On Friday, October 1st 2021, EQOS Energie Deutschland GmbH (“EQOS Energie“), a portfolio company of private equity firm Triton Partners (“Triton”), signed an agreement to acquire TCT Holding GmbH along with its subsidiary TCT TechnikCentrumThale GmbH (“TCT”).
EQOS Energie was founded in 1920 and acquired by Triton in 2014. EQOS Energie is a leading provider of construction, maintenance and installation services for critical infrastructure, holding a top three market position in all of its markets and applications. The company’s main focus is on Energy Technology, Overhead Lines, Communication Technology, Railway and Technical Building Services. EQOS Energie operates in Germany, Austria, Luxembourg, France and Belgium. EQOS Energie has close to 40 locations and around 1,500 employees. In 2020, EQOS Energie achieved a total output of over EUR 280m.
TCT was founded in 1998 and acquired by its current shareholders in 2018. TCT is a leading engineering service provider, focused on planning, installing and setting up mobile telecommunication infrastructure. The company has a particularly strong market position in the Northern and Eastern regions of Germany. Together with its more than 230 employees at its three locations, TCT serves major telecommunication carriers.
The acquisition of TCT will double the employee count of EQOS Energie’s Communication Technology business unit to around 500 as well as its revenue which is now expected to reach EUR 120m during the current fiscal year. Furthermore, the acquisition will enable the Communication Technology unit to broaden its customer base to serve all of the three leading telecommunication carriers in Germany, thus accessing additional attractive projects, as well as to strengthen its geographical coverage.
Eric Mendel, CEO of EQOS Energie and head of the Communication Technology business unit commented, “TCT contributes more than 30 years of experience with proven expertise and a very motivated team. This represents an excellent complement to the existing extensive service portfolio of EQOS Energie. The combination of TCT and EQOS Energie offers a unique opportunity for both our companies, and we will sustainably expand our leadership position in the field of Communications Technology.”
Jan Wragge, managing director at TCT commented, “Colleagues from TCT and EQOS Energie have known each other for many years from the operating collaboration in various projects. We are convinced that EQOS Energie offers the best platform for us in order to write the next chapter of our corporate history. In light of these positive signs, we are looking forward to this exciting challenge and the pooling of our capabilities.”
Marcus Bär, Managing Partner of CASE Corporate Finance commented, “It was a pleasure to assist EQOS Energie and Triton on this important transaction. This deal further underpins our track record in the Technical Infrastructure Services market which remains dynamic, driven by sustained strong market fundamentals.”
Alongside CASE Corporate Finance, EQOS was assisted by ARQIS as legal adviser, PwC as accounting adviser and KPMG as tax adviser.