Luxembourg/London, April 05, 2022 – AURELIUS is pleased to announce the successful closing of the acquisition of Ceramic Tile Distributors (“CTD”) in a carve-out transaction from parent company, Saint-Gobain (ISIN: FR0000125007). This is the fourth acquisition completed by AURELIUS’ co-investment structure.

CTD is a UK-based specialist supplier of high-quality ceramic tiles operating across 89 branches and four trading distribution hubs. The company predominantly sells tiles, tile adhesives, grout as well as associated tools and consumables for the preparation, laying, cutting and drilling of tiles. CTD’s leading B2B market position is supported by strong brand awareness of its Gemini product line and strong trading performance. In 2021, CTD generated revenues of approximately EUR 120 million.

AURELIUS sees plenty of growth opportunities for CTD in the UK market for tiles and fixing products that is estimated to be worth just under EUR 1.2 billion annually. CTD’s growth over the last twelve months is based on a clear and detailed strategy that shows ample of growth opportunities mainly through digitalisation and adopting an omni-channel approach, as well as focusing on the increasing demand for outdoor tiles.

AURELIUS will proactively work with CTD’s highly experienced management team to leverage its leading B2B market position by expanding its e-commerce offering and to continue the company’s operational development. Additionally, AURELIUS sees opportunities for new trade counter openings and new branch openings in key locations across the UK to further stimulate revenue and profit growth.

AURELIUS was advised on the transaction by Deloitte (M&A), Eversheds (Legal) and Interpath (Tax).

3i Group plc (“3i”) announces that 3i European Operational Projects Fund (“3i EOPF” or “the Fund”) has acquired an 80% equity stake in La Seine Musicale from Infravia European Fund II.

La Seine Musicale is a 30-year French PPP benefiting mainly from availability-based revenues from the Hauts de Seine département, a strong public counterparty. The project comprises a multi-functional performance complex located on Seguin Island on the Seine river, downstream from central Paris. Its facilities include a 6,000 seat concert hall, a 1,150 seat auditorium, and one of the largest recording spaces in the Paris area, as well as venues for corporate events.

La Seine Musicale hosted the Junior Eurovision Song Contest in December 2021 and will open its doors to Björk and Simple Minds in the spring. Starmania and Romeo and Juliet (ballet by Benjamin Millepied) are among the large-scale, public shows which will begin after the summer.

The site has been operational since 2017 and has attracted more than 1 million visitors to date. It is well located in the centre of a transportation hub offering direct access by road, metro, tram and bus, to which will be added a new footbridge due to open in 2022 and a metro station in 2025 as part of the Grand Paris Express.

La Seine Musicale’s concert hall is covered with more than 1,000m² of photovoltaic panels. The panels pivot around the exterior following the path of the sun, providing shade for the interior and reducing energy consumption. The building was designed by a Pritzker Architecture Prize winner and won the MIPIM Best Futura Project award in 2015.

Stéphane Grandguillaume, Partner at 3i in charge of origination for the Fund, commented: “La Seine Musicale is a flagship in the French entertainment industry. As a relatively young asset it benefits from the latest energy efficiency and soundproofing technologies and its unique position on the Seine river makes it highly attractive. We look forward to building on its pre-eminent reputation.”

3i EOPF, which is managed by 3i’s infrastructure team, is a €456m fund investing in operational projects across Europe, with a focus on France, the Benelux, Germany, Italy and Iberia. It targets a wide range of sub-sectors, primarily social infrastructure and transportation, but also telecoms and utilities. It aims to provide long-term yield to institutional investors.

Oase Outdoors (Oase) co-founder Henrik Arens will pass on his current role as CEO to Henrik Bernth in late summer 2022. In conjunction with the appointment of a new CEO, Henrik Arens will take on the role as Chairman of the Board of Oase. Anders Slettengren, President Business Area Consumer at Ratos and current Chairman of the Board, will continue as a Board member.

Henrik Arens has, for many years, provided the leadership and experience required to bring Oase to its current position as a leading manufacturer of camping equipment in the European market. Henrik Bernth is well known to many in the industry, having held the position as Sales Director at Oase before moving to the Danish Ocean Textile Group as its CEO three years ago. Bernth is now re-joining Oase to take on his new position by 1 August 2022 at the latest.

“I would like to thank Henrik Arens for his outstanding commitment. Oase has achieved an impressive development under his leadership. Furthermore, it is positive that his successor Henrik Bernth already knows the company. This will guarantee stability and speed in execution. I also look forward to continuing my cooperation with Henrik Arens, now as a Board member,” says Anders Slettengren, current Chairman of the Board of Oase and President Business Area Consumer at Ratos.

“With a clear strategy, a year with record-high growth and an industry with a healthy future, the timing is good for a new CEO to lead Oase into the future,” says Henrik Arens.

