The EQT Mid Market Europe Fund announced that it is partnering with co-founders Josef Wildgruber and Uwe Behr to invest in BBS Automation GmbH to support the further expansion of the business.
BBS Automation is a leading provider of flexible and high-quality automation solutions for complex manufacturing and testing processes. The Company develops, builds and installs high-quality automated systems for a wide range of industries and requirements. With more than 600 employees across production sites in Germany, China, Malaysia and the US, BBS Automation partners with blue chip customers on a global scale.
EQT Mid Market intends to leverage its long-term experience in the Industrial Technology space to assist BBS Automation’s growth ambitions both organically and through add-on acquisitions in new end markets. Furthermore, EQT’s global network, in particular the presence in China and the Americas, will support the Company in further expanding its geographical foot-print to reach blue chip customers on a global scale.
The transaction is subject to customary regulatory approval. The parties have agreed not to disclose financial details of the transaction.
Interview with the team at ARTEMIS Group
How did you ensure that the execution of the deal happened in a comprehensive manner?
To execute transactions in a holistic manner, ARTEMIS Group pursues a stringent and comprehensive transaction management. In the first step we define the goals of the transaction together with our client. The goals included financial components like expected valuation, as well as strategic components like timeframe, market access and specific sector know-how of the investor. Based on a sound understanding of the international M&A markets, ARTEMIS Group verifies whether the goals are reachable and sufficient investors are active in the current market environment.
During the execution phase of the transaction, ARTMIS Group follows from day one, a clear structured roadmap with key milestones and goals for the negotiations with the investor. The content of each milestone, e.g. indicative offer or term sheet, is comprehensively specified and aligned with every investor participating in the transaction. Due to this approach we are always able to measure the current results against the predefined goals of the transaction and to select the right investor for our client. The same approach is applied during the final negotiation of SPA and SHA.
Can you share in which ways you had to work as a team to guarantee everything ran smoothly?
Due to the complexity and the international scope of the transaction with multiple jurisdictions, ARTEMIS Group had to build an international sell-side team to cover all topics from finance, commercial, legal to tax. To manage this interdisciplinary sell-side team a day by day management was required - supported by a state of the art M&A IT system and easy to use communication systems. It is also important to emphasise that the intensive/integrated cooperation with the investor’s buy-side transaction team was a critical success factor during the due diligence phase.
Were there any lessons learnt after working on this particular transaction?
To successfully execute a complex and international transaction in a tight timeframe like this, comprehensive preparation and proactive transaction management is required. Ex ante defined goals help the seller to evaluate the different offers and to select the right partner. Especially in an international transaction environment, state of the art IT systems can increase the efficiency of the whole transaction process.
