The fund manager Waterland has bought 50% of Montronic, a Vic company specializing in the manufacture of electronic components since 1997.
The operation, the price of which is confidential, has involved the purchase of the majority of the capital from David Ortega, the CEO, as well as the acquisition of a minority share from several private partners who prefer to remain in the anonymity The remaining 50% of the property has remained in the hands of David Ortega, who will retain the position of CEO of the firm.
The operation was signed yesterday and aims to aggressively boost Montronic’s growth. “Waterland is specialized in acquiring companies that operate in fragmented sectors and turning them into local leaders through the acquisition of their competitors”, comments David Torralba, partner of Waterland, who will be present on the board of directors.
The manager, based in the Netherlands, does not give investment figures, but assures that it has financial muscle. “We operate through a vehicle that has 2.5 billion euros available to invest on a global scale,” Torralba assures.
Waterland has already detected 50 potential opportunities in Spain and expects to close operations in the coming months. The size will vary depending on each opportunity, within a range of prices that can range from 1 to 15 million euros. “In France, we have carried out a very similar strategy with a local operator. Therefore, we have found that there is a great opportunity in the European market to create a large manufacturer of complex electronic components. The sector is better known with the high mix low volume concept, as opposed to the low mix high volume Asian companies, which manufacture large volumes of simpler parts”, comments the investor.
At the moment, Montronic is a firm with a turnover of 22 million and employs 90 people in the municipality of Vic, where it plans to keep the production center. “We work for around fifty companies linked to sectors such as industry, mobility or renewable energy”, comments Ortega. The founding partners, Pere Lloansí and Marta Anglada, left Montronic last year, according to the Mercantile Registry, after selling their stake to David Ortega, who before Waterland’s entry controlled most of the business.