“I am humble and proud to be taking on the role as CEO of Oase. I am familiar with the company but I am nevertheless impressed with its amazing development in recent years. I very much look forward to leading the way, together with the Oase team, as Oase takes the next step in its growth journey,” says Henrik Bernth, incoming CEO of Oase Outdoors.

About Oase Outdoors
Oase Outdoors develops, designs and sells innovative camping and outdoor equipment under three strong brands: Outwell ®, Easy Camp® and Robens®. Oase Outdoors offers a broad product range mainly comprising tents, camping furniture, sleeping bags and other outdoor equipment. The three independent brands clearly cater to different target groups – families, beginners, festival goers and experienced adventurers – who have different requirements in terms of quality and price, and who want to enjoy the outdoors with high-quality equipment.

For further information:
Anders Slettengren, Chairman of the Board of Oase Outdoors and President Business Area Consumer, Ratos, +46 72 589 89 00
Henrik Arens, CEO, Oase Outdoors, +45 40 58 38 89
Josefine Uppling, VP Communication, Ratos, +46 76 114 54 21

About Ratos
Ratos is a business group consisting of 13 companies divided into three business areas: Construction & Services, Consumer and Industry. In total in 2021, the companies had approximately SEK 35 billion in sales. Our business concept is to develop companies headquartered in the Nordics that are or can become market leaders. We enable independent companies to excel by being part of something larger. People, leadership, culture and values are key focus areas for Ratos. Everything we do is based on Ratos’s core values: Simplicity, Speed in Execution and It’s All About People.

Bayer Environmental Science Professional (BESP) is a leading global provider of products and services to create healthier environments, to manage pests, and to eliminate vector-borne diseases, across a range of end-markets. BESP has an extensive product portfolio to manage pests (such as rodents, pest insects and invasive weeds) in a sustainable and responsible manner, including for the vegetation management, range and pasture, forestry and turf and ornamentals markets. In addition, BESP markets products to protect against vector-borne diseases such as malaria, and to promote public health objectives in the developing world.

Headquartered in Cary, North Carolina, USA, BESP has global operations with c. 800 employees and c. 2,000 product registrations, sold in more than 100 countries. BESP also has market-leading R&D capabilities, with four international R&D centres and more than 200 employees working in product innovation.

Cinven has longstanding relationships with large corporates in the Industrials sector, particularly in Germany and the DACH region, and an extensive track record of carving out businesses responsibly for all stakeholders, allowing Cinven to identify attractive opportunities and create new successful standalone companies.

Cinven’s Industrials Sector and DACH teams see BESP as an attractive investment opportunity, given the business’:

• Resilient, growing and diversified end-markets, addressing an increasing societal demand for pest control and healthier, disease-free environments driven by higher living standards, urbanisation and climate change;
• Leading market positions, underpinned by its strong science-led R&D capabilities, regulatory and Intellectual Property (‘IP’) protections;
• Strong brands with an opportunity to accelerate organic growth through expansion into new geographies and new market segments;
• Product portfolio with clear social and environmental benefits, consistent with the focus of Cinven’s ESG strategy, including products for improving public health outcomes, fighting vector-borne disease, controlling pest infestations, and reducing wildfire risks;
• Longstanding relationships with professional customers, supported by its leading technical service capabilities;
• Significant growth opportunities through further investment in R&D and in-licensing external IP to develop new sustainable products for pest management, including biological and digital technologies;
• Consolidation opportunities in the fragmented specialty pest management sector through buy and build M&A; and
• Experienced international leadership team, led by CEO Gilles Galliou, with responsibility for a highly qualified, high-performing global employee base.

Pontus Pettersson, Partner at Cinven, commented:

“Cinven is delighted by the opportunity to invest in Bayer Environmental Science Professional, a global leader in specialty pest management that serves critical needs for society across a broad range of end-markets. Cinven is excited to build an independent, focused company, and to extend BESP’s product portfolio further by creating innovative and sustainable solutions for its customers.

“Following Cinven’s recent acquisitions of TK Elevator and Arxada, Cinven is confirmed as a preferred partner for large European corporates on significant disposals, especially within the Industrials sector. Bayer has been an exemplary custodian of the business, and we look forward to continued close collaboration between BESP and Bayer.”

Anthony Cardona, Partner at Cinven, added:

“Bayer Environmental Science Professional enjoys strong positions in multiple markets across the world, driven by its best-in-class scientific and regulatory teams, well regarded brands, and leading technical service capabilities. Cinven has been impressed by the quality of the team and operations, and this transaction should create significant opportunities across the business.

“Cinven shares management’s ambitious growth agenda and views BESP as a platform investment, with scope to grow the business significantly and broaden its product portfolio through acquisitions and strategic partnerships.”

