Equistone sells property protection specialist Heras to Garda Group
Amsterdam/Munich — The funds advised by Equistone Partners Europe (“Equistone Funds”) announced the sale of their majority stake in Heras, an established pan-European full-service provider of permanent and mobile perimeter protection solutions.
The new majority owner is the Garda Group, which also specializes in perimeter protection.
Heras was founded in 1952 with its headquarters in Oirschot, the Netherlands, and is now represented throughout Europe with locations in a total of eight countries.
With its comprehensive portfolio of perimeter protection solutions — from planning and production to installation, maintenance and repair — the company serves an international customer base in more than 20 markets and currently employs around 1,000 people.
With the transaction now agreed, Heras will become part of the Garda Group, which is currently active in Scandinavia and Germany.
The Group’s brands include a.o. Garda Sikring, Heda Security, KIBO Security, Great Security, Freihoff Group, Gleich Group, Schmid Alarm and vi2vi.
Since the Equistone funds acquired a majority stake in 2019, Heras’ strategic focus has been
primarily
on developing the business in the high-security sector and the range of services for customers from the public and private sectors, particularly in the area of critical infrastructure.
This development was additionally supported by two strategic acquisitions in Denmark and Germany.
The partnership with the Equistone funds also focused on establishing a Group-wide ESG strategy, as well as significant investments in the production sites for permanent and mobile product solutions in the Dutch domestic market and in Belgium and France. Hubert van Wolfswinkel, Partner in Equistone’s Amsterdam office, comments: “It has been a pleasure for the Equistone funds to support Heras in the strategic development of the company and the team over the past five years. Particular attention was paid to strengthening Heras’ focus on the important areas of high security and service solutions, establishing a comprehensive ESG strategy and modernizing the production sites. Heras is now ideally positioned to successfully continue the successful course initiated together with the Equistone funds as a pan-European property protection specialist under the aegis of the new owner.”
Moritz Treude (photo)
, Director in Equistone’s Munich office, adds: “Heras has performed excellently during the holding period of the Equistone funds, in particular due to the strategic realignment. With the support of the Equistone funds, the company has invested in state-of-the-art production, including automated machinery and equipment and robotization — which today is reflected in higher quality, capacity and more efficient and sustainable production.”
Emmanuel Rigaux, CEO of Heras, says: “Since the launch of the joint partnership with the Equistone funds in 2019, Heras has completed a remarkable transformation and is now excellently positioned in the European market. Together with Garda Group as our new partner, with whom we share our values, vision and growth strategy, we will seamlessly build on the successes of the last five years and take Heras’ development to a new level.” Jon Ola Stokke, CEO of Garda Group
says: “We are very pleased to welcome Heras and its experienced team to the Garda Group. Heras is a well-managed, innovative company whose recent investments in increasing the capacity, quality and efficiency of its facilities will benefit our customers. Like us, Heras shares a focus on sustainability and works with its partners across the value chain to reduce CO2 emissions and implement a circular economy. With this acquisition, we gain new expertise, as well as a broader product range and modern technical solutions. At the same time, we are strengthening our Group presence in Scandinavia and in important new regions such as the UK, Benelux and France. In addition, we can now offer our customers in Germany perimeter protection solutions alongside our existing technical security solutions.”
The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions, including the consultation process with the Dutch works council and relevant regulatory approvals.
Completion of the transaction would be the fifth overall sale in 2024, continuing a series of successful exits by the Equistone funds. About Equistone Partners Europe The funds advised by Equistone Partners Europe are among the most active European equity investors with a team of more than 35 investment professionals across seven offices in the Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, France and the UK. The Equistone funds invest primarily in established medium-sized companies with a good market position, above-average growth potential and an enterprise value of between EUR 50 and 500 million. Since its foundation in 2002, the funds have invested equity in more than 180 transactions. The portfolio of Equistone funds currently comprises around 40 companies across Europe. www.equistonepe.com. About Heras https://www.heras.co.uk/ About Garda Group https://gardasikring.no