Exit: Ardian sells GANTNER Tech to SALTO Systems

Frank­furt a. M. / Schruns — SALTO Systems has acqui­red the GANTNER Elec­tro­nic Group, a pioneer in the field of cont­act­less elec­tro­nic access manage­ment and time recor­ding systems, from the invest­ment company Ardian. Gant­ner doubles sales and beco­mes tech­no­logy leader during Ardian’s invest­ment since 2016.

The Spanish company SALTO Systems is a world leader in the design and manu­fac­ture of advan­ced elec­tro­nic access control solu­ti­ons, espe­ci­ally in secu­rity-criti­­cal areas. SALTO has deli­vered more than 5 million access points world­wide, which are used by about 40 million people every day. Clients include univer­si­ties, leading hospi­ta­lity groups, clinics and compa­nies in the health­care, commer­cial, workspace, retail and resi­den­tial sectors.

The GANTNER Group, head­quar­te­red in Schruns, Austria, is active in almost 70 count­ries and curr­ently employs over 500 people world­wide. In addi­tion to the core markets of Austria and Germany, the Group is repre­sen­ted by subsi­dia­ries in the UK, Belgium, the Nether­lands, Dubai, the USA, India and Australia.

GANTNER offers iden­ti­fi­ca­tion solu­ti­ons based on RFID and NFC tech­no­logy for use in fitness clubs, water parks and spas, theme parks, univer­si­ties and libra­ries, as well as commer­cial proper­ties and public buil­dings. GANTNER systems create a cont­act­less envi­ron­ment: admis­si­ons, lockers and point-of-sale offe­rings can all be effi­ci­ently opera­ted with a single NFC creden­tial in the form of a cont­act­less card, wrist­band or key fob.

A new member of the GANTNER Group since June 2020 is conti­data Daten­sys­teme, a market leader and visio­nary in the DACH region for cashl­ess proprie­tary payment systems for canteens. conti­data is head­quar­te­red in Dort­mund and has further offices in Berlin, Hamburg, Hano­ver, Colo­gne, Frank­furt, Stutt­gart and Munich.

The GANTNER product port­fo­lio enri­ches and diver­si­fies SALTO’s offe­ring and will enhance the end-user expe­ri­ence. With a combi­ned work­force of 1,200 employees in 40 count­ries, total sales of €260 million and the capa­city to provide more than one million access points per year, the new, streng­the­ned SALTO Group conti­nues to build on its posi­tion as the global leader in elec­tro­nic access control.

Dirk Witt­ne­ben (photo), Mana­ging Direc­tor at Ardian and respon­si­ble for the invest­ments of the expan­sion team in the DACH region, added: “We are proud to have been able to support Gant­ner in its inter­na­tio­na­liza­tion, important stra­te­gic acqui­si­ti­ons and the deve­lo­p­ment of new indus­tries and custo­mers. It has enab­led the company to expand its offe­rings and broa­den its geogra­phic coverage.”

SALTO is finan­cing the tran­sac­tion through a combi­na­tion of a EUR 125 million capi­tal increase, bank finan­cing and cash.

A team led by Düssel­­dorf-based Heuking Corporate/M&A Part­ner Dr. Martin Imhof advi­sed SALTO Systems under the lead manage­ment of Austrian law firm Wolf Theiss and Spanish law firm Garri­gues and supported the German part of the tran­sac­tion. In parti­cu­lar, Heuking conduc­ted legal due dili­gence inves­ti­ga­ti­ons of the German GANTNER compa­nies and advi­sed on company acqui­si­tion issues as well as finan­cing and data protec­tion issues.

Advi­sor SALTO Systems (Germany): Heuking Kühn Lüer Wojtek
Dr. Martin Imhof (Lead Part­ner, Corporate/M&A),
Sebas­tian Poll­meier (Legal Due Dili­gence, M&A),
Chris­toph Hexel (Labor Law),
Dr. Guido Hoff­mann, LL.M. (Finance),
Dr. Chris­tian Appel­baum (Finance),
Michael Kuska, LL.M., LL.M. (IT, Data Protec­tion Law),
Astrid Lued­tke (IP),
Chris­toph Nöhles, LL.M. (Tenancy Law),
Fabian Schmitz (Tenancy Law), all Düsseldorf
Birgit Schreier (Commer­cial Law, Hamburg)
Chris­tian Schild, LL.M. (Corpo­rate Law, Munich)

Wolf Theiss (Austria):
Hart­wig Kien­ast (Lead Part­ner, Corpo­rate Law/M&A)

Garri­gues (Spain):
Carla Fran­goni (Lead Part­ner Private Equity/Corporate Law)

About Gant­ner
Foun­ded in 1982 in Schruns, Austria, the company is conside­red a pioneer in cont­act­less elec­tro­nic access control and time and atten­dance in its core segments. Gant­ner offers RFID and NFC tech­­no­­logy-based solu­ti­ons for fitness clubs, pools and spas, amuse­ment parks, cultu­ral insti­tu­ti­ons, univer­si­ties and libra­ries, as well as commer­cial and public buil­dings. These include access systems, elec­tro­nic locker locking systems, cashl­ess payment, cash regis­ter and accoun­ting systems, time recor­ding solu­ti­ons for staff, and ticke­ting and manage­ment soft­ware for leisure facilities.

Gant­ner opera­tes in around 70 count­ries and has subsi­dia­ries in Germany, Belgium, Holland, Great Britain, Dubai, India, Austra­lia and the USA. The company employs around 450 people world­wide. The mana­ging direc­tor since 2003 is Elmar Hart­mann. www.gantner.com

About Ardian
Ardian is one of the world’s leading inde­pen­dent invest­ment firms, mana­ging over US$100 billion in assets for its inves­tors from Europe, South and North America and Asia. The company is majo­rity-owned by its employees and gene­ra­tes sustainable, attrac­tive returns for its investors.

With the objec­tive of achie­ving posi­tive results for all stake­hol­ders, Ardian’s acti­vi­ties promote indi­vi­du­als, compa­nies and econo­mies world­wide. Ardian’s invest­ment philo­so­phy is aligned with the three guiding prin­ci­ples of excel­lence, loyalty and entrepreneurship.

The company has a global network of more than 700 employees and 15 offices in Europe (Frank­furt, Jersey, London, Luxem­bourg, Madrid, Milan, Paris and Zurich), South America (Sant­iago de Chile), North America (New York and San Fran­cisco) and Asia (Beijing, Seoul, Singa­pore and Tokyo). Ardian mana­ges the assets of its more than 1,000 inves­tors in five invest­ment areas: Direct Funds, Funds of Funds, Infra­struc­ture, Private Debt and Real Estate. www.ardian.com