac­tion, which is still subject to regu­la­tory appr­oval, is expec­ted to be comple­ted this year.
KTP Kunst­stoff Palet­ten­tech­nik GmbH was foun­ded in 1988 and is a pioneer in the deve­lo­p­ment and manu­fac­ture of sustainable and inno­va­tive reusable plas­tic packaging.
The foldable contai­ners and large load carri­ers are made from 80% recy­cled mate­rial and save a signi­fi­cant amount of space when retur­ning goods by redu­cing their volume.
From the Saar­land, KTP supplies custo­mers world­wide with the vision of making logi­stics gree­ner by redu­cing CO2 emissions.
VR Equi­typ­art­ner acqui­red a mino­rity stake in KTP at the end of 2011 and has since supported the family entre­pre­neur and other manage­ment in the company’s strong expansion.
In addi­tion to diver­si­fy­ing the custo­mer struc­ture and ongo­ing product inno­va­tion, a new produc­tion site was built in Lisdorf, Saar­land, which enab­led the company to reflect the high growth and deeper value crea­tion in production.
In 2022/23, the Slove­nian inner pack­a­ging specia­list K2 PAK was also acqui­red. conTeyor, foun­ded in 1995 near Ghent, is an inter­na­tio­nal provi­der in the deve­lo­p­ment and produc­tion of custo­mi­zed textile and steel pack­a­ging solu­ti­ons for scratch- and damage-sensi­­tive parts.
The company is a leader in inno­va­tive and sustainable pack­a­ging for the auto­mo­tive industry.
Its custo­mers include auto­mo­tive manu­fac­tu­r­ers, house­hold appli­ance and elec­tro­nics produ­cers in particular.
To achieve maxi­mum protec­tion with mini­mum space requi­re­ments, conTeyor uses advan­ced 3D design and cons­truc­tion methods, supported by proprie­tary software.
conTeyor’s produc­tion sites are loca­ted in Europe and North America.
conTeyor’s declared goal is to signi­fi­cantly reduce CO2 emis­si­ons through inno­va­tive pack­a­ging and to become an ESG pioneer in its field.
Gilde, a leading invest­ment company from Bene­lux, has held a stake in conTeyor since 2018.
As part of the tran­sac­tion, the KTP foun­ding family Wintrich is with­dra­wing from the share­hol­der group and manage­ment, although the previous CEO Andreas Wintrich will conti­nue to support the new group in an advi­sory capacity.
The KTP share­hol­ders VR Equi­typ­art­ner and Wagner Holding will retain a signi­fi­cant stake in the group.
The manage­ment team consists of the two conTeyor mana­ging direc­tors Orm Verberne (CEO) and Tim van Londer­sele (CFO) as well as KTP mana­ging direc­tor Martin Hent­schel (COO).
The current KTP site in Bous (Saar­land) will serve as the group’s head­quar­ters. Orm Verberne, CEO of conTeyor and the future group, says: “We are deligh­ted to open a new chap­ter in the history of both compa­nies. A joint market presence and the combi­na­tion of our know-how is the best of both worlds and makes us a true House of Compe­tence. Sustaina­bi­lity is in the DNA of KTP and conTeyor. We help our custo­mers to cut costs and reduce their carbon foot­print by deve­lo­ping reusable pack­a­ging and storage solu­ti­ons with a long shelf life. The combi­na­tion of stan­dar­di­zed contai­ners and custo­mi­zed inlays is the way to a more sustainable world.”
Chris­tian Futter­lieb, Mana­ging Direc­tor of VR Equi­typ­art­ner, adds: “The busi­ness models and market coverage of KTP and conTeyor are highly comple­men­tary — our KTP stands for foldable contai­ner solu­ti­ons and load carri­ers made of plas­tic, while conTeyor offers indi­vi­dua­li­zed inner pack­a­ging solu­ti­ons made of textile. A high-poten­­tial combi­na­tion that bene­fits from the strong trends towards more sustainable logi­stics and custo­mi­zed pack­a­ging solu­ti­ons. We look forward to working toge­ther with the employees of KTP and conTeyor as well as our part­ners Wagner and Gilde. In addi­tion to the employees, special thanks are due to Chris­tel, Andreas and Horst Wintrich and Martin Hent­schel, whose tire­less commit­ment has made KTP a unique success story.”
Andreas Wintrich, Mana­ging Direc­tor of KTP, says: “Toge­ther with our long-stan­­ding part­ners, VREP and Wagner, we as a family and manage­ment have deve­lo­ped KTP into a strong and successful inno­va­tion leader. Sustaina­bi­lity, custo­mer and employee orien­ta­tion are our top prio­ri­ties. The merger with conTeyor is an important step for the future of the company and the right time to hand over the baton to a new gene­ra­tion of mana­gers. My family and I are deligh­ted that KTP’s success story will continue.”
The VR Equi­typ­art­ner tran­sac­tion team: Sarah Oster­mann, Vincent Mrohs, Jens Schöf­fel, Simone Weck, Falk Stecken­born Advi­sors VR Equi­typ­art­ner on this tran­sac­tion: M&A: Rauten­berg & Company (Phil­ipp v. Hoch­berg, Maxi­mi­lian Gailer, Marcel Hellen­thal) Legal: Orrick, Herring­ton & Sutcliffe (Dr. Chris­toph Bren­ner, Adrian Deng­ler, Stefan Riedl) Finan­cial Due Dili­gence: Deloitte (Tanya Fehr, Nils Nobe­reit, Stefan Spies, Marvin Reiss­land) Tax Due Dili­gence: Deloitte (Hannah Hilde­brand, Doro­thea Paar, Marie-Chris­­tin Wienand) Tax Struc­tu­ring: Flick Gocke Schaum­burg (Dr. Florian Kutt, Larissa Rickli, Rickard Kelch) Anti­trust Advice: Lupp + Part­ner (Tilman Siebert)