SALTO Systems acquires GANTNER Electronic Group from Ardian

SALTO Systems, co-advised by Heuking Kühn Lüer Wojtek, has acquired GANTNER Electronic Group, a pioneer in contactless electronic access management and time recording systems, from the private investment house Ardian.

The Spanish SALTO Systems is a global leader in the development and manufacture of cutting-edge electronic access control solutions, particularly in security critical sectors. SALTO has delivered more than 5 million access points worldwide, which are used by approximately 40 million people every day. Trusted customers are universities, leading hotel groups, clinics and enterprises in the healthcare, commercial, working spaces, retail and residential industries.

Headquartered in Schruns, Austria, GANTNER Group is active in almost 70 countries and currently employs over 500 people worldwide. Besides its core businesses in Austria and Germany, the group is present with subsidiaries in Great Britain, Belgium, the Netherlands, Dubai, USA, India and Australia. GANTNER offers RFID and NFC technology based solutions for use in fitness clubs, waterparks and spas, theme parks, universities and libraries, as well as commercial properties and public buildings. GANTNER systems create a contactless environment: admissions, lockers, and point-of-sale offers can all efficiently be operated with one single NFC credential in the form of a contactless card, wristband, or key tag.

A new member of GANTNER Group is contidata Datensysteme, a market leader and visionary in the DACH region for cashless, proprietary payment systems in the field of public catering. Having its headquarters in Dortmund, contidata runs offices also in Berlin, Hamburg, Hanover, Cologne, Frankfurt, Stuttgart and Munich.

A team led by the Heuking Corporate/M&A Partner Dr. Martin Imhof in trusted collaboration with the Austrian lead counsel Wolf Theiss and the Spanish law firm Garrigues advised SALTO Systems on the German part of the transaction. Heuking in particular conducted legal due diligence investigations of the German GANTNER companies and advised on company acquisition aspects as well as financing and data protection issues.

The GANTNER product portfolio enriches and diversifies SALTO’s product offering and will enhance the end-user experience. With a joint workforce of 1,200 employees in 40 countries, a total turnover of EUR 260 million and over a million access points delivered each year, the new strengthened SALTO Group consolidates its position as a global leader in electronic access control.

The transaction was financed through a EUR 125 million capital increase in SALTO Systems, bank financing and cash.

Counsel to SALTO Systems (Germany)
Heuking Kühn Lüer Wojtek:
Dr. Martin Imhof (Lead, Corporate/M&A),
Sebastian Pollmeier (Legal Due Diligence, M&A),
Christoph Hexel (Employment Law),
Dr. Guido Hoffmann, LL.M. (Finance),
Dr. Christian Appelbaum (Finance),
Michael Kuska, LL.M., LL.M. (IT, Data Protection),
Astrid Luedtke (IP),
Christoph Nöhles, LL.M. (Real Estate),
Fabian Schmitz (Real Estate), all Düsseldorf
Birgit Schreier (Commercial), Hamburg
Christian Schild, LL.M. (Corporate), Munich

Wolf Theiss (Austria).
Hartwig Kienast (Lead, Corporate/M&A)

Garrigues (Spain):
Carla Frangoni (Lead, Private Equity/Corporate)