Equistone sells Heras to Garda Group

Equistone Partners Europe (“Equistone”), one of Europe’s most active mid-market private equity investors, today announces that it has reached a conditional agreement to sell the Funds’ investment in Heras, an established European end-to-end supplier of permanent and mobile perimeter protection solutions, to European perimeter and technical security company Garda Group.

Headquartered in Oirschot in the Netherlands, Heras has operations in eight countries, offering customers in more than 20 markets end-to-end perimeter security solutions that cover all aspects from design, manufacturing, installation to maintenance and repairs. Today, the company employs around 1,000 people. Through the agreed transaction, Heras will become part of Garda Group, which currently operates in the Nordics and Germany and includes brands such as Garda Sikring, Heda Security, KIBO Security, Great Security, Freihoff Gruppe, Gleich Gruppe, Schmid Alarm and vi2vi.

Since Equistone invested in the business in 2019, Heras has pursued a strategic focus on providing high-security solutions and recurring services to public- and private-sector clients operating critical infrastructure, supported by two bolt-on acquisitions in the Nordic and German markets. Equistone has also supported the implementation of a group-wide ESG strategy and significant investment into Heras’ production sites, for both permanent and mobile products, across the Netherlands, Belgium and France.

Hubert van Wolfswinkel, Partner at Equistone, said: “It has been a pleasure for the Equistone Funds to have supported Heras with the strategic development of its business and its team over the past five years. In partnership with the Equistone Funds, the company has refined its strategic focus on high-security solutions and recurring services, while upgrading its production sites and delivering a comprehensive ESG strategy. Heras is a renowned and expert provider of security solutions, and I am confident that the company will continue to prosper as part of the Garda Group.”

Moritz Treude, Director at Equistone, said: “Heras has performed very strongly during the ownership of the Equistone Funds, enabled by the strategic repositioning of the business. The Equistone Funds have supported the company’s investment in state-of-the-art production facilities, including automated machinery and equipment as well as robotisation – resulting in increased quality, greater capacity, and more efficient and sustainable production.”

Emmanuel Rigaux, CEO of Heras, said: “In partnership with Equistone, Heras has undergone a significant transformation since 2019 and is now in an exceptionally strong position in the European market. We share a strong alignment with the Garda Group in terms of corporate strategy, vision and values, and we are fully confident that they are the right partner to support us in the next phase of our development and continue the successful development of the past five years.”

Jon Ola Stokke, CEO of Garda Group, said: "We are delighted to welcome Heras and its skilled team to the Garda Group. Heras is a well-run, innovative company and our customers will benefit greatly from its recent investments in the capacity, quality and efficiency of its facilities. Heras also shares our focus on sustainability, working with partners throughout the value chain to reduce CO2 emissions and implement a more circular economy. This acquisition provides us with new expertise, a broader product range and modern technical solutions, while complementing our Nordic presence, expanding our footprint into new territories such as the UK, Benelux and France and providing our customers in Germany with perimeter security solutions alongside our existing technical security solutions.”

The agreed transaction is subject to certain closing conditions, including completion of the Dutch works council consultation process and obtaining relevant regulatory clearances. Once completed, the transaction would extend a period of significant exit activity for Equistone, with today’s announcement marking Equistone’s fifth full exit of 2024.