7 October, 2020

Sandbäckens continues its growth journey and strengthens its position in an additional strategic location, Västervik, through the acquisition of Rörbolaget M Söderkvist AB. The purchase agreement was signed on the 5^th of October 2020.

Rörbolaget M Söderkvist AB was founded in 2004 by Mats Söderkvist, who has previously been active in companies such as Calor Celsius and BPA in Sweden and Germany. The Company has a strong market position and is today a full-service heating and sanitation partner to both companies and private individuals in Västervik and the surrounding area.

“I look forward to seeing Rörbolaget and my coworkers getting the opportunity to develop within Sandbäckens. Rörbolaget will continue to be a local, safe and flexible heating and sanitation partner here in Västervik, while at the same time gaining access to increased resources and being able to broaden our offering to the market” says Mats Söderkvist, CEO, Rörbolaget.

 ”I welcome Mats and the team at Rörbolaget to Sandbäckens. I eagerly anticipate following the Company’s continued development within the framework of Sandbäckens business model, as a subsidiary under the leadership of Mats as CEO and part-owner” says Mats Åström, Group CEO, Sandbäckens.

For further information, please visit www.sandbackens.se or contact:

Marcus Planting-Bergloo, Managing Partner, Segulah Advisor AB
+46 70 229 11 85, planting@segulah.se

Torbjörn Carlsson, Regional Manager South, Sandbäckens
+46 70 322 13 00, torbjorn.carlsson@sandbackens.se

Bluegem is pleased to announce that it has signed the acquisition of the Béaba Group, owner of the Béaba and Red Castle brands, from Bridgepoint, Indigo and Société Cantilienne de Participations.

Since 1989, the French brand Béaba has accompanied parents at all moments of their baby’s life with high-quality, innovative and simple to use products, such as the brand’s hero product, the Babycook.

After conducting a capital and financial restructuring of the Béaba Group in 2017, Bridgepoint entrusted the Group’s chairmanship to Julien Laporte to accelerate Béaba’s transformation. Since then, the former member of Danone and L’Oréal has worked hand in hand with Bridgepoint to roll out a new strategic plan based on three main strategic axes:

• Innovation, with the release in early 2019 of a new “Made in France” version of its iconic product, the Babycook (the “Neo”), in parallel with the launch of 30 other new products.

• Béaba’s positioning as a multichannel player: the Group has readjusted and optimised its digital identity, and has strongly increased its direct sales via its BtoC website (Béaba sales tripled in one year).

• Acceleration of the Group’s international development to leverage on fast growing markets, particularly in Asia and the United States (leading to a sales growth of more than 20% per year in North America), after reorganising and resuming direct distribution in Germany (doubling of sales) and in Benelux. In early 2020, the Group took over direct control of its Chinese operations through a joint venture agreement with its local distributor.

Bolstered by the Group’s very strong sales in spite of Covid-19 turbulence, Bridgepoint gave Clearwater International a divestiture mandate in early summer 2020. In a context that witnessed strong interest from both strategic and financial investors, Bluegem pre-empted the sales process by submitting a firm offer in early September 2020.

Bluegem and the management team intend to pursue the Group’s current growth strategy and plan to make Béaba a European leader in the childcare sector.

With its strong track record in European consumer brands, Bluegem will support the management team on several strategic projects, including:

• The internationalisation of the Béaba brand, particularly in the United States, Asia-Pacific, Germany and the United Kingdom (where Bluegem holds another major player in the childcare sector: Mamas & Papas).

• Continued efforts to digitise the Group.

• Launch of new flagship products for the Group.

• Ramping up critical mass race through bolt-on acquisitions, particularly abroad.

Julien Laporte, CEO of the Béaba Group, explains: “We are grateful for Bridgepoint’s strong support in recent years. We are very pleased to start this new phase of development with Bluegem, which will allow us to accelerate our international growth and product innovations.”

Mathieu Develay, Head of Operations in France for Bluegem, continues: “We are delighted to be able to partner with Julien Laporte and his team in this new growth phase for Béaba. This investment fits perfectly with Bluegem III’s strategy, namely, to support strong and innovative brands in consumer goods, which have a growing international presence and a significant share of their sales online.”

