While contemplating the acquisition of Bons & Evers, Bencis Capital Partners commissioned Tauw to perform a Phase I EDD assessment of Bons & Evers. The code name for this transaction was ‘Silk Road’.
Private equity firm Bencis Capital Partners (Bencis) commissioned Tauw in 2018 to perform a Phase I Environment Due Diligence (EDD) assessment of Bons & Evers, a company engaged in hot forging, machining, and assembly of brass, bronze and aluminium components, as well as the casting and extruding of brass and bronze alloys.
The company has production sites in the Netherlands (Borne and Drunen), Germany (Geisingen and Vöhrenbach), France (Esvres sur Indre), Hungary (Kálló) and China (Shanghai). Its products are amongst others applied in the automotive industry, sanitary applications,valve production, and power distribution applications.
The objective of the Phase I EDD was to identify and evaluate the (potential) presence of material environmental issues associated with the current and historic use of the sites. Our assessment included thorough desk study, consultation of relevant archives and databases, and site visits (performed in July 2018) to current production sites. Also, Tauw performed a desk top review of the Shanghai site, where production is being started up.
This EDD assessment approach represents an actual “reality check” of the environmental situation of the company and answers questions such as: is it functioning as it should be and in accordance with applicable environmental laws and regulations? If not, what costs will be involved to ensure (technical) compliance with such laws and regulations? The findings of this reality check can be used in the negotiations related to the acquisition and may be incorporated in the transaction documentation (SPA).
In the sites outside of the Netherlands and Germany, the actual assessments were performed by some of Tauw’s trusted local partners. Our local partners are a key factor, as they are familiar with (local) legislation, language and culture, which ensures that there are no barriers to come to a cost efficient and effective approach.
Bencis Capital Partners is a renowned Western European private equity firm that already has a long-lasting working relationship with Tauw as a provider of environmental and related due diligence services. This is why Bencis, while contemplating the acquisition of Bons & Evers, commissioned Tauw to perform the Phase I EDD assessment. ‘Silk Road’ was the code name for this transaction.
After completion of the EDD, Bencis stated to be very satisfied with all aspects of the project, including the price-quality ratio, the quality of the report, the collaboration with Tauw, communication and project management, and the shown pro-active attitude.
"Again, Tauw has shown to perform a good job, providing very professional advice at a good price-quality ratio. They are communicative and pro-active. Tauw provides its services as we love to see it done in our transaction practice” - Jorrit Rijnbeek, Investment Director at Bencis
