From left: Robert Więcławski – Avallon Partner, Agnieszka Pakulska – Avallon Partner, Wanda Stypułkowska – Chairman of the Board MPS International, Tomasz Tołwiński – Vice President of MPS International, Izabela Ciąćka – menedżer inwestycyjny Avallon

Avallon MBO private equity fund has sold the entire majority stake in MPS International. In August 2014 – as part of Avallon MBO Fund II – it acquired the company from the Swedish founder as part of the MBO (management buyout) transaction, taking over 100 percent of the company together with its managers. shares. Now, seven years later, the fund exits the investment. During this time, we have managed to increase the company’s revenues by 67%, and the operating profit (EBITDA) by as much as 87% compared to 2020. The employment has also increased – while in 2014 the company employed 234 employees, currently in MPS International approx. 340 people are employed, which means an increase of approx. 45% when compared to the time of the beginning of the fund’s investment.

– In line with the assumptions we adopted when purchasing MPS, we have been successful, together with the company’s management, in increasing the level of sales and expanding the product offer by introducing products from new segments.Over this time, the company Has been developing its export activities, entering the markets of Western Europe. At the moment, export already accounts for the greater part of MPS’s revenues. In order to expand its sales with foreign companies, it was crucial to gain trust of those new customers and ensure the high quality of the comprehensive services provided. In turn, Avallon thanks to the investment in the cosmetics sector, has had a chance to gain new extremely valuable experience, which will certainly pay off in the future. We will surely be able to make use of the experience gained while cooperating with MPS in the new Avallon fund – says Agnieszka Pakulska, partner at Avallon MBO.

MPS International MPS International is the only major contract manufacturer of whitelabel cosmetics in Poland. It is a service provider offering partners a wide range of cooperation – from the ideas of new formulas, through tests carried out in their own laboratories, the necessary documentation, to the the selection and production of packaging. The MPS plant produces cosmetics for body, face and hair care, perfumes. It also issues special series and offers cosmetic kits

– After the fund exits, we will continue to develop our cosmetic contract offer, also on foreign markets. We are increasing expenditure on the development of innovative cosmetic products and plastic packaging, taking into account future ecological requirements and EU regulations. Thanks to the recent expansion of the laboratory facilities, we have been able to widen range of services and the number of projects developed for our clients. We are systematically increasing employment in the R&D department, bringing our further development strategy on an even higher level of expenditure on research and innovation, which will be the very element strongly driving our business in the near future – comments Wanda Stypułkowska, President of the Management Board of MPS International.

After another exit made this year, the portfolios of the Avallon fund currently include 6 companies that are in the process of exiting, they are: Ceko and Wosana – from the food industry, Stangl Technik – a company providing installation services, the EDC Expert – a marketing company, the Marketplanet – a purchasing platform, and Novo Tech the one dealing with processing of polymers.

At the same time, Avallon is actively looking for new investments. The Avallon MBO III fund has raised EUR 137.1 million for this purpose. – The first investment implemented by us as that of the third fund was Clovin – a company dealing in the production of cleaning products. However, we are all the time open to new projects with managers. Further investments, in line with our strategy, will be focused on share buyout transactions (MBO), consolidation processes and buyouts of foreign companies. Another specialization of Avallon is continual support for managers in succession processes in family businesses. This time, we are also more willing to look at companies operating in the IT area and those related to e‑commerce – highlights Agnieszka Pakulska.