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DC Bled has acquired the largest private healthcare provider in the Maribor area, Fontana (Medicinsko Termalni Center Fontana zdravstvo in rekreacija, d.o.o.) in March 2019, making DC Bled by far the largest private out-patient healthcare provider in Slovenia. Also, in January this year, DC Bled opened its new modern health center in Novo Mesto. These developments follow two clinic acquisitions completed in 2018. DC Bled now covers the entire country with its six clinics, over 100 employees, while serving more than 20,000 patients per annum. The company is planning additional acquisitions in 2019, led by its senior management team Lenca Moze (CFO) and Zvone Novina (CEO). All of these developments are aligned with DC Bled’s core objective to provide the highest quality medical care and service to its growing network of patients.

Further to regulatory approval, ARX Equity Partners / https://www.arxequity.com (“ARX”) has successfully completed the exit of its investment in Fincentrum / https://www.fincentrum.com,a leading, independent financial advisory business operating in the Czech Republic and Slovakia respectively.

Fincentrum facilitates the sale of mortgages, life insurance and investment products and boasts more than 3,000 financial advisors and a turnover in excess of €60 million. It ranks as the largest, independent distribution partner, primarily for banks and insurance companies, in the Czech and Slovak markets.

The ARX exit was finalised via a 100% sale to the Swiss Life Group / https://www.swisslife.com/en/swisslifegroup.html, a leading European provider of comprehensive life, pension and financial solutions. This acquisition strengthens Swiss Life’s presence in the region and positions the company as a clear market leader for independent financial advice in the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

Michal Aron, Partner at ARX, commented: “We are pleased that the achievements of Fincentrum over the past few years have positioned the company as an attractive acquisition target for a blue-chip strategic acquirer such as Swiss Life. Fincentrum has excellent long-term growth and development prospects and we believe that Swiss Life will be an ideal driver for the business going forward.”.

The divestment of Fincentrum to the publicly listed Swiss Life represents the third exit from the ARX Czech portfolio over the past 12 months to major internationally listed strategic acquirers. This series of successful exits was initiated by the sale of ARX portfolio company KVK Holding to Swiss listed Sika in Q4 2017 and was followed by the exit of VUES to NYSE listed Moog in Q2 2018. “The ARX exits achieved over the past 12 months are evidence of both the attractiveness of the Czech lower mid-cap market and the ARX investment focus as a whole. These transactions reaffirm that acquiring, developing and positioning lower mid-cap companies for exits to international strategic investors is a viable strategy for CEE”, said Brian Wardrop, ARX Managing Partner.

The transaction strengthens Swiss Life’s presence in this region and Swiss Life together with Fincentrum as a leading financial adviser in the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

Swiss Life acquires Fincentrum, an independent financial advisor founded in 2000 with more than 2,500 financial advisors and a turnover exceeding CZK 1.6 bn that is located in the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

Swiss Life Group is a leading comprehensive life and pensions and financial solutions provider across Europe. The offering of high-quality financial services for over 160 years has built an excellent reputation and a continuously strong financial standing. 

This acquisition strengthens Swiss Life’s presence in the region and positions the company as a market leader for independent financial advice in Czech Republic and Slovakia.

To ensure stability and sustainable continuation of both service offerings, Swiss Life Select and Fincentrum will retain their independent brand and sales leadership structure.

The acquisition is subject to regulatory approval and is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2018. Both parties have agreed not to disclose the purchase price.

DC Bled has completed the acquisition of diagnostics center Gastromedica in May 2018, located in Murska Sobota. This comes two years after the acquisition of Medi Cons based in Novo Mesto, Slovenia. Later this year DC Bled will consolidate its Kostanevica location with Medi Cons in a modern health center in downtown Novo Mesto. Gastromedica specializes in endoscopy procedures for chronical diseases and performs more than 2,000 procedures a year. Its medical team, including the founder Dr. Puc remain. Despite the slow execution of a broader market consolidation buy-and-build strategy, DC Bled hopes to acquire 2-3 additional clinics by the end of 2018.

ARX Equity Partners (“ARX”) is delighted to announce the majority acquisition of TMX Mobile Solutions (“TMX“). Going forward, ARX will partner with the company’s senior management, who retain a significant minority stake as part of the deal.

