Triton portfolio company WernerCo acquires Zarges Group

Schaff­hau­sen (Switzerland)/Greenville, PA (USA)/Weilheim — A consor­tium of finan­cial inves­tors has sold the Zarges Group. These included funds from Baird Capi­tal and Gran­ville, as well as VR Equi­typ­art­ner. The new owner of Zarges is Schaf­f­hau­­sen-based WernerCo, a port­fo­lio company of the Triton IV fund. A purchase price has not yet been disclosed.

WernerCo, a port­fo­lio company of the Triton IV Fund and an inter­na­tio­nal supplier of access products, fall protec­tion equip­ment, and storage and trans­por­ta­tion systems, today comple­ted its acqui­si­tion of the ZARGES Group after recei­ving regu­la­tory appr­ovals. Due to the good comple­ment of the product and service port­fo­lio, WernerCo is able to streng­then its leading posi­tion in Europe through the acqui­si­tion. The parties have agreed not to disc­lose the purchase price or further details of the transaction.

“ZARGES is a major market player in conti­nen­tal Europe and will be added to the WernerCo Group port­fo­lio with its attrac­tive brands. Both compa­nies operate in comple­men­tary markets with the same under­stan­ding of product quality, design and deli­very relia­bi­lity. This tran­sac­tion is an important mile­stone for us, conti­nuing our stra­tegy to deli­ver inno­va­tive products and systems to our global custo­mers,” said Edward Geri­cke, Presi­dent of WernerCo’s U.S. busi­ness and current CEO.

“Under the owner­ship of funds mana­ged by Baird Capi­tal and Gran­ville, as well as VR Equi­typ­art­ner GmbH and the manage­ment team, ZARGES Group has successfully focu­sed on its core acti­vi­ties and achie­ved impres­sive impro­ve­ments,” said Mathias Schirmer, member of the company’s advi­sory board and part­ner at Baird Capital.

“ZARGES is an impres­sive company with a focus on product inno­va­tion and quality. We are convin­ced of the company’s contin­ued posi­tive deve­lo­p­ment and the mutual bene­fits for WernerCo and ZARGES. We look forward to support­ing the growth trajec­tory in the coming years,” says Ruth Linz, Invest­ment Advi­sory Profes­sio­nal and Advi­sor to Triton Funds.

About ZARGES Group
The ZARGES Group, head­quar­te­red in Weil­heim, Germany, is a globally active company with around 800 employees at three produc­tion sites in Europe. The Group sells its products in Germany, France, Sweden, the UK, Denmark, Norway and the Nether­lands, among other count­ries. Inno­va­tive tech­no­lo­gies and in-depth expe­ri­ence with high-quality alumi­num make ZARGES the leading company in three major busi­ness segments: Clim­bing — Pack­a­ging, Trans­port, Storage — Special Cons­truc­tions. ZARGES products combine the many advan­ta­ges of alumi­num, such as high stabi­lity with low weight, corro­sion resis­tance and flexi­bi­lity of use. The company has the right solu­tion for every requi­re­ment and can also offer custo­mi­zed solu­ti­ons. Whether from indus­try, trade, service or commerce, custo­mers appre­ciate ZARGES as a relia­ble part­ner and bene­fit from the quality, know-how and compre­hen­sive service they have enjoyed for many years after purcha­sing the products.

Advi­sor TRITON: White & Case
Dr. Hendrik Röhricht (Private Equity/M&A), Gernot Wagner (Capi­tal Markets; both lead), Dr. Bodo Bender (Tax), Dr. Justus Herr­lin­ger, Dr. Lars Peter­sen (both Hamburg), Marc Israel (London), Katar­zyna Czapra­cka (Warsaw; all Anti­trust), Vanessa Schür­mann, Sebas­tian Schrag, Justin Wagstaff (London; all three Banking and Finance), Ingrid Wijn­ma­len (Private Equity/M&A), Dr. Andreas Klein (Dispute Reso­lu­tion); Asso­cia­tes: Simon Rommel­fan­ger, Dr. Jan Eich­städt (both M&A), Anne-Sophie von Köster (Real Estate), Dr. Daniel Valdini (Anti­trust; Hamburg), Andreas Kössel (Labor Law), Irina Schult­heiß (Banking and Finance), Giuditta Caldini (Anti­trust; Brussels), Vero­nika Merjava (Private Equity/M&A; Prague), Claire Jordan (Banking and Finance; New York).

Advi­sor to seller: Gibson Dunn & Crut­cher (Munich)
Dr. Ferdi­nand From­hol­zer (M&A; lead), Dr. Hans-Martin Schmid (tax law), Sebas­tian Schoon (finance law), Michael Walt­her (anti­trust law), Dr. Mark Zimmer (labor law), Kai Gesing (anti­trust law); asso­cia­tes: Sonja Rutt­mann, Dr. Johanna Hauser, Dr. Maxi­mi­lian Hoff­mann (all M&A), Daniel Gebauer (real estate law)
Milbank Tweed Hadley & McCloy (Frank­furt): Dr. Thomas Ingen­ho­ven; Asso­cia­tes: Dr. Katja Lehr, Dr. Tim Löper (all Banking and Finance)

Advi­sors to banks: Weil Gotshal & Manges (New York)
Daniel Dokos (lead), Dr. Wolf­ram Distler (Frank­furt); Asso­cia­tes: Justin Lee, Julia Schum (Frank­furt; all Banking and Finance)