Sagard and Equistone have signed an agreement to sell their investment in Fläkt Woods

Equistone and Sagard have signed an agreement to sell Fläkt Woods Group, a leading provider of critical Air Functions for HVAC systems, to funds advised by Triton. The parties have agreed not to disclose the purchase price. The transaction is subject to regulatory approval in the relevant jurisdictions.

With revenues in excess of €420m, Fläkt Woods sets standards in the air movement, air treatment, air management, air diffusion and air distribution markets. Founded in 1909, Fläkt Woods has today more than 2,200 employees and locations in over 20 countries in all regions of the world. The Fläkt Woods brand stands for high-quality products, systems and components in the HVAC industry in Europe, America and Asia. 

Antoine Ernoult-Dairaine, partner at Sagard commented: “We have proactively backed Didier Forget and his management team since 2007, in a transaction illustrating Sagard’s investment philosophy: over a long term 9-year investment horizon, we have supported four strategic acquisitions, a geographical expansion and the industrial reshaping of the group. The management team has delivered an outstanding performance in building a strong leader in the HVAC industry, focused on high quality and environmentally friendly systems. The appetite of industrial buyers for Fläkt Woods acknowledged the success of the work performed.” 

Laurent Chauvois, partner at Equistone, added: “Fläkt Woods has developed globally with strong market positions, focusing on energy saving solutions, continued investment in R&D, and targeted acquisitions in the USA, Scandinavian countries or India. Following the successful divestment of the Infrastructure and Industry ventilation division to Colfax in 2013, Fläkt Woods has become a pure and attractive player on the European HVAC market. Our 50/50 partnership with Sagard on this transaction proved to be successful and we are very proud to have been able to support a first class management team who has created a robust and promising business model.” 

Didier Forget, Fläkt Woods CEO, concluded: “Over the last 9 years and with the continuous support of Sagard and Equistone, Fläkt Woods has undergone major evolutions to accelerate its development. After having successfully faced the 2009 construction down-cycle with resilience, we delivered major initiatives: technological innovations and products platforms development focused on environment friendly and energy savings solutions; M&A operations to reinforce the company on some geographies in US, India and Nordics; strategic focus on building segment with the divestment in 2013 of our Global Infrastructure and Industry (GII) unit to Colfax (US listed company); and investment in Controls and Systems for Air Comfort and Fire Safety solutions. These key actions have materialized in a fast growth of our EBITDA and we are now confident that joining Triton will allow us to pursue this value creation path in consolidating HVAC industry and in providing superior benefits to our customers.”