Gilles Galliou, CEO of BESP, added:

“Everything we do at Environmental Science Professional is guided by our vision of healthy environments for everyone everywhere. Cinven clearly shares this vision for our organisation and Cinven has demonstrated that it is committed to the long-term success of our business and would be a great home for our employees.

“With the support and backing of Cinven, I am thrilled for the opportunity for Environmental Science Professional to become even more growth-oriented, with a full focus on advancing innovations that meet the unique and evolving needs of our customers around the world.”

Cinven is one of the leading investors in carve-outs from Industrial companies in Europe. The Cinven funds’ investment in BESP, acquired from the German-listed Bayer AG, builds on its recent experience of carving out TK Elevator from thyssenkrupp AG and Arxada (formerly Lonza Specialty Ingredients) from Lonza Group AG.

Cinven is also one of the most active and successful investors in Germany and the wider DACH region. Other recent investments of Cinven funds in Germany include STADA, Synlab, think-cell and Viridium.

Cinven is a responsible, ESG-focused investor, and committed to maintaining the environmental, regulatory and employee stakeholder responsibilities of BESP. Under the Cinven funds’ ownership, BESP will remain an important partner of Bayer AG and will collaborate closely with Bayer going forward in several areas.

Following the completion of this transaction, Cinven and the Fressnapf Group will combine Arcaplanet with Maxi Zoo to create the Arcaplanet Group.

Headquartered in Italy, Maxi Zoo Italia was founded in 2005. As part of the Fressnapf Group its first store opened in Treviso, Veneto region, in 2005 and Maxi Zoo is now present in 12 regions across Italy with 144 stores, an online presence and revenue of over 193 million euros in 2021.

Headquartered in Italy, Arcaplanet was founded in 1995. Its first store opened in Chiavari, Liguria, in 1998 and Arcaplanet is now present in 17 regions across Italy with nearly 400 stores, a strong online presence and revenue of over 400 million euros in 2021.

The combined Arcaplanet and Maxi Zoo Italia businesses (together the ‘Group’) will be offering food and non-food pet care products in c. 500 stores across Italy and online.

Cinven was attracted by the opportunity as Arcaplanet is a strong and well-recognised pet care brand with an excellent customer proposition. Cinven aims to accelerate the Group’s growth both in the Italian market and new geographies. Online penetration of pet care in Italy is fast-growing and there is considerable potential to accelerate and improve the Group’s digital and omnichannel strategy.

Cinven has significant expertise in the pet care market through the Cinven funds’ investment in Partner in Pet Food, a leading European pet food platform and market consolidator.

Plantagen has acquired Flyinge Plantshop, which is one of the leading nurseries in Sweden and renowned for its expertise, quality and service. The company’s sales, of which more than 50% derives from corporate customers, amounted to SEK 82m in 2021, with an EBITDA of SEK 12m. The acquisition broadens the product offering and customer base in Plantagen. Plantagen is now strengthening its position as the leading garden centre for private and corporate customers within the private and public sectors.

“Add-on acquisitions of this kind are entirely in line with Ratos’s strategy. Flyinge is a well-managed family company, where the focus is on quality and a long-term approach. The acquisition will lead to synergies and contribute to the continued development of Plantagen, primarily through the unique range and expansion toward corporate customers,” says Anders Slettengren, Chairman of the Board of Plantagen and President Business Area Consumer, Ratos.

The acquisition of Flyinge Plantshop is a step in Plantagen’s work to acquire locally and regionally attractive garden centres which, with genuine professional know-how and an attractive range, appeal to both private and corporate customers in the private and public sectors.

“Our vision is to be the Nordic region’s loveliest greenhouse. This entails offering inspiration, expertise and tools to succeed in a growing life. Our focus has been weighted toward private customers and going forward, we will increase our efforts to offer corporate customers and public administrations products and services. Over the past century, the Seger family has created a first-rate company and now we are looking forward to continuing to develop the business together,” says Nina Jönsson, CEO of Plantagen.

The former owner of Flyinge Plantshop for four generations, the Seger family, will remain a driving force in the business at Flyinge. Flyinge Plantshop will continue to operate under its own brand. Closing will take place on 1 March 2022.

For further information:
Anders Slettengren, Chairman of the Board of Plantagen and President Business Area Consumer, Ratos +46 72 589 89 00
Nina Jönsson, CEO, Plantagen, +46 72 077 44 20
Josefine Uppling, VP Communication, Ratos, +46 76 114 54 21

About Ratos
Ratos is a business group consisting of 13 companies divided into three business areas: Construction & Services, Consumer and Industry. In total 2021, the companies have approximately SEK 35 billion in sales. Our business concept is to develop companies headquartered in the Nordics that are or can become market leaders. We enable independent companies to excel by being part of something larger. People, leadership, culture and values are key focus areas for Ratos. Everything we do is based on Ratos’s core values: Simplicity, Speed in Execution and It’s All About People.