立石为欧洲领先的家具工业水性涂料产品生产企业Oskar Nolte 出售予Ambienta SGR 提供咨询

Livingstone realises major investment for Oskar Nolte

The Industrial sector team of Livingstone Düsseldorf successfully advised the shareholders of Oskar Nolte GmbH on the significant investment by European private equity fund Ambienta SGR. Oskar Nolte manufactures environmentally friendly high performance coating and lacquer systems for industrial applications, primarily in the furniture industry, with an annual output of around 22,000 tons. For more than two decades, Oskar Nolte has been at the forefront of developing water-based and solvent-free coating systems that contribute to a cleaner and healthier environment.

“With Ambienta we have found a partner and co-shareholder who shares our view on the growth prospects of the business and is keen to support the company with financial and managerial resources as well as its strong international industrial expertise. Together we will extend the market position of Oskar Nolte by organic growth, as well as through suitable add-on acquisitions.” commented Guido Pühse, CEO and co-shareholder of Oskar Nolte. “The former shareholders thank Livingstone for the tremendous effort and their unparalleled commitment driving this successful transaction. It was extremely helpful for us to be closely guided during the entire process by the Livingstone team who helped us to avoid the many potential pitfalls which a transformational transaction between a typical German Mittelstand company and a European financial investor offers.”

Ambienta SGR is a leading European private equity fund operating out of Milan, Munich and London, focused on industrial growth investing in companies driven by environmental trends, with over €500 million of funds under management.

“Oskar Nolte has continued to build on its competencies over decades and today is a perfect example of a business clearly focused on superior product quality, strong customer orientation and international reach. We look forward to working closely with the Oskar Nolte and supporting its management team in their strategy to continue growth organically and potentially through acquisitions.” added Nico Helling, newly appointed Partner of Ambienta, responsible for investments in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. “Livingstone did a really good job driving this transaction to a successful closing.”

With its significant investment of more than €20m, its first in Germany, Ambienta has bought-out one of the two shareholders and supports Oskar Nolte in the next stage of international growth and product diversification. With its new partner, Ambienta, Oskar Nolte will accelerate growth by applying its coating technologies to adjacent markets such as finish foils and in emerging markets where the share of solvent-based coatings is still fairly high.

“It was our pleasure to closely support the shareholders of Oskar Nolte in the important process of a structured succession plan. We strongly believe that a successful German Mittelstand transaction like this is not only based on the identification of the right partner, but even more so on the on-going moderation and management of expectations and points-of-view between all parties involved. This is where a trusted and experienced advisor can make the difference.” said Christian Grandin, Partner of Livingstone Düsseldorf and Johannes Faber, Associate Director in this transaction.

The successful completion of the Oskar Nolte transaction marks the 8th successful transaction by Livingstone’s Industrial sector team within the last 12 months.