December 10, 2009

Acquisition of a majority stake in Flad & Flad Communication GmbH

Equita GmbH & Co. Holding KGaA will acquire a majority stake in Flad & Flad Communication GmbH, Heroldsberg, Germany, on 1 January 2010. With this move, long-serving members of the company’s management team will become shareholders. The transaction will be funded entirely with equity capital and has already been approved by the Federal Cartel Office. The parties have agreed to maintain confidentiality regarding the volume of the transaction and other details.

Flad & Flad Communication GmbH is among Germany’s largest owner-operated advertising agencies (7th in the current ratings of W&V and Horizont). It was founded in 1946 and has more than 100 employees. This multi-channel agency covers the entire range of communication services: from brand management and classical advertising to public relations, educational marketing, interactive solutions, live communication, road shows and the construction of exhibition and trade fair booths as well as models. A focus of its activities is the design and implementation of mobile information campaigns, a field in which Flad & Flad obtains a leading position in Germany. With mobile and stationary image campaigns for such clients as utilities and public-sector bodies with the objective of familiarizing the general public with technically complex issues, Flad & Flad offers a unique range of services. With these educational campaigns, often taking the form of so-called road shows, Flad & Flad is Germany’s only supplier that covers the entire value chain. This includes planning the contents of the campaign, vehicle planning and the roll-out, including the supporting public relations activities as well as designing brochures or setting up Internet services.

Background

Headquartered in Bad Homburg, Germany, EQUITA is an independent private equity company with no affiliations to banks. It invests through its managed funds in midsized enterprises in the German-speaking countries. EQUITA, which evolved from the entrepreneurial tradition of the Harald Quandt family, invests primarily in majority stakes in companies offering significant potential for growth and gains in value. Current investments are being made by the holding company Equita GmbH & Co. Holding KGaA, which was closed in the spring of 2007 at a volume of EUR 315 million. As an investment holding it has an indefinite term, thus permitting acquisitions with a longer-term investment horizon. EQUITA currently manages three investment funds with more than EUR 600 million in equity funding at their disposal.  Since 1992 these funds have invested in 24 companies and disposed of 16 those investments. For more information, see the EQUITA website at www.equita.de.

For more information:

Equita Management GmbH

Dr. Michael Hönig
Telephone: +49-6172 9441-0
E-Mail: michael.hoenig@equita.de

Dr. Hansjörg Schnabel
Telephone: +49-6172 9441-0
E-Mail: hansjoerg.schnabel@equita.de

Flad & Flad Communication GmbH

Markus Flad
Telephone: +49-9126 275-300
E-Mail: markus.flad@flad.de