Annual Report 2011 - Analist.be

Ergon Capital Partners (ECP)ECP is a private equity investment company whose first fund,ECP I, was set up in February 2005 by GBL in partnershipwith Parcom Capital, an ING subsidiary. Both partnerslaunched a second fund, Ergon Capital Partners II (ECP II)in December 2006. The latest fund, Ergon Capital Partners III(ECP III), which is fully backed by GBL, was launchedin March 2010. In total, ECP has an investment capacityof EUR 775 million, of which GBL’s remaining undrawncommitment amounts to EUR 279 million.Overview of the activitiesDuring the financial year 2011, ECP analysed more than160 potential investments. In April 2011, ECP III acquireda controlling share in group De Boeck, a leading Belgian playerin the educational academic and professional publishingmarket. In July 2011, ECP III finalised its acquisitionof Benito Artis, the market leader in design and distributionof street furniture in Spain. In October 2011, ECP II acquireda controlling share of PharmaZell, a German company thatproduces active ingredients used by the pharmaceuticalindustry. PharmaZell forms, together with Farmabios, anotherfirm acquired by ECPII in 2007, and operating in areascomplementary to PharmaZell’s activities, the ZellBios group.In terms of divetsments, in July 2011, ECP I sold its stake inLa Gardenia, one of the leading perfume/cosmetics retailchains in Italy, for an amount of EUR 39 million.In a context of widespread economic slowdown, ECP activelymonitored its investments and adopted a strategy aimedat striking a balance between growth in operational activitiesand cash generation.The contribution of the two funds accounted for using theequity method, ECP I and ECP II, to GBL’s 2011 earningsamounted to EUR - 10 million, primarily as a result of thechange in the bookvalue of their portfolios. ECP III andits operational subsidiaries, which are fully consolidated,contributed EUR - 4 million to GBL’s earnings.At the end of December 2011, ECP’s portfolio comprised nineinvestments valued at EUR 378 million: Seves, Stroilli, Corialis,Joris Ide, ZellBios, Nicotra-Gebhardt, ELITech, De Boeck andBenito Artis.Annual Report 2011 65