Knorr Capital Partners winds down portfolio

Knorr Capital has announced plans to sell off at least five of its portfolio companies by the end of this year. Three will be sold to institutional or strategic investors and two are scheduled to go public. It is expected the sales of these companies will yield revenues of around euro20 million, making a substantial contribution to the company’s forecast targets.

In spite of these disposals, the firm is also expanding and has extended its Swiss reach with the acquisition of venture capital firm Gewoh Invest. Knorr Capital plans to restructure Gewoh by disposing of its existing portfolio. The cash generated from the disposal will be used to finance the restructuring. Gewoh, which was created from a former co-operative purchasing association, will invest in equity interests with a particular focus on communications technology. Knorr Capital’s own investments from this sector will be consolidated within Gewoh and, in addition, an investment volume of around CHF100 million will be generated from contributions in kind from third parties and from new investments.

Manfred Stein of Knorr Capital said: “Upon successful completion of the restructuring, Knorr Capital plans to dilute its stake in Gewoh to a minority shareholding and is already in discussions with a number of venture capital firms who are interested in buying into the company.”