Leica Blackstone group buys 44% of Leica

wt21

Hall of Famer
From the Wall Street Journal
Blackstone to Buy Minority Stake in Leica - WSJ.com

Blackstone took a minority position in Lecia (page B8 from 10/12 edition for you paper readers). It says Leica's revenues were 250 Euro, and the minority stake of 44% cost 130 Euro. That's just a little higher valuation of 1X earnings, which is not a strong statement of worth.

It also says Leica has turned to profitability, and recently paid a dividend (which means it's making, and not losing, money).

Blackstone said there are opportunities to move into emerging markets (Asia, Latin America, etc.) that the investment can help with, and the return window is "medium to Long Term."

I think this is good news. The market needs a healthy Leica, shipping good products.
 
Thanks for this - I did receive a Leica email about it yesterday.
Leica Camera Gains Strategic Investor In Blackstone


This morning Leica officially announced that Andreas Kaufmann's ACM is selling 44% minority stake of Leica Camera shares to investment funds advised by Blackstone.

The goal is "to support Leica’s international growth plans" - more precisely "continued development of the brand, its products and our growth plans into new markets such as Asia, South America and the Middle East".

According to the Leica press release "ACM has no plans to sell more shares in Leica Camera AG. Our long term strategy is to accompany Leica Camera in its continued expansion worldwide."
 
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