Stockholm/Vienna, 17/02/2023 – Altor Funds (“Altor”) have signed an agreement to acquire a majority in VTU Group GmbH (“VTU”), a leading Life Sciences and Green Transition process engineering company, from funds advised by DPE Deutsche Private Equity Management III GmbH. VTU’s management will reinvest in the Company. Altor will support VTU’s strategy to become a European leader in high value-added process engineering services for Life Sciences industries and a sector specialist in Green Transition process engineering. The closing is subject to regulatory approval.
Founded in 1990 in Graz, Austria, VTU is a process engineering company servicing blue-chip customers in the Life Sciences and Fine Chemicals industries as well as in Green Transition projects in existing and emerging industries. The Company provides quality services for its customers along the whole value-chain of their investment projects: from project development, design, high-end digitalisation to project management as an integrated part of VTU’s services for structurally growing industries. VTU is an EPCMv provider (Engineering, Procurement, Construction Management and Validation) with more than 1,200 employees across Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Poland, Romania, and Belgium.
In 2022, VTU reported annual revenues of approx. 175 million Euros. Over more than a decade, VTU has grown revenues and its employee base by a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of around 20 percent.
Dr. Friedrich Fröschl, CEO at VTU Group, said: “We were deeply impressed by the Altor partnership approach from the outset: an entrepreneurial mindset, with curiosity, creativity, and sustainability at the core of its DNA. We are convinced that Altor is a perfect match for VTU Group as we embark on the next phase of VTU’s success story. We are very excited to working together with the Altor team and create sustainable value for our customers, employees and allstakeholders.“
Giovanna Maag, Partner at Altor, said: “We are excited to invest in VTU and looking forward to partnering with its strong and experienced management team. The Company builds on very strong foundations: it has advanced process engineering capabilities, a reputation for quality, long-standing and trusted relationships with numerous blue-chip clients in the Life Sciences sector and provides process engineering know-how for Green Transition applications.”
The investment in VTU marks Altor’s fifth acquisition in the DACH region. Currently, Altor is invested in Zahneins (dental practices), oceansapart (athleisure), Käfer (industrial services), and Kommunalkredit (financial services; closing pending).
The Altor investment in VTU is another example for the firm’s investment strategy that puts a strong emphasis on partnering with companies with compelling sustainability agendas. Examples for this approach are H2GreenSteel (green steel powered by green hydrogen), OX2 (one of Europe’s leading developers of renewable energy sources) and Trioworld (circular plastics), amongst others.
