Prague, December 1, 2011 The Břeclav-based joint stock company, Gumotex, the largest domestic manufacturer of bed mattresses and products using polyurethane foam, has changed its ownership structure. The close to 40 percent interest in the company, which had been owned by Genesis Capital, has now been taken over and purchased by the other current shareholders – a consortium made up of the investment companies, Milestone Partners and Expandia – and the CEO of Gumotex, Mr. Jiří Kalužík. Genesis Capital, which is one of the largest private equity firmsin the Czech Republic, has successfully completed a transaction, which began with an initial investment into Gumotex dating back to 2006.
The Gumotex company has been around since 1952 and it currently has close to 1,200 employees and an annual turnover of more than two billion Czech crowns. It is the largest industrial employer in the Břeclav area. More than fifty percent of the company’s production, which is focused on polyurethane-based interior components for automobiles, foam rubber mattresses and sports and leisure inflatable products, is exported – primarily to other countries of the EU and to the US.
“Our exiting of our investment in Gumotex marks the successful completion of our five year involvement with the company. During this period, Gumotex has seen its status as a leading Czech manufacturer of household furniture and auto parts increase and, as a result, we’ve been able to deliver a very nice return to the investors in our GPEF fund,” said the CEO of Genesis Capital, Jan Tauber.
“Gumotex has shown itself to be a stable and growing company, in which very positive developments are taking place – especially with respect to its involvement in the automobile industry. By adding to our investment and ownership interest, we see an opportunity to take advantage of our previously acquired knowledge of the company. We can take advantage of one of the strengths of Milestone Partners which, as a private equity fund, can invest in companies without any specific holding period – thus, we can fully realize the underlying value of our investment,” commented the CEO of Milestone Partners, Martin Pětivoký.
“We see this additional investment into Gumotex as further strengthening our portfolio. We are happy to be able to add to our ownership position in a stable company with attractive growth opportunities. We are looking at this investment as a long-term one, which will provide us with a continuing attractive appreciation in market value – notwithstanding the current turbulence economic environment,” added Michal Záveský, the CEO of Expandia.
For editors:
About Gumotex
GUMOTEX, a joint stock company, is the largest industrial enterprise in the Břeclav area. It has annual turnover of more than two billion Czech crowns. More than half of its production is exported – primarily to other countries of the EU and to the US. The company has been one of the country’s major export industries for many years. GUMOTEX is also one of the largest employers in the Břeclav area.
The company primarily manufactures furniture-related products and parts for the automotive sector. For furniture companies, it produces foam mattresses and shaped foam components. For the automotive sector, its primarily production is the fill material for seats and head rests, sun visors and other smaller parts for car interiors. A significant part of its production catalog also includes inflatable mattress-type beds, special multilayer fabrics (with plastomeric and elastomeric coatings), inflatable boats and rafts and other specialty products such as inflatable tents and components for integrated emergency systems and inflatable systems for emergency survival in case of accidents on water, etc.
For additional information, see www.gumotex.cz.
Milestone Partners
Milestone Partners is a Czech-owned private equity company, which is on the lookout for investment opportunities in both the Czech Republic and other parts of Central and Eastern Europe. The company focuses its investing activities on privately held companies and those with significant growth potential in sectors with a higher added value (expansion / later stage). The company also invests in companies that are just starting out (start-up / early stage). In addition to providing capital, the company provides businesses with the expertise and know-how it has gleaned from its record of previous other venture capital investments.
Milestone Partners in the past has invested in companies such as Noris Czech Republic (which is an exclusive distributor of Nestle ice creams in the Czech Republic and Slovakia) and Gumotex (which is a long-time supplier to the furniture and automotive sectors, as well as a popular manufacturer of sports and leisure equipment and supplier of goods to the internal shopping portal Vltava.cz). The management team of Milestone Partners was also one of the first to obtain a CNB license for the so-called funds for qualified investors and, through its CFQI fund, the group has been able to participate in other, largely real estate, investments.
For additional information, see www.milestone.cz.
For additional information, contact:
Martin Pětivoký
Milestone Partners, a.s.
Tel.: +420 251 561 030
E-mail: martin.petivoky@milestone.cz
Expandia
Expandia is a wholly Czech private equity firm. It was established in the first half of the 1990s. Back then its focus was on privatization companies trading on a secondary securities market and on the initial development of financial products designed to meet the needs of the transitioning economies of Central European countries. Expandia’s investment horizon now includes both real estate as well as industrial investments, without any particular sector limitations – generally these are direct ownership interests. Expandia uses its own funds along with an appropriate level of external financing or leverage.
The most important past projects have included the establishment of the first internet-based bank in the Czech Republic, Expandia Bank, and one of the largest privatization funds in Croatia, the Expandia Fund. Currently, Expandia’s investments include ownership interests in the companies Jitona, Desk-Form and Arbes. It is also the owner of the Hotel Clement in Prague, the Avalon office-commercial center in Pilsen and part of the Trilogy Logistics Park in Moscow.
About Genesis Capital
For more than ten years, Genesis Capital has been offering financing to small and midsize companies in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, to support their growth and development. Via its private equity funds, Genesis Capital has already supported more than twenty dynamic Czech and Slovak businesses, many of which have become cutting edge in their chosen field, thanks to their relationship with Genesis Capital. In total, Genesis Capital has provided more than 2 billion Czech crowns in growth capital for companies in the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
Since its inception in 1999, Genesis Capital has managed three private equity funds with a total volume of almost € 100 million. The first two funds have already fully committed their capital. At present, Genesis Private Equity Fund II, with a volume of € 40 million, is open and available to finance prospective investments. The companies into which Genesis Capital has invested include AB Facility, pietro filipi, CCS, ETARGET, Gumotex, Energetické strojírny Brno, Roltechnik, Profimedia, Vydis, GTH CATERING, and others.
In the present environment, marked by difficult access to standard bank financing for small and medium-sized enterprises, Genesis Capital funds provide an advantageous alternative for acquiring the required capital for companies with growth potential; the funds also focus on buy-out financing. Their investors include the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, Česká spořitelna, and the Belgian investment company Gimv.
Contact for more information:
Michal Urban
AC&C Public Relations
Tel.: +420 603 280 863
E-mail: michal.urban@accpr.cz