Tag Archives: Consumer brands

ARDIAN sells ADA INTERNATIONAL to MOONLAKE CAPITAL

Ardian

Growth and internationalization strategy successfully implemented through targeted acquisitions, with revenue more than doubling

Frankfurt am Main / Kehl, October 8, 2018 – Ardian, a world-leading private investment house, announced today that it has entered into an agreement with Moonlake Capital to sell ADA Cosmetics Holding GmbH (ADA International), Europe’s leading manufacturer of high-quality hotel cosmetics. The management team will remain shareholders of the company. Financial terms will not be disclosed.

Ardian Expansion Fund III acquired the company in 2014. Since then, the business has grown via buy-and-build strategy through the acquisitions of Scandinavian Amenities, Pacific Direct and RDI Malaysia, as well as through significant organic growth. As a result, ADA International has advanced from local market leader in the DACH region to the market leader in Europe. It has also significantly strengthened its presence in Asia and the Middle East. Under Ardian’s ownership, sales have more than doubled to over EUR 110 million with profitability increasing steadily. The customer base has grown from around 15,000 to over 25,000 hotels, and the workforce has doubled to around 700 employees.

ADA International was founded in 1979 in Kehl, Germany. Its core business is the production and sale of high-quality personal care products such as shampoo, shower gel, soap, body lotion and accessories for the hotel industry. In addition to its own established brands such as Naturals, Pure Herbs and Hydro Basics, ADA International’s product range also includes hotel cosmetics products from leading international brands such as Chopard and Bulgari. The business model is based on products that meet the highest quality standards and longstanding customer relationships that generate repeat revenues. ADA International’s customer base ranges from independent hotels to international hotel chains in the three, four and five star segment. In addition to the hotel industry, ADA International also services cruise ships and airlines.

Wilhelm B. Könning, CEO of ADA International, said: “In the past four years, we have significantly expanded our position as the market leader for high-quality hotel cosmetics in Europe. In the German-speaking region, our market share is now more than 50 percent. In the UK, this figure is only slightly lower, and in France we are the second largest. Together with Ardian, we have expanded into other important sales markets such as Asia. We have also broadened our innovative product range accordingly to include fragrances, packaging and organic cosmetics to meet international customer needs. Ardian was an important partner and provided us with tremendous support on this path. We are now looking forward to continuing to pursue our growth strategy with Moonlake Capital.”

Dirk Wittneben, Managing Director at Ardian, added: “ADA International has evolved very well. The company’s management team has done an excellent job in implementing the growth strategy and integrating the acquired companies.”

Marc Abadir, Managing Director at Ardian, said: “Thanks to the innovative and high-quality products and the right feel for market trends and customer wishes, ADA International also has great potential for further international growth. ADA International is ideally positioned to become the leading independent global player.”

Philip Wack, Managing Partner of Moonlake Capital, said: “ADA International is a leading player in the highly attractive and resilient niche market of hotel cosmetics. We look forward to partnering with the management team led by Wilhelm B. Könning to support the business in its further growth ambitions.”

ABOUT ADA INTERNATIONAL

ADA International develops, produces and sells high-quality hotel cosmetics and innovative dispenser solutions to three, four and five star hotels, internationally. Based in Kehl, Germany, the company has around 700 employees worldwide and is active in more than 50 countries. ADA International is one of the leading suppliers in this segment with a strong product portfolio of trendy lifestyle concepts, exclusive luxury and designer brands as well as modern dispenser systems.
www.ada-international.com

ABOUT ARDIAN

Ardian is a world-leading private investment house with assets of US$72bn managed or advised in Europe, the Americas and Asia. The company is majority-owned by its employees. It keeps entrepreneurship at its heart and focuses on delivering excellent investment performance to its global investor base.
Through its commitment to shared outcomes for all stakeholders, Ardian’s activities fuel individual, corporate and economic growth around the world.
Holding close its core values of excellence, loyalty and entrepreneurship, Ardian maintains a truly global network, with more than 530 employees working from fourteen offices across Europe (Frankfurt, Jersey, London, Luxembourg, Madrid, Milan, Paris and Zurich), the Americas (New York, San Francisco and Santiago) and Asia (Beijing, Singapore, Tokyo). It manages funds on behalf of around 750 clients through five pillars of investment expertise: Funds of Funds, Direct Funds, Infrastructure, Real Estate and Private Debt.
www.ardian.com

