Genesis Private Equity Fund IV (GPEF IV), the latest private equity fund of Genesis Capital, has acquired a minority shareholding in Hecht Motors s.r.o, the central European supplier and manufacturer of garden machinery and equipment. Genesis Capital joined forces with the company's founders, Jan Kovačka and Rudolf Runštuk, to accelerate regional expansion and enter new markets.
Since its foundation in 1994, the Hecht Motors group has built up a strong position as the largest garden equipment supplier in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, with annual sales of more than 130,000 mowers. "In recent years, we achieved 15 to 20% annual growth. We have a clear vision for the future and what we want to accomplish in the next 5 to 7 years. The main objective is to further reaffirm Hecht's position in its core markets (Czechia, Slovakia, Hungary and Poland) and expand into new markets with sizable growth potential. We believe the partnership with Genesis Capital is imperative to fulfil our strategic goals," says one of the Hecht founders Rudolf Runštuk.
Supporting transformation of the family businesses into companies with independent professional management and their further development is one of the core strategies of the private equity funds advised by Genesis Capital. “For more than 20 years, we have been effectively helping Central European businesses with strong growth potential. Hecht is a dynamic company with a unique business model combining a comprehensive and attractive product portfolio with a large, branded retail network, supported by online sales channels and wholesale distribution channels. This business strategy creates various expansion and growth opportunities. The underlying assumption for the company’s successful future development is the optimization of its internal processes with a particular focus on logistics operations. We are very much looking forward to contributing to Hecht’s further expansion and evolution into a central European leader in garden technology and equipment,“ adds Martin Viliš, Genesis Capital Equity partner in charge of the investment. He stressed that Genesis Capital had been active in the retail sector for several years with investments such as Datart, leading multichannel reseller of consumer electronics, or JRC, specialized retailer of video games and gaming accessories.
SPM, Czech investment group, joined GPEF IV as a minority co-investor in the transaction. SPM has a track record of successfully cooperating with Genesis Capital since the JRC investment and it is also one of the major limited partners in GPEF IV.
Slavomír Pavlíček, managing partner of the SPM investment group, said: “We see Hecht as a meaningful investment; it is built on solid foundations and we see numerous growth opportunities lying ahead. As part of our vision, we help local companies across various industries to support their long-term goals. “
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About HECHT MOTORS s.r.o.
The company was founded in 1994 with a vision to offer quality garden equipment and power tools at affordable prices to Czech customers. Thanks to its reliability and fair approach to customers, the company has been steadily increasing its market share in the Czech Republic, first as an exclusive distributor and later as a manufacturer and supplier of small garden machinery and forestry equipment under its own brand HECHT. Subsequently, it expanded its activities to Slovakia and launched exports of the HECHT brand products to foreign countries. In 2008 Hecht decided to establish a branded network of retail stores. Currently, HECHT MOTORS is the largest distributor of garden equipment in the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary. With its retail network of 77 branded stores supported by online sales via e-shops, strong exports and a stabilized market share, the company is bound to show sustained growth.
The company also develops its own proprietary products and with in-house development capabilities and exclusive designs, it aims to meet increasing customer demands on new products, technology, and above all, the quality of its goods and services. For illustration, Hecht’s position as the largest seller of electric motorcycles in 2020 gave the company impetus to further develop and broaden its range of electric scooters and four-wheelers.
About Genesis Capital
Genesis Capital is a private equity group offering financing for growth and development to small and medium companies in Central Europe. Since its foundation in 1999, Genesis Capital has advised six private equity funds with a total volume exceeding EUR 350 million. These funds have already supported more than 60 companies. At present, Genesis funds hold investments in the following companies: HP Tronic/Datart, Sanborn, 11 Entertainment Group, Summa Linguae Technologies, Conectart, GTH Catering, R2B2, Home Care Promedica and HC Electronics. For more information, please visit: www.genesis.cz/en/
For more information, please visit: www.genesis.cz
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PR zastoupení Genesis Capital:
David Vondra, Insighters
E-mail: david.vondra@insighters.cz, tel. +420 776 700 131
About SPM investment group
SPM is the Czech investment group that seeks attractive long-term-oriented investment opportunities. The company operates in its present institutional form since 2016 and builds upon the business success of its founders, Slavomír Pavlíček and Marek Španel. SPM investment group is not limited by specific sector criteria but prefers capital allocation into businesses and activities with a higher added value. The group invests in companies with an experienced management team who feel passionate about a cause and bring fresh ideas.
The initial investment size of our equity investment varies between 10 to 200 million CZK per single investment. While the regional preference is defined by the main objective of supporting Czech companies in their growth efforts, the investment horizon is not subject to investment criteria.
For more information, please visit: www.spminvest.com