Abru
Deal Summary
Catalyst advised Vaillant Group, the German headquartered global heating and energy efficiency products manufacturer, on the sale of its UK access products business, Abru.
The acquirer was 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. The company has a manufacturing and distribution base in Belper, Derbyshire and supplies product to wholesalers and retailers, including B&Q, Homebase, Argos and Wilkinsons.
Werner Co. is a $600m turnover private equity backed business which has established itself as the market leader in the US and 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 platform to continue Werner’s global growth.
What difference did we make?
Vaillant had acquired Abru as part of its acquisition of Hepworth Building Products Group in 2000. The main rationale for this acquisition was to combine Vaillant‘s and Hepworth‘s boiler interests, Abru being one of four other businesses held within Hepworth’s Building Products Group.
Since 2001, Vaillant had made a number of attempts to sell Abru. However, unlike the three other non-core businesses, Vaillant had not been able to achieve a sale on satisfactory terms.
Compared to previous failed attempts, there were three main areas where Catalyst made the difference to Vaillant and enabled them to meet their objectives.
Firstly, using Catalyst’s comprehensive global buyer research and in particular the input of its international partners in Mergers Alliance ensured that all possible buyers for Abru were considered. This gave Vaillant confidence that the handful approached were the most likely to pay a strategic price for the business.
Secondly, Catalyst showed its experience and commerciality in the way they managed the various buyers who took part seriously in the process. This was best demonstrated, following initial offers made in late 2008, when the outlook for the business became more uncertain due to the downturn in market conditions.
At this point, Catalyst advised that the two preferred buyers should be stood down, rather than try to work through a sale process and hold them to their offers, which meant management time could solely be focused on dealing with the operational issues of the business.
When the business was subsequently re-presented to buyers, Werner tabled an offer that was unacceptable to Vaillant. Catalyst built on the trust gained in previous discussions and ensured Werner knew they would not be able to acquire the business for such a price. Ultimately, this led to Werner re-approaching with an offer that was acceptable to Vaillant and led to the process re-commencing.
Lastly, Catalyst made the difference by thorough preparation and continued involvement with the business and its issues through good times and bad. This focus and commitment meant that Vaillant was able to quickly re-engage with Werner when they re-approached in late 2009 and make sure a deal could be concluded on terms acceptable to both sides.
In summary, diligent research and preparation, followed by long term commitment to the project and experienced buyer management secured the result Vaillant had been trying to achieve for over nine years.
