Bathroom brand Villeroy & Boch AG has signed to acquire Ideal Standard Group from Anchorage Capital Group and CVC Credit, with the transaction expected to be completed in early 2024.
The acquisition price is based on a company valuation of approximately €600 million, and Villeroy & Boch is financing the transaction with its own liquid funds and by borrowing € 250 million. The merged company will now become one of Europe’s largest manufacturers of bathroom products.
The revenue of the Villeroy & Boch Bathroom & Wellness Division will double to € 1.4 billion due to the merger. Including the Dining & Lifestyle business, this represents an increase of over 1.7 billion euros (around € 995 million in the 2022 financial year) for the Group as a whole.
According to Villeroy & Boch the merger will create a powerful combination of brand and sales strategies. Villeroy & Boch has a strong geographical basis in Central and Northern Europe and Asia, while Ideal Standard’s brand portfolio extends to the UK, Italy and the Middle East / North Africa region.
“This merger means that we will now catch up with the largest players on the European market in the bathroom sector in terms of turnover,” explains Frank Göring, CEO of Villeroy & Boch. Our complementary strengths also make us more competitive and significantly improve our starting position for achieving additional growth.”
While Villeroy & Boch’s sales strategy focuses primarily on a high-end private customer base, Ideal Standard possesses particular expertise in the project business, including for the public sector, the healthcare sector and for developers of large residential, hotel and commercial properties.
In addition, with a broad range of ceramic bathroom ware and other products, Ideal Standard has an established fittings business, which generated over a third of its revenue last financial year.
Jan Peter Tewes, Ideal Standard CEO, said: “Villeroy & Boch and Ideal Standard complement each other, in terms of products but also in terms of brands, and will gain mutual benefit from their different sales channels. Both companies will play a key role in charting the future course of the industry. We look forward to this development!”
Frank Göring points to the cultural similarities between Villeroy & Boch and Ideal Standard: “We are characterised by strong brands steeped in tradition and share similar values. These include a pronounced service orientation, a flair for good design and a constant striving for innovation.
“We are delighted that the employees of Ideal Standard will become part of our global organisation after the closing of the transaction. Our clients will benefit from this combined expertise and an expanded offering.”
“The bathrooms sector remains a fast-moving global growth market, but it is a market in which scale effects will be increasingly important to remaining competitive and attracting future investment.
Chairman of the supervisory board at Villeroy & Boch Andreas Schmid added: “The bathrooms sector remains a fast-moving global growth market, but it is a market in which scale effects will be increasingly important to remaining competitive and attracting future investment.
“For this reason alone, the acquisition represents the right strategic step for Villeroy & Boch. In addition, Ideal Standard is an excellent extension to our own business model.
“ This heralds a new era for the Bathroom & Wellness Division and for Villeroy & Boch as a whole,”
