M&A Activity • Jul 24, 2007
M&A Activity
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Corporate | 24 July 2007 11:42
ARQUES acquires IT distributor Actebis from the Otto Group
ARQUES Industries AG / Acquisition
Release of a Corporate News, transmitted by DGAP - a company of EquityStory
AG.
The issuer / publisher is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
ARQUES acquires IT distributor Actebis from the Otto Group
Starnberg, July 24, 2007. The Starnberg-based equity investment firm ARQUES
Industries AG (ISIN DE0005156004) has purchased all the shares in the
national subsidiaries of the IT wholesaler Actebis in Germany, France,
Austria and the Netherlands. The seller is the Otto Group, which decided
for strategic reasons to withdraw from the wholesale business segment and
thus divest itself of the Actebis Group. Based in Soest, the Actebis Group
is the No. 3 IT wholesaler in Central Europe. It distributes information
technology, mobility and consumer electronics products. The purchased
companies together generated revenues of approximately EUR 2.5 billion in
2006. Half the purchase price of EUR 110 million ('equity value') will be
paid from the company’s own cash holdings and half will be borrowed.
Following the quick repayment of the interim financing facility taken out
for the purchased logistical centers, which is included in the purchase
price, ARQUES’ equity commitment will come to about EUR 20 million and the
remaining debt will amount to EUR 25 million. This transaction is pending,
subject to the approval of the competent European cartel authorities.
'The acquisition of the Actebis Group is a very important step for ARQUES,
both strategically and operationally. With this transaction, ARQUES has
sent a clear message that acquiring companies with revenues in excess of
one billion euros per year is indeed part of the company’s core business.
This transaction also makes it clear that large corporations recognize
ARQUES as a reliable partner even for difficult corporate divestitures.
Furthermore, this acquisition provides ample proof of ARQUES’ capabilities
in the area of mergers and acquisitions,' said ARQUES Executive Board
Chairman Dr. Martin Vorderwülbecke.
'We have found, in ARQUES, a competent partner that will provide a
reliable, entrepreneurial home for the Actebis Group, with very good
prospects for the future. ARQUES presented a very convincing plan to us and
that was ultimately the reason why we decided to sell Actebis to ARQUES,'
said Jürgen Schulte- Laggenbeck, Chief Financial Officer of the Otto Group.
Actebis holds an outstanding market position
Founded in 1986, Actebis is the cost leader in IT wholesaling. Selling more
than 50,000 products from more than 200 well-known manufacturers to
approximately 35,000 customers, the company disposes of a broad customer
base and supplier base. Due to the homogeneous structure of the customer
base, the company is not overly dependent on individual customers.
Suppliers include manufacturers such as HP, Microsoft, Acer, Intel,
Fujitsu/Siemens and Sony. The product portfolio comprises PCs, notebooks,
IT peripheral devices and software, as well as products in the fast-growing
segments of networks, telecommunications and entertainment electronics. The
purchased companies have a total of about 1,300 employees. As part of the
transaction, ARQUES will also acquire two real properties in Germany and
one property in Vienna, with a combined area of nearly 42,000 m2.
Actebis disposes of a solid capital base and slightly above-average
profitability for a wholesale distributor. In the last few years, the
company has been successfully managed and guided on a course of growth as
part of the world’s leading retail and services provider, the Otto Group.
Today, the IT distributor disposes of ultra-modern internal and external
logistical systems. With far-reaching partnerships in fast-growing
segments, it holds a very good market position. ARQUES will continue to
pursue the established direction and growth strategy, to ensure that
Actebis will capture an above-average share of the industry’s future growth
and to prepare it for tapping the capital market.
Actebis was even more successful in 2007 than it was in 2006. Actebis’
revenue and profit contributions for the 2007 financial year will depend on
the date of initial consolidation within the ARQUES Group, which is
expected to occur after the closing in September/October 2007. Until that
time, the existing guidance that has been put out by ARQUES Industries AG
remains in effect.
The acquisition of the Actebis Group is the eleventh transaction which the
ARQUES Group has effected in the current financial year. As a result of
these transactions, the Group has acquired companies with combined annual
revenues of nearly EUR 3 billion. With this transaction, the annualized
revenue of the ARQUES Group will rise to more than EUR 4 billion.
About ARQUES:
ARQUES Industries AG, Starnberg, (www.arques.de), is a turnaround
specialist who focuses on the acquisition and the active restructuring of
companies in transitional situations, in order to develop these, with its
own team and own resources, to competitive enterprises with a positive
yield. ARQUES revitalises its subsidiaries' potential for creating value
for the benefit of all its stakeholders, taking on the relevant social
responsibility. ARQUES has made a duty of identifying underestimated
companies with reduced survivability but with high appreciation potential,
at the same time mastering complex company structures and transitional
situations. The shares of ARQUES Industries AG are traded in the regulated
market (Prime Standard) of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange under the symbol
'AQU' (ISIN: DE0005156004) and are listed in the SDAX since September 19,
2005.
Contact:
ARQUES Industries AG
Investor Relations & Corporate Communication
Anke Lüdemann, CEFA/CIIA
Email: [email protected]
Tel.: +49 (0) 8151/ 651 0
DGAP 24.07.2007
Language: English
Issuer: ARQUES Industries AG
Münchner Str. 15a
82319 Starnberg Deutschland
Phone: +49 (0)8151 651-0
Fax: +49 (0)8151 651- 500
E-mail: [email protected]
Internet: www.arques.de
ISIN: DE0005156004
WKN: 515600
Indices: SDAX
Listed: Geregelter Markt in Frankfurt (Prime Standard); Freiverkehr
in Berlin, Hamburg, Düsseldorf, München, Stuttgart
End of News DGAP News-Service
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