ABOUT MOONLAKE CAPITAL

Moonlake Capital is a newly founded investment firm based in Austria with an associated office in the UK. It combines decades of entrepreneurship with extensive Private Equity investment and execution experience. It exclusively invests its own funds. In partnership with strong management teams, Moonlake Capital seeks to contribute to the sustainable and successful development of its investments. With permanent capital, the firm can be a long-term partner for its portfolio firms. Through its enduring partnership and capital commitment, Moonlake Capital is able to support its investments in their quest to realise their full growth potential. The firm strives to be a socially responsible investor, working in partnership with customers, suppliers, employee representatives and unions.
www.moonlakecap.com

ADVISORS TO THE TRANSACTION

Ardian Team: Dirk Wittneben, Marc Abadir, Yannic Metzger, Nicolas Münzer
M&A: GCA Altium
Financial: Deloitte
Commercial: EY-Parthenon
Legal Corporate: Willkie Farr & Gallagher
Tax: EY Tax, Taxess

PRESS CONTACT

ARDIAN
Headland
Martin Robinson
Tel: +44 020 3805 4828
mrobinson@headlandconsultancy.com

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Waterlogic acquires Minnesota Water and Water Engineering Technologies

Castik Capital

Waterlogic, a leading global designer, manufacturer, distributor and service provider of purified drinking water dispensers, is pleased to announce the acquisitions of Minnesota Water and Water Engineering Technologies.

Minnesota Water, based in Maplewood, Minnesota, has been a leading provider of PHSI point-of-use water coolers since 2012. The acquisition provides Waterlogic with a direct operation in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area, increasing Waterlogic’s direct service and sales presence to 50 markets throughout the U.S. and Canada including all the top 40 U.S. Metropolitan Statistical Areas.

Steve and Shelly Norenberg, owners of Minnesota Water, said, “We are delighted to have completed the sale of our business to Waterlogic. We could not have found a better option for our customers, our employees, or our family. We appreciated how honest and transparent Waterlogic was throughout the process and we will be excited to see the business grow under Waterlogic’s ownership.”

Water Engineering Technologies (W.E.T.) is a premium provider of point-of-use water coolers, headquartered in Burien, Washington since 1998. The acquisition of W.E.T.’s business strengthens Waterlogic’s market presence in the Pacific Northwest, allowing for increased and more efficient customer reach in this important market.

Chuck Lockart, Owner, Water Engineering Technologies, said, “Waterlogic was great throughout the process and I am very pleased with the transaction. I have a lot of long-time customers and I know that they will be in good hands with Waterlogic.”

With these two acquisitions, Waterlogic has now completed five acquisitions in the U.S. and Canada in the last nine months:

  • Pure Water Technology of the Inland Empire – Redlands, California
  • Streamline Water – El Paso, Texas
  • Just Pure Water – Toronto, Ontario
  • Water Engineering Technologies – Seattle, Washington
  • Minnesota Water – Minneapolis, Minnesota

With these acquisitions, and a strong focus on organic growth, Waterlogic services nearly 100,000 point-of-use coolers throughout North America, delivering on its customer promise of ‘hassle free, great tasting water, every day’.

 

“I am thrilled to add these two excellent companies to Waterlogic Americas,” said Casey Taylor, CEO Waterlogic Americas. “With Minnesota Water, we expand our presence in Minneapolis to help us provide even better service in the Twin Cities. Likewise, combining Water Engineering Technologies with our existing Seattle branch will allow us to reach more customers in the Pacific Northwest. We are adding outstanding employees from each company, with significant experience and expertise, making our team even stronger.”

