Overview

Royal Sanders is a leading European private label and contract manufacturing producer of personal care products. Its key geographies are the Benelux, Germany, France and the UK with plants in the Netherlands (Vlijmen and Zeewolde), the UK (Bradford), Belgium (Ieper) and Germany (Groß-Rohrheim, Waiblingen and Jessenitz). 

Main product categories include shampoo, bath and shower gels, body lotions and hand wash. The company sells its products through private label, contract manufacturing and own brands including Van Gils, Sanicur and Odorex.

3i is investing alongside management to drive the company’s international growth strategy.

Highlights 

• Demonstrated a consistent and strong track record of profitable organic growth over the past 10 years, significantly outgrowing the market
• Completed six add – on acquisitions since 2018
• Production footprint expanded from two to seven locations in the Netherlands, Belgium, UK and Germany
• Differentiates itself through its focus on quality and service, longstanding relationships with key customers and superior operational capabilities at its state-of-the-art facilities
• Successfully driving consolidation in a fragmented industry with 6 completed acquisitions to date and multiple further potential buy-and-build opportunities across geographies

Regulatory information 
This transaction involved a recommendation of 3i Investments plc, advised by 3i Benelux.

Overview

3i has established a scaled, global, pure-play platform in the bioprocessing market by bringing together SaniSure, Cellon, TBL, and Silicone Altimex (together, “SaniSure”). SaniSure is a vertically-integrated player in the single-use bioprocessing technology (“SUT“) space capable of providing highly customised and innovative solutions to leading biopharma and biotech customers. The SUT bioprocessing market is anticipated to grow at 13-20%+ across its various subsegments over the coming years, as the industry transitions to more flexible, clean, and operating cost-advantaged technology relative to traditional multi-use counterparts.

Recognising an attractive market opportunity characterised by high growth and a need for a leading independent platform of scale, 3i began a journey to create a single-use bioprocessing platform in December 2019 with the acquisition of founder-owned Cellon and subsequent combination of the business with Silicone Altimex and TBL Performance Plastics.

In July 2020, the platform completed the transformative acquisition of founder-owned Sani-Tech West Inc., a leading US-based manufacturer, distributor, and integrator of SUT systems and components, helping the platform accelerate its US market strategy.

The acquisition significantly expanded the combined group’s global footprint and brought a complementary portfolio of innovative products and single-use solutions capabilities. The combined platform has robust manufacturing and cleanroom assembly operations in both North America and Europe, offering enhanced supply chain assurance to its customers with a global footprint and vertically-integrated capabilities. 

Highlights

• Created a unified, vertically-integrated platform in the high-growth bioprocessing space by bringing together Cellon, TBL, and Silicone Altimex 
• Recruited key management members to complement the founders and other existing leaders, while professionalising the organisation and codifying business strategy
• Brought Sani-Tech West into the platform, doubling the size of the combined business and creating a global leader with well-established operations and reach in North America and Europe
• Positioned the platform to be a global strategic SUT solutions partner of choice for leading biopharma and biotech companies and contract development and manufacturing organisations (“CDMOs”)

Regulatory information 
This transaction involved a recommendation of 3i Corporation.

Overview

Headquartered in White Bear Lake, Minnesota, Smarte Carte is the leading provider of self-serve vended luggage carts, electronic lockers, commercial strollers and massage chairs at more than 2,600 locations worldwide. For luggage carts, SmarteCarte is the sole provider in 125 locations, including 49 of the top 50 airports in the U.S. The company's products can be found in amusement parks, fitness clubs, shopping malls and ski resorts.

Investment rationale

• Market leader across multiple product segments
• The aging population demographic, increasing international travel, growth in leisure travel and an increasing middle class are driving growth of the market
• Greg Hart, Chief Operating Officer for United Airlines, joined as a non-executive director to help guide the company’s future growth
• Partner with management to grow company’s global footprint, especially in Europe through our established track record in the airport sector with Belfast City Airport and TCR

Regulatory information 
This transaction involved a recommendation of 3i Corporation. 

Overview

SRL, is the market leading temporary traffic equipment (“TTE”) rental company in the UK. SRL offers its customers a full-service rental solution, which includes the planning and design of traffic management systems, installation, maintenance and integration with existing systems, as well as direct sales of equipment assembled by SRL.

SRL’s market-leading reputation is supported by its national depot network, providing a 24/7, 365 days a year service on which customers rely for quick deployment and reactive maintenance work.

