Grohe looking for new owners

New momentum
under current owners

Grohe came
into the hands of its current owners in 2004, when they bought it from BC
Partners for 1.5 billion euro. BC Partners had owned the company for five
years.

The new
owners gave the company some new momentum: despite the crisis Grohe saw its sales rise by 21% to 1.4 billion euro last year, while the company cash flow rose 18%
to 273 million euro. The progress came from an adjustment and expansion of the
range.

Since 2011 Grohe
also acquired an interest of 72% in Chinese sector partner Joyou, which should give
the company better access to the Asian markets. Joyou has a network of 4,000
location in China.

Right time
for takeover

Still TPG and Credit Suisse feel it is time to
leave. The low interest rate makes it possible for buyers to get cheaper
financing. Furthermore it is fairly calm on the stock markets and there have
been more takeovers lately. By the standards of an investment fund, both TPG
and Credit Suisse have been at the helm for quite some time.

Analyst say the company is worth about 4
billion euro, including the takeover of a net debt of 1 billion euro. They used
the rating of sector partner Geberit to calculate the value of Grohe.

German world player

Grohe was founded in 1936. The company employs
about 9,000 people and has production locations in Germany, Portugal, Canada and
Thailand. The products are sold in more than 130 countries. Half of sales still
come from Europe though, about a quarter from China.

A sale of the company – to an investor or via
an IPO – is expected in the third or fourth quarter of this year.