Private equity: Ideal Holdings announces two new deals in 2022

Ideal Holdings aims to double the deals it will make in 2022, as after the acquisitions of Coleus Packaging, in South Africa and the cyber security company Netbull, it is undertaking two new investments by the end of the year, according to company Lambros Papakonstantinou.

At least one of the two new investments will strengthen the size of Ideal Holdings in the cybersecurity sector where Adacom is active, through which Netbull was acquired.

In addition to the new deals, the listed company’s goals for this year include the formal completion of the acquisition of Coleus (expected to be completed with the approval of the notification to the Competition Commission of South Africa by June 30, 2022), ensuring the smooth development of the business plan for 2022, given the geopolitical crisis and inflationary pressures and the best possible preparation for 2023.

According to Mr. Papakonstantinou, all the goals seem to be achieved, since the financial figures of the three companies of Ideal Holdings (Astir Vitogiannis – Coleus Packaging in the production of metal caps, Adacom – Netbull in cybersecurity and Three Cents in the soft drinks for the production cocktails) in the five months show strong growth potential, while the uncertainty due to the war in Ukraine and high inflation has not yet “touched” the business significantly.

Asked how the year would end, Mr. Papakonstantinou avoided making accurate forecasts, but limited himself to saying that the turnover of 105 million and 15.5 million EBITDA that Ideal companies had in 2021 will be exceeded.

However, official forecasts for the whole of 2022 will be announced with the publication of the results of the first half.

Astir Vitogiannis – Coleus Packaging

Astir’s turnover, which exports over 95% of its production, in 2021 was on a consolidated basis of 60 million euros with EBITDA of 10.8 million euros and based on management estimates this year the figures will be significantly larger.

The investment goal is the operational improvement of the acquired Coleus to levels similar to Astir, the further increase of the sizes and the crystallization of the value through participation in a larger scheme.

Adacom – Netbull

Adacom is one of the oldest and most well-known companies in the field of trust services and cybersecurity, with a large clientele in Greece and abroad. Netbull is a cybersecurity company specializing in managed security services offered through its own award-winning eIASIS security center.

The investment goal is the merger of the two companies and the further investment in the field of cyber security and information technology.

In 2021 on a consolidated basis the turnover was 17 million euros with EBITDA 2.4 million euros and it is predicted that in 2022 the figures will be significantly larger.

Three Cents Artisanal Beverages

The pioneering company premium mixers & tonics was founded at the end of 2014 starting as the idea of ​​4 young people, aiming to offer catering professionals a premium and different product.

Three Cents products are exported to more than 34 countries and in 2022 sales abroad are expected to exceed sales in Greece, despite the fact that Greece will set a sales record. In 2021 the company made sales of 7.7 million euros and EBITDA 1.5 million euros. The investment goal is to increase sales through investments in marketing and promotion and to strengthen the brand internationally.

The only company with private equity features on the ATHEX

Ideal Holdings, which changed its ownership last year, is not a group of companies in the sense of a business group, which has stable holdings and has chosen since its inception the sectors in which it operates, Mr. Papakonstantinou pointed out.

It is the only company in the Greek Stock Exchange with a philosophy and characteristics of private equity with the aim of: increasing its investments, creating added value, focusing on business and financial performance and divestment in the medium term (4-5 years).

Investing in companies with sound financial data, cash flow, growth potential, strong position in their industry and a good management team, taking moderate risk in the medium and long term, the active and continuous search for value creation through acquisitions and mergers and the search for index internal performance (IRR) at least 20% constitute the investment philosophy of the company.

Yield 26.6%

At present, the return on equity of Ideal Holdings amounting to 110 million euros reaches 26.6%.

Regarding the shareholding structure of the company, 37% control the management of Virtus and the companies, with the largest percentage being controlled by Mr. Stelios Vitogiannis of Astir Vitogiannis. The participation of the David – Leventis family, the old shareholders of the company, has “fallen” to 20%. Institutional investors participate with 26%, while the Vats fund of the Katsos brothers has a 5% participation. The Olympia Group of Panos Germanos also participates with 5%, while a 7% belongs to small investors.