Press Release
Fixatti/Arkema: Patrimonium co-leads transaction
Fixatti Group (“Fixatti”) shareholders, previously Schaetti Group, partly represented by Patrimonium Private Equity (“Patrimonium”), have agreed to sell 100% of the shareholding to publicly listed Arkema S.A. of France. The transaction will generate a strong return for the Schaetti Group shareholders, the predecessor company of Fixatti. The transaction is expected to close shortly subject to relevant merger control approval.
Founded in 1957, Schaetti Group (“Schaetti”) was a second-generation family-owned company managed by Daniel Schaetti headquartered in Wallisellen/Switzerland with production plants in Germany and China and a broad international customer base. Schaetti produces high-quality, customized thermoplastic and thermosetting plastic powders mainly for adhesive and metal coating applications for various industries such as technical textiles, footwear, automotive, hygiene, furniture and protective coatings.
In 2013 the team of Patrimonium Private Equity organized the succession and acquisition of a majority position in Schaetti as a non-fund transaction together with co-investors. Co-Investor AG of Frankfurt has partnered with Patrimonium and acquired the majority of the equity with Daniel Schaetti maintaining an important minority share. Patrimonium director Andreas Ziegler represented an important shareholder group as board member of Schaetti and Fixatti since 2013 and co-led the successful implementation of the group’s strategy to focus on higher-margin niche products and to make it relevant for strategic buyers resulting in this trade sale.
In November of 2018, Schaetti merged with its highly complementary, smaller competitor Dakota Worldwide of Belgium to become Fixatti Group, a transaction supported and closely accompanied by Patrimonium. The merger made it an important player in its market with almost € 60 million of gross revenues and a well-diversified customer and product portfolio.
The acquisition of Fixatti is part of Arkema’s targeted growth strategy in high value-added technologies and will strengthen its global offering of adhesive solutions for niche industrial applications in the construction, technical coating, battery, automotive, and textile printing markets.
Former owner of Schaetti Group Daniel Schaetti said: “I am thankful that Patrimonium enabled the succession of my company and always was a fair and reliable partner for me. I am very happy with the collaboration and development of the company, the merger with Dakota and now sale to Arkema which is the perfect owner for this business.”
Andreas Ziegler, Director at Patrimonium Private Equity and Vice Chairman of Schaetti and board member of Fixatti, added: “Our focused buy & build and internationalization strategy once again proved successful in making a smaller company relevant for larger market participants, hence attracting their attention. I want to highlight the outstanding collaboration with Fixatti Chairman Dr. Farsin Yadegardjam of Co-Investor AG, Daniel Schaetti and CEO Gertjan de Creus and his team. Having the active support of the former owner Daniel Schaetti was very important for key strategic decisions and the development of management. It was a great pleasure and successful joint effort!”
With the sale of Fixatti, the last investment of the previous investment generation has been successfully concluded. Patrimonium announced the first market closing of its latest buyout fund, the Patrimonium Private Equity Fund, with € 100 million in March 2020. The fund has already started investing in the lower mid-market in the DACH-Region and will continue to invest in established companies with growth potential with enterprise values typically between € 20 – 80 million. The value creation strategy focuses on buy & build, internationalization, operational enhancement, and digital transformation.
The shareholders of Fixatti were advised by Rothschild & Co in this transaction.
