Kalle

In September 2004, Montagu Private Equity led and arranged the Management Buyout from CVC of Kalle, a leading world-wide producer of artificial sausage casings and sponge cloth.

Kalle was one of the world's leading producers of viscose-, plastic- and textile-based artificial sausage casings, making it one of the most important partners for the meat processing industry and the butcher trade. Kalle also produced sponge cloth used in households and for various industrial and medical applications. The company had invested significantly in the development of new and innovative casings, which would support the growth of the business in the coming years.

The company had invested in developing and implementing an integrated environmental recycling and disposal facility which had contributed to it becoming a reference company throughout the industry, enabling Kalle to benefit from production synergies.

With sales of over €170 million and 1,200 employees, Kalle operated production facilities in Germany, Hungary and the Czech Republic as well as numerous conversion centres around the globe. It had long-standing and close relationships with its customers, working closely together with them to ensure that the casing supplied performs to the highest standards and secures maximum production efficiency.

The quality of our offer, our relationship with management and our ability to deliver quickly, enabled us to sign the transaction in a highly contested auction.

In September 2009 Kalle was sold to Silverfleet Capital for €212.5 million.