ARX Equity Partners (“ARX”) has fully exited its investment in Polish plastics processor, ERGIS-EUROFILMS S.A. (“Ergis”), generating an overall internal rate of return of over 33% and 4.5x cash-on-cash multiple. The ARX exit was executed via a series of block trades to investors on the Warsaw Stock Exchange in December 2013, which followed the partial realization of the Ergis investment in 2006.

ARX originally acquired a majority shareholding in the packaging company in 2003 in a leveraged management buyout transaction in partnership with Ergis Managers Tadeusz Nowicki and Marek Gorski. Several value-creation initiatives have been implemented during the period of ARX ownership, including the relocation and consolidation of production sites, divestments of non-core assets and the completion of three complementary add-on acquisitions. Ergis revenues tripled during the period of ARX ownership, growing to more than € 153 million in 2012, and today the company generates more than half of its revenues outside Poland.

ARX Co-Managing Partner Jacek Korpala commented, “Our investment in Ergis is an excellent example of the long-term value-creation potential of the CEE lower mid-market. Key pillars of the ARX investment strategy were successfully implemented in Ergis, including the formation of a successful partnership with management and creating value through add-on acquisitions.”