- Recognition by prestigious Institute for Turnaround (IFT) for the second time in three years for the Group’s most successful exit to date
- Jury impressed by the strategic carve-out, bolt-on and organic growth of Solidus Solutions under AURELIUS’ ownership
Munich/London, December 2, 2019 – AURELIUS Equity Opportunities SE & Co. KGaA (ISIN DE000A0JK2A8) is the winner of this year’s award for Private Equity Turnaround of the Year. AURELIUS received the prestigious award from the Institute for Turnaround (IFT, www.the-ift.com) in London for the sale of Group subsidiary Solidus Solutions. In September 2019 AURELIUS exited Solidus Solutions to funds advised by Centerbridge L.P. for an enterprise value of approx. EUR 330 million. The transaction was AURELIUS’ largest exit to date and brought AURELIUS a cash multiple of approx. 16x on the capital invested.
Dr. Dirk Markus, CEO and Chairman of the Executive Board of AURELIUS Equity Opportunities: “We are very happy to receive this award for the second time. AURELIUS’ transformation of Solidus Solutions exemplifies our strategic carve-out and buy and build expertise. We are incredibly proud of our investment and operational teams that worked on the turnaround of Solidus, and AURELIUS’ colleagues around Europe that have helped us achieve several successful exits in 2019. AURELIUS’ investment strategy continues to deliver significant growth in the corporate carve-out market.”
Strategic realignment and higher growth of Solidus Solutions under the AURELIUS umbrella
AURELIUS announced its largest exit to date in 2019, the sale of Solidus Solutions, the leading European producer of sustainable fibre-based packaging solutions for food, beverage & horticulture, consumer goods and industrial applications, to Centerbridge Partners LP for EUR 330m. AURELIUS acquired the business operations in 2015 as a corporate carve-out of several production mills and packaging converting facilities from UK & Irish listed Smurfit Kappa Group PLC. Deploying significant experience in complex corporate carve-out processes, AURELIUS conducted the acquisition quickly and efficiently, taking over the business, rebranding it as Solidus Solutions and establishing it as a standalone platform. In the next four years of ownership AURELIUS provided hands-on operational and M&A support, transforming Solidus Solutions from an unloved, orphan business into a market-leading, independent, pan-European operation, with significant growth potential.