TMX is a market leader in the Hungarian mobile device repair space and a significant European player more generally. The company is on-track to generate a revenue stream of over €40 million in 2018. TMX employs over 400 skilled staff, who deliver a service-offering comprised of physical repair, logistics and refurbishment of mobile phones. They repair approximately 500,000 mobile devices annually for B2B customers that consist of major mobile device OEMs, smartphone insurance providers and mobile operators respectively.

The ARX strategy with TMX is to perfect the company’s leading position in what is a growing domestic Hungarian market, while also maximizing the upward trend for mobile device repairs in Central and Eastern Europe. TMX is ideally positioned in terms of scale, logistical capabilities, proximity and cost competitiveness to capture a meaningful share of the European insured device repair market.

“TMX is a quality business that possesses robust systems, significant geographic coverage capabilities and a blue-chip client base. We are impressed with the company’s ability to efficiently handle complex repairs and the related logistical demands, which combine to deliver a seamless and satisfying customer experience,” explained Bela Lendvai-Lintner, a Partner with ARX.

“We are excited to welcome ARX as an experienced partner that has a track-record in supporting domestic Central European leaders on their journey toward regional expansion and internationalisation.” said Balazs Kotányi, majority owner of TMX.

TMX represents the second investment from the fourth ARX managed private equity fund, following the successful exit of VUES in April of this year.

Following an approval by regulatory authorities, ARX Equity Partners (ARX) has completed the exit of its investment in Czech producer of specialized electrical motors VUES Brno s.r.o. (VUES) via a sale to Moog Inc. (NYSE:MOG.A) (NYSE:MOG.B) for a purchase price of € 53 million. The ARX investment into VUES generated an overall 11.8x cash-on-cash return multiple and an IRR of over 30%.

ARX acquired a majority shareholding in VUES from retiring managers in 2006, with the intention to leverage the company’s inherent technical strengths and capabilities in order to grow and further internationalize the business. Over the past eight years VUES expanded its profit margins considerably, while simultaneously doubling sales and increasing headcount by over 30%.

ARX Equity Partners and Moog Inc. (NYSE:MOG.A) (NYSE:MOG.B) have entered into a binding agreement for the sale of VUES Brno s.r.o. (“VUES”) to Moog. The transaction is subject to approval by competition protection authorities and its finalization is expected in approximately two months.

VUES is a producer of custom designed specialized electrical motors.

ARX Equity Partners (“ARX”) has exited its 2010 investment in Czech construction materials manufacturer, KVK Holding a.s. (“KVK”), while generating an overall 3.7x cash-on-cash return multiple and an IRR exceeding 20%. KVK operates six production sites in the Czech Republic – three for the manufacture of mortar products, two for bituminous membranes and one for expanded polystyrene insulation. KVK generated revenues of € 40 million in 2016.

 

The ARX exit was executed via a sale to Sika CZ, s.r.o., a subsidiary of Sika AG (“Sika”). Sika is a Swiss-headquartered specialty chemicals company with a leading position in the development and production of systems and products for bonding, sealing, damping, reinforcing and protecting in the building sector and automotive industry. Sika has subsidiaries in 99 countries and manufactures in over 190 factories.

 

The KVK investment is consistent with the ARX focus on Central European growth buy-outs. ARX acquired a majority shareholding in KVK from retiring owners in 2010, in a proprietary succession-driven deal, with the intention of completing complementary add-on acquisitions from the strong KVK platform. In 2011 KVK executed its first add-on – the acquisition of KRPA Dehtochema, which augmented the company’s leading position in the Czech and Slovak bituminous membranes market. An additional Czech add-on (the acquisition of Penopol later in 2011) facilitated KVK’s entry into the adjacent expanded polystyrene market segment. Under ARX ownership both companies were fully integrated and significant synergies were realized. Additional value creation initiatives included enhancing the KVK management team and institutionalizing internal processes.

ARX Equity Partners has entered into an agreement to exit portfolio company KVK via a sale to Sika AG. KVK operates six production sites in the Czech Republic – three for the manufacture of mortar products, two for bituminous membranes and one for expanded polystyrene insulation.

 

Sika is a specialty chemicals company with a leading position in the development and production of systems and products for bonding, sealing, damping, reinforcing and protecting in the building sector and automotive industry. Sika has subsidiaries in 98 countries and manufactures in over 190 factories.

 

No financial details have been disclosed and completion of the transaction is subject to clearance by anti-trust authorities.

On 21 August 2017, ARX Equity Partners exits its investment in the Czech based electrical engineering services company, Manag a.s. (“Manag”) via a sale to a Czech industrial holding Multicraft Group.