European Capital Invests Euro 12.5 Million in Tiama
St. Peter Port, Guernsey (ots/PRNewswire)
ECAS S.a.r.l, an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of European
Capital Limited (LSE: ECAS) ("European Capital") announced today that
it has invested euro 12.5 million (US$17 million) in Tiama, a world
leader in the design of in-line inspection devices for product
quality control. The investment was led by the Paris office of
European Capital Financial Services Limited ("European Capital
Services"), the sub-investment manager of European Capital, and
supports LBO France's acquisition of Tiama. European Capital's
investment takes the form of mezzanine debt and second lien debt.
LFPI Gestion is also providing mezzanine debt."LBO France is a highly regarded European private equity firm and it is a pleasure for the Paris team to partner with them for the third time," said Jean Eichenlaub, Managing Director of European Capital Services. "Tiama is a world-class company at the forefront of the development of in-line inspection devices. We believe in the leadership of the Company's exceptional management team, which possesses a strong vision and the demonstrated ability to execute it."
European Capital has invested euro 1.7 billion (US$2.4 billion) in the last twelve months, euro 1.5 billion (US$2.1 billion) year to date and euro 56 million (US$79 million) quarter to date. For more information about European Capital's portfolio, go to http://www.ECAS.com/our_portfolio/portfolio.html.
"Tiama is the undisputed world market leader of in-line inspections for glass container manufacturers, the number one European provider of in-line inspections for the automobile industry and the number one French provider of in-line inspections for the food and beverage industry," said Tristan Parisot, Director of European Capital Services. "Heavily focused on research and development, Tiama is the sole player covering all existing technologies in glass inspection. Its asset-lite culture enables it to continually develop new technologies and respond to the unique needs of its customers. While holding commanding market positions in Europe, Tiama has established commercial presences on every continent including in the fastest growing emerging markets in China, Eastern Europe, Latin America and elsewhere."
"Tiama enjoys excellent brand recognition, a superlative reputation for quality and strong customer loyalty in a sector with exceptionally high barriers to entry," said Etienne Haubold, Director of European Capital Services. "Tiama is poised for sustained and accelerated growth driven especially by its continual updating of its inspection machines, its expanding presence in developing regions and its identification of promising acquisition opportunities."
Founded in 1963, Tiama is a leading designer of highly automated in-line inspection devices which examine products on manufacturing lines. The Company uses a vision based process, employing cameras connected to monitoring software that compares products to target patterns. Tiama provides inspection equipment for both the hot and cold ends of glass-container manufacturing as well as for automotive and food and beverage production lines. Tiama is expected to achieve approximately euro 66 million in revenue in 2007. Tiama's major customers include Owens Illinois, Saint-Gobain, Toyota and Nestle. Headquartered in Lyon, France, Tiama also operates out of Rennes, France.
"European Capital has earned an outstanding reputation as a cost-effective, flexible and agile provider of financing for middle market companies and it has amply demonstrated the validity of that reputation in Tiama," said Edouard Marienbach, Tiama CEO.
ABOUT EUROPEAN CAPITAL
European Capital is a publicly traded investment company for
pan-European equity, mezzanine and senior debt investments with
capital resources of approximately euro 2.3 billion (US$3.2 billion).
It is managed by European Capital Financial Services (Guernsey)
Limited ("ECFSG" or "the Investment Manager"), a wholly-owned
affiliate of American Capital Strategies, Ltd ("American Capital").European Capital invests in and sponsors management and employee buyouts, invests in private equity buyouts and provides capital directly to private and public companies headquartered predominantly in Europe. European Capital generally invests between euro 5 million and euro 500 million per transaction in equity, mezzanine debt and senior debt to fund growth, acquisitions and recapitalizations.
The investment objective of European Capital is to provide investors with dividend income and the potential for share value appreciation by investing in debt and equity investments in private and public companies headquartered primarily in Europe. European Capital seeks to achieve this through pursuing the following types of investments:
European Capital One Stop Buyouts(TM)
Through our One Stop Buyouts(TM), European Capital provides equity, mezzanine debt and senior debt as the lead investor in the buyout of private and public companies.
Mezzanine Direct with Sponsors
European Capital provides debt and equity financing for buyouts sponsored by private equity firms where European Capital is either the sole or lead mezzanine debt investor.
Syndicated Mezzanine and Senior Debt
European Capital provides mezzanine and senior financing for buyouts sponsored by private equity firms where European Capital is neither the sole nor lead mezzanine or senior debt investor.
Direct Investments
European Capital provides debt and equity financing directly to private and public companies, which is used for growth, acquisitions or recapitalizations, and investing in structured finance vehicles.
Companies interested in learning more about European Capital's flexible financing should contact Jean Eichenlaub at +33(0)140-68-0666 in Paris, Nathalie Faure Beaulieu or Simon Henderson at +44(0)20-7539-7000 in London, Robert von Finckenstein at +49(0)69-7171-2970 in Frankfurt, or Luis Felipe Castellanos at +34-91-745-9963 in Madrid, or visit the website at http://www.EuropeanCapital.com.
ABOUT AMERICAN CAPITAL
American Capital Strategies Ltd. (Nasdaq: ACAS) is an affiliate of European Capital and the only alternative asset management company that is a member of the S&P 500. With US$16 billion in assets under management(1), including its investments in externally managed funds, American Capital is the largest U.S. publicly traded private equity fund and one of the largest publicly traded alternative asset managers. American Capital, both directly and through its global asset management business, is an investor in management and employee buyouts, private equity buyouts, and early stage and mature private and public companies. American Capital provides senior debt, mezzanine debt and equity to fund growth, acquisitions, recapitalizations and securitizations. American Capital and its affiliates invest from US$5 million to US$800 million per company in North America and euro 5 million to euro 500 million per company in Europe.
ABOUT LBO FRANCE
Established in 1985, Paris headquartered LBO France is an independent private equity firm. Since its inception, the private equity firm has invested in more than 60 companies for a total cumulated enterprise value of euro 10 billion. LBO France has over euro 1.5 billion under management. LBO France has completed some of the largest buyouts in France including Actaris, a leading manufacturer and designer of water, power and gas metering systems, Nexity, a property development firm, Terreal, a manufacturer of clay tiles and bricks and Cegelec, a leading international engineering group providing electrical contracting services for industrial, infrastructure and non-residential projects. European Capital's London office supported LBO France's November 2005 acquisition of Terreal and the Paris office supported LBO France's April 2006 acquisition of Cegelec and its January 2007 acquisition of Biscuits Poult, the leader in the French private label biscuit market.
This press release contains forward-looking statements. The statements regarding expected results of European Capital and/or American Capital are subject to various factors and uncertainties, including the uncertainties associated with the timing of transaction closings, changes in interest rates, availability of transactions, changes in regional, national or international economic conditions, or changes in the conditions of the industries in which European Capital and/or American Capital has made investments.
(1) Assets Under Management is an estimate of internally and externally
managed assets as of September 30, 2007 and does not include any fair
value adjustments subsequent to June 30, 2007.
Web site: http://www.europeancapital.com
http://www.americancapital.comContact:
Jean Eichenlaub, Managing Director, +33(0)140-68-0666, Tristan
Parisot, Director, +33(0)140-68-0666, Etienne Haubold, Director,
+33(0)140-68-0666, or Marie Bal, Communication Manager,
+33(0)140-68-6866, all of European Capital Services