Through a dedicated capital increase with Activa Capital, Be Relax, the global operator of well-being and beauty services at airports, has raised up to €20m. The transaction will help accelerate the pace of Be Relax spa openings at both existing airport locations and at new airports.
Founded in 2004 by Nicolas and Frédéric Briest, Be Relax now operates 52 airport spas in 11 countries across Europe, the US, the Middle East and Asia. The group employs nearly 500 staff worldwide.
Be Relax has experienced strong growth in recent years, particularly in the US and the Middle East, winning numerous tenders, including the airports of Dallas, Philadelphia and, very recently, Muscat. Over the last few years, Be Relax has become the number one global operator of airport spas.

Activa Capital’s investment project, alongside Nicolas and Frédéric Briest, is to contribute to the acceleration of openings through an ambitious plan of 10 new spas per year, while supporting the founders as they implement their new marketing concept, gradually rolling it out across all points of sale.

“I am delighted with this partnership with Activa Capital. Their renowned experience in supporting external growth strategy will be key in carrying out potential build-ups for Be Relax,” Nicolas Briest, co-founder of Be Relax.
“Ultimately, we want to strengthen our global leadership, becoming number one in the US market. This development will involve the opening of many new spas, ” Frédéric Briest, co-founder of Be Relax.
For Christophe Parier and Alexandre Masson, Partners at Activa Capital: “We were impressed by the energy of the Be Relax founders and their ability to grow simultaneously across the US, Europe, the Middle East and Asia. Airports are increasingly looking to offer relaxation and well-being services to passengers to relieve the stress of travel. This is a key moment in the development of Be Relax, which is structuring its shareholder base in order to accelerate the pace of its openings.”

Deal participants
Be Relax: Frédéric Briest, Nicolas Briest
Activa Capital: Christophe Parier, Alexandre Masson, Frédéric Singer
Buyer strategic due diligence: Roland Berger (Gaëlle de la Fosse, Olivier Hombreux, Michael Cosentino)
Buyer financial Due Diligence: 8 Advisory (Justin Welstead, Daniel Parsons, Baptiste Piasentin)
Buyer legal adviser: Hogan Lovells (Stéphane Huten, Paul Leroy, Alexandre Jeannerot)
Seller legal adviser: Stehlin & Associés (Svetlana Tokoucheva)
Seller corporate finance: Neuflize OBC Corporate Finance (Jean-Christophe Liard, Caroline Brun)

About Be Relax
Established Paris in 2004 with the opening of well-being spas at Roissy Charles de Gaulle airport, Be Relax has become in a few years a world leader in airport spas. Be Relax spas are regularly ranked among the best in the world of travel retail. Be Relax’s mission is to offer a special moment of relaxation to airport passengers. Taking advantage of its unique expertise in stress caused by air travel, Be Relax is innovating and developing a line of accessories in well-being and travel under its own brand name. These products are now distributed in more than 200 stores and boutiques around the world. Since its first spa at Paris Charles-de-Gaulle airport, the company has launched successively in Europe, the US and the Middle East. It now has 52 locations and employs more than 500 employees. The iconic Roissy Charles de Gaulle site employs more than 60 people on permanent contracts in 8 spas. To learn more about Be Relax, visit berelax.com.

About Activa Capital
Activa Capital is a leading French mid-market private equity firm. Activa Capital manages over €500m of private equity funds on behalf of a wide range of institutional investors. Activa Capital partners with ambitious mid-sized French companies, valued at €20m to €200m, seeking to accelerate their growth and their international footprint. Learn more about Activa Capital at activacapital.com or on Twitter @activacapital.

Activa Capital Media Contacts Steele & Holt Media Contacts Be Relax Media Contacts
North America:
Alexandre Masson Daphné Claude Adeline Moya
Partner VP, Business Development
+33 1 43 12 50 12 +33 6 66 58 81 92 +1 978 408 3065 alexandre.masson@activacapital.com daphne@steeleandholt.com a.moya@berelax.com
Europe & Middle-East:
Christelle Piatto Claire Guermond Virginie Desquatrevaux
Communications Manager Marketing Director
+33 1 43 12 50 12 +33 6 31 92 22 82 +33 6 68 11 03 78
christelle.piatto@activacapital.com claire@steeleandholt.com v.desquatrevaux@berelax.com

Torqx Capital Partners (“Torqx”) is pleased to announce that it has entered into a partnership with the current owners of Folat Group B.V. (“Folat” or “the Company”). Folat is the largest designer, manufacturer, and distributor of decorated party goods and party accessories in the Benelux. Key customer segments are dedicated party goods stores, webshops and large retailers. Folat also operates its own B2C e-commerce platform www.feestwinkel.nl.

