December 22, 2004

Equita buys Geka Brush from Halder

Halder has sold its stake in Geka Brush GmbH through a secondary buy-out to a fund managed by Equita.

Geka Brush, Bechhofen (Germany), develops and produces high-end packages for liquid colour cosmetics. The company specialises in mascara, lip gloss and eye make-up applicators. Geka Brush operates on state-of-the-art production facilities for plastics processing, moulding, assembly and decoration of cosmetic packaging. Continuous optimisation of products and services allowing Geka to meet customers’ requirements is an essential success factor in the co-operation with international cosmetics companies such as Procter & Gamble, Avon, Beiersdorf, Estée Lauder, Chanel and Coty.

Since Halder’s investment in the company in 1999, Geka Brush grew sales from € 39 million (1999) to approximately € 58 million (2004). Currently, Geka employs 459 staff and has production facilities at Bechhofen in Germany and Stanley in the United Kingdom.

Since 1990 funds managed by Equita have held interests in Mittelstand companies, i.e. medium-sized enterprises, in German-speaking countries. In addition to the Harald Quandt family, further renowned private and institutional investors provide equity capital for ownership changes as well as for growth financings in Mittelstand companies. Currently, the total fund volume managed by Equita amounts to more than € 300 million.

Having completed acquisition of the shares in Geka Brush, Equita will now support managements’ strategy to capitalise on growth potential in the international cosmetics market. The management team will continue to hold a significant stake in the equity of the company.   Halder, headquartered in The Hague, the Netherlands, is a specialist in the acquisition of “Mittelstand” companies, i.e. medium-sized enterprises, particularly by way of management buy-outs. The Group’s cumulative investment volume amounts to more than € 300 million.

Halder has been active in private equity since 1983 and is one of the leading players in the German mid-cap buy-out market. Since August 2000 Halder has been part of the Belgian GIMV Group, a stock-quoted investment company.

Geka Brush is a further example of the fast-growing segment of secondary buy-outs in the private equity market. For medium-sized companies secondary buy-outs constitute an attractive alternative to the stock exchange or trade sales, offering private equity funds the opportunity to realise capital gains on their investments.

Contacts:

Halder Beteiligungsberatung GmbH

Michael Wahl
Phone +49 (0) 69 24 25 33-0
wahl@halder-d.com
www.halder-d.com

Equita Management GmbH

Werner Quillmann
Phone +49 (0) 6172 9441 222
hansjoerg.schnabel@equita.de
www.equita.de