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Transactions

JULY 2014

Herkules sells Estrella Maarud to Intersnack

Legal adviser to the purchaser:

Financial due diligence provider:

Legal adviser to the seller:

Herkules sells Estrella to Intersnack

Intersnack Group GmbH & Co KG ("Intersnack") and Herkules Private Equity Fund II ("Herkules") have announced that they have entered into an agreement where Herkules sells the salted snacks manufacturer Estrella Maarud ("Estrella Maarud" or "the Company") to Intersnack for an undisclosed sum. The transaction has already closed for the Nordics, while closing for the Baltics is expected within a few weeks, subject to approval by the competition authority in Lithuania.

Estrella Maarud is a leading manufacturer and supplier of branded salted snacks in the Nordic and Baltic countries, including brands such as Maarud (number 1 in Norway), Estrella (number 1 or 2 in Sweden, Finland and the Baltics) and Taffel (challenger in Denmark).

Financial adviser to the seller: Seller due diligence provider:

The Company has a long heritage of producing premium salted snacks and began making chips in 1936. It was acquired by Herkules in October 2008 through a carve-out from Kraft Foods and has thereafter established itself as a standalone company through a comprehensive process managed by Herkules, including the recruitment of a new management team. Today, Estrella Maarud offers consumers a complete range of snacks including chips, speciality snacks, baked snacks and nuts. Manufacturing facilities are located in Disenå (Norway), Angered (Sweden) and Kaunas (Lithuania) with headquarters in Oslo. During the past years, the company had a strong performance with top line growth of 7% in both 2012 and 2013, outperforming most peers in the Nordic grocery retail sector by far. In 2013, Estrella Maarud had an annual turnover of €130m and employs approximately 430 people.

Herkules was advised by ABG Sundal Collier, Wiersholm and PWC. Intersnack was advised by Wikborg Rein and EY. LM

This announcement appears as a matter of record only High Tech Industries

secures financing from ICS Partners & Metric Capital

Legal advisor to High Tech Industries:

High Tech Industries secures financing from ICS Partners & Metric Capital

ICS PARTNERS GmbH (ICS) specialises in acquiring and operating companies experiencing exceptional circumstances, and on handling complex business transactions. The ICS team comprises experts with proven investment and transaction experience and practitioners with industry know-how. ICS focuses on the automotive industry. ICSPartners and Metric Capital Partners LLP (MCP) have created a financing consortium and will provide HTI with some € 26 million of fresh capital. At the same time, equities and liabilities will be restructured resulting in a substantial strengthening of HTI’s equity capital base.

Financial adviser to High Tech Industries: Legal advisor to the buyer: Debt advisory:

Peter Glatzmeier, HTI’s CEO, said, “The successful entry of MCP / ICS as investors enables us to now purposefully pursue our course and, based on our excellent technical prowess and our product skills, actively and determinedly operate in the market. Especially our surface coating mastery will set us apart and enable us to offer our clients high-quality individual solutions and products.” Jörg Gregel, ICS operating partner and designated HTI CEO, pointed to investments that were made in the high-finish paint-spray line. He and his team had overseen the installation and commissioning while the transaction was still being seen through. “This new HTI paint shop is one of the most modern facilities in all of Europe and enables HTI to offer its clients coated surfaces of the very highest quality.” The successful conclusion of financing also puts an end to HTI’s past financial woes. Gregel thanked HTI clients and suppliers in the run-up to planned sales meetings, “We should like to especially thankHTI’s clients, particularly the leading automotive OEMs, for always supporting the firm. Specifically BMW, by assigning HTI highly demanding tasks, confirmed the company’s skills and abilities and sustainability and thus greatly spurred on employees’ motivation and their will to deliver.” LM

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High Tech Industries

Herkules