Düsseldorf, November 2019: WILO USA LLC, a subsidiary of WILO SE, acquired the pump business of J-Line Pump Co. J-Line Pump Co. operated its pump business as American-Marsh Pumps. Wilo acquired the business via its newly founded subsidiary American-Marsh Pumps LLC in an asset deal. American-Marsh Pumps with 55 employees is headquartered in Collierville, Tennessee, USA.

“The acquisition of American-Marsh Pumps strengthens our strategic market position in the US, and expands the product portfolio for our customers in the Water Management, Industry and Building Services segments”, explains Oliver Hermes, President and CEO of Wilo Group. “This acquisition marks another important milestone in the execution of our growth strategy, following the successful acquisition and integration of the Cedarburg pump manufacturers Weil Pump & Scot Pump in 2017.”

WILO SE is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of pumps and pump systems for building services, the entire water management chain and industry. The company, whose sales reached more than 1.5 billion euros, has its eyes firmly fixed on the future and is heavily involved in research and development.

The team of I-ADVISE led by Frank Sichau provided services as financial advisor to WILO SE including business valuation services.

I-ADVISE is an audit and advisory firm specialising in transaction and valuation services and is a member of an international alliance of independent advisory firms.

The August issue of the I-ADVISE Spotlight “AUTOMOTIVE AFTERMARKET – CONSOLIDATION KEEPS ROLLING” comments on current developments and challenges in the industry and provides information on the M&A activity in the European car parts and tyre trade.

For access to the publication please click here.

February 2019: I-ADVISE AG advised Erich Utsch AG, Siegen, in realigning its business strategy divesting shares in a financial holding and assuming the majority shareholding in an Australian company.

Transactions executed for that purpose by the end of 2018 comprised the sale of all shares held by Erich Utsch in UTSCH Tönnjes International (“UTI”) and the acquisition of a majority stake in Australian LicenSys Pty Ltd. (“LicenSys”). The transactions are aimed to further drive forward Erich Utsch’s differentiation from competitors and strengthen its market positioning. Through the take-over of a majority interest in LicenSys, Erich Utsch has become market leader in Australia, New Zealand and Oceania. The acquisition also enables Erich Utsch to expand its technological base.

Erich Utsch AG is the global leader in the production of license plates and related system solutions.

I-ADVISE provided business consultancy with respect to specific economic issues in the context of the divestment of Erich Utsch AG’s UTI participation and the take-over of shares in LicenSys.

January 2019: I-ADVISE AG acted as court-appointed auditor in the context of the intended transfer of the shares of the minority shareholders of Pironet AG, Cologne, to CANCOM SE, Munich (squeeze-out).

In the Extraordinary General Meeting of Pironet AG on January 10, 2019 CANCOM SE as the majority shareholder of Pironet AG filed the motion to transfer the shares of the minority shareholders to CANCOM SE in return for a cash settlement of € 9.64 per Pironet share.

About Pironet AG
Via its wholly owned subsidiary, CANCOM Pironet AG & Co. KG, Pironet AG is the multi-cloud provider of the Munich-based CANCOM Group and offers its customers a wide range of IT outsourcing services. The ISG Experton Group estimates that CANCOM Pironet was among the top 10 cloud providers in the German B2B market in 2016. With around 250 employees, Pironet AG achieved sales of around € 56 million in 2018.

About CANCOM SE
CANCOM SE as one of the leading providers of IT infrastructure and IT services in Germany, Austria, USA and the United Kingdom is listed on the TecDAX and SDAX of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. CANCOM group´s holistic product and service range includes IT consulting, design of IT architectures and IT landscapes, conceptual design and integration of IT systems, operation of IT systems, and sales of hardware and software.
The more than 3,000 employees worldwide generate annual sales of over € 1 billion.

I-ADVISE was responsible for ensuring the adequacy of the compensation of the minority shareholders of Pironet AG. In a comprehensive audit report, I-ADVISE confirmed the compensation determined by a valuation report.

