Allianz makes safe sale

Swiss private equity firm Capvis has acquired the majority stake of safety technology company BARTEC from Allianz Capital Partners for an undisclosed sum, with reports suggesting a figure around €300m.

German-based BARTEC was acquired by Allianz in 2002 in a deal which saw the management team and previous owners the Barlian Family remain as minority shareholders. Since that time the business has established itself as the European market leader and made in-roads to the Asian and Middle Eastern markets.

BARTEC focuses on industrial safety technology and processing industries such as oil and gas, chemicals and petrochemicals as well as the pharmaceuticals industry. The business completed a €100m refinancing in July 2006

Dr. Ralf Köster, CEO of the BARTEC Group said: “The new shareholder structure enables us to exploit the existing opportunities in our global markets even more consistently. We rely on investments in new products and services together with the further internationalisation of the Group.”

The deal is Capvis’ second investment of the year. In July the firm acquired Koenig Verbindungstechnik, a German supplier of fastening and sealing technology products.

Capvis closed its third fund in March this year, raising €600m for investment into mid-market companies, typically with €50 to €400m in enterprise value, in German Speaking Europe (Switzerland, Germany and Austria).

For Allianz Capital Partners, this is the firm’s first sale of note for two years. In the summer of 2006 the German buyouts outfit sold UK care specialists Four Seasons Healthcare to Three Delta.