Houlihan Lokey Advises Bahr Modultechnik

Houlihan Lokey is pleased to announce that Bahr Modultechnik, a portfolio company of IK Partners, has sold a majority stake to IMI. This deal closed on 13 June 2022.

The proposed acquisition of Bahr is aligned with IMI’s strategy and its purpose of "Breakthrough Engineering for a better world". The addition of Bahr will enable IMI Precision (a division of IMI), to deliver a power-agnostic offering of pneumatic and electric linear motion systems. The purchase price reflects a multiple of approximately 13.5x on the company’s forecasted full-year 2022 EBITDA. Bahr grew revenues through the pandemic from, 2019 to 2021, at a 12% CAGR, and experienced 27% growth for the first four months of 2022.

Bahr is a leading provider of highly configured modular electric linear motion systems, based on a broad portfolio of specialist components. The company has a diverse customer base with a presence in highly attractive, automation-driven end markets, including pharmacy automation, warehouse automation, and robotics. Bahr’s unique modular system and customer centric-approach align with IMI’s business model. The company is based in Luhden, Germany, and is majority-owned by IK Partners (IK). Cihan Halavurt, Co-CEO and Dirk Bahr, Co-Founder and Co-CEO at Bahr, will remain with the business post-acquisition to drive the significant growth opportunity through the combination of the two organisations.

IK Partners (IK) is a European private equity firm focused on Benelux, DACH, France, Nordics, and UK investments. Since 1989, IK has raised more than €14 billion of capital and invested in over 160 European companies. IK supports companies with strong underlying potential, partnering with management teams and investors to create robust, well-positioned businesses with excellent long-term prospects.

IMI, the specialist engineering company, designs, manufactures, and services highly engineered products that control the precise movement of fluids. Its innovative technologies, built around valves and actuators, enable vital processes to operate safely, sustainably, cleanly, efficiently, and cost-effectively. IMI employs around 10,000 people, has manufacturing facilities in 19 countries and operates a global service network. The company is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE4Good Index.

Houlihan Lokey served as the exclusive financial advisor to the shareholders of Bahr Modultechnik. The deal team assisted in initiating, structuring, and negotiating all aspects of the transaction on its behalf. This deal represents another successful transaction for Houlihan Lokey in the industrial technology space.