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Blackstone snaps up stake in revitalized Leica

by contributor Andew Bulkeley  |  Published October 19, 2011 at 3:52 PM
Blackstone Group LP on Wednesday bought a 44% stake in Leica Camera AG as the revitalized cult German camera maker begins peering through its viewfinder at foreign markets.

The New York private equity firm bought the stake from Salzburg, Austria-based ACM Projektentwicklung GmbH, an investment vehicle of the Austrian Kaufmann family, for an undisclosed sum. Blackstone will use equity for the purchase rather than add debt to Leica, according to German daily Handelsblatt.

After nearly running aground for initially missing the transition from analog to digital photography, Leica now looks to foreign markets for growth. ACM saved the company in 2005, largely through the personal interest and commitment of hobby photographer Andreas Kaufmann, an heir to the Kaufmann Austrian paper mill fortune.

"Following the successful turnaround of the business and record sales last year, we are now focused on the continued development of the brand, its products and our growth plans into new markets such as Asia, South America and the Middle East," said Kaufmann, Leica's supervisory board chairman, in a statement.

Before the Blackstone sale, ACM held just over 97% with a few holdout investors remaining from when Leica was a listed company. ACM will sell its shares to Blackstone with no plans for additional share sales or a capital increase, it said.

Solms, Germany-based Leica also hopes to increase the number of company stores around the world to 200 from a current 63 and is introducing more cameras with swappable lenses.

The new cameras boosted sales for the year ended March 31 by more than 57% to €248.8 million ($344.7 million), pushing Leica to a profit of €36.3 million following a €3.2 million loss in the previous fiscal year. The company employs 1,150.

Blackstone has been very active in Europe's biggest economy this year. This summer the financial investor agreed to buy German outdoor clothing maker Jack Wolfskin GmbH & Co. KGaA from German buyout shop Quadriga Capital and Barclays Private Equity in a deal with an enterprise value of €700 million.

It also blew €2.5 billion into two offshore wind park projects along the German North Sea coast.
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Tags: ACM Projecktuntwicklung GmbH | Andreas Kaufmann | Barclays Private Equity | Blackstone Group LP | camera | digital photography | euro | Europe | Handelsblatt | Jack Wolfskin GmbH & Co. | Kauffmann family | Leica Camera AG | lenses | Quadriga Capital | Solms Germany | tech | technology deals | wind park

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