Arranged: €205 million surety facility, €100 million in supplier limits and a cross-border factoring structure // Alfons-Maria Gracher: "Having surety bonds, trade credit insurance and factoring in place is a prerequisite for a successful carve-out"
Trier, 14 May 2026. gracher provided comprehensive support to the AEQUITA Group in connection with the carve-out of selected European olefins and polyolefins activities from LyondellBasell by structuring the key financing and risk mitigation components. As part of the transaction, Germany's leading surety broker arranged surety bonds totaling approximately €205 million. Of this total, approximately €150 million served to replace the seller's existing parent company guarantees. In addition, gracher secured supplier limits of approximately €100 million and supported the structuring and implementation of a corresponding cross-border factoring facility. The business acquired by Munich-based investor AEQUITA now operates under the name Velogy. Velogy generates annual revenue of €2.5 billion and employs more than 1,700 people, with its headquarters in the Netherlands and operations in Germany, France, the United Kingdom and Spain.
Financial independence from day one
In a corporate carve-out, financing and security structures frequently need to be rebuilt within a very short time frame. Obligations that were previously backed by the parent company require standalone surety lines after closing. At the same time, supplier relationships must be stabilized, trade credit limits established and working capital solutions put in place.
"The success of complex carve-outs like this also depends on having financing capacity in place from day one as an independent company. We ensured that Velogy had the necessary surety lines, supplier limits and instruments such as factoring in place by completion," says Alfons-Maria Gracher, Founder and Managing Director of gracher. "Drawing on our carve-out experience and network, we were able to replace €150 million in surety bonds linked to LyondellBasell and significantly expand those lines in the buyer's interest. Velogy now has a robust end-to-end financing solution."
The key challenge was to assemble a coordinated financing package bringing together surety providers, trade credit insurers and factoring partners in time for closing. "This was only possible because our team worked so closely with mutual trust with our colleagues at AEQUITA. I would therefore like to extend my sincere thanks and congratulations on this successful outcome to Kolja Hübner, Victor Liermann and Markus Steger from AEQUITA, the entire Velogy team, as well as my colleagues responsible on our side, Carsten Schack and Andreas Renner."
Experience with complex transactions
"This mandate is further proof of our comprehensive approach to financing advisory. Close coordination is essential, not only in private equity and carve-out situations, but across many other transaction types as well," Gracher emphasizes. "With experience, market expertise and execution strength, gracher coordinated multiple workstreams within a tight timeframe to help deliver a successful closing."