Frank­furt am Main — Dantherm Group (Dantherm), a company from the DBAG Fund VIII port­fo­lio, acqui­res Trotec GmbH. Trotec is a foun­der-mana­ged company that manu­fac­tures and sells mobile air condi­tio­ning products. The tran­sac­tion is predo­mi­nantly debt finan­ced. DBAG Fund VIII is also support­ing the tran­sac­tion with a capi­tal injec­tion of up to 15 million euros, of which the co-invest­ment by Deut­sche Betei­li­gungs AG (DBAG) accounts for almost one quar­ter. As part of the tran­sac­tion, company foun­der Detlev von der Lieck is taking a signi­fi­cant stake in the newly formed group and will in future be a member of the company’s advi­sory board.

DBAG Fund VIII, which is advi­sed by DBAG, acqui­red a majo­rity stake in Dantherm in Novem­ber 2021 as part of a manage­ment buyout and inves­ted 99 million euros, of which DBAG accoun­ted for a good 22 million euros. The oppor­tu­nity to achieve a leading posi­tion in Europe through inor­ga­nic growth is a central compo­nent of the value enhance­ment stra­tegy. The current tran­sac­tion will result in a broa­de­ning of geogra­phic market coverage and product offe­ring, as well as the addi­tion of an incre­asingly important sales chan­nel. Both compa­nies combine sales of around 360 million euros and employ a total of 950 people.

Trotec (www.trotec.de) deve­lops, produ­ces and sells trans­por­ta­ble and statio­nary devices for air dehu­mi­di­fi­ca­tion, cooling, heating and venti­la­tion as well as air filters, which are used in indus­try, commerce and by private custo­mers. In 2021, the company gene­ra­ted sales of around 170 million euros with such and other products. Like Dantherm (www.danthermgroup.com), it also bene­fi­ted from the pande­mic, which among other things led to higher demand for air filters. Trotec was foun­ded in 1994 and now employs 350 people at loca­ti­ons in ten count­ries, most of them at its head­quar­ters in Heins­berg (North Rhine-Westphalia).

While Dantherm mainly supplies busi­ness custo­mers, just under a third of Trotec’s sales are gene­ra­ted with private custo­mers. With an online portal that is successful in seve­ral languages, it is expan­ding sales oppor­tu­ni­ties, because Dantherm’s busi­ness has so far been conduc­ted mainly through whole­sa­lers and other statio­nary forms of distribution.

The market for mobile and statio­nary air-condi­tio­ning equip­ment is growing at an annual rate of between four and six percent, which is faster than the natio­nal product as a whole. Market growth is driven by climate change and the well­ness trend, among other factors, but also by stric­ter regu­la­ti­ons for more effi­ci­ent energy use.

“Dantherm and Trotec comple­ment each other perfectly,” Dantherm CEO Bjarke Brøns commen­ted on the tran­sac­tion; “the merger offers signi­fi­cant oppor­tu­ni­ties given the diffe­rent market chan­nels, large product range, tech­no­logy plat­form and syner­gies in the combi­ned supply chain.” And, “We see good growth oppor­tu­ni­ties — orga­ni­cally in our busi­ness, inor­ga­ni­cally in the imple­men­ta­tion of our acqui­si­tion stra­tegy.” Trotec foun­der Detlef von der Lieck added: “I am deligh­ted that Dantherm and Trotec are joining forces with DBAG Fund VIII as a strong share­hol­der. This gives the employees and the company, which I foun­ded almost 30 years ago, excel­lent pros­pects for the future.”

“We are plea­sed that we have once again been able to gain the trust of a company foun­der who sees DBAG as the best part­ner for the further deve­lo­p­ment of his company,” said DBAG Manage­ment Board member Jannick Hune­cke now also with regard to DBAG’s most recent four invest­ments, which were also agreed with company founders.

About DBAG

Deut­sche Betei­li­gungs AG, a listed company, initia­tes closed-end private equity funds and invests — predo­mi­nantly along­side DBAG funds — in well-posi­tio­ned medium-sized compa­nies with poten­tial. One focus for many years has been indus­try. An incre­asing share of equity invest­ments is accoun­ted for by compa­nies in the growth sectors of broad­band tele­com­mu­ni­ca­ti­ons, IT services and soft­ware, and health­care. The long-term, value-enhan­cing entre­pre­neu­rial invest­ment approach makes DBAG a sought-after invest­ment part­ner in the German-spea­king region. Assets mana­ged or advi­sed by the DBAG Group amount to €2.5 billion.