Pantheon backs fire services GP-led

The €270m deal involves German fire protection business svt, an investment made in 2018 by European mid-market buyout shop Ergon Capital.

Pantheon has backed a single-asset process centred on a German fire protection business.

Portfolio company svt was lifted out of Ergon Capital Partners’ 2010-vintage fund into a continuation vehicle backed by the London-based secondaries firm, new institutional investors and some existing investors as part of a process run by Evercore, according to a statement.

Ergon svt Long Term Value Fund is €270 million in size, including follow-on capital, the statement noted.

“We are enthusiastic to further support svt’s ambitious growth strategy over the long-term in the context of a new fund, dedicated to building the leading player in passive fire protection,” said Wolfgang de Limburg, managing partner of Ergon, which makes mid-market investments in the industrials, healthcare, retail, media and leisure sectors of Western Europe.

Hamburg-headquartered svt offers fire protection products and services. The company has reached revenues of around €200 million and EBITDA in excess of €30 million since Ergon’s initial investment in January 2018, according to the statement.

Ergon Capital Partners III raised €500 million by final close in 2010 from limited partners such as Power Corporation of Canada and Luxembourg-based asset manager Sienna Capital, according to PEI data.

Pantheon has backed several single-asset deals over the past year, including one involving West Coast buyout firm Alpine Investors and a €1.2 billion deal centred on nuclear medicine company Curium Pharma, Secondaries Investor reported.

The firm is investing its Global Secondary Fund VI, which raised $2.2 billion including separate accounts by final close in June.

There were $6 billion of single-asset deals in 2020, equivalent to 23 percent of all GP-led deal volume, according to Greenhill.