Pitch Best Mid-Market Deal 2019: Garmin – Tacx

De beste deal van het jaar is meer dan het hoogste cijfertje in de krant en de kunst van het dealmaken is meer dan het opstellen van een contract. De Awards voor de beste deal zou dus niet alleen op de prijs van de deal gebaseerd moeten zijn, maar vooral op de – toegevoegde – waarde voor een bedrijf en de exit. 

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Name of the deal:         Garmin acquires Tacx. 
Date announced:          12th of February 2019. 
Published value:           €200 million. 
Buyer:                           Garmin
Target:                           Tacx
Seller:                            Tacx shareholders
M&A Database:             Bekijk de details van deze deal.   

Involved firms and advisors sell side:
FDD:                              Rademaker Advies & Accountancy – Herman Rademaker.
Legal:                             Pellicaan Advocaten – Ellen Vandeberg.
                                       Greenberg Traurig – Hans Urlus, Thedoor Melchers, Alex Westerman.

Involved firms and advisors buy side:
FDD:                               KPMG – Niek Kolkman, Bram Kruiswijk, Karst Wiggers, Usama Tariq, Marco Hofman. 
Legal:                              Jones Day – Ton Schutte, Stef Plouvier, Menno Geusens, Sanne Mesu, Sophie Dijkmans, Lodewijk Berger. 
Tax:                                 KPMG Meijburg & Co – Harold Kluijtmans, Dirk Jan van den Berg

Pitch

Brief description deal / Deal outline:
Garmin, an American supplier of GPS technology across diverse markets, has acquired all of the outstanding shares of Tacx, a privately-held Dutch company that designs and manufacturers indoor bike trainers, tools and accessories, as well as indoor training software and applications. With the acquisition, Garmin adds a new product category to its fitness portfolio. Garmin hopes to expand its market position in the market for indoor training. Tacx employs approximately 200 people.

Deal rationale:
This represents the first foray of Garmin into the indoor sports industry.With that, Garmin is now capable of offering a seamless indoor and outdoor experience for athletes year round. With the support of Garmin, Tacx is now able to invest in R&D and production capacity to grow in the indoor bike trainer market. Tacx was already before the deal an innovative company with a line of indoor smart trainers (NEO2 and NEO Bike for example). This innovative spirit is now combined with Garmin’s distribution network which will enable Tacx to accelerate what is does best: to bring highly innovative products to market. 

What is the impact of this deal for the company?
This will offer the company new avenues for distribution of its products, enabling more innovation and faster route to market.

What is the impact of this deal for the direct stakeholders?
Approx 200 employees at Tacx. The acquisition by Garmin will facilitate growth and provide stakeholders with more opportunities that a stand alone scenario would have been able to offer.

What is the impact of this deal on the society?
For athletes (from amateur to professional) this deal has a material impact. Several websites immediately upon announcement called it the biggest tech-news of the year.There was quite some emotion involved as Tacx is used by many biking fanatics and this was viewed as an acquisition of “their” Tacx-company. 

Why does this deal deserve a nomination?
This was a strategic acquisition of a fifty year old family owned iconic Dutch company. This could not have been accomplished if the strategic rationale was not as strong as it was. Clearly, the combination of these companies benefits all involved. The market impact was substantial and involved lots of speculation on what will happen to the innovative Tacx products combined with (soon to be compatible) Garmin products. The majority view seems to be that this acquisition will generally strengthen and accelerate innovation in the entire indoor sports industry.

Comments Panel of Judges:
Getuige de opkomst bij het afgelopen M&A Criterium zijn er flink wat sterke fietsers actief in de M&A-sector, maar ook de overname van fabrikant van home trainers, bidons en overig spul voor sportieve fietser Tacx mag op flinke belangstelling rekenen van het M&A-peloton. Dat de familie achter Tacx een goede partner heeft gevonden in Garmin scoorde hoge punten, zeker ook omdat er een goede synergie is tussen Garmin en Tacx op het gebied van R&D. Zorgen waren er wel: wat blijft er over van de identiteit van Tacx in zo’n grote multinational? 

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