De Dietrich Remeha Group and Baxi Group announce that they have successfully reached an agreement in principle to form a combined group that will have a leading position in the European heating market.
This agreement follows the earlier announcement of discussions between the two companies. Consistent with the earlier announcement, the transaction involves a share exchange with new equity of c€100m being invested in the combined group by Baxi Group's shareholders (funds advised by BC Partners and by Electra Partners). Remeha Group B.V. will hold a majority of the equity in the new combination.
The transaction will be subject to customary conditions precedent including merger clearance filings and agreement from debt providers to retain in full and amend the financing arrangements of the two companies. Initial discussions with the works council and debt providers have been encouraging. The transaction is expected to close during the second half of 2009 provided the conditions to the agreement are satisfied.
De Dietrich Remeha Group is one of Europe's innovative leaders (ranking Europe's no. 7 in size) in heating and hot water equipment. Focused on multi-energy systems saving energy and protecting the environment, the company has grown rapidly due to the strength of its distribution and installers' network in France, The Netherlands, UK, Germany, Belgium and Poland as well as in export. Its growing success in the market of renewable energies as well as the innovative condensing gas boilers developed by Remeha, (pioneer in this area, as today in the field of micro-cogeneration) have supported this expansion strongly. The group operates under the brand names De Dietrich, Oertli, Remeha, Serv'elite and Sofath. Its production sites are located in Apeldoorn (NL), Mertzwiller, Niederbronn and Portes-les- Valence (FR). The group achieved a turnover of € 615 million in 2008 and employs 2,200 people. De Dietrich Remeha Group is 100% owned by Remeha Group B.V. with the headquarters in The Netherlands.
Baxi Group is Europe's 4th biggest manufacturer and distributor of domestic and commercial water and space heating systems. It is headquartered in the UK and employs more than 4,200 people across Europe with a turnover exceeding €1.2 billion. Baxi Group owns and sells some of the leading brands in the European market for heating products. These include the Baxi brand in the UK, Italy, Turkey, Russia and a number of East European markets; Heatrae Sadia and Potterton in the UK, Chappée and Ideal Standard in France, BaxiRoca in Spain, Broetje in Germany and Baymak in Turkey. In addition to manufacturing high efficiency condensing boilers, Baxi Group is committed to new heating technologies that will play a role in tackling climate change. It already sells the world's leading mini combined heat and power (CHP) unit and has a well developed range of domestic biomass and solid fuel boilers, solar and heat pump products and is developing microCHP boilers for domestic use.
For more information, please contact:
For De Dietrich Remeha:
Mrs Marleen Suurd
Tel. +31 55 549 62 01
For Baxi Group and BC Partners:
Mr Richard Spiegelberg
Cardew Group
Tel: +44 20 7930 0777