Recent developments 

SRL performed slightly behind expectations during the financial year. There has been a reduction in general market activity levels due to delays in capital expenditure programmes within the public sector in advance of the UK general election, and in the telecom sector as the fibre rollout has slowed.

Despite this challenging market environment, SRL has shown resilience and continued to grow its revenue and EBITDA. It has also been successful in extending contract durations with customers, providing better revenue visibility.

Overview

Tampnet is the leading independent offshore communications network operator in the North Sea and the Gulf of Mexico. It is headquartered in Norway, with operations in the UK, Scandinavia and the USA.

Tampnet provides high speed, low latency and resilient data connectivity offshore through an established and comprehensive network of fibre optic cables, 4G base stations, and microwave links. It operates across four main business areas: fixed installations, mobile rigs and vessels, roaming for offshore workers and international carriers. The majority of its business involves providing fixed fibre links to oil platforms.

Recent developments 

Tampnet performed extremely well in the year, generating a value gain of £54 million. It exceeded revenue and EBITDA targets, driven by increased offshore activity and stronger demand for bandwidth upgrades.

Tampnet is continuing to expand its network infrastructure by pursuing new fibre projects in both the North Sea and the Gulf of Mexico. Notably, Tampnet secured significant new contracts in these regions.

Digitalisation of the offshore energy sector is gaining momentum and Tampnet’s digitisation proposition, which combines low-latency connectivity with services such as private networks, is generating considerable interest.

Tampnet’s private networks offer a secure, closed 4G/5G system deployed on offshore platforms, providing robust connectivity and enhanced security compared to traditional Wi-Fi solutions.

Furthermore, Tampnet is actively engaged in carbon capture and offshore wind projects within its existing network in the North Sea. The business was awarded its first offshore carbon sequestration connection in March 2024. The potential for further comparable initiatives is substantial and Tampnet is strategically positioned to contribute to their success.

Regulatory information 
This transaction involved a recommendation of 3i Investments plc.

Overview

Headquartered in Brussels, Belgium, TCR is Europe’s largest independent asset manager of airport ground support equipment (“GSE”). It operates at more than 210 airports across more than 20 countries. Since inception, TCR has defined the market for leased GSE, providing high quality assets and a full service leasing, maintenance and fleet management offering to its clients, which are predominantly independent ground handling companies, airlines and airports. This enables GSE operators to concentrate on their core business of ground handling.

TCR’s GSE is the essential mobile infrastructure used to service aircraft on the ground and enable airports to handle passengers, luggage and cargo, with upwards of 30 pieces of equipment required per turnaround.

Reliable GSE is critical to the smooth operation of airports and timely movement of aircraft, and TCR is able to deliver this with its access to scarce airside repair workshops, which provides a high barrier to entry. Sustainability is at the heart of the business and its mission is to deliver the most efficient and sustainable GSE services. Through its expertise in GSE fleet optimisation, “pooling” initiatives and the provision of green GSE, TCR is playing a key role in enabling the decarbonisation of airport ground operations in the airports where it operates.

Recent developments

TCR materially outperformed expectations, resulting in a substantial increase in value by £92 million. This performance was driven by several factors, including significant contract wins, extensions and higher fleet utilisation rates. The company is benefitting from the combination of the post-Covid aviation recovery, high interest rate environment making on-balance sheet options less attractive for customers, and the green agenda in Europe driving strong demand for new electric ground service equipment.

In February 2024, TCR completed the bolton acquisition of KES, KLM Royal Dutch Airline’s ground equipment services subsidiary at Schiphol airport, adding incremental contracted EBITDA with a flagship European carrier and positioning TCR to support Schiphol’s decarbonisation ambitions. TCR’s footprint now spans more than 200 airports, positioning it well to grow organically with its existing clients as well as increasing market penetration of its full-service rental offering. To support its next phase of expansion, TCR successfully secured additional debt from existing and new lenders on attractive terms.

Regulatory information 
This transaction involved a recommendation of 3i Investments plc.

Overview

ten23 health was founded in 2021 and is a development, manufacturing and testing company for biotech start-ups and the established pharmaceutical industry.

Headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, ten23 health’s core service offering includes formulation development, drug product development and manufacturing, as well as testing services for sterile pharmaceutical products. These high-value services are critical to helping pharma and biotech customers turn a scientific concept and therapeutic modality into a viable sterile medicine that is optimised for manufacturability, patient access and ease of administration, and logistical favourability.

ten23 health embeds fairstainability in all its practices and decisions and puts the focus on people - customers, employees, patients - and the planet. The company aims for a net zero emissions target from inception, exhibiting its patient-centricity not only in the quality of service that it delivers, but also in its sustainability focus.