Waterlogic remains dedicated to growth in the Americas, both through organic sales and through acquisition.

Waterlogic was acquired in January 2015 by funds managed by Castik Capital, the European private equity investor. Minnesota Water and W.E.T. are the most recent acquisitions as part of the company’s buy and build strategy since the acquisition by Castik, and following substantial acquisitions in the US, UK, Australia, Spain, France, Germany, and Scandinavia.

 

– ENDS –

Media Contact

Rosanna Turner, Group Marketing Communications Manager

rosanna.turner@waterlogic.com

About Waterlogic

Waterlogic is an innovative designer, manufacturer, distributor and operator of Point-Of-Use (POU) drinking water purification and dispensing systems designed for environments such as offices, factories, hospitals, hotels, schools, restaurants and other workplaces. Founded in 1992, Waterlogic was one of the first companies to introduce POU systems to customers worldwide, and has been in the forefront of the POU market, promoting product design and quality, the application of new technologies and world class sales and service. Waterlogic has its own subsidiaries in many markets and an extensive and expanding independent global distribution network in place, reaching over 60 countries around the world. Waterlogic products are currently distributed in North and South America, Europe, Asia, Australia and South Africa. Waterlogic’s leading markets are the US, Australia and Western Europe, in particular the UK, Scandinavia, Germany and France. More information can be found at www.waterlogic.com

About Castik

Castik Capital S.à r.l (“Castik”) manages investments in private equity. Castik is a European multistrategy investment manager, acquiring significant ownership positions in European private and public companies, where long-term value can be generated through active partnerships with management teams. Founded in 2014, Castik is based in Luxembourg and focuses on identifying and developing investment opportunities across Europe. The advisor to Castik is Castik Capital Partners GmbH, based in Munich. Investments are made by the Luxembourg-based fund, EPIC I SLP, the first fund managed by Castik, which had its final fund close of EUR 1bn in July 2015.

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Nordstjernan has divested its holding in the listed Norwegian furniture group Ekornes

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As previously announced, Nordstjernan AB (“Nordstjernan”) has confirmed, through pre-acceptance, that the company is divesting its holding in the Norwegian furniture group Ekornes ASA (“Ekornes”) to a Chinese consortium under the management of the Chinese furniture company Qumei Home Furnishings Group Co. Ltd. (“Qumei”), provided that the transaction is completed. At the end of the acceptance period, Qumei’s offer had the support of 98 percent of the shares in Ekornes. On August 29, 2018, Nordstjernan sold its entire ownership share of 17.2 percent in Ekornes to Qumei. The offer for all the shares in Ekornes was equivalent to a value of NOK 5.1 billion.

Nordstjernan initially invested in Ekornes in 2007, and has been the largest shareholder and represented on the Board of Directors since 2008. Since 2016, Nordstjernan’s Nora Förisdal Larssen has been the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Ekornes. Over the past few years, Ekornes’ management and Board has enjoyed great success in terms of rationalizing costs and the acquisition of the furniture company IMG, based in Southeast Asia. A unanimous Board recommended the offer from Qumei on May 23, 2018. In order to ensure a successful ownership succession, Nordstjernan will continue to be represented on the Board of Ekornes for some time.

“Nordstjernan believes the new industrial ownership will create additional growth potential for Ekornes. We wish the company and the new owner constellation all the best in the future,” says Tomas Billing, CEO of Nordstjernan.

Tomas Billing
President and CEO
Nordstjernan AB

Questions will be answered by:

Tomas Billing, CEO of Nordstjernan
Telephone: +46 8 788 50 18
E-mail: tomas.billing@nordstjernan.se

Nordstjernan AB is a family-controlled investment company whose business concept is to be an active owner that creates long-term and positive value growth. More information about Nordstjernan can be found on www.nordstjernan.se.

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Gilde Buy Out Partners and Management acquire Caseking Group

Gilde Buy Out

Berlin – Funds advised by Gilde Buy Out Partners (“Gilde”) today announced the acquisition of Caseking Group (“Caseking” or the “Company”), together with the Founders and management. The terms of the agreement have not been disclosed.

