Castik Capital completes acquisition of Waterlogic Plc; to create global water cooler company with newly acquired Angel Springs
Luxembourg / London, 8 January 2015 - Castik Capital, the European private equity investment firm, has completed its acquisition of Waterlogic Plc, a vertically integrated global designer, manufacturer, distributor and service provider of point-of-use drinking water purification and dispensing systems. Castik aims to combine Waterlogic with recently acquired Angel Springs, a leading UK water cooler company, to start creating a leading global water cooler business.
Castik made a recommended cash offer for Waterlogic through Poseidon Bidco Limited, an entity incorporated by the Castik-managed EPIC Funds, for its entire issued and to be issued share capital. The offer of 151 pence per share was accepted by 99.9% of the shares eligible to vote and approved in court on 16 December 2014.
Earlier in December, Castik Capital (through Hydrus Bidco Limited) completed the acquisition of privately-held Angel Springs, which will become a Waterlogic subsidiary, and John Dundon, the CEO of Angel Springs, will join the Waterlogic advisory board. For the time being, Angel Springs will continue to operate under its own brand in the UK, and keep its current product offering.
“Waterlogic and Angel Springs both enjoy strong growth momentum – together, they will be even better placed to benefit from global opportunities,” said Michael Phillips, Partner of Castik Capital. “We expect steady growth in the water cooler market, and will support selective M&A when opportunities arise. Markets are fragmented in many countries, and given Waterlogic’s vertical integration, technological edge and excellent management team, we see significant scope for value-enhancing acquisitions and strong organic growth.”
The new combined entity will be led by the existing Waterlogic management with Founder and Group CEO Jeremy Ben-David, together with Commercial CEO Peter Cohen. The Waterlogic and Angel Springs management teams have both significantly reinvested in the new business.
“While we are leaders in point of use, we are like David to the Goliaths of bottled water - we know we can bring better water to workplaces and homes, but we need scale and presence to achieve this,” said Jeremy Ben-David. “We want to be the global no.1 in all major markets, and this deal sets us on that path.”
Waterlogic already has an established international presence, with 780,000 units installed across 50 countries and market leading positions in Australia, USA, Scandinavia, Germany and France. Waterlogic and Angel Springs will be integrated to benefit from marketing and revenue synergies and the sharing of best practice.
Castik was advised on the Waterlogic transaction by Altium Capital (M&A and debt advisory), White & Case, EY, Ommax, Pöllath + Partners, Arendt & Medernach, and CNC Communications.
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About Castik
Castik Capital S.à.r.l (“Castik Capital”) manages investments in private equity. Castik Capital is a European multi-strategy investment manager, acquiring significant ownership positions in European private and public companies, where long-term value can be generated through active partnerships with management teams.
Castik has an investment horizon of up to ten years - longer than most other private equity funds. This enables Castik to focus resources on its portfolio companies and ensure sustainable, long-term value creation.
Founded in 2014, Castik Capital is based in Luxembourg and focuses on identifying and developing investment opportunities across Europe. The advisor to Castik Capital S.à.r.l is Castik Capital Partners GmbH, based in Munich. Investments are made by the Luxembourg-based fund, EPIC I SLP, the first fund managed by Castik, which had its first close at EUR 625m in June 2014, and is targeting a final fund close of EUR 1bn in the coming months.
More information can be found at castik.lu
About Waterlogic Plc
Waterlogic Plc (AIM: WTL.L) is a leading designer, manufacturer, distributor and operator of mains attached point-of-use ("POU") drinking water purification and dispensing systems designed for environments such as offices, factories, hospitals, hotels, schools, restaurants and other workplaces. Waterlogic is a Jersey-registered company.
Founded in 1992, Waterlogic was one of the first companies to introduce POU systems to Europe and has been a leader in the POU market in terms of product design and quality, the application of new technologies and in sales and service. Waterlogic has an extensive and expanding independent global distribution network in place, reaching over 50 countries around the world.
Waterlogic products are currently being distributed in North and South America, Europe, Asia, Australia and South Africa. Waterlogic's leading markets are the USA and Western Europe, in particular Scandinavia, Germany and France.
Of the 2.1 million new POU and bottled water installations in the commercial market in the USA and Europe between 2005 and 2012, approximately 77% incorporated POU technology, of which approximately 29% were Waterlogic products.
More information can be found at www.waterlogic.com