Olivier Nemsguern, Managing Partner of BDC in France, declares: “This exit is a great success and is the recognition of BDC’s efforts and support for this unique brand. We are delighted with this passing of the torch, which demonstrates the relevance of the Group’s strategy, which we have supported alongside Management for several years.”

Stakeholders and advisors

Bridgepoint (Olivier Nemsguern, Louis Paul-Dauphin) was advised by Clearwater International (Philippe Guézenec, Matthias Krimmel, Alexis Vernay), PwC (Stéphane Salustro, Maxence Pleynet) and Racine Avocats (Mélanie Coiraton, Elena Pintea-Pouchkine).

BlueGem (Marco Capello, Mathieu Develay) was advised by Oaklins France (Thibaut de Monclin, Hadrien Mollard), Alvarez & Marsal (Jonathan Gibbons), Baker & McKenzie (David Allen, Antoine Caillard), Arsene Taxand (Alexandre Rocchi), Marlborough Partners (Romain Cattet) and Willkie Farr (Paul Lombard).

Bank financing will be provided by Oldenburgische Landesbank Aktiengesellschaft (“OLB”).

About Béaba Group

Béaba Group, created in 1989 with the invention of the Babycook, is one of the leaders in small childcare items and generates a turnover of nearly €50 million, half of which is international.

With more than a hundred employees, mostly based in France at Béaba’s historic site inOyonnax (Ain), the Group designs, develops and markets innovative and easy-to-use products to aid parents. With offices in several European countries as well as in Hong Kong, the United States and China, Béaba Group is particularly focused on international development.

Thanks to its flagship products, Béaba is a reference brand in the childcare sector.

www.beaba.com

About Bluegem Capital Partners

Bluegem Capital Partners is a London-based pan-European, mid-market private equity manager, established in 2007. It focuses on consumer businesses across all verticals

Bluegem specialises in supporting leading European brands in the consumer goods sector. Its second fund holds investments in Mamas & Papas (childcare), Iconic London (makeup), QMS (cosmetics), Dr. Vranjes (indoor perfumery)and others.

Béaba is Bluegem’s third investment in France after DMC in 2016 (world leader in embroidery thread, stake sold to Lion Capital in 2019) and Big Fernand in 2017 (gourmet burgers).

Bluegem is currently investing its third fund.

www.bluegemcp.com

About Bridgepoint Development Capital (BDC)

In France, the smid-cap activity of the international private equity group Bridgepoint includes:

– Bridgepoint Development Capital (BDC) whose portfolio consists of 5 companies: Anaveo (acquired in December 2015), CIR (acquired in October 2017), PrivateSportShop (acquired in July 2018), Bee2Link (acquired in February 2019) and Cyrus (acquired in 2020).

– Bridgepoint Portfolio Services (BPS), which took over 13 holding companies from EdRCP in summer 2014 and now includes Sotralu.

Bridgepoint Development Capital (BDC), with a team of 28 professionals in Europe (including 9 in Paris), is now one of the few investors in smid-cap able to support midcaps in their international development thanks to the support of Bridgepoint’s nine investment offices and its operational teams based in New York, San Francisco and Shanghai.

Bridgepoint Development Capital (BDC) specializes in smid-cap transactions, investing equity tickets between €30 and €130 million.

Its fourth fund, BDC IV, worth €1.7 billion was raised in 2020. Its previous fund, BDC III, with €670 million raised in 2016, is approaching the end of its investment period, with 80% of the fund already invested in 12 assets.

www.bridgepoint.eu

Press contacts:

For Beaba Group:

Anita Jean / anita.jean@beaba.com / +33 (0)4 74 12 03 51

For Bluegem Capital Partners:

Mathieu Develay / m.develay@bluegemcp.com / +44 (0)784 134 0204

For Bridgepoint Development Capital:

CTCom : Sibylle Descamps / sibylle.descamps@ct-com.com / +33 (0)6 82 09 70 07

Image 7 : Charlotte Mouraret / cmouraret@image7.fr / +33 (0)6 89 87 62 17

Sound United LLC, parent company to Denon, Polk Audio, Marantz, Definitive Technology, Classé, and Boston Acoustics, today announced that it has finalized the acquisition of Bowers & Wilkins, a leading designer and manufacturer of luxury home audio speakers, headphones, custom installation products, wireless speakers, and branded audio systems in the automotive and television markets.

