MBO: Halder acquires stake in school supplier Conen Group

Morbach/ Frank­furt a. M. — Halder has acqui­red a majo­rity stake in the Conen Group, Morbach, through a manage­ment buy-out. The invest­ment is a succes­sion solu­tion for the owner family, which had foun­ded the company in 1965. Conen specia­li­zes in equip­ping educa­tio­nal insti­tu­ti­ons such as schools, kinder­gar­tens and nurse­ries in Western Europe, the Middle East and the USA.

One focus of the busi­ness is tech­ni­cal products for inter­ac­tive lear­ning, e.g. elec­tri­cally adjus­ta­ble mounts for elec­tro­nic displays, which are incre­asingly being used inter­na­tio­nally as lear­ning tools. In addi­tion, there is a wide range of furni­ture for schools and preschools in the core market of Germany and neigh­bor­ing count­ries, with which Conen serves over 1,000 long-stan­­ding custo­mers. Through in-house product deve­lo­p­ment and manu­fac­tu­ring, Conen reali­zes high verti­cal inte­gra­tion, avai­la­bi­lity and flexi­bi­lity in the imple­men­ta­tion of custo­mer requi­re­ments. Deli­very and instal­la­tion with our own logi­stics in Germany and neigh­bor­ing count­ries ensu­res short deli­very times and high final quality. In 2018, the company employed 225 people and gene­ra­ted sales of €37 million.

Growth poten­tial arises from the incre­asing digi­tiza­tion of educa­tion systems, which has trig­ge­red double-digit growth rates for inter­ac­tive displays inter­na­tio­nally. Conen ther­e­fore plans to expand its coope­ra­tion with moni­tor manu­fac­tu­r­ers in the USA and the Middle East. Germany also has a favorable envi­ron­ment, with high levels of addi­tio­nal govern­ment spen­ding plan­ned for preschool and school in the medium term.

About Halder
Halder has been active as an equity inves­tor in Germany since 1991 and has provi­ded equity capi­tal for succes­sion and growth to 39 medium-sized compa­nies. Halder supports its port­fo­lio compa­nies in expan­ding inter­na­tio­nally, focu­sing their stra­tegy and busi­ness model, and inves­t­ing to expand capa­city and finance stra­te­gic acqui­si­ti­ons. The invest­ment in Conen is the first invest­ment of the Halder VI fund, which comple­ted its capi­tal raising in Janu­ary 2019.