Marc Mulckhuyse, founder and director of Folat, comments: “Managing the complete process from product design to production and distribution enables us to keep our leading position and develop new markets, like our B2C e-commerce platform. Joining forces with Torqx provides us not only with financial support, but also with the knowledge and expertise to develop and scale our business.”

Alex Adrichem, founder and director of Folat, comments: “We are delighted to enter into a partnership with Torqx. This will allow us to continue our strong momentum and build a market leading position in Europe. We are looking forward to realise our business ambitions together with the Torqx team.”

Peter Kroeze, Managing Partner at Torqx comments: “We are impressed by the passion and dedication of the Folat team to provide their customers with the best party products and excellent delivery and service. Folat has developed a strong market position, based on their innovative product range, retail expertise and thorough understanding of their customers’ needs. We look forward to supporting Folat in further building the company internationally and driving its performance.”

About Folat
Folat was founded in 1993 by Alex Adrichem and Marc Mulckhuyse. With an innovative and fresh approach of the market, the company has realised continuous growth since the start. Folat offers a broad range of party products, incorporating a variety of themes and licenses, and develops concepts in order to have a total solution for any store, product or theme presentation. Folat organises the complete distribution chain, from design and product development to production, sales and distribution. The Company is headquartered in Haarlem (NL), has sales offices in Belgium and Germany and operates a state-of-the-art 12.000 m² warehouse in Velsen. Folat employs ca. 70 FTE. For more information, please visit www.folat.eu.

Mentha Capital has recently expanded its portfolio by taking a stake in OFYR. OFYR’s main goal is to transform outdoor cooking into a more social activity, replacing traditional barbeques with something far more user-friendly and pleasing to the eye, whilst still enabling high-quality cooking.

OFYR’s leading product is a unique cone-shaped, high-performance cooking-unit which in combination with a wide range of supporting products forms a complete outdoor lifestyle concept. OFYR targets both high-end users such as professional chefs, focused on advanced cooking, and people who want to combine outdoor cooking with social events. Their products are used by both high-end restaurants and by consumers at home in their gardens. OFYR was first launched in the Netherlands in 2015 and is now sold in over 70 countries.

Peter Tourné, CEO and shareholder of OFYR: “We are delighted that in Mentha Capital we have a business partner that will be instrumental in bringing OFYR to the next level.”

Hans Goossens, founder and shareholder of OFYR: “I am very proud that in a short space of time we have brought OFYR to a level that such an established partner is willing to collaborate with us.”

Mentha Capital will support OFYR in accelerating its growth. Mark van Ingen, Investment Director at Mentha Capital: “What OFYR has managed to achieve in the last three years is extremely impressive. They have transformed a great idea into a mature company and established a new brand and category in a traditional market. We are pleased to actively support and work together with the company in realizing its ambitious growth plans.”

3i Group plc (“3i”) today announces that it will invest in International Cruise & Excursions, Inc. (“ICE”), a unique global travel and loyalty company that connects leading brands, travel suppliers and end consumers. 3i is investing alongside the founders, John and Marcia Rowley, and other senior executives, who will retain a significant minority stake.

ICE was founded in 1997, has over 2,000 employees and is based in Scottsdale, Arizona with additional offices in Australia, Europe, India, Mexico, New Zealand and the UK. ICE is a B2B technology business that partners with leading brands including financial services and travel companies to offer their customers access to travel and leisure products at preferred rates. The Company has developed proprietary technology that enables it to offer a wide range of loyalty, rewards and open-itinerary travel products across a variety of inventory types, including cruise, resort and hotel offerings.

