Corporate

Merz Sells Senator to Private Equity Firm Perusa

Frankfurt am Main,July 8, 2016

The Merz Group is selling its subsidiary Senator GmbH & Co. KGaA to the private equity firm Perusa Partners. While Merz will continue to focus on its global Aesthetics and Neurotoxins businesses, Senator will be able to further strengthen its position as a leading provider of promotional products.

Under its new shareholder, and as contractually agreed by Merz and Perusa, the Gross-Bieberau location will be retained as the company’s headquarters. Senator’s business will continue to be run by current management. The two parties have agreed not to disclose the purchase price.

“We are convinced that the sale to Perusa is the right way to ensure the long-term development of Senator,” said Michael Nick, a Merz shareholder and Senator’s Supervisory Board Chairman. “Thanks to its ability to generate high added-value and its modern machinery, Senator is well-equipped for the future. And with backing from a strong, strategically interested partner that will invest in the business and its people, Senator can enhance its market position and lay the foundations for further growth.”

“Senator has an excellent reputation as a leading manufacturer of premium promotional products in Europe. We look forward to working with the teams in Gross-Bieberau and the foreign subsidiaries to strengthen the company’s core business and take it forward to further success. Perusa Partners has very good experience of manufacturing companies in Germany,” explained Dr. Hanno Schmidt-Gothan, managing director of Munich-based Perusa GmbH, which advises the acquirer Perusa Partners.

Founded in 1920, Senator recorded revenue of just under EUR 50 million in fiscal year 2014/15. It currently has some 350 employees worldwide. Senator is among the world’s leading providers of promotional products and writing instruments. As well as high-quality ball-pens, its product range includes drinkware, writing cases and accessories.

The independent private equity firm Perusa Partners was established in 2008 and is investing currently through two funds with equity of EUR 350 million, primarily in medium-sized companies and businesses from corporate groups with potential for long-term value creation based in German-speaking or Scandinavian countries.

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Senator, one of the world’s leading ball-pen manufacturers, is being sold to the private equity firm Perusa.