Month: April 2019

ARX Equity Partners won the Central and Eastern Europe Deal of the Year Award for VUES at the 2019 Real Deals Private Equity Awards ceremony, held in London on 24 April. 

The widely-renowned ceremony gathered more than 700 industry practitioners for its 18th edition to award symbols of recognition across the private equity sector. Finalists are established through research undertaken by Real Deals and Cass Business School, with support from Preqin data, then a panel of judges reviews the finalists and selects a winner.

ARX acquired a majority shareholding in VUES from retiring managers in 2006, then succeeded in capitalizing on the company’s inherent technical strengths and capabilities in order to significantly grow and internationalize the business over a long-term holding period. Over the past several years VUES expanded its profit margins considerably, while simultaneously growing sales and increasing headcount. The success of VUES confirms the know-how of local engineers and competitiveness of Czech R&D, which were prerequisites for the company’s expansion into increasingly demanding precision applications.

The ARX investment in VUES was exited via a sale of the company to NYSE listed Moog in early 2018.

ARX Equity Partners (“ARX”) is delighted to today announce the completion of the majority acquisition of a leading Czech-based facades business, Fenestra Wieden (“Fenestra“), and simultaneous add-on purchase of Skanska’s Czech facades operation (now collectively rebranded as Fenestra henceforth).

Going forward, ARX will partner with Fenestra’s senior management, who will retain a significant minority stake as part of the deal terms. The acquisition was completed on April 1, 2019 with the deal value undisclosed.

Fenestra is a producer and designer of aluminium-glass modular facade solutions serving customers throughout Europe. The newly combined Fenestra business (https://fenestra-wieden.cz/) employs more than 200 people, operating from two production sites in the Czech Republic with annual revenue forecast at approximately € 40 million.

Fenestra was founded in 1991 by Pavel Wieden, who established the business to utilise his track record and expertise in glass and aluminium construction. Fenestra is currently one of the leading Czech-based glazed-facade producers, providing complex solutions with a particular focus on design and performance for large-scale demanding projects, typically with building projects of over 10,000 sqm. Fenestra has recently completed several projects in Sweden, including the Karolinska Institute’s Ki Aula lecture hall project in Stockholm.

This combination of Fenestra and the Skanska facades operation has subsequently created a significant market player showcasing deep technical and design capabilities. The strategy of combining these businesses is to capitalise on their respective specialist strengths while also maximising the potential of increased productivity and broadening geographic reach of said new direction.