M & A
Capital Stage: Sunshine in the UK
After buying up a number of solar parks in France and Italy, sun-park and wind-farm provider Capital Stage AG is now turning its attention to the United Kingdom. The SDax-listed company 3has acquired a UK portfolio of seven solar parks with a total output of about 53 megawatts of electrical energy. The investment needed amounts to some 90 million Euros including the third-party quota. So far, the sale is still subject to the usual market prerequisites. Last year, Capital Stage entered into a partnership with Gothaer Versicherung, now making use of capital linked to participatory entitlements for 150 million Euros to be used for acquisitions in Europein in Europe.
Capital Stage has announced that five of the parks acquired in South-west England and Wales are already connected to the national grid and another two will follow suit. Capital Stage have forecast a first-year turnover of approximately ten million Euros generated by the new acquisitions. The company management have announced that they have also a number of contracts for long-term electricity supply. Since they first set foot in the UK, Capital Stage’s total production capacity has grown and now stands at 440 megawatts and by the end of the year, they expect to have made use of the 150 million Euros earmarked for investing..
Paragon: digital displays
Paragon AG, manufacturer of automobile electronic systems, announced that at the beginning of the year it had acquired SphereDesign GmbH. The price of the transaction was not given. With a staff of 26, SphereDesign develops automobile command and indication systems for major manufacturers such as Daimler and Volkswagen. Its turnover for 2014 was some 4 million Euros. Tthe partial overlap of their client portfolios makes SphereDesign a highly complementary acquisition for Paragon, in particular as regards the technology for digital displays. Furthermore, Sphere Design has proved to be highly profitable in years past; one of its former managers and partners has been appointed head of Paragon’s Cockpit area.
A.X. Automation: Robotics now
Through one of its subsidiary companies, General Standard-listed M.A.X. Automation AG has acquired total ownership of specialist robot manufacturer iNDAT Robotics GmbH. At present, the robots manufactured by iNDAT with its 80 strong workforce are mostly used by producers and suppliers in the field of automobile manufacture; the company’s turnover for 2015 is forecast at approximately 18 million Euros which, by and large will be covered by orders already registered. According to M.A.X. Automation, it, itself is practically debt-free. By this acquisition M.A.X. Automation intends to extend its product range to include complex software applications and plant systems for integrated industrial robotic automation and environmental technology. The transaction was managed through the NSM Magnettechnik GmbH subsidiary company – the conditions have not been made public.