HG Capital takes majority stake in QUNDIS

HgCapital acquired a majority stake in QUNDIS Group from Capcellence in May 2012, in a secondary buyout, with the management team reinvesting a substantial part of its holding. The transaction valued the company at an enterprise value of €100–350M, funded in part by a 75 million euro debt package, and remained subject to clearance by the German competition authority. Created in 2008 from the merger of QVEDIS, formerly part of Siemens, and KUNDO SystemTechnik, QUNDIS manufactures sub-metering devices. These are the meters fitted to individual radiators and water pipes within an apartment building, which record what each household actually consumes so that heating and water costs can be divided accordingly rather than shared by floor area. Headquartered in Mühlhausen, the company employed around 220 people and its devices were installed in roughly five million flats and offices across Europe. Germany was its largest market, with substantial distribution in Italy and a presence in Slovenia, the Czech Republic, France, Turkey and Russia. HgCapital invested to extend those positions, in a market driven by European legislation requiring that heating costs be billed on actual consumption rather than estimated, which obliges landlords to fit devices of this kind. Macquarie Capital Germany, Clifford Chance, The Boston Consulting Group and Deloitte advised HgCapital.