Deutsche Beteiligungs Raises $864M For New Buyout Fund

Deutsche Beteiligungs AG said it received commitments of 567 million euros on a new private equity fund from more than 30 investors and an additional co-investment commitment of 133 million euros from Deutsche Beteiligungs AG. The firm’s new Fund VI will have assets of 700 million euros ($864 million)  to invest in buyouts of mid-sized companies in Germany and German-speaking countries.

PRESS RELEASE

Deutsche Beteiligungs AG completes fundraising
Commitments of 700 million euros for mid-market buyouts

Frankfurt am Main, 3 August 2012. Deutsche Beteiligungs AG (DBAG) has completed the fundraising for its new private equity fund on commitments of 567 million euros by more than 30 investors. An additional co-investment commitment of 133 million euros was provided by Deutsche Beteiligungs AG. DBAG Fund VI will thus have assets of 700 million euros to invest in buyouts of mid-sized companies in Germany and other German-speaking countries.

The new fund will increase DBAG’s managed capital to clearly more than 1.2 billion euros. DBAG currently invests in management buyouts through DBAG Fund V, a 539 million euro fund, with 20 percent of the commitments coming from DBAG. This fund is 80 percent called. As soon as the investment period of DBAG Fund VI begins (presumably 2013), fee income from management and advisory services to private equity funds will increase further from its momentary annual level of approximately 11.5 million euros and thereby cover a significant portion current operating costs.

The response received from investors exceeded DBAG’s expectations, who had targeted 650 million euros and a cap of 700 million euros (both including DBAG’s share of up to 20 percent). “We were by no means able to satisfy all subscription requests”, said Wilken von Hodenberg, Spokesman of the Board of Management of Deutsche Beteiligungs AG. “Completing the fundraising just four months after it commenced can rightly be termed an exceptional success in view of the prevailing environment.”

Torsten Grede, member of the Board of Management of Deutsche Beteiligungs AG and designated successor to von Hodenberg as DBAG’s Spokesman, named three reasons for that achievement: “In the past ten years, we were able to build a broad, loyal and ever more international investor base that has profited superbly from our investment activity across the life of several buyout funds and is therefore very pleased with the strong results the funds achieved. Our focus on industrial enterprises and conservative approach to financing our portfolio companies has made us a preferred partner in Germany among private equity investors.”

Deutsche Beteiligungs AG further broadened and internationalised its investor base with the new DBAG Fund VI. Nearly 14 percent of the commitments (basis: 567 million euros, without DBAG’s share) come from Asia. For DBAG Fund IV, which closed in 2003, Asian investors had accounted for merely four percent. US investors are represented with about 25 percent (2003: six percent). Almost 19 percent of the capital for DBAG Fund VI stems from Germany (2003: 54 percent). The percentage of German investors receded in light of the significantly larger fund size; in absolute amounts, however, commitments from Germany have remained unchanged at clearly more than 100 million euros.

With DBAG Fund VI, DBAG will continue to pursue its very successful investment strategy, which targets investments in leading industrial companies. DBAG favours certain sectors such as mechanical engineering and plant construction and automotive suppliers as well as industrial support service providers operating in these sectors.

Deutsche Beteiligungs AG (www.deutsche-beteiligung.de) is a leading publicly listed private equity company. With a track record of nearly 50 years, it is the oldest private equity firm in Germany. Deutsche Beteiligungs AG focuses on market-leading mid-sized enterprises in Germany and neighbouring European countries. It invests from its own balance sheet and from the assets of co-investment funds. Currently, the company has approximately 900 million euros under management.

Campbell Lutyens & Co. Ltd acted as the global placement agent for the offering. P+P Pöllath +Partners and Carey Olsen LLP provided legal counsel for DBAG Fund VI.