In November 2007, Eyrir Invest, Marel, Landsbanki Islands along with Candover (now Arle Capital Partners) and other co-investors agreed to acquire and take private the Dutch industrial conglomerate Stork which was listed on the Dutch stock exchange.
As part of the agreement, Stork Food Systems, was sold to Marel which subsequently left the consortium. Marel’s acquisition of Stork Food Systems was the main driver for Eyrir Invest’s involvement in the project. It was the first large step towards growing Marel as a global leader in its industry and a key prerequisite in making Marel the industrial leader it is today.
Following the take-private, Stork’s major assets were:
• Stork Technical Services
• Fokker Technologies
In July 2015, Fokker was acquired by GKN plc. (LON: GKN). The combination brings together two leading technology companies with broad product portfolios and established positions on major aircraft platforms. GKN is a UK headquartered global engineering group with over 50,000 people working in the aerospace, automotive and land systems markets. It has manufacturing facilities in more than 30 countries. GKN Aerospace is a global Tier 1 supplier of airframe and engine subassemblies, transparencies and fuel/flotation systems, with sales in 2014 of £2.2 billion (€3.1 billion) and a global workforce of more than 12,000 employees. It has a significant participation on most major aircraft programmes today and a broad customer base spanning the commercial, military, business jets and space markets.
In December 2015 Stork Technical Services was sold to Fluor Corporation (NYSE: FLR). Upon closing of the acquisition, Fluor will begin combining Fluor’s Operations & Maintenance organization with Stork. The combined group, branded Stork and headquartered in the Netherlands, will have an annual turnover of approximately €2.1 billion ($2.3 billion) and a total of approximately 19,000 employees.
Eyrir played an active role in managing the final outcome of the Stork investment. This included participation through operating companies’ Supervisory Boards, strategic planning with co-investors, following through in execution and making management changes. When viewed as a whole the investment proved to be a successful one. It provided Eyrir with good value, stability during turbulent times and it still plays an important role in the success of Marel.
