In October 2018, the Patrimonium Middle Market Debt Fund, a Patrimonium Asset Management AG (“Patrimonium”) private debt fund that focuses on SMEs in German-speaking Switzerland, invested in Joseph Dresselhaus GmbH & Co. KG (“Dresselhaus Group”). Dresselhaus Group is a family-owned supplier of fixing technology and fasteners based in Herford, Germany. It was founded in 1950 and is now one of Europe’s leading providers of fixing technology and fasteners. It employs around 800 people across five sites in Germany and other locations in France, Turkey and Russia, and generates around EUR 200 million in sales each year.
To enable Dresselhaus Group to pay back its bank liabilities, Patrimonium invested over EUR 40 million, make it the Group’s largest lender. With this transaction, Patrimonium replaced most of the Group’s previous creditors, thereby simplifying the Group’s funding structure. The funding was raised through the issuance of senior secured bearer bonds that were acquired by the Patrimonium Middle Market Debt Fund. The transaction is Dresselhaus Group’s first bank-independent financing.