September 30 (SeeNews) - Romanian private equity fund Morphosis Capital said on Thursday that together with co-investors it has acquired 51% of local integrated solutions and services for industrial access EMI for 15 million euro ($17.5 million).
Morphosis Capital aims to strengthen EMI's national leadership in the field of industrial access solutions, attracting new niches of customers and enter new markets through mergers and acquisitions, it said in a press release.
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The investment in EMI is the largest so far made by Morphosis Capital, exceeding the amount of 5 to 10 million euro typically invested by the fund.
In order to supplement the investment, Morphosis Capital has partnered with family offices in Belgium, Vybros, Tilleghem and others, investors in Fund I.
"Together with Morphosis Capital we will accelerate the development of EMI, with the aim of becoming the preferred supplier in Romania and in Europe of total industrial solutions and for complex technical projects," EMI CEO and founder Jerome France said.
Following the transaction, Morphosis Capital and co-investors hold a 51% stake in the company, while the remaining 49% is owned by Jerome France.
The deal received approval from Romania's anti-trust body in August.
"Today’s transaction marks many firsts for us – it is the first transaction for which we partnered up with our co-investors, whom we thank for their trust. It is also the largest deal to date, a size that we envision for our next fund, and the first deal in the sector of manufacturing and services," Morphosis Capital managing partner Andrei Gemeneanu said. "The strict regulatory changes in the sector and the demand for sustainable and energy-efficient solutions will increase the demand for industrial door solutions. EMI has all the resources needed to adapt to the new production requirements and deliver state-of-the-art industrial access systems."
Founded in 1998 in France as Equipment Maintenance Industrie (EMI), the company later expanded on the Romanian market, specializing in the production of industrial access solutions such as doors, gates, shutters, curtains, fences and other industrial closures at its factory in Cateasca, Arges county. The company booked a turnover of 55 million lei ($13 million/ 11 million euro) in 2020, up 6% on the year.
EMI is the fourth transaction made by Morphosis Capital after the investments made in business process automation company DocProcess, medical clinic chain specializing in imaging and radiology Medima Health and the Dr. Leahu Dental Clinics network.
The private equity fund estimates that it will carry out three more transactions by mid-2022, when the entire capital of Fund I, totaling 50 million euro, will be invested. In February, Morphosis said it plans to invest 10-20 million euro this year in two local small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
Established in December 2018 by four Romanian entrepreneurs, Simona Gemeneanu, Gabriela Dumitru, Dragos Petre, and Andrei Gemeneanu, the fund aims to contribute to the development and transformation of Romanian SMEs.
($=0.8576 euro)