Kalle

Kalle has been a stalwart of the European food industry for more than 150 years. Based in Germany, today it makes viscose, polymer and specialty casings for sausages for customers worldwide.

The company leads through innovation, with a wide range of products for a broad spectrum of applications.

At the time our investment, it operated from 16 production sites in nine countries.

Our investment

Silverfleet has a long history of backing experienced and ambitious management teams such as Kalle’s. The business has an international profile with a market leading position. It also has a strong reputation for delivering best quality products and competitive prices.

Its large portfolio of ambitious product innovations enable Kalle to address growth opportunities in new segments and new regions.

It also provides an exciting platform for a global buy and build approach in casings and adjacent areas.

Value creation

We worked with Kalle’s management on the company’s international growth plans, particularly in the US, as well as a buy and build strategy. Addressing both of these areas, in December 2010, we bought Jif-Pak Manufacturing, a California-based producer of innovative meat nettings and casings. The deal broadened Kalle’s product range and significantly increased the scale of its North American operations.

Under Silverfleet’s ownership, Kalle made a substantial investment in its production facilities in the US, Czech Republic and Germany. We also continued to support Kalle’s pipeline of new products, with NaloProSpice, NaloFerm, NaloEco and clean label NaloProtex each coming to market before our exit.

The outcome

By the end of our investment in Kalle, the company had cemented its position as a global player in several niches of the meat casings market. For the year ended December 2015 it had sales of €281m and employed 1,700 people serving more than 100 countries.

It attracted several financial and strategic trade buyers before we sold the business to private equity firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice in 2016. The exit generated a 3.5x return on our original investment and an IRR of 22.5%.