U.S. Private Equity Firm Initiates Buyout of Stemmer Imaging

MiddleGround Capital (Lexington, KY, USA), a private equity firm, initiated a buyout of Stemmer Imaging (Puchheim, Germany), a distributor of machine vision products.

In a news release, Stemmer Imaging says the company’s management team and board of directors will continue leading the company. Once the stock buyout is complete, MiddleGround plans to take Stemmer Imaging private and delist it from the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.

Stemmer Imaging has been publicly traded since 2018 when it completed an IPO with an issue price of €43 per share. It sells a range of machine vision components including cameras, lighting, lenses, software, imaging boards, cables, and PCs. In addition to components, Stemmer Imaging also creates sub-system solutions. It also develops and markets Common Vision Blox, a hardware independent and modular machine vision programming library.

Details of the Offer

MiddleGround Capital, which specializes in middle market B2B industrial and distribution businesses, plans to submit an offer to Stemmer Imaging’s shareholders of €48 per share, which is a premium of 52% over the closing price of Stemmer shares on July 19, 2024, and corresponds to an equity value of €312 million.

MiddleGround Capital has already secured a stake of nearly 70% of all outstanding Stemmer Imaging shares through a share-purchase agreement with Primepulse SE (München, Germany), an investment company that focuses on IT and technology companies and is Stemmer Imaging’s primary shareholder. In addition, members of Stemmer Imaging’s management board hold slightly more than 8% of all outstanding shares in the company, and they also have agreed to sell their shares to MiddleGround Capital.

Alex van der Have, managing director and head of Europe for MiddleGround Capital, explains the takeover decision by saying, “While already a clear leader in machine vision solutions, we believe Stemmer Imaging has the potential for accelerated growth, both in existing and new markets.”

Stemmer Imaging’s History in Machine Vision

Founded in 1987, Stemmer Imaging has steadily expanded its presence as a distributor of machine vision components. Over the years, it has acquired businesses throughout Europe.

In 2019, it expanded to Latin America with the acquisition Infaimon S.L. (Barcelona, Spain), a supplier in machine vision and robotics that had operations in Brazil and Mexico in addition to Portugal.

In March 2024, company announced plans to expand into the United States by acquiring Phase 1 Technology (New York, NY, USA), a distributor of machine vision products in North America.

Commenting on the takeover by MiddleGround Capital, Arne Dehn, CEO of Stemmer Imaging, says, “MiddleGround Capital is a professional, entrepreneurial partner with a high level of operational expertise that understands the success factors for our business very well and can sustainably support Stemmer Imaging in its further development and growth strategy. We therefore welcome the agreement with MiddleGround Capital in the interests of our employees, customers, suppliers and shareholders.”