Alukon continues to grow with Halder Paris 16 October 2007

After successful business development in 2007, Alukon, the supplier of roller shutters and roller doors, is continuing to plan for dynamic development of its business in 2007 with its new finance partner Halder. The company, with its headquarters in Konradsreuth, Germany, is one of Europe’s leading manufacturers of high-quality roller shutter and roller door sections and accessories in aluminium.

Alukon saw its business accelerate significantly after AXA Private Equity acquired a stake in the company in March 2004. During that year Alukon reported revenues of under 59 million euros. By 2006 revenues had grown to 71 million euros, an increase of some 20%. Alukon’s workforce has also grown during this period from 280 to a current 320 employees.

“With Alukon we have acquired an excellently positioned company”, said Halder partner Michael Wah “Alukon is well equipped to acquire new customers in the rapidly growing international markets”, Wahl said. The two parties agreed not to reveal the purchase price. Alukon management continues to hold a stake in the company.

Alukon’s dynamic development has been driven essentially by investment in optimisation and expansion of the production processes and capacity. The company has also benefited from a significant expansion of the export business. “During the period in which AXA Private Equity held a stake in Alukon the company developed into a well-positioned international player through expansion into Eastern Europe and other international markets, which has been enhanced by us”, said Wolfgang Pietzsch from AXA Private Equity.
 

Participants in this transaction

Buyers :

• Halder: Michael Wahl, Paul De Ridder, Susanne Quint
• Commercial Due Diligence: Codex (Dr. Rüdiger Maaß)
• Legal: Thümmel, Schütze & Partner (Marcus Rauschenberger)
• Financial & Tax: Ernst & Young (Thomas Ehsen)

Seller :

• AXA Private Equity: Dr. Helmut Pitsch, Wolfgang Pietzsch, Markus Brunnemann
• M&A consultants: Close Brothers (Dr. Wolfgang Kazmierowski, Oliver Boot, Christoph Maier-Ahfeldt, Sandra Bamberg)
• Legal: Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP (Dr. Walter Henle, Dr. Stefan Koch and Lars Eissfeldt)

Finance :

• Investkredit: Thomas Fotteler, Marc Vogler

About Alukon :

Headquartered in Konradsreuth, Germany, Alukon is a leading provider of high-quality aluminum roller shutters and roller door systems. With its staff of approximately 320 employees Alukon produces single components, custom product solutions and associated accessories. A large warehousing capacity, dense logistical network and own delivery fleet ensure a high degree of product availability and the fast, reliable fulfillment of orders.

Further information is available at: www.alukon.de

About AXA Private Equity :

AXA Private Equity – an AXA Investment Managers company – is one of the world’s leading equity participation companies. AXA Private Equity offers investors a broad selection of high-performance funds for every market segment: Buyout, Expansion Capital, Venture Capital, Co-investments, Infrastructure, Mezzanine, Primary, Early Secondary and Secondary Fund of Funds. From its offices in Paris, Frankfurt, London, Milan, New York and Singapore, AXA Private Equity currently manages and/or advises on more than € 14.4 billion from leading investors throughout the world. With a constant focus on transparency, performance and sustainable profitability, AXA Private Equity relies on the expertise of its internationally experienced investment specialists.

Further information is available at: www.axaprivateequity.com

About Halder :

Halder invested in more than 130 medium-sized companies since the beginning of the eighties. Halder has been active in Germany since 1991 and is one of the leading private equity investors for management buy-outs in the German middle market. Since 2000 Halder has been part of GIMV group, a Belgian listed investment company. 
Through its stake in Gealan, a manufacturer of window systems, and a stake in interior door manufacturer Prüm-Garant, which was recently sold, Halder has acquired considerable experience in the construction supply sector. The acquisition of Alukon is the eighth investment of Halder’s German fund which was closed in February 2005.

Further information is available at: www.halder.eu

Contact for Halder Beteiligungsberatung GmbH

Paul De Ridder, Michael Wahl, Susanne Quint  
Tel.: +49 (0) 69 24 25 33 0     
Email: mail@halder.eu   
www.halder.eu

Contact for AXA Private Equity:

France
Jérémie Delecourt
Tel. +33 1 44 45 60 73
Email: jeremie.delecourt@axa-im.com

Germany
A&B Financial Dynamics
Matthias Dezes
Tel. +49 (0) 69 92 03 71 86
Fax. +49 (0) 69 92 03 71 99
m.dezes@abfd.de