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20. September 2010
DEAR READER,
The past few months have been very eventful for us. We received a great deal of attention for our study on the German sector for solar industry suppliers, which we published in June. In addition we are also pleased to present you with excellent news from our portfolio: for instance, a subsidiary of Conlinet holding which we acquired in March 2010, reached an extensive agreement with the public utility company in Bochum, Germany.
In July 2010, VENTIZZ Capital Fund III L.P. sold its participation in Gish Biomedical Inc. to the Italian Sorin Group. And last but not least we celebrated our tenth anniversary in July, together with around 450 guests from the worlds of business, science and politics. You can find more detailed information on all these matters and more on the following two pages. We hope you enjoy reading our newsletter!
Dr. Helmut Vorndran, Reinhard Löchner, Willi Mannheims, Dr. Björn Söndgerath and the entire Ventizz team
TEAM
4th Partner for VENTIZZ
 VENTIZZ Private Equity AG has appointed Dr. Björn Söndgerath (40) as a fourth member of the partner team as of July 1, 2010. Dr. Söndgerath has been with the company since 2007 as an investment director. For the past approximately three years his activities focused on investments in renewable energy, particularly in the solar sector. His advisory activities have included the acquisition of ersol Thin Film GmbH and also more recently the acquisition of Sovello AG by VENTIZZ Capital Fund IV L.P. In addition, he also played a key role in the buy and build strategy at the VENTIZZ portfolio investment AEM Technologies.
Dr. Björn Söndgerath spent six years as a consultant and scientific employee with Fraunhofer Gesellschaft, and prior to joining several management VENTIZZ he held positions with MTU Aero Engines AG in business development and corporate finance. He graduated in business administration and engineering from the University of Siegen, obtained a postgraduate qualification (“DESS”) from the Paris-Dauphine University in France, and a doctorate in engineering at the University of Magdeburg.
STUDY
In focus: German solar suppliers
A recent study by Wiesbaden Business School on behalf of VENTIZZ Private Equity AG showed that the market for German solar suppliers is facing a period of consolidation. Participants are forecasting strong growth with a simultaneous decrease in the number of suppliers. Further internationalization of sales and production are clearly apparent – in particular shifting to Asia.
The majority of German solar suppliers questioned are expecting a period of consolidation for the industry over the next two years. More than 40% of companies are playing a passive role – they are not actively planning acquisitions or mergers or preparing for corresponding talks. This passive behavior could reinforce German technology being sold off to other countries, thus endangers German solar equipment companies’ leading position on the global market.
At the same time, there is a clear trend to moving sales and production from Germany and Europe to Asia in particular, and to a lesser extent also to North America. One in three companies identifies financing as being an obstacle to the forecast expansion and on-track growth – experts across the board name a high equity ratio as being a key characteristic for the future.
PORTFOLIO
Conlinet cooperates with Stadtwerke Bochum
The Conlinet Group, acquired by VENTIZZ Capital Fund IV in March 2010, is continuing to expand. Along with Stadtwerke Bochum, the Conlinet subsidiary Vitronet Beteiligungen GmbH has formed two joint ventures in order to install and operate a glass-fiber network in Bochum. The first new company, Glasfaser Bochum GmbH & Co. KG, will successively expand the fiber optic infrastructure in the Bochum city region while a second joint venture, bestmile GmbH & Co. KG will market and sell the resulting glass-fiber network. Around 60% of the Bochum city region is to be equipped with the high-speed network by 2016 which enables households to enjoy 50-times faster network access that is currently done with DSL connections. This agreement with Stadtwerke Bochum is already the second large contract concluded by the Conlinet Group in the space of just a few months. Conlinet has had a strategic alliance with Stadtwerke Essen since 2009, and the joint venture essen.net GmbH was formed in September 2009.
DEAL
Sale of Gish Biomedical Inc.
In July, 2010 VENTIZZ Capital Fund III L.P. successfully sold its 100% interest in Gish Biomedical Inc. to the Italian Sorin Group. All parties have agreed not to disclose any information about the purchase price. In July 2007, VENTIZZ Capital fund III L.P. acquired Gish Biodemical, a producer of medical products for heart surgery and cardiology, in order to further drive the growth of MEDOS Medizintechnik AG, a company that was already majority-owned by VENTIZZ Fund III as part of its international expansion strategy. In future, MEDOS, which now operates in more than 60 countries, will increasingly focus on selling its newly developed generation of Deltastream blood pumps in Europe, and has therefore sold Gish Biomedical Inc. for strategic reasons. “The Sorin Group is an excellent fit as the new partner for Gish Biomedical,” commented Reinhard Löchner from VENTIZZ. “That makes us very confident that Sorin will successfully continue Gish Biomedical’s company growth in future.“
EVENTS WITH VENTIZZ
Ten years anniversary
Together with around 450 guests from the worlds of business, science and politics, VENTIZZ celebrated its tenth anniversary in July with a wonderful party. The venue was the Maritim Hotel, Düsseldorf, which provided an excellent framework for the spectacular performance of the famous violinist David Garrett. The well-known TV presenter Sabine Christiansen accompanied the guests through the evening and anchorman Ulrich Wickert aroused the conscience of the Private Equity industry in his speech.
Professor Hans-Jörg Bullinger, president of Fraunhofer Gesellschaft, also made an inspiring speech with some entertaining words on renewable energies. The well-known band “no limit Allstars” played far into the night, ensuring an enthusiastic atmosphere.
Newsletter als PDF downloaden »
Pressekontakt Ventizz:
cometis AG
Henryk Deter
Tel.: +49 (0)611-205855-13
Fax: +49 (0)611-205855-66
E-mail: deter@cometis.de
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