Caseking, a leading supplier of high-performance PC-gaming equipment and peripherals, maintains a track record of strong organic growth, excellent market understanding and successful product placement supporting the future growth of the Company. Caseking has displayed consistent growth, both organically as well as through add-on acquisitions, becoming a leading platform for PC-gaming equipment in Europe. Operations are based in Germany, Great Britain, Sweden, Finland, Hungary, Portugal and Taiwan. The Company processes 540.000 orders and sells approximately 4 million products worldwide per year. Products sold include own brands, brands exclusively available at Caseking and third-party brands.

Commenting on the sale, Toni Sonn, CEO of Caseking says: “I am thankful to all employees at Caseking for their contribution and support in putting the Company on a path of sustained growth. We have experienced exciting years with strong organic growth and the expansion of Caseking to other regions outside Germany. The sale of Caseking to Gilde will allow us to further strengthen the strong position of Caseking in the PC-gaming industry and we are looking forward to work with Gilde as an experienced partner for companies with a strong growth and expansion focus.”

Matthias Wilcken, Partner at Gilde: “We are impressed with Caseking’s track record of consistent growth and the ability to understand the needs of performance PC-gamers. The Company has built a leading position in Europe focusing on the most demanding clients in the categories of PC equipment and peripherals. Caseking is in an excellent position to further build on this solid foundation and to become the most respected brand within the PC-gaming community. We are excited to support Caseking in this next phase of development.” Read more at: http://gilde.com/news/2018/gilde-buy-out-partners-and-management-acquire-caseking-group

 

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PAT MCGRATH LABS selects Eurazeo Brands as investment partner

Eurazeo

New York, July 16, 2018 – Eurazeo Brands has made an investment in Pat McGrath Labs, the iconic makeup brand created by Pat McGrath, the number one makeup artist in the world. Eurazeo, a leading global investment company with ~€16 billion of assets under management, joins ONE Luxury Group, a dedicated luxury investment fund, as minority shareholders in the company. Eurazeo’s total investment is $60 million, bringing total external funding to date to $88 million. The new capital will help Pat McGrath Labs build on its incredible success and enable the company to further expand its distribution in the U.S., as well as meet increasing demand worldwide. Additional terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Founded by McGrath in 2016, Pat McGrath Labs quickly revolutionized modern beauty through its must-have, straight-from-the-runway makeup experience. In its early days, products such as Pat McGrath Labs’ brilliant Gold 001, which sold out in less than six minutes, captured the imagination and attention of the industry, making it one of the most talked-about beauty launches. In the fall of 2017, Pat McGrath Labs debuted its core collection of makeup on patmcgrath.com and at select Sephora locations in North America. The highly anticipated launch generated incredible media attention and captivated consumers with some of the most unique and coveted makeup ever made available to the public. This fall will see the introduction of new product categories to complement the brand’s best-selling lipsticks, eyeliners and eyeshadows.

Pat McGrath Labs has reached top selling SKU status at Sephora with various hit products and was also voted the number one most engaged beauty brand in a Facebook survey of 500 top beauty brands. Pat McGrath Labs has already garnered over 30 billion media impressions since launch.

On creating Pat McGrath Labs and partnering with Eurazeo Brands, McGrath said: “It has always been my dream to create an iconic beauty brand that goes beyond the usual limitations, that lives outside the parameters of what is expected. I am thrilled to be working with the unique and expert team at Eurazeo Brands.”

“We are honored to be working with Pat, whose vision, talent and trailblazing history in the beauty industry have set Pat McGrath Labs up to be one of the most authentic and innovative makeup brands to ever come to market,” said Jill Granoff, CEO of Eurazeo Brands. “We’re excited to combine our experience of building global beauty and fashion brands with Pat and her team’s unmatched creativity and passion.” Granoff has also had a successful career in beauty and fashion, including 10 years in senior leadership roles at Estée Lauder and seven years at Victoria’s Secret Beauty, where she helped to double sales from $500 million to $1 billion and launched the brand internationally during her tenure as President and Chief Operating Officer.

