Riverside completes debut German deal

New York-headquartered private equity firm The Riverside Company has acquired the German pump and valve manufacturing subsidiary of US technology products and services business, ITT Industries.
 
Riverside paid an undisclosed sum to purchase Richter Chemie-Technik, a manufacturer of pumps and valves for the chemical, fine chemical and pharmaceutical industries. The company employs approximately 220 people and operates manufacturing sites in Germany and China.
 
Riverside’s Munich office was not immediately available for comment. According to the firm’s website, Richter Chemie-Technik is the firm’s first acquisition in Germany.
 
The Riverside Company launched a successor to its second European fund earlier this month. The firm is targeting $280.3 million (€344.8 million) in commitments for Riverside Europe III, according to documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
 
Recent investments in Europe include the $44 million acquisition of Sentinel, a UK producer of branded residential heating system additives, and Computer Press, a computer books and magazine publisher in the Czech and Slovak markets, in June. Riverside also acquired Welltech, a Danish provider of intervention tools and services for the oil and gas industry, in July.
 
Riverside first began operating in Europe in 1990, providing advisory services to clients in privatising and restructuring companies in Central Europe. The firm raised its first European private equity fund in 1997 and has since invested in 13 companies.
 
In Europe, Riverside has offices in Munich, Prague, Warsaw and Budapest.