COMPANY NEWS
New private equity owners for DSIJun 2011
TunnelTalk reporting
Ownership of DYWIDAG-Systems International (DSI) has changed hands once again with the European private equity house Triton, concluding negotiations with previous owners BAML (Bank of America Merrill Lynch) and Barclays Capital. BAML and Barclays Capital took over DSI in 2010 from CVC Capital Partners, which managed merger of ALWAG Tunnelausbau GmbH into DSI in 2009 and a restructuring of DSI's business in the South American region at the beginning of 2009. CVC bought the company in 2007 from Industri Kapital, which acquired DSI from Walter Bau in 2005, when the German construction company declared bankruptcy.
Speaking at the closing of the transfer of ownership from the Munich headquarters last week on 15 June, DSI Chairman and CEO Alan Bate said: "The new owner is both interested and dedicated to the success of DSI. It is also clear from customers, suppliers and partners that our new found ownership and financial stability is welcomed.
We see this manifest also in new approaches to work with DSI on projects and programs." A statement by the company said that DSI management has been closely involved in the acquisition process and is fully supportive of the outcome.
DSI, known to the international tunnel and mining industries for its ALWAG range of ground anchors, self-drilling bolts and spiles, liner plates, Pantex lattice girders, and the cased self-drilling pipe-umbrella technique of pre-support, has about 2,100 employees at about 70 locations worldwide. This includes ACI, American Commercial Incorporated, of the USA of which DSI, under CVC ownership, acquired in 2006.
Triton operates in the German-speaking and Nordic regions of Europe and has offices in Frankfurt, Stockholm, London, Jersey and Luxembourg. As investors, the acquisition press release states that Triton believes in the merits of investing in businesses and industries that it understands and in which it has long experience.
Comments by DSI and ACI managers when asked of the change of ownership by TunnelTalk at the RETC in San Francisco last week concurred that it is too early to tell what, if any, repercussions the buyout will have on their day to day operations, and that, for the short term, they believe clients won’t notice a difference in the services provided.
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