The business has grown strongly with c.15% revenue CAGR from 2012 to 2017 supported by underlying growth in travel and increasing usage of loyalty programmes as a way to retain clients. There is significant potential in growth of both its domestic and international business, with international sales currently representing only 15% of revenues.

Andrew Olinick, Co-Head 3i North America, commented:

“This is an exciting investment opportunity and an excellent fit for 3i’s experience and track record in travel and technology-enabled services. ICE is a unique business that offers tangible benefits to all its stakeholders. We believe 3i can provide significant support to help ICE grow internationally and improve its offering for customers through enhanced sales and marketing initiatives.”

John Rowley, Co-Founder & CEO, added:

“We are delighted to be partnering with 3i and believe the team is well-suited to assist our business in continuing to grow and scale. 3i has a proven track record in the travel industry and an impressive international network which will be of great value to ICE.”

Marty Cole, previously Chief Executive of Accenture Technology, will join as a board member. Marty’s extensive experience of, and insight into, technology-led businesses, will be instrumental as ICE continues its impressive growth trajectory.
Kirkland & Ellis and OC&C Strategy Consultants acted as advisers to 3i.

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IK Small Cap I Fund, advised by IK Investment Partners (“IK”), the leading Pan-European private equity firm, announces today that it has reached an agreement to sell Touristry Group Holding AB (“Touristry” or “the Company”), a market leading operator of sightseeing buses and boats and a provider of tourism related services, to Amsterdam-based Tourism Group Holding B.V. (“TGH”). Financial terms of the transaction are not disclosed.

Founded in Stockholm in 2011, Touristry quickly gained market share from the incumbent market dominating player. Originally launched as a new brand of “hop on, hop off” buses, Touristry transformed the Nordic tourism sector by unveiling a fleet of modern bright red vehicles equipped with free Wi-Fi and multilingual audio guides. In 2014, the Company further expanded by adding hop-on, hop off sightseeing boats to its offering in Stockholm. Touristry offers an array of tourism services to approximately 2 million customers a year.

In addition to helping cement Touristry’s market leading position in the Nordic region, IK enabled the company to expand into Germany via two add-on acquisitions. Touristy now boasts a presence across Northern European tourist destination cities, including Stockholm, Copenhagen, Helsinki, Tallinn, Riga, and Berlin.

Commenting on the sale, Kristian Carlsson Kemppinen, Partner at IK Investment Partners and advisor to the IK Small Cap I Fund said: “Touristry has been a success story and we have greatly enjoyed working with its entrepreneurial team. It has been a pleasure seeing the business grow to new heights. IK remains very interested in supporting management teams and investing in growing and innovative companies across Europe, and helping them to become market leaders like Touristry.”

Micha Gottfarb, founder of Touristry and CEO, commented: “Since our very first meeting, the business relationship with IK has been underpinned by mutual trust and a shared vision. With IK’s help we were able to transform Touristry into a truly international business, with the scale and functionality to grow and sustain our market share. I look forward to building on our success in this next chapter for the company together with our new partner, TGH.”

Dirk Lubbers, CEO of TGH, said: “In Touristry we identified a company which had all the ingredients of a great business: innovation, a unique concept, and a product that was widely loved by the market. We look forward to working with Micha and his team to expand Touristry even further and ensure that the European tourism market continues to benefit from the great customer experience Touristry is able to provide. After our very successful expansion in Amsterdam we are thrilled to be able to realise a powerful urban tourism concept abroad. And as a result of our first foreign acquisition, I am proud to announce our new name; Tourism Group International.”

For further questions, please contact:

IK Investment Partners

Kristian Carlsson Kemppinen, Partner
Phone: +46 8 678 9500

Mikaela Hedborg
Director Communications & ESG
Phone: +44 77 87 573 566
mikaela.hedborg@ikinvest.com

Touristry
Micha Gottfarb, CEO
Phone: +46 709 35 53 93
micha@touristry.se

Tourism Group Holding
Dirk Lubbers, CEO
Phone: +31 (0)20 5300 919
d.lubbers@tourismgroupholding.com

About Touristry
Touristry is a market leading provider of tourism related services in the Nordics, primarily focused on bus and boat sightseeing (“Hop-On, Hop-Off”). Headquartered in Stockholm, the company has grown rapidly by expanding with its main brands Red Buses and Red Sightseeing and today provides services to over 2 million tourists per year in the Nordic region.