Virginie Morgon, CEO of Eurazeo, added, “We look forward to joining Pat McGrath Labs on its global journey to reach millions of new consumers who have followed the brand for years. We love to partner with brilliant entrepreneurs like Pat and believe this investment will be a success.”

***

EURAZEO CONTACTS

PRESS CONTACT

 

CAROLINE COHEN

HEAD OF INVESTOR RELATIONS

E-mail: ccohen@eurazeo.com

Tel: +33 (0)1 44 15 16 76

STEPHANIE MARIA-BAJARD

DIR. COMMUNICATION

E-mail:  smaria-bajard@eurazeo.com

Tel: +33 (0)1 44 15 80 44

EDELMAN

CARLEIGH ROESER

E-mail: Carleigh.roesler@edelman.com

Tel: (917) 344 4779

For more information,please visit the Group’s website: www.eurazeo.com

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About Pat McGrath

 

Pat McGrath is an incomparable beauty trendsetter, having inspired and created the most ground-breaking and celebrated makeup looks of the 21st century. Named “the most influential make-up artist in the world” by Vogue, McGrath curates and creates the makeup looks for the couture and prêt-a-porter runway shows of the leading luxury fashion houses, including Prada, Louis Vuitton, Versace, Givenchy, Maison Margiela, Valentino and many others.

McGrath created the makeup looks for every Vogue Italia cover for more than 10 years, working with legendary photographer Steven Meisel, as well as for countless other covers, editorials, and campaigns for the world’s pre-eminent publications and luxury brands. McGrath is Beauty Editor-at-Large for British Vogue. McGrath is also the creative force behind top international makeup brands, including Giorgio Armani cosmetics, Gucci Beauty, Dolce & Gabbana: The Makeup, and as former global creative director of P&G Beauty, successfully transformed P&G Beauty into a leading player in luxury color cosmetics.

McGrath was honored by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II for services to fashion and beauty and has been designated a Member of the Order of the British Empire.

About Eurazeo Brands

Eurazeo Brands aims to invest a total of $800 million in high potential U.S. and European consumer companies with differentiated brands across a wide range of verticals including beauty, fashion, home, wellness, leisure and food. Eurazeo Brands partners with visionary founders and strong management teams to drive value creation by leveraging Eurazeo’s brand building and operating expertise, as well as its global network, with offices across four continents.

About Eurazeo

With a diversified portfolio of approximately €16 billion in assets under management, including €10 billion from third parties, Eurazeo is a leading global investment company with offices in Paris and Luxembourg, New York, Shanghai and Sao Paulo. Its purpose and mission is to identify, accelerate and enhance the transformation potential of the companies in which it invests. The firm covers most private equity segments through its five investment divisions – Eurazeo Capital, Eurazeo Croissance, Eurazeo PME, Eurazeo Patrimoine and Eurazeo Brands – and through three Idinvest business divisions: Venture Capital, Private Debt and Dedicated Portfolio & Funds. Its solid institutional and family shareholder base, robust financial structure free of structural debt, and flexible investment horizon enable Eurazeo to support its companies over the long term. As a global long-term shareholder, the firm offers deep sector expertise, a gateway to global markets, and a stable foothold for transformational growth to the companies it supports.

Eurazeo is listed on Euronext Paris.

ISIN: FR0000121121 – Bloomberg: RF FP – Reuters: EURA.PA

About ONE Luxury Group

ONE Luxury Group is an investment fund focused on disruptive consumer and retail luxury businesses that combine both traditional and new communication and retail distribution models. ONE Luxury’s mission is to help build luxury brands that embrace new models of communication and customer acquisition whilst combining the best of traditional and online retail.

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Our investment in Lime: Maximising micro-mobility

Atomico

Today, we’re delighted to announce our investment in Lime. Led by co-founders Brad Bao and Toby Sun, Lime is an organisation driving behavioural change at mass scale and lightning speed.

