H.I.G.-CAPITAL

H.I.G. Capital (“H.I.G.”), a leading global private investment firm with more than €20 billion of equity capital under management, announced today that its portfolio company, Royo Group (“Royo”) has completed the integration of Fiora Bath Collections (“Fiora”) as part of its growth strategy.

Headquartered in Nájera (La Rioja, Spain), Fiora was established in 1986, and is Europe’s leading manufacturer of resin shower trays, a rapidly growing product category. Its success has been driven by innovation in the design of new bathroom materials. Resin is highly versatile and offers excellent performance. It also has the ability to imitate the look and feel of very different material types, offering consumers an infinite range of bathroom design and decoration options. Fiora´s products are available in more than 30 countries worldwide. Fiora’s current shareholders will remain as shareholders in Royo and will remain involved in their current roles, playing a leadership management role in the combined business.

The combination of Fiora and Royo is part of Royo’s strategy to grow in other geographic markets and segments, to broaden its leadership to other product categories and to continue improving customer service. The objective of the co-operation between H.I.G. and Royo Group – and now with Fiora – is to create the leading independent player in the European bathroom sector.

Royo and Fiora’s sales networks will continue to operate separately, but will benefit from joint purchasing savings and other shared services.

Jaime Bergel, Managing Director, H.I.G. Europe, said: “Fiora has been a pioneering manufacturer of resin shower trays and is largely responsible for the runaway success of this new product throughout Europe, especially in the South. Fiora’s clients are attracted by the high quality of its products, its innovative design, as well as the exceptional pre-sale and post-sale support, factors that have positioned the company as the undisputed global leader in its market. The integration of Fiora with Royo will allow the Group to continue developing its R&D activity, international expansion and growth. The company will also benefit from becoming part of an international leading specialist in bathroom furnishings.”

Raúl Royo, CEO Royo said: “The integration of Fiora is a major corporate milestone in our ONE 2020 strategy. It strengthens our position as the European market leader and complements our channel and brand strategy that we began to roll out some years ago, a strategy that has been key to our considerable growth in Europe. The integration also heralds our move into a new product category – shower trays and panels –, allowing us to offer a wide range of shower and bath furnishing solutions. Our aim is to become the preeminent player in the European bathroom sector in the next few years.”

José Barrio, one of the Fiora founders stated: “The entire Fiora team is both delighted and enthusiastic at the prospect of being part of Royo’s growth strategy supported by H.I.G., while retaining our identity, team and premium brand image. The complementary nature of our products and markets will enable us to bolster the growth already seen over the past decade and strengthen our competitive position. We are certain our employees, suppliers and sales network will support us on this new venture.”

About Fiora

Headquartered in Nájera (La Rioja, Spain), Fiora is Europe’s leading manufacturer of resin shower trays. The company also makes and distributes resin panels, bathroom furnishings, radiators and accessories. Fiora was established in the 1980s and was owned by its four founding partners until its integration into the Royo Group. Its success has been built on innovation in the design of new bathroom materials, such as resins. Fiora’s primary facilities are located at Nájera in La Rioja, Spain, where manufacturing is set to continue. The facilities span a total of 26,000 square metres and are equipped with cutting-edge technology. For more information, please refer to the Fiora website: www.fiora.es

About Royo

The Royo Group has its roots in the partnership established among various members of the Royo family, the original founders and owners of the business with a track record dating back 45 years. The group aims to strengthen its position in the European market for bathroom products and to step up its internationalisation plans to become the leading independent player in the European bathroom sector. RGIB currently has factories in Spain, Poland and Mexico, as well as sales operations in the United States and India. The company operates in over 60 countries on 5 continents.

Royo is the only Valencia-based company – and one of just a handful in Spain – to be invited to join Smart Eureka, a cluster of smart European 4.0 companies. Being asked to join the Smart Eureka initiative is one of the main milestones in RGIB’s new expansion phase until 2020. The Spanish Government, through the Ministry of Industry, recently added the group to its “Cre100do” programme, an initiative launched by foreign trade body ICEX, Bankinter and the Círculo de Empresarios that aims to help 100 Spanish companies grow to become large businesses over the next 5 years. For more information, please refer to the RG website: www.royogroup.com

About H.I.G. Capital

H.I.G. is a leading global private equity and alternative assets investment firm with over €20 billion of equity capital under management*. Based in Miami, and with offices in New York, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Atlanta in the U.S., as well as international affiliate offices in London, Hamburg, Madrid, Milan, Paris, Bogotá, Mexico City and Rio de Janeiro, H.I.G. specializes in providing both debt and equity capital to small and mid-sized companies, utilizing a flexible and operationally focused/value-added approach:

1. H.I.G.’s. equity funds invest in management buyouts, recapitalisations and corporate carve-outs of both profitable as well as underperforming manufacturing and service businesses.

2. H.I.G.’s debt funds invest in senior, unitranche and junior debt financing to companies across the size spectrum, both on a primary (direct origination) basis, as well as in the secondary markets. H.I.G. is also a leading CLO manager, through its WhiteHorse family of vehicles, and manages a publicly traded BDC, WhiteHorse Finance.

3. H.I.G.’s real assets funds invest in value-added properties, which can benefit from improved asset management practices.

Since its founding in 1993, H.I.G. has invested in and managed more than 300 companies worldwide. The firm's current portfolio includes more than 100 companies with combined sales in excess of €28 billion. For more information, please refer to the H.I.G. website at www.higcapital.com .

H.I.G. European Capital Partners Spain is a legally independent advisor to H.I.G. Capital LLC, H.I.G. Europe Capital Partners, L.P. and H.I.G. Europe Capital Partners II, L.P.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180131005985/en/

Contact:

H.I.G. Capital
Jaime Bergel, P +34 91 737 50 50, F +34 91 737 50 49
Managing Director
jbergel@higcapital.com
www.higcapital.com