Alpinvest Adds Paper and Poultry Investments

Alpinvest Holding of the Netherlands this autumn completed an expansion funding for a German decorative paper group and an MBI of a major Dutch poultry producer and processor.

Alpinvest in early September acquired a 20% holding in Suddekor Drukerei from its private owners.

Suddekor, based in South Germany, is one of the leading printers of decorated paper worldwide. Decorative papers have applications in the manufacture of furniture and laminated floors and in interior decoration. The company, which is profitable, employs around 170 staff and operates state-of-the-art printing machinery at its Laichingen plant. Suddekor forecasts turnover of DFl 150 million (ecu 76 million) in the current year. The group is strongly export-oriented, with 66% of its turnover currently derived from sales outside Germany. The funding from Alpinvest will support further geographical expansion.

In October, Alpinvest backed an MBI of Duckto Farm and Tomassen Poliersbedrijf Ermelo, two of the largest farmers and slaughterers of Peking ducks in the Netherlands. The private equity group has taken an 81% stake in the enlarged group, Duckto Farm Holding, with the buy-in team investing for the balance.

The group supplies Peking ducks to the Chinese catering industry both in the Netherlands and elsewhere in Europe, with exports currently comprising around 30% of the group’s DFl 25 million (ecu 11 million) turnover.

Alpinvest, which floated on the Amsterdam stock exchange last June, reported net profits of DFl 148.8 million for the first half of 1998, compared with first-half profits of DFl 142.5 million and full-year profits of DFl 165.3 million in 1997.