January 2019: I-ADVISE AG advised Stadtwerke Gießen AG (“Stadtwerke Gießen”) on the sale of the electricity distribution grids of the city of Selters and the local community of Maxsain (“electricity distribution grids”) to Energieversorgung Mittelrhein (“evm”).

Around 88 kilometres of power lines and an associated operating property were sold to evm and the transfer of the grid service employees working in the grid area was agreed.

Stadtwerke Giessen is the regional energy supplier for the city of Giessen and the region “Mittelhessen” regarding electricity, natural gas and heat as well as drinking water. In addition, it operates the public bus services and the public baths. Stadtwerke Giessen, a 100% subsidiary of the university town of Giessen, with around 800 employees, supplies more than 190,000 customers and generated sales revenues of more than €400 million in 2017.

I-ADVISE comprehensively supported Stadtwerke Giessen in the preparation and execution of the transaction, by evaluating the electricity distribution grids and the operating property, preparing a fairness opinion and accompanying the contract negotiations.

January 2019: I-ADVISE AG advised ENGIE in Germany in the acquisition of OTTO Luft- und Klimatechnik GmbH & Co. KG (“OTTO Group”), Bad Berleburg. OTTO Group is a leading specialist in ventilation and air-conditioning solutions, cooling technology and building automation in Germany. By acquiring Otto group, ENGIE strengthens its leading market position in technical building services and deepens its product portfolio in ventilation and air-conditioning.

Otto Group with its 700 employees generated revenues of approx. €120m in 2018.

ENGIE in Germany is specialising in technical building services, facilities management, industrial refrigeration technology and energy services. ENGIE Deutschland AG is part of listed ENGIE group generating €65bn in revenues with more than 150,000 employees worldwide.

I-ADVISE provided both, Financial and Tax Due Diligence support to ENGIE.

January 2019: I-ADVISE AG supported the merger of Mayersche Buchhandlung KG and Best Of Books (B.O.B) with Thalia GmbH. The combination of 55 Mayersche bookstores in North Rine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate and the 300 Thalia stores in German speaking countries including Best Of Books (B.O.B) are forming Europe’s leading family-led bookseller.

Ongoing challenges in retail markets require innovative concepts and new alliances to sustain market success. Thalia and Mayersche are merging into an innovative bookseller with a strong regional footprint in the German speaking market, and the most successful omni-channel bookselling business. I-ADVISE provided Financial Due Diligence services to Mayersche and supported in all financial aspects of the merger.

I-ADVISE provided Mayersche Buchhandlung with Financial Due Diligence and financial advisory.

About Mayersche
In 1817 Mayersche Buchhandlung was founded in Aachen by Jacob Anton Mayer. It celebrated its second centenary anniversary in 2017 and is ever since its foundation a family owned business. Today Mayersche is run by the Falter family and is represented in 55 stores in the Western part of Germany. The Shop-in-Shop provider Best of Books is also part of the Mayersche business. In total, 1000 employees including 120 trainees are employed by Mayersche.

About Thalia
Thalia was established in 1919 in Hamburg and is market leader in retail bookstores in German-speaking countries. Thalia is owned by the Herder, Kreke, Busch and Göritz families. Thalia operates ca. 300 stores in Germany and Austria, including a 50% share in more than 30 Orell Füssli Thalia PLC bookstores in Switzerland. Thalia’s successful omni-channel strategy enables customers to access its products via all existing sales channels. Thalia employs 5,000 people.

Düsseldorf, November 2018: I-ADVISE continues its growth in valuation services and complements the valuation services team led by Dr. Jochen Beumer with Pia Brandenstein.

Pia Brandenstein is an expert in the field of valuation service with particular experience as auditor or independent expert appointed by the court in the context of German stock corporation laws and transformation laws. She also has a large consultancy track record being both German public accountant (Wirtschaftsprüfer) and German tax accountant (Steuerberater) Starting her career in a next-ten-auditory she changed to a specialist in valuation to finally reach I-ADVISE.

„We are very happy to welcome Pia on board as a well-renowned valuation expert“, so Dr. Jochen Beumer, Head of Valuation Services of I-ADVISE AG.