• Transactions

FEUER powertrain Adjustment Financing Structure & Partly Refinancing via Equipment Finance/Sale-& Lease-Back

The Company

FEUER powertrain Group ("FPT"), headquartered in Nordhausen (Thuringia), is a leading global independent manufacturer of crankshafts for passenger car, truck, agricultural machinery and industrial engines, as well as the recreational vehicle (ATV, motorbikes, jet skis, sport boats, etc.) and compressor segments. Although much of the current business is based on internal combustion engine applications, there are still growth opportunities for FPT from an accelerated outsourcing trend and the further diversification of activities. 

FEUER powertrain currently operates a total of seven plants with highly automated, flexible production lines at the Nordhausen and Beuren locations (Germany) and in Tunica, Mississippi (USA).

The Transaction

Against the backdrop of the outbreak of the Corona crisis, FPT initially postponed the comprehensive realignment of the financing structure that was actually planned for 2020 and instead agreed in Q2 on an adjustment and extension of all financing components as well as the addition of two new "Corona financing tranches" in the syndicated loan in order to ensure sufficient financing scope due to the Corona crisis. Despite the clear focus on financing stability at the beginning of the Corona crisis, various arrangements were already agreed in Q2 2020 as part of this adjustment to the financing structure, on the basis of which further financing components can be supplemented quickly and which thus make it possible to flexibly implement further fundamentally envisaged financing steps after the start of the recovery phase. 

Building on this basis, FPT was then able to implement a long-term refinancing component as early as Q3 2020, with which both the corona tranches and an existing private placement with a short remaining term were fully refinanced. 

Specifically, FPT thereby refinanced part of its existing machinery on a long-term basis via a sale & lease-back structure at good conditions. In economic terms, the structure corresponds to a refinancing via annuity loans - the corresponding assets remain on the balance sheet and, after repayment of the financing, also become the full legal property of the company again.

Scope of Mandate

ARGONAS acted as exclusive debt advisor to FPT in the financing process, providing full advisory and support on all transaction streams. Based on an appropriate preparation of the refinancing step already in H1 2020, the implementation of the refinancing and the redemption of the relevant tranches could be completed very quickly.

Christian Berkhoff

Managing Partner/Co-Founder

Christian Berkhoff is Managing Partner at ARGONAS und has more than 20 years of experience in Corporate Finance Advisory und Investment Banking. 

At ARGONAS, Christian leads M&A and financing projects across a broad spectrum of industries, sectors and company situations. Christian’s focus areas are businesses in the Industrial & Automotive and Business Services space as well as complex financing solutions and M&A situations. 

Selected transaction references comprise inter alia the sale of the Siemens subsidiary Symeo to US-listed Analog Devices, the sale of Tecno Plast to Swedish Indutrade Group in the context of a succession solution, the carve-out and sale of a business segment for the international Auria Solutions Group as well as multiple financing and M&A projects for Feuer powertrain. 

Prior to co-founding ARGONAS, Christian inter alia worked for J.P. Morgan in London and Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein in Frankfurt, where he predominantly advised multinational corporations and large midmarket companies on structured debt and hybrid capital solutions.

Christian holds a degree in business administration from Goethe-University Frankfurt and a Masters in Finance degree from London Business School.