Halder, the Frankfurt-based investor in buy-outs of German SMEs, has signed a definitive agreement to sell its majority shareholding in ACTech Holding GmbH, Freiberg/Saxonia, to PREMIUM Equity Partners and CornerstoneCapital. Halder acquired ACTech in 2007 from a group of investors backing the company since its inception in 1995. ACTech is the leading service provider for prototype metal castings – parts and components used in R&D projects of e.g. the automotive industry. more…
Halder exits investment in GEKA
2012-2-27
Halder has signed a definitive agreement to sell its majority shareholding in GEKA GmbH, Bechhofen, to 3i. In 2007, Halder and co-investor Idinvest (formerly AGF Private Equity) had acquired GEKA, a leading supplier of applicators and product packaging to the cosmetics industry, from Equita, a German private equity house. An initial investment in the company was held during 1999 – 2004. more…
Roundtable on Private Equity in Germany
2012-1-27
In November 2011, UK private equity magazine RealDeals organized a discussion in Frankfurt involving five prominent players in the German market, Halder was represented by Paul De Ridder, partner. Topics include perspectives for PE and the middle market, Germany and Europe, the future of the Euro as well as China. more…
Interview: Paul De Ridder
2012-1-27
Halder partner Paul De Ridder on Halder’s activities in 2011, timing the market and investment opportunities in Germany’s SME sector. An interview by Brendan Scott, editor, RealDeals magazine. more…
Halder’s first 20 years in Germany
2011-12-20
1991–2011: Halder has been investing in management buy-outs of small- to medium-sized enterprises for 20 years. When a company has been in the same business for so long, is it really still the same? There are many constants: Key members of the investment management team from the early years are still active today. more…
Inexio GmbH is building an optical fibre telecommunications network in the southwestern region of Germany, today it’s lines are 2,200 km long. As the system operates without traditional exchanges, inexio can connect new service areas quickly by installing street cabinets. A client since 2009, the company has installed 200 street cabinets equipped with KEYMILE’s robust MileGate technology to date, particularly to close gaps existing in under-serviced areas. KEYMILE became a Halder portfolio company in early November 2011. more…
ACTech joins top 100 German SMEs (again)
2011-11-15
Corporate consultants from Munich Strategy Group have analysed financial and economic developments of 1600 German SMEs with 15 – 350 million € in revenues.
The analysis focused on average margins and revenue growth between 2005 and 2010, results were published by German daily “Die Welt”, among others. ACTech is among the top 100 German SMEs – actually its rank of 17th (2010: 18th) takes it to the top 1% of this universe. more…
The Riverside Company Acquires KEYMILE along with Co-Investor Halder
2011-11-3
Technologically leading supplier of telecommunications services partners for further Internationalisation and Product Expansion. more…
Hans-Dieter Mertens (1943) has joined Halder as Senior Advisor for the Asia-Pacific region as of November 2011. more…
Halder sells VAG Armaturen to Rexnord LLC
2011-7-25
German SME investor Halder, Frankfurt, has entered into a definitive agreement to sell its majority shareholding in VAG Armaturen Mannheim, to Rexnord LLC, Wisconsin, USA. more…
Halder, the Frankfurt-based investor in buy-outs of German SMEs, has sold its majority stake in ADA Cosmetics International, Kehl, the leading provider of hotel cosmetics in Europe, to a fund advised by Carlyle Group. more…
2010 – Getting back to normal
2011-4-7
Except for 2002, assets under management by the member firms of BVK (Germany’s Private Equity and Venture Capital Association) have risen steadily to reach € 39 billion. In 1990, that figure was roughly € 2 billion. Private equity finances 1,300 companies in Germany with upwards of € 200 billion in annual revenues and 1.2 million employees. It has established itself as an economic force that can weather the ups and downs of the economic cycle. more…
Market: Insearch of investment targets
A slowly changing trend: more transactions, yet lending remains scarce and valuations remain high. more…
Portfolio: Good prospects
Rising company profits, continuing debt reduction, higher portfolio valuations and the first investment for Halder-Gimv Germany II. more…
CeBIT 2012: KEYMILE presents flexible FTTx broadband expansion solutions
2012-2-9 KEYMILE is a leading supplier of technology for communications solutions in access and transmission systems. The company will present new products for telecommunications networks on stand D66 in CeBIT’s hall 13. more…
KEYMILE showcases access solution for cost-effective optical fibre connections
2012-1-25 At the FTTH Conference 2012 in Munich from 14 to 16 February, KEYMILE will present its optical multi-service access platform MileGate in an extensive FTTH live showcase. KEYMILE is Gold Sponsor of the FTTH Conference, a premier European fair and congress on optical fibre technologies. more…
ACTech at „Auto Expo“ fair in New Delhi
75 firms from the German automotive industry were present at the “Auto Expo” fair, New Delhi, in January – among them rapid prototyping specialist ACTech from Freiberg/Saxonia. The firm has a presence in Bangalore since 2009. India is a growth market for the automotive industry: German industry association VDA says that the country’s manufacturers have almost doubled their market share to 5% last year while their car brands have increased sales by 80% to 120,000 units. Suppliers are also benefiting from this trend. According to VDA, they exported goods and services with a value of €660 million to India in 2011, a year-on-year increase of 53%. more…
HR with a flexibility gene
2011-1-25 Necessity is the mother of invention: At ACTech GmbH, the „necessity“ was for more and more staff as the company grew to the point of overload. As financial manager, Cornelia Bahr is also responsible for human resources and explains how this innovative services provider’s business model and its human resources management are linked. more…
HR management in support of corporate development
2011-1-25 VAG, an offspring of valve and fittings manufacturer Bopp & Reuter founded in 1872 and its distribution company Vereinigte-Armaturen-Gesellschaft, was part of IWKA group for many years. Following some difficult years, the parent installed new management to achieve a turnaround which led to an MBO in 2004. The goal for an independent VAG: international growth. more…
Food for thought
2011-1-25 „Better is the enemy of good“, Partners at Halder said and put a presentation on „Value added by good human resources management“ on the agenda for the annual Kronberg meeting of their investment team, advisory board and executives of portfolio companies. more…
Jörg Fiedler joins Halder’s advisory board
2011-1-25 The new advisory board member is an industrial engineer, car man, and above all entrepreneur: in 1985 Jörg Fiedler was co-founder and CEO of REGE Motorenteile GmbH, an international leader in automotive supplies (pre-finished cylinder heads, power train components) which was sold to INA Schaeffler in 1999. more…
Innovation in a package
2010-7-26 With ACTech (not only) cars become better. At the very least the company from Freiberg in Saxony helps save time in the development of component prototypes; allowing them to go into production sooner – or to be tested more intensively beforehand. ACTech CEO Florian Wendt provides some background. more…
High-tech injection moulding
2010-7-26 Norbert Dumler trained as a tool maker and has a degree in industrial engineering. He is a member of GEKA’s management board and responsible for research and development. With the company since 1983, he initially took over patent and project management in 1986 after working for GEKA in the USA. The rise in patent costs is one indication of the rapid increase in product development: in 1986 they amounted to 10,000 – 20,000 German marks (about 5,000 – 10,000 euros), today they are around half a million euros per year. more…
ADA and Marietta join Forces to serve International Amenity Market
2010-4-29 Two leading hotel cosmetics producers have joined forces in an effort to significantly expand their business in the worldwide amenity market: ADA Cosmetics International (ADA), Europeʼs leading producer of hotel cosmetics, and Marietta Corporation, one of the largest hotel amenity manufacturers in North America. more…