First and fore­most, by stri­ving to combine the bene­fits from both worlds. We are orga­ni­zed like a private equity fund, but in the Grohe family we have an inves­tor with deep indus­trial and entre­pre­neu­rial know-how. A prede­fi­ned invest­ment hori­zon or even other rest­ric­tions are ther­e­fore alien to us and enable us to respond flexi­bly to the needs of entre­pre­neurs. Parti­cu­larly in share­hol­der constel­la­ti­ons where there is no homo­ge­neous decis­ion-making situa­tion, we can replace indi­vi­dual share­hol­ders without having to trig­ger an over­all sale of the company. This flexi­bi­lity of a “tailor-made suit” for the respec­tive situa­tion has also proven itself in other situations.

In prin­ci­ple, we are not limi­ted to indi­vi­dual indus­try segments. It is important to us that the compa­nies are successful, that their products and services have poten­tial for further growth and that we can contri­bute to this deve­lo­p­ment. We are happy to support entre­pre­neurs and manage­ment with ambi­tious growth plans. This can be done orga­ni­cally or by support­ing acqui­si­ti­ons. We believe we can make a helpful contri­bu­tion to both the finan­cing and the iden­ti­fi­ca­tion and execu­tion of poten­tial acquisitions.

It is not uncom­mon for owner-mana­ged compa­nies to have 80 percent of their own assets tied up in the company. Many entre­pre­neurs have become very aware of this over the past year. They are suddenly prepared to sell part or even a majo­rity stake in their company in the inte­rests of risk diver­si­fi­ca­tion. On the other hand, quite a few owners of very successful and crisis-resistant compa­nies have also stop­ped ongo­ing sales proces­ses because they want to recon­sider the situa­tion due to the higher uncer­tainty of their future pros­pects. Here we are happy to offer oursel­ves as a discus­sion part­ner, not always with the goal of an imme­dia­tely follo­wing transaction.

About Robert Clausen
Robert L. Clau­sen has been Mana­ging Part­ner of Syng­roh Capital’s invest­ment advi­sory company, Syng­roh Advi­sory GmbH, since the begin­ning of 2018. Previously, he advi­sed clients on the acqui­si­tion, sale or finan­cing of compa­nies in more than 70 tran­sac­tions — among others for Deloitte & Touche, BNP Pari­bas, Lincoln Inter­na­tio­nal and Credit Suisse First Boston. He has known the Klaus Grohe family for around two deca­des and has accom­pa­nied its members in a large number of stra­te­gic discus­sions and transactions.