Austrian Lasselsberger Group on Monday announced it had acquired the largest ceramic tile and sanitary ware manufacturer on the domestic market, Sanex SA Cluj Napoca, in a deal market sources estimate was worth 15-20 million euros.
The investor actually bought Goodison Holdings, an investment vehicle that owned 67.4% in Sanex and therefore entered the Romanian market of ceramic tile and sanitary ware estimated at about 110-115 million euros in full gear.
Sanex, which is said to account for 23% - 25% of the Romanian wall and floor tile market, caught the eye of the Austrians over a year ago, who wanted to enter the market at all costs. After all, the Austrians announced they had put out a tender offer to buy the shares of Hungarian Zalakeramia Group, which owns Cesarom Bucharest, a player that matches Sanex' market share.
"The purchasing power improvement across Eastern Europe has led to massive refurbishment works, therefore creating a very high demand for construction supplies. To be able to provide Romanian consumers with a quality product at a competitive price, we need to be the market. Sanex' takeover gives us this opportunity," Lasselsberger officials say. Lasselsberger is an Austrian construction supplies business whose sales amount to over 700 million euros.
"We cannot provide any details on the value of the transaction. We put out a tender offer on the Budapest Bourse last Friday to get the remaining shares of Zalakeramia, which holds Cesarom in Romania. We hope to have this deal concluded by the end of May. We will then focus on the two companies acquired. We trust the local management," Daniel Romeyer, Lasselsberger general manager told Ziarul Financiar.
The 67.4% stake acquired on RASDAQ is worth 11 million euros, while Sanex' capitalisation reached 16 million euros (3,600 ROL/share) on Monday. Another Sanex shareholder is SIF Muntenia - 10%.
"The sale of Sanex to a strategic investor like Lasselsberger will provide the company with the necessary means to attain its expansion goals and proves once more how beneficial investment funds can be to emerging markets. Romania Moldova Direct Fund (RMDF) took the challenge of restructuring Sanex, was successful at it and sold its investment to a group of companies that can help Sanex achieve even greater success," Colin Hart, RMDF's general manager said.
Goodison Holdings is an investment vehicle of RMDF, a venture capital fund wherein businessman Dinu Patriciu is said to be involved, too, according to the latest available information. The fund is sponsored and managed by Milestone Merchant Partners (US).
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