Highlights

• Partnering with a highly experienced team of experts, including Prof. Dr Hanns Christian Mahler, with a proven track record in pharmaceutical product design and development
• As drug development activities across biologics modalities continue to accelerate, small biotechs and large pharma companies will increasingly outsource key services which require unique and market tested expertise
• ten23 health will deliver services in an engrained, fair and sustainable manner, respecting the future of the planet and people’s health
• Supported ten23’s acquisition of swissfillon, a leader in the sterile filling of complex pharmaceuticals into innovative containers and devices, creating a vertically integrated CDMO with ten23’s Basel development lab and swissfillon’s scaled fill & finish manufacturing

Regulatory information 
This transaction involved a recommendation of 3i Investments plc.

Overview

Valorem is a leading independent renewable energy development and operating company. It is one of the largest onshore wind developers in France, having developed over 600MW of capacity over the last 10 years.

Recent developments

Valorem had a very good year with revenues from electricity generation ahead of expectations due to favourable wind conditions contributing to a value gain of £47 million. The company’s closed capacity now totals 853MW of wind, solar and hydro projects, a 10% increase from the previous year.

Valorem completed the sale of a minority stake in part of its French operational portfolio on attractive terms, demonstrating the strong appetite for its projects and raising capital to finance development of future projects. This was supplemented by issuance of euro private placement debt for the first time.

In France, the market fundamentals for renewable developers remains strong, as evidenced by the increase in recent auction tariff levels due to demand for projects exceeding supply. The construction of Valorem’s new projects in Finland and Greece are progressing according to or ahead of plan. The company has expanded its development pipeline from 5.7GW to 6.6GW, including securing partnerships for co-developments in Poland and Sweden.

Regulatory information 
This transaction involved a recommendation of 3i Investments plc, advised by 3i France.

Overview

VakantieDiscounter is a leading, technology-enabled online travel agency in the Benelux focused on affordable holidays, providing the best-value holiday deals.

Headquartered in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, VakantieDiscounter is the number one online holiday packages platform in the Benelux. Through its own pre-packaged holidays as well as those of third-party providers, VakantieDiscounter offers more than 1.3 billion holiday package combinations in over 50 countries with more than 17,000 accommodation options.

Highlights

• We recruited new Chair, Vagn Sørensen (a highly experienced Chair of PE businesses, especially in travel), and NXD Alistair Daly (former CMO of OnTheBeach), to drive the company’s next phase of growth 
• Broad package offering and value-for-money focus has created a winning proposition which has grown market share rapidly 
• Highly scalable, technology-driven business with a strong position in the market and a highly capable management team
• Our investment helps ensure the company has the resources to sustain market leadership and navigate the current economic environment from a position of strength

Overview

Weener Plastics (“WP”) is a leading manufacturer of innovative plastic packaging systems for fast moving consumer goods companies. WP supplies the world’s leading A-brands and private label players. WP focuses on the design, development and manufacturing of value added caps, valve closures and roll-on balls for the personal care, food and beverage, home care and healthcare market.

We invested in WP in June 2015 and are supporting management to secure further sustainable growth using the existing innovation-led platform, investing in its successful international expansion strategy and continuing its operational improvement initiatives.

Highlights

• Using our international network, experience and capital to support WP’s growth through their buy-and-build strategy to expand into adjacent product categories and new geographies. WP acquired Proenfar, a leading Colombian plastic packaging manufacturer for the personal care and pharma end markets, in 2018. Further smaller bolt-on acquisitions include Orange Brasil, Orange Poland and Artpack
• Customer portfolio includes Beiersdorf, Colgate-Palmolive, L’Oréal, Nestlé, P&G, Unilever and Homann 
• WP's sustainability efforts have been recognised with an EcoVadis Gold rating. This excellent rating places WP in the top 1% of companies in the manufacture of plastics products worldwide
• Excellent track record of growth
• Introduced Niall Wall, former CEO of Ardagh as Chair as well as Laurent Philippe, former president CEEMEA of P&G, and Knut Michelberger to the Supervisory Board as Non-Executive Directors via our Business Leaders Network

Regulatory information 
This transaction involved a recommendation of 3i Investments plc, advised by 3i Germany.

