Silverfleet Capital, a European private equity firm, has added to its retail portfolio with the acquisition of the Schneider Group, a German catalogue and online retailer, in a secondary buyout from Barclays Private Equity.
Silverfleet Capital, a European private equity firm, has added to its retail portfolio with the acquisition of the Schneider Group, a German catalogue and online retailer, in a secondary buyout from Barclays Private Equity.
The parties agreed not to disclose details of the acquisition price.
Headquartered in Wedel near Hamburg, the Schneider Group sells products into the German, Austrian, Swiss, Dutch and Swedish markets with total sales in 2009 of EUR241m and an Ebit of EUR26m.
As part of the deal, management and the founder’s family are reinvesting and will continue to hold a minority stake in the business.
The transaction, which is subject to competition authority approval, is expected to close in November. Debt capital was provided by a syndicate of banks led by UniCredit.
Sebastian Kern, who is responsible for the transaction at Silverfleet Capital, alongside Guido May, both partners in its Munich office, says: “The Schneider Group is financially strong and cash generative and has grown significantly due to its distinctive ranges, also shared warehousing and distribution operations mean that it benefits from a highly efficient and cost effective infrastructure. This has played a significant part in supporting the rapid growth of the group’s online sales and it is in this area where we see significant potential to add scale and grow the business.”
Carsten Muuß, managing director of the Schneider Group, adds: “During the sales process, the Silverfleet Capital team has shown a comprehensive and impressive knowledge of our market. We are now looking forward to the implementation of new growth drivers in cooperation with our new majority owner and the further development of our business model.”
This acquisition is Silverfleet’s second from its current EUR670m fund following the acquisition in September 2009 of Kalle, a producer of artificial sausage casings.
