Gunnebo Plans to Divest its Business in France, Belgium and Luxembourg

Gunnebo has signed an offer from global private equity firm OpenGate Capital to acquire Gunnebo’s business in France, Belgium and Luxembourg. Gunnebo intends to accept this offer, subject to works council consultation and antitrust clearance. The transaction is expected to be finalized during the fourth quarter 2018.

The planned divestment is in line with Gunnebo’s strategy to create a more focused business around key Product Areas: Safe Storage, Cash Management and Entrance Control. The business in France, Belgium and Luxembourg is to a large extent a local integrator business, which is not core for the future of Gunnebo. With the divestment, Gunnebo will transfer the business to an owner that will put full focus on the business, which is expected to benefit the business and its employees.

“The planned divestment of the French, Belgian and Luxembourg business is in line with our strategy to become a more product-focused company”, says Gunnebo’s President and CEO Henrik Lange. “With OpenGate Capital as the owner, this business will have the right foundation to further develop in line with its own clearly defined agenda.”

The planned divestment includes the French sales company, production facilities Baldenheim and Bazancourt and the Belgian and Luxembourg sales companies. The turnover attributable to the business in 2017 was MEUR 117. The business currently employs approximately 930 persons.

As a consequence, these businesses will be shown as discontinued operations held for sale in the Group’s second quarter report 2018.

Divestment gives rise to a transactional loss of MEUR 60-65
The purchase price is symbolic and the divestment is expected to generate a total transactional loss of MEUR 60-65 of which some MEUR 15 is expected to be cash representing capital injection and transactional costs.

In the second quarter, MEUR 60 will be recorded for the transactional loss, of which MEUR 1 is cash.

New structure of external financial reporting
The planned divestment is a consequence of the Group’s strategy to focus on its key product areas, shifting its business focus from region to product. The Group will therefore disclose its financial reporting in four Business Units: Safe Storage, Cash Management, Entrance Control and Integrated Security, as of the second quarter 2018. The report will be released as planned, on July 19, 08.00 CET.