Overview

Wilson Human Capital Group (“WilsonHCG”) is an award-winning global leader in talent solutions. Headquartered in Tampa, Florida, WilsonHCG is a global business with offices throughout North America, Europe and Asia and has operated as a strategic partner to some of the world’s most admired brands in helping them plan and execute on talent acquisition globally. The company provides a full suite of configurable talent solutions including recruitment process outsourcing (“RPO”), executive search, contingent talent solutions and talent consulting.

WilsonHCG is widely known for its high-performance culture including its core values of collaboration, ownership, integrity, passion and communication. As a result, the company is recognised as a leader by various industry trade associations such as HRO Today, Everest Group, NelsonHall and SIA and has also won a Gold Stevie Award and the Best Onsite RPO award in recent years.

Highlights

• Double-digit historic annual growth within its RPO sector, WilsonHCG’s core area of focus
• The RPO market is expected to benefit following the Covid-19 pandemic as companies increasingly value the superior outcomes, flexibility and efficiency that RPO providers such as WilsonHCG provide their clients
• WilsonHCG is a strong fit within 3i’s investment strategy, with a focus on high quality outsourced services, an increasingly international business, especially across Europe and Asia, and a strong management team
• Recently acquired Personify, a leading provider of RPO services to the life sciences and healthcare end markets, representing the company’s third acquisition under 3i ownership

Regulatory information 
This transaction involved a recommendation of 3i Corporation.

Overview

xSuite is a leading accounts payable process automation specialist focused on the SAP ecosystem. Headquartered in Ahrensburg, Germany, xSuite specialises in software applications for Accounts Payable Invoice Automation (“APIA”), which enable customers to digitalise, streamline and automate invoice processing, helping them to reduce costs, drive efficiencies and improve quality. With over 230 employees in Germany, Denmark, the Netherlands, Singapore, Slovakia, Spain and the US, xSuite develops additional workflows and integration capabilities specific to the SAP ecosystem.

With our global network of experts, we are supporting xSuite to build on its emerging presence in the US market and scale its North American operations. In addition, we are partnering with management to accelerate the transition to more subscription software revenues as well as leveraging commercial best-practices recently implemented across our other portfolio companies.

Highlights

• High customer satisfaction given the company’s industry-leading technological capabilities and strong service levels
• xSuite has a growing presence in the US where it has won several blue-chip clients such as Dole, Lionsgate and Crocs and is scaling rapidly 
• APIA market is growing with forecasts of +10% CAGR driven by the digitisation of workflows and a focus on reducing labour costs.
• Growth driven by increasing invoice volumes, adoption of automation solutions, expansion in the use cases of these solutions and the transition to specialist applications.

Overview

Yanga is the leading provider of an integrated in-house sports drinks concept to fitness chains.  Headquartered in the Netherlands, Yanga sells flavoured sports drinks through its installed base of proprietary hydration stations in gyms across Europe. Gym members who have an add-on or premium membership can use the stations to get flavoured water with sugar and colorant-free syrups during their workouts.

3i is investing to support its international growth and expansion into North America.

Highlights

• Unique offering at scale with an installed base of >2,000 hydration stations
• Strongly differentiated business model, delivering a win-win proposition to fitness operators and gym members
• Exposed to key trends in the fitness market, including value-for-money and increased industry consolidation

Overview

YDEON headquartered in Hamburg, Germany, is the online leader in the garden homes, sheds, saunas and related projects market in the DACH region. The business combines specialist trade product know-how with digital competence and offers a one-stop platform for customers – from planning to realisation and maintenance of their garden and home projects.

Founded in 2002, YDEON is a pure eCommerce player and has been the pioneer in selling garden homes directly to consumers.   

We see the business as the foundation to building the leading European platform for home and garden projects. The key focus is to develop the product range into adjacent categories, as well as to internationalise the business by expanding into neighbouring countries.

Highlights

• The home and garden market is expected to see online penetration double by 2025, generating market growth of c.13%
• YDEON generates 95% of its sales directly online with a high level of SEO traffic as a result of its strong content
• The business differentiates itself through its own product development, excellent customer service, and the management of complex logistics
• Only 70 days after 3i's acquisition, YDEON acquired Polhus, a leading online retailer of garden houses and related products in Scandinavia
• Acquisition of Outdoors Toys, a leading online D2C retailer of outdoor garden toys in the UK, in October 2021