Proventis Partners advised Zimmer & Hälbig GmbH on the sale to VR Equitypartner.

Frankfurt am Main / Bielefeld, October 17, 2022 – Zimmer & Hälbig GmbH sold to VR Equitypartner. The aim of the new partnership is to increase organic and inorganic growth through a targeted buy & build strategy. The transaction is still subject to approval by the antitrust authorities.

The transaction

The seller of the company shares is the previous sole shareholder Herold Albrecht, a private investor who is not involved in the operational business. Albrecht is selling Z&H due to his personal life planning but will continue to be involved in the company after the sale through a reverse investment. Together with VR Equitypartner, Z&H now intends to expand its organic growth, particularly driven by energy-related refurbishments, with the help of a targeted buy & build strategy. VR Equitypartner has already demonstrated the expertise required for this with its investment in the Kälte Eckert Group, which has since been sold. In addition to VR Equitypartner, the three managing directors Michael Böhm, Achim Henseler and Heiko Panhorst as well as the industry expert Dr. Carsten Voigtländer are also participating.

“We deliberately looked for an investor who could support our growth course with experience and know-how, especially in the inorganic area,” says Z&H Managing Director Michael Böhm. “VR Equitypartner has precisely this expertise, brings a network that is valuable for us and knows the industry inside out. These were clear points for VR Equitypartner, and we look forward to developing Zimmer & Hälbig further together,” add the two co-managing directors Heiko Panhorst and Achim Henseler.

“Zimmer & Hälbig impresses with its high project development and management competence, coupled with outstanding technical expertise. Standardized work and training processes provide a strong foundation for scalable organic and inorganic growth,” says Christian Futterlieb, Managing Director of VR Equitypartner. “The fact that all three managing directors remain on board and also participate underlines their confidence in the company’s growth potential. Therefore, we are particularly pleased to contribute our experience with the development of platform strategies and to jointly exploit the sustainable opportunities of the energy transformation in the building sector.”

The role of Proventis Partners

Proventis Partners acted as exclusive M&A advisor to the previous sole shareholder Herold Albrecht and the three managing directors Michael Böhm, Achim Henseler and Heiko Panhorst.

The advisory services included the selection of potential buyers, discussions and negotiations with the buyer, the coordination of the due diligence as well as the structuring and negotiation of the economic terms of the executed share deal. The transaction team of Proventis Partners consisted of Jan Wetter (Partner, Zurich), and Christoph Studinka (Partner, Zurich) and Jonas Hesseldieck (Analyst, Zurich).

About Zimmer & Hälbig GmbH

Founded in Bielefeld in 1974, Zimmer & Hälbig GmbH (Z&H) is a leading provider in the field of planning, installation and maintenance of refrigeration, air conditioning and ventilation technology in the DACH region. With around 250 employees at its sites in Bielefeld, Leipzig, Cologne and Osnabrück, the company most recently generated a total output of over 65 million euros, with North Rhine-Westphalia currently forming the specialist’s core market.

In addition to public buildings, the healthcare sector, the industrial sector and the cleanroom technology sector, Z&H is also focusing on increased sales activities in the areas of energy consulting and energy-related refurbishment. As a technical building equipment company for non-residential buildings, Z&H offers its customers both the technical know-how for project planning (consulting, technology selection, construction planning) and the installation of logistically and technically sophisticated refrigeration, air conditioning and ventilation systems. The company’s depth of added value ranges from smaller installation orders to large-scale projects spanning multiple trades (including turnkey projects). Z&H’s competence in project selection and project planning is also confirmed by its high success rate in tender participations.

About VR Equitypartner

VR Equitypartner is one of the leading equity financiers in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. The company supports medium-sized family businesses in a goal-oriented manner and with decades of experience in the strategic solution of complex financing issues. Investment opportunities include growth and expansion financing, corporate succession, or shareholder changes. VR Equitypartner offers majority and minority shareholdings as well as mezzanine financing. As a subsidiary of DZ BANK, the central institution of the cooperative banks in Germany, VR Equitypartner consistently puts the sustainability of corporate development before short-term exit thinking. VR Equitypartner’s portfolio currently comprises around 60 commitments with an investment volume of EUR 400 million.

About Proventis Partners

Proventis Partners is a partner-managed M&A consultancy whose clients include mainly medium-sized family-owned companies, group subsidiaries and private equity funds. With more than 35 M&A consultants, Proventis Partners is one of the largest independent M&A consultancies in the German-speaking region and can look back on more than 20 years of M&A experience and nearly 400 completed transactions.

The M&A consultants with offices in Zurich, Hamburg, Munich, and Düsseldorf are active in the sectors Industrials, Chemicals & Advanced Materials, Business Services, Consumer & Retail, TMT, and HealthCare. The exclusive membership in Mergers Alliance – an international partnership of leading M&A specialists – enables Proventis Partners to accompany clients in 30 countries in the most important markets worldwide. Mergers Alliance members, with over 200 M&A professionals, provide Proventis Partners’ clients with direct access to local markets in Europe, North America, Latin America, and Asia.