“Acquiring Bowers & Wilkins combines its industry-leading acoustic design, engineering and manufacturing expertise in the premium category with Sound United’s scale, technical acumen and consumer reach to ensure Bowers & Wilkins thrives moving forward,” said Kevin Duffy, CEO at Sound United. “Sound United has a strong track record of enthusiastically protecting each of its brands’ unique identities and core competencies, and our approach with Bowers & Wilkins will be no different. In fact, we believe the entire portfolio stands to benefit from the addition of Bowers & Wilkins, which in turn translates into exciting new products, technologies and opportunities for our consumers, distributors, dealers, and all audio enthusiasts around the world.”

Geoff Edwards will ensure continuity by becoming President of the Bowers & Wilkins brand at Sound United. The acquisition includes all worldwide third-party distribution and licensing agreements under which Bowers & Wilkins premium audio products are currently sold.  Investing in additional brands enables Sound United to better innovate across product categories, feature sets, technology partners, and consumer segments. As part of the acquisition, Sound United is eager to support the development of new Bowers & Wilkins products to support the brand’s position in the premium acoustic home audio market.

“This acquisition represents a new era for Bowers & Wilkins and offers a fresh opportunity to focus on what we do best, building the industry’s finest loudspeakers,” said Geoff Edwards, CEO of Bowers & Wilkins. “We’re looking forward to combining our organizations and becoming a part of the industry’s strongest portfolio of premium audio brands.”

Sound United is a portfolio company of Boston-based private equity firm Charlesbank Capital Partners, LLC. Houlihan Lokey served as the exclusive financial advisor to Bowers & Wilkins.

About Sound United

Sound United was founded in 2012 with a simple mission – to bring joy to the world through sound. Today, we’re one of the world’s largest portfolio audio companies and home to several legendary audio brands—Denon®, Marantz®, Polk Audio, Classé, Definitive Technology, HEOS, and Boston Acoustics®.  Each brand boasts its own philosophy and unique approach to bringing home entertainment to life.

With centuries of collective experience, Sound United oversees the design and manufacture of a diverse array of premium audio products, including loudspeakers, sound bars, AV receivers, wireless speakers, amplifiers, turntables, and headphones. We create distinct and memorable listening experiences for a wide range of consumers in more than 130 countries. For more information on Sound United and our mission, please visit www.soundunited.com.

About Bowers & Wilkins

Bowers & Wilkins, founded in the U.K. in 1966, has been at the forefront of high-performance audio technology for more than 50 years. Bowers & Wilkins designs and manufactures precision home speakers, headphones, custom installation and performance car audio products that set new standards for innovation and sound quality, earning countless awards and accolades from the world’s leading recording studios and musicians. Bowers & Wilkins’ reputation is based on the unwavering pursuit of the best possible sound and an unsurpassable music listening experience.  Learn more at www.bowerswilkins.com.

Folmer Equity Fund II Ky, a fund managed by the Finnish private equity company Folmer Management Oy, acquires a majority stake in Nanso Group Oy. Nanso Group is the owner of the Nanso and Vogue brands, which are among the most prestigious women’s clothing brands in Finland.
Together, Nanso Group Oy and Holmberg Brands Oy, a company already owned by the fund, form a significant entity in Finland with a broad brand portfolio and with expected current fiscal year revenue of ca. 28 MEUR and a total of 110 employees. The current majority owners of Nanso Group and minority owners of Holmberg Brands will continue with the new group as significant minority shareholders.
“The acquisition enables Holmberg Brands, the fund’s current portfolio company, to work even more closely with the Nanso Group and to fully develop the companies by realizing the synergies to full extent”, says Sami Tuominen, Managing Director and Partner of Folmer