Silverfleet Capital announces sale of agricultural manufacturer, Cimbria

Ambitious growth strategy led to significant expansion during Silverfleet’s three-year ownership

Silverfleet Capital, the European private equity firm, has agreed the sale of Cimbria, a Danish-headquartered manufacturer of equipment and processing lines for seed and grain, to AGCO Corporation (NYSE:AGCO) for approximately €310 million.

Cimbria, headquartered in Thisted in Denmark, is a leading global manufacturer of equipment used for seed processing and post-harvest grain handling. It has four production facilities in Denmark, Austria, the Czech Republic and Italy, and employs approximately 900 people globally.

Silverfleet acquired Cimbria in April 2013 having identified the potential to build an international leader of scale in the seed and grain-processing sector. Silverfleet recognised that Cimbria’s products are well placed to serve the need for greater agricultural productivity that the expanding global demand for grain and other crops requires.

Under its ownership, Silverfleet has led an ambitious expansion strategy, which has generated substantial growth in revenue and profits. Cimbria has expanded into high growth markets of grain-and seed-importing countries such as Egypt and other Middle Eastern countries, whilst previously it was predominantly focused on exporting countries. It also expanded its sales operations to cover after-sales. Operationally, Cimbria strengthened the senior management team with a number of new appointments including in its R&D, procurement and after-sales functions. In addition it improved its manufacturing efficiency, which included the opening of a new plant in the Czech Republic.

Gareth Whiley, Partner at Silverfleet Capital who served on the Cimbria Board and has responsibility for the Nordic region, commented: “We are delighted with the substantial growth achieved in conjunction with the management team at Cimbria. It supports our investment thesis of capitalising on long-term growth trends in the food and agricultural manufacturing sectors and investing in winning companies.”

Søren Overgaard, Group CEO of Cimbria, said: “Thanks to Silverfleet’s financial support and strategic insight, Cimbria has undergone a rapid transformation over the past few years. We are well placed to continue growing our market share under our new owners, AGCO.”

Silverfleet Capital has a successful track record of investing in European-headquartered international businesses and within the food sector has recently announced an agreement to sell Kalle GmbH, a world-leading manufacturer of artificial casings for meat products, for an investment return of 3.5x. Silverfleet is also an experienced investor in the Nordic region and retains an investment in two other Danish companies.

Silverfleet was advised by Baird (corporate finance), Travers Smith and Accura (legal), Deloitte (financial and tax due diligence) and Roland Berger (commercial due diligence).