Cold Chain Capital Holdings Europe (CCHE), a company based in Italy and which proposes itself as an aggregator in the heating, air conditioning and refrigeration sectors, has taken over Roen Est, a Friuli-based company active in the design and production of heat exchangers. The US private equity firm DE Shaw Global was the seller (see the press release here). Gattai Minoli Agostinelli & Partners were the legal advisors for CCCHE, while the seller was advised by Alantra and Orrick, respectively for financial and legal issues.
Founded in 1983 and based in Gorizia, Roen Est, with its approximately 400 employees and two offices in Italy and Slovakia, in 2019 recorded 35 million euros in revenues, in line with 2018, when it closed the year with revenues of 35.7 million euro, an ebitda of 3.3 million and a net financial position of 1.42 million (see here the analysis by Leanus, once registered for free). Since its founding in 1983, Roen Est has positioned itself on the market as the leading manufacturer of made-to-measure batteries and ventilation units in Europe, with about two thirds of export-related sales.
Giovanni Bordin, ceo of Roen Est since 2012, said: “With CCCHE a stimulating phase of growth and evolution begins. Together, we aim to grow the company organically, also through acquisitions and leveraging on the history and consolidated commercial relationships of Roen Est, born since its foundation in 1983 “.
CCC Hodings Europe has a club deal structure made of qualified industrial investors and is led by Greg Deldicque, an entrepreneur with decades of experience in the HVACR (Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning, and Refrigeration) sector in Europe and the Usa, supported by senior advisors Didier Da Costa, Eric Parrot and Jean-Pierre Xiberras. Other CCHE investors are Italmobiliare and Luca and Alberto Pretto. “The HVACR industry in Europe offers great opportunities for growth and consolidation,” said Greg Deldicque, chairman and ceo of CCCHE, who added: “We are looking forward to working with Roen’s strong team and thus stimulating further development of the company. This is only the first one: in fact, we have planned to acquire from three to five companies in the next 24 months, along a path that will lead us to create a group capable of boasting a turnover in excess of 200 million euros “.
This last transaction constitutes the fourth round of private equity for Roen Est. The latter in 2007 was acquired by Sofipa sgr, in turn then acquired by Synergo sgr, which then inherited Sofipa’s funds (Sofipa Equity Fund and Sofipa Equity Fund II) and therefore also the control of Roen. In December 2015 Synergo had sold Roen to DE Shaw Global, which until then had invested only in Italy in non-performing loans.
The transaction took place in the context of a debt restructuring based on art. 67 of the Bankruptcy Law and had allowed Roen Est to rebalance the balance sheet after a previous debt restructuring occurred in 2013 (see here a previous article by BeBeez). DE Shaw had purchased senior loans to banks (GE Interbanca, Ikb and Bnp Paribas) at a discount, covered losses, converted part of the loans into subordinated shareholder loans (8 million) and invested 1.5 million in capital increase, with the commitment to support the new business plan. At the end of the operation, the company had found itself with a positive equity of 13 million, no medium-long term debt and 4 million short-term lines.