We set out to back founders who can address the world’s biggest challenges, and improve the way we live. Moving more people more frequently, decongesting cities, and improving air quality for those who live there, are certainly monumental challenges. Lime’s e-bikes and scooters tackle them in a sustainable, affordable, and convenient way.

At Atomico, as mobility continues to be disrupted, we are looking to back multiple solutions – especially if consumers love it and it is better for the city too. One of those areas is micro-mobility.

 

The ability to unlock, jump on and off Lime’s distinctive electric scooters anywhere is already delighting city-dwellers in over 70 locations across the US. In San Francisco, each of the company’s scooters is used an average of nine times a day.  It is clear the ‘form factor’ of the electric scooter is going to be a hit for shorter journeys where ride-hailing, public transport or even walking is not quite right.

The team has ambitious plans for European expansion, and we are proud to be their European investor as they scale to our continent. We’re joining the deal with other global investors GV, Andreessen Horowitz and Uber, whose excitement for Lime we share.

This is the ideal juncture for Atomico to partner with Lime. In the last decade, we’ve developed Atomico into a platform for sharing operational experience with our portfolio companies. We’re privileged to work with Brad and Toby, and excited to put our hard-won experience to work for Lime.

 

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AURELIUS subsidiary Scandinavian Cosmetics strengthens its market position in Norway and Sweden

Aurelius Capital

  • The acquisition of Solis International Cosmetics AS and Alf Sörensen AB broadens the company’s market position substantially
  • These acquisitions will increase the revenues of Scandinavian Cosmetics Group to well over EUR 100 million
  • Accelerated growth of the existing luxury and consumer brands portfolio, and improved positioning of new Brands

Munich / Malmö (Sweden), July 5, 2018 – The Scandinavian Cosmetics Group, a subsidiary of AURELIUS Equity Opportunities SE & Co. KGaA (ISIN: DE000A0JK2A8), will acquire the Norwegian company Solis International Cosmetics AS and its Swedish subsidiary Alf Sörensen AB, effective June 30, 2018. This will strengthen the market position of the Scandinavian Cosmetics Group, which is the largest manufacturer-independent luxury and consumer brand management company for perfumes, cosmetics, hair care and skin care products in Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Finland. These acquisitions will increase the revenues of the Scandinavian Cosmetics Group by more than 15 percent to well over EUR 100 million. The business combination can further boost the above-average growth rate of the existing brand portfolio. At the same time, the ability to develop brands with a not-as-strong market presence will be permanently enhanced.

Solis International Cosmetics, based in Oslo, Norway, and Alf Sörensen, headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden, are the second-biggest and third-biggest independent distributors respectively of perfumes, skin care products, makeup and other cosmetic products of many well-known brands in their markets, and therefore make a perfect fit with the Scandinavian Cosmetics Group’s expansion strategy. Scandinavian Cosmetics already offers an extensive range of services related to online and offline brand development and market access in all relevant distribution channels, mainly perfume shops, drugstores, premium department stores and online shops. This will be further expanded strategically in the future.

“Since acquiring Scandinavian Cosmetics in early 2016 we have successfully broadened our position as an attractive partner for the positioning and marketing of luxury and consumer brands in the cosmetics and perfumes segment. With Scandinavian Cosmetics, we want to expand further, both organically and by means of a long-term M&A strategy,” said Nils Haase, the AURELIUS Vice President responsible for the realignment of Scandinavian Cosmetics. “This acquisition is an important milestone in this plan.”

About the Scandinavian Cosmetics Group

The Scandinavian Cosmetics Group emerged from the acquisition of the distribution business of Valora AG, and has belonged to the AURELIUS Group since January 1, 2016. It is the market-leading independent distributor of high-quality cosmetics and perfumes in Scandinavia, with operations in Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Finland. As a specialist in high-quality cosmetics and fragrances in the premium and luxury segment, and with extensive market access, the company covers all relevant distribution channels, primarily perfume shops, drugstores, premium department stores and online shops.

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