Abru climbs to success
Catalyst has advised German based Vaillant Group on the sale of its UK access products business, Abru, to Werner Co., the world’s leading ladder manufacturer, based in Pennsylvania, USA.
Abru is the leading supplier of access equipment to the UK DIY and home improvement market. With a manufacturing and distribution base in Belper, Derbyshire, Abru supplies products to wholesalers and retailers, including B&Q, Homebase, Argos and Wilkinsons.
Werner Co. is a private equity backed business with a $600 million turnover which has established itself as the market leader in the US and the largest ladder business in the world. Werner manufactures and distributes fibreglass, aluminium and wood climbing products. The acquisition of Abru will provide a UK and European base to continue Werner’s global growth.
Vaillant had previously identified Abru as a non-core asset and made a number of attempts to sell it since it acquired Abru as part of another deal in 2000. However, they had not been able to achieve a suitable price and turned to Catalyst to get a deal done, largely in order to benefit from Catalyst’s research function and global links from within its international M&A partnership.
On appointment, Catalyst identified a number of new buyers, largely drawn from overseas markets. However, the effect of the credit crunch on trading, and the wider materials market in the UK, resulted in the process being delayed.
"Initial offers for the business were made in late 2008, however, when the outlook for the business became more uncertain due to the downturn in market conditions we advised that the two preferred buyers should be stood down to allow management to focus on dealing with the operational issues of the business", explained Partner Keith Pickering, who along with Leigh Daveran led the deal to completion.
When the business was subsequently re-presented to buyers, Catalyst negotiated a deal with Werner at a price that was acceptable to Vaillant to take the process forward. This approach meant that Vaillant was able to quickly re-engage with Werner in late 2009 and deliver a deal, securing a result that Vaillant had been trying in vain to achieve for over nine years.
Andrew Michelman, M&A Consultant to Vaillant GmbH commented, "After a thorough analysis of the potential global buyer pool, Catalyst engaged with a few carefully selected buyers and, against the background of an extremely difficult trading environment, brought the best suitor through a process to deliver a successful result."
