Enterprise Investors sells Danwood to GS Engineering & Construction, a South Korean construction company
Warsaw, 20 January 2020 – Polish Enterprise Fund VII, a private equity fund managed by Enterprise Investors (EI), has signed an agreement to sell Danwood, the number one manufacturer of prefabricated turnkey houses in Germany and Poland. The buyer – GS Engineering & Construction – is one of the biggest construction companies in South Korea.
- The value of the transaction is EUR 140 million;
- Total gross proceeds generated by the investment amount to EUR 238 million, yielding a 9x total gross multiple of cost;
- The transaction is conditional upon obtaining antimonopoly approval in Poland.
Danwood, headquartered in Białystok and with two production plants in Bielsk Podlaski, designs and builds ready-to-move-in houses for individual customers. In December 2013, EI acquired the company in a carve-out transaction from Budimex SA.
In the year of the investment Danwood delivered 685 houses, generating revenue of EUR 99 million. By the end of 2019, the company’s production capacity reached 2,000 houses and revenues exceeded EUR 274 million.
Between 2014 and 2019, Danwood invested over EUR 27 million in expanding its production capacities. The workforce more than doubled in this period, numbering more than 2,000 employees by the end of 2019. The company operates in five European countries, including Germany, where for the last four years it has been the top player in its market. With its comprehensive portfolio and value-for-money solutions Danwood is a one-stop shop for prospective homeowners looking to buy a turnkey house in the mid-range segment – the most attractive part of the market in terms of size and growth dynamics. Thanks to its best-in-class production facilities, construction site teams, engineering staff and architects, Danwood will continue to grow on the back of the prevailing market trends.
“It was a real pleasure to work with Danwood’s management team led by Jarosław Jurak” said Sebastian Król, the partner at EI responsible for this investment. “Together we have built a company that not only surpassed the market in terms of growth, but tripled production capacity, developed a unique and effective approach to sales and achieved operational excellence that will fuel this growth in years to come,” he added.
Commenting on the transaction, Jarosław Jurak, president and CEO of Danwood, said: “We strongly believe that under the new ownership Danwood has the potential to further strengthen its market position in Europe and reach for new markets outside the EU, becoming a global leader in the production of energy-efficient prefabricated houses.”
Enterprise Investors is one of the largest private equity firms in Central and Eastern Europe. Active since 1990, the firm has raised nine funds with total capital exceeding EUR 2.5 billion. These funds have invested almost EUR 2 billion in 144 companies across a range of sectors and exited 132 companies with total gross proceeds of EUR 3.9 billion.
GS Engineering & Construction is one of the largest construction companies in South Korea, listed on the Korea Stock Exchange (006360.KS). The company is a leader in the field of Architecture & Housing, Plant, Power, and Infrastructure. It has 24 overseas subsidiaries and branches.
For further information please contact:
Anna Czywczyńska, Communications & Public Affairs Director
tel.: +48 22 458 8500
www.ei.com.pl