The Carlyle Group has acquired a majority stake in Spain-based plywood manufacturer Garnica from Intermediate Capital Group (ICG) and certain shareholders in a €500m deal.

The transactions sees ICG exit the company, while the Garnica family will reinvest part of the money obtained and retain, along with the management team, a meaningful stake in the capital.

Carlyle will partner with the Garnica family and the management team led by Christian Michel to support the business through its next stage of development by investing to drive growth in premium markets, expanding its product range and end markets, maintaining and extending Garnica’s innovation and R&D leadership, and seeking out opportunities for transformational strategic investments.

Equity for the investment will be provided by Carlyle Europe Partners V (CEP V), a €6.4bn fund investing in European opportunities across a range of sectors and industries. This continues CEP’s track record of partnering with the founders, families and shareholders of leading businesses based in Iberia, such as Altadia, Cupa, Logoplaste, Codorníu, and Cepsa, among others.

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Pedro Garnica, Founder and President of Garnica, said: “From its origins as a sawmill, Garnica has transformed into a global leader in the development of best-in-class plywood solutions. I would like to thank ICG for their support over the past six years during a period of significant change for our business. Moving forward, we are delighted to announce this partnership with Carlyle, with its outstanding track record of working with and growing leading Spanish businesses, as we look to the next chapter of Garnica’s growth by further internationalizing the business and looking to unlock more growth through strategic investments.”

Alex Wagenberg, Managing Director of the Carlyle Europe Partners advisory team, said: “Garnica has a strong position in the premium plywood market and is highly regarded as a best-in-class manufacturer by its customers across a diverse range of attractive and growing end markets. We are excited to partner with Pedro, Christian, and the entire team to deliver the next stage of growth for Garnica by supporting the business with our expertise in scaling high quality, family-owned European-based businesses with global leadership and strong potential.”

Christian Michel, CEO of Garnica, said: ”The Garnica team would like to thank ICG for its important contribution over the last six years. We are truly excited to partner with Carlyle and the Garnica family for the next stage of the company’s growth. This will allow us to undertake further strategic investments to consolidate Garnica’s global footprint in the coming years. We look forward to continuing to offer our clients superior innovative plywood solutions based on reliable sources of an increasing range of sustainable, high-quality wood species.”

Jaime Chocron, Managing Director and Head of ICG Iberia, stated: “We are grateful and proud to have supported both Pedro Garnica and the outstanding management team at Garnica over the past six years as we executed a multi-year investment program enabling the company to expand geographically and become a leading global manufacturer of premium plywood solutions. We wish Garnica and its management the success they deserve in the next chapter of their growth journey alongside Carlyle.”

Founded in 1941 and headquartered in La Rioja, Spain, Garnica manufactures a range of premium plywood solutions for decorative and structural applications across a variety of large and growing end markets including a wide range of building and refurbishment applications, furniture, and transportation. It has leading in-house product innovation capabilities, enabling it to offer a broad suite of superior products with different technical characteristics, and attractive market dynamics across all the sectors in which it operates.

Garnica has over 1,200 employees, sales in over 50 countries to more than 600 customers, 25 sales agents worldwide, and a strong and unique manufacturing footprint with seven production facilities located in the main poplar and pine basins across Europe.

Carlyle was advised by Pérez Llorca. Garnica and its shareholders were advised by William Blair, Allen & Overy LLP, Cuatrecasas, and Angel Bravo.

Source: Press Release

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