About IK Investment Partners
IK Investment Partners (“IK”) is a Pan-European private equity firm focused on investments in the Nordics, DACH region, France, and Benelux. Since 1989, IK has raised more than €9.5 billion of capital and invested in over 115 European companies. IK funds support companies with strong underlying potential, partnering with management teams and investors to create robust, well-positioned businesses with excellent long-term prospects. For more information, visit www.ikinvest.com

About Tourism Group Holding
Founded by Erik de Visser in 1983, TGH has grown from a family owned ticket reseller into the leading tour operator for urban tourism in the Netherlands. Through several strategic acquisitions TGH created a fully integrated urban tourism company offering unrivalled visitor experience by offering a broad range of tickets to local museums, attractions, Amsterdam canal cruises, hop-on hop-off bus trips, and fun excursions to other places in the Netherlands and Belgium. For more information visit www.tours-tickets.com

Nordic sports facility one-stop-shop service partner Unisport strengthens its position and acquires substantial part of business and assets from Virklund Sport`s bankruptcy estate. Unisport is the market leader in sports facilities surfaces and equipment in the Nordic countries. Virklund Sport is a strong player in Danish market and has 60 years of experience. With this acquisition and combined product portfolio Unisport will strengthen its position not only in Denmark but also in the whole Nordic market.

“Unisport warmly welcomes Virklund Sport`s customers and partners to join our family. We already operate and serve the same clientele in markets, and now together we can offer more comprehensive one-stop-shop service and world-class solutions for our customers. Together we`ll be stronger”, says Mikko Kilpeläinen, CEO of Unisport.

Unisport has a deep knowledge and wide product portfolio in sport facilities and Virklund Sport`s business areas complete that especially with high-class indoor products and services.

“Danish market has a very positive outlook for coming years in number of sport facility projects and we see potential on consolidating indoor and outdoor markets. Our purpose is to make people move and offer better facilities and conditions for athletes and spectators. By combining Unisport`s and Virklund Sport`s excellencies we are moving one step closer for our vision to have a healthier society. We believe that by creating more attractive sports facilities, we can increase well-being in our society. To secure our joint business plan moving forward we have nominated Stefan Andersson, as an Enterprise Project Manager, to lead the integration of Virklund and Unisport”, Kilpeläinen continues.

Acquired Virklund Sport’s business will continue underneath Unisport Scandinavia ApS in Denmark. Unisport maintains Virklund Sport as a commercial brand name for products and services.

“From the very first day of our business, the company focused on creating high-quality products for Danish sport. Our aim has been to inspire our customers and partners to create sports projects that encourage movement and a sense of community. Unisport shares the same vision and values and for sure there will be even more attractive sport facilities designed and built in Denmark by Unisport. Together, Unisport and Virklund have the potential to become the leader in indoor and outdoor sports facilities in Denmark. This is an excellent opportunity and we are looking forward becoming a part of Unisport”, says Johannes Madsen, Sales Development Manager of Virklund Sport.

More information:

CEO, Mikko Kilpeläinen, +358 50 542 5884, mikko.kilpelainen@unisport.com
Enterprise Project Manager, Stefan Andersson, +46 70 941 42 55, stefan.andersson@unisport.com
Country Manager Denmark, Jan Lyngemark, +45 50 80 05 23, jan.lyngemark@unisport.com

Unisport is today the clear market leader in sports facilities surfaces and equipment in the Nordic countries. The key customer groups are municipalities, sports clubs and construction companies. Unisport has a pro forma turnover of 130 million euros and 300 employees in 6 countries. The head office is located in Helsinki. The companies operating in Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, the UK, and Latvia complement each other product-wise and geographically. The aim is to reach a significant growth in sales and to become a leading North European one-stop service partner whose sports facility concepts provide the best environment for athletes as well as spectators. www.unisport.com

Gimv[1], together with France Thermes’ Chairman and management team, announces the group’s acquisition from Normandie Capital Investissement, Initiative et Finance and Volney Développement. Gimv’s current investment as well as the commitments taken, are aimed at continuing the development of the company’s existing thermal resorts and supporting its active expansion and acquisition policy.

Since 2013, France Thermes has belonged to Normandie Capital Investissement, Initiative et Finance, Volney Développement and Sylvain Serafini, Chairman of the group since 2009. It owns, develops and operates two thermal resorts in Bagnoles de l’Orne (Normandy) and Châtel-Guyon (Auvergne). In 2017, France Thermes welcomed nearly 20,000 guests and generated turnover of nearly EUR 19 million.

The group is one of the French thermal spa sector’s most dynamic players, with widely recognised expertise in the development of thermal resorts. It is growing fast and aims to consolidate its market by capitalising on efficient operations, by focusing on high-quality facilities and care for medical and recreational thermal spa users, and on constructive collaboration with all the players in its ecosystem (healthcare professionals, local authorities, etc.).

The group currently operates the B’O Resort in Bagnoles de l’Orne (www.bo-thermes.com), a leading provider of thermal rheumatology and phlebology treatments in northwestern France. The site has been revitalised and remodelled as a thermal resort through a significant investment programme driven by Sylvain Serafini and his team, and now hosts nearly 13,000 guests a year. On the back of this first successful venture in Bagnoles de l’Orne, France Thermes is building a new thermal resort in Châtel-Guyon (www.thermesdechatel-guyon.fr) that will provide an offer unique in Europe focused on digestive health and gut flora, in addition to rheumatology.

“We chose Gimv for its perfect understanding of the challenges facing the health sector and its capacity as an investor to provide significant long-term resources. France Thermes’ thermal resort concept makes it perfectly placed to respond effectively to an ageing population and the increase in chronic diseases, as a result of which thermal spa treatments have become a core part of public health strategy, with patient care now fully reimbursable,” explained Sylvain Serafini, also CEO of the France Thermes group.

“We believe that France Thermes is an ideal platform on which to create a leading player in the French thermal spa market. The group relies on a splendid management team that has shown that its thermal resort concept delivers excellent results and is ready for wider deployment,” stated Gautier Lefebvre, Principal in Gimv’s Health & Care team.

Benoit Chastaing, Partner, Partner in Gimv’s Health & Care team, added: “The France Thermes model fits perfectly with the concept of continuous care provision. Our expertise in the consolidation of healthcare facilities combined with our long-term vision will be major advantages for implementing France Thermes’ plan. We are very proud to have been selected by Sylvain Serafini and his team to support the group in carrying out its ambitious growth plan.”

No further financial details on this transaction will be disclosed.

Graphite Capital, the leading mid-market private equity specialist, has Today sold its investment in Corbin & King, the leading London-based restaurant group. The sale forms part of a wider transaction in which Minor Hotels, one of the largest hospitality and leisure groups in the Asia -Pacific region, took a majority interest in the group. Minor is best known as the operator of Anantara hotels. In 2012 Graphite provided development finance to fund the company’s expansion. At the time Corbin & King operated two restaurants: the Wolseley which had been open since 2003 and the recently opened Delaunay. Both have continued to grow strongly.

Subsequently Corbin & King opened four more restaurants: Colbert, Brasserie Zédel, Fischer’s and Bellanger. The expansion has been highly successful and the new restaurants have won numerous industry awards. Revenues of the restaurant group have more than trebled and are now more than £45 million.

In 2014, Corbin & King opened The Beaumont, a luxury hotel in Mayfair, to widespread critical acclaim. The Beaumont is regularly rated in the top five hotels in London by TripAdvisor and won the AA’s ‘Hotel of the Year in London’ award in 2016.

Revenues have grown steadily since the opening and the hotel now makes an important contribution to group profits. Employee numbers have increased by over 150per cent since Graphite invested and Corbin & King now employs nearly 900 staff. Graphite senior partner Andy Gray said:

“Chris Corbin and Jeremy King have built a reputation as London’s most successful restaurateurs over the past 35 years. We are pleased to have played an important part in the development of such an iconic business and are delighted that it has shown consistent growth during our investment period. The company is highly profitable and we believe it has found an excellent partner in Minor Hotels.”

Senior partner Andy Gray and partner Omar Kayat managed the transaction for Graphite.

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