June 23, 2015

Equita acquires majority stake in the ROVEMA Group

The ROVEMA Group, a leading international provider of packaging machines and lines based in Fernwald, Germany, has gained Equita GmbH & Co. Holding KGaA and Equita GmbH & Co. CoVest KGaA (jointly known as “Equita”), from Bad Homburg, Germany, as a new majority shareholder. Current managing partner Thomas Becker has retained a significant share in the company and will continue to provide the Group with his experienced leadership.

Equita, a private equity company in the Harald Quandt Group, has purchased the ROVEMA Group from its previous partners and will now function as the majority shareholder. The managing partner Thomas Becker, under whose leadership ROVEMA has successfully expanded its international presence and product range since 2010, will continue to hold a significant stake in the company. The other partners, Dr. Sepp Lachenmaier and Dr. Winfried Ley, who have been with ROVEMA since that time, are leaving the company.

With Equita, ROVEMA now has a strong partner that has been one of the leading German financial investors over the past 20 years. “Our investment focus is on high-growth, profitable and internationally active companies with a clear unique selling proposition. This makes ROVEMA an excellent fit for our portfolio. We are looking forward to continuing the ROVEMA success story and supporting the company in its further growth initiatives. Operational business activities remain in the hands of the proven management team,” says Christine Weiss, a partner with Equita.

ROVEMA was formed in 1957 and is firmly established as a global leader in the market for flexible packaging machinery and facilities. The company is regarded as the inventor of the continuous motion vertical form, fill and seal machine and has a high level of expertise with primary packaging in the food industry and related areas. It also offers packaging solutions for chemical and technical products.

Core competencies of ROVEMA include sophisticated powder applications (such as powdered milk, flour and coffee) as well as lumpy and granular products (e.g. pasta and muesli). The company is currently rolling out advanced, high-throughput machines specially developed for packaging frozen foods and snacks. ROVEMA offers individual machines as well as complete package lines including dosing units, cartoning machines and final packaging.

With its broad portfolio of high-quality, state-of-the-art machines, ROVEMA is active in an attractive, high-growth niche segment. The company is ideally positioned to benefit from global trends such as the rising importance of flexible packaging solutions for changeable market trends, a growing share of smaller single-serving packaging and innovative package styles.

At present ROVEMA, with headquarters in Fernwald, Germany, has 450 employees at 13 locations worldwide. With offices in the USA, UK, Italy, Belgium, Spain, Turkey, the Philippines, Panama and Russia, ROVEMA has a global presence. In the 2014 financial year the group had total sales of approximately EUR 70 million.

With this transaction Equita has again demonstrated its wide-ranging experience in the mechanical engineering sector. “ROVEMA is outstanding for its excellent innovative skills, comprehensive knowledge of applications and its expertise and flexibility in the spare parts business,” says Christine Weiss.

Thomas Becker, the managing partner of ROVEMA, made it clear that the choice of Equita as a partner was no accident: “Equita’s business philosophy makes it the perfect partner to support our long-term growth and market development,” he said on the occasion of the ROVEMA ownership handover. “We are delighted to have found a strong partner for ROVEMA in Equita in order to move forward together with the successful development of the company.”

Please direct any questions to the following contacts:

ROVEMA

Michael Koch
Werbekoch
Zum Grenzgraben 28
76698 Ubstadt-Weiher
Tel.: 0 72 51/96 26 10

Equita Management GmbH

Christine Weiss
Partner
Tel.: 06172– 9441-224