Quadriga Capital takes majority stake in Gba Group

Quadriga Capital agreed in September 2016 to acquire GBA Group from Adiuva Capital, investing through its fourth fund, which closed at 529.1 million euros in February 2013. Completion remained subject to competition clearance. Managing director Manfred Giesecke and his management team reinvested for a minority holding. IK Investment Partners was among the other bidders. Headquartered in Hamburg, GBA Group analyses samples in its laboratories on behalf of manufacturers and public authorities, testing foodstuffs for contaminants and composition, soil and water for pollutants, consumer goods for prohibited substances and pharmaceutical products for conformity with their specifications. It operated ten laboratories in Germany and one in Austria, employing around 430 people. Regulation generates the demand. A food producer must demonstrate that its products meet legal limits on residues and additives, a developer must establish the condition of contaminated land before building on it, and a pharmaceutical manufacturer must verify each batch, all of which require analysis by accredited laboratories rather than by the companies themselves. The activity rewards scale, since each instrument and each accreditation costs the same whether it processes a hundred samples or a thousand, and the laboratories must be within reach of their customers because samples degrade in transit. That combination has driven consolidation of independent German laboratories into groups. Adiuva Capital, founded in 2011 and based in Hamburg, had acquired 49.1% of GBA in September 2011 as its first investment. Latham & Watkins advised Quadriga Capital, while Clifford Chance advised Adiuva Capital.

In the past, Gba Group was acquired by Adiuva Capital in 2011 as part of its expansion strategy.