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Equita acquires the CaseTech Group

REPORT

Management takes stake in company through an MBO Successful growth strategy to be con nued

Munich, April 20, 2011 ADCURAM Group AG and Equita GmbH & Co. Holding KGaA, a private equity company aliated with the Harald Quandt Group, signed a deal on April 14, 2011 for the acquisi on of the CaseTech Group, with oces in Bomlitz, Germany and in Poland and the USA. With the two managing directors Jens Rsler and Klaus Brandes, who have taken substan al stakes in the company, Equita will con nue on the growth path undertaken by ADCURAM. The transac on is s ll subject to approval by the Federal Cartel Oce and should be completed in May. The transac on volume is approximately EUR 75 million. CaseTech emerged from the plas c casings ac vi es of Dow Wol Cellulosics GmbH (formerly Wol Walsrode AG). This company, with its long tradi on as a manufacturer of highquality sausage casings, was acquired by ADCURAM in September 2008 as part of a carveout from the Dow Chemical Company. For Dow, the world's secondlargest chemical group, the company was clearly a noncore ac vity at the me of the transac on. ADCURAM carved the company out of the Dow Group and turned it into a standalone midsized corpora on while making substan al investments to boost produc vity, develop new products, expand the interna onal side of the business and increase the produc on capacity. At the same me, the company's sales and protability improved signicantly. The CaseTech Group currently has a workforce of about 420 employees and in 2010 achieved total worldwide sales of EUR 60 million. Dr. Florian Meise, a member of the Execu ve Board of ADCURAM Group AG, said, "CaseTech is a true success story for the employees, for the management, and for us as the owners. In coopera on with the management and employees, we quickly turned the company from a marginal ac vity of a large corpora on into a strong, independent and successful midsized company. With Equita, CaseTech now has the backing of one of Germany's most pres gious nancial investors, which is ready to play an ac ve role in taking it into the next stage of its growth. Like ADCURAM, Equita stands for midcap entrepreneurship. With this owner and managing directors who are now coowners, CaseTech will remain highly successful in the future." Dr. Michael Hnig, the managing partner of Equita GmbH & Co. Holding KGaA, says, "The performance of CaseTech since the ADCURAM takeover has been impressive. ADCURAM has implemented a genuinely fundamental transforma on and ideally posi oned the company to face the future. With the longstanding tradi on of its brand, stateoftheart produc on facili es and the excellent interna onal customer base, CaseTech has major compe ve advantages. The rising standard of living in the emerging economies and the resul ng increase in demand for highprotein foods will present excellent growth opportuni es for the company. We want to work with the management of CaseTech to u lise these opportuni es."

Background
Headquartered in Bad Homburg, Germany, EQUITA is an independent private equity company with no alia ons to banks. It primarily acquires majority stakes in midsized enterprises in the Germanspeaking countries. Equita is a product of the entrepreneurial tradi on of the Harald Quandt family. It focuses on suppor ng internal and external growth of the companies in which it invests. Current investments are being made by the holding company Equita GmbH & Co. Holding KGaA, which was provided with EUR 315 million in funding in the spring of

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Equita Management GmbH | News | Report

http://www.equita.de/root/index.php?page_id=165&cms_press_id...

2007. As an investment fund it has an indenite term, thus permi ng acquisi ons with a longerterm investment horizon. Since 1992 Equita has invested in 27 companies through three private equity companies and has sold 17 investments. For more informa on visit www.equita.de. ADCURAM acquires companies with poten al and develops them further ac vely and sustainably. In the future, the Group will con nue to grow both organically and by acquiring new companies. The Group is able to carry out these acquisi ons as a result of its strong nancial posi on and with the resources provided by its private owners. In 2011 it is in a posi on to invest approximately EUR 150 million. At present the Group holds ve investments: Citrique Belge, the DURAN Group, the Hennecke Group, the IMA Klessmann Group and the NUVISAN Group. With approximately 3,000 employees worldwide, the ADCURAM companies generate turnover of more than EUR 500 million. The holding company has its headquarters in Munich. For more informa on visit h p://www.adcuram.de./

Addi onal informa on:

Equita Management GmbH Dr. Michael Hnig Tel.: +496172 94410 Email: michael.hoenig@equita.de www.equita.de Adcuram Group AG Dr. Florian Meise Tel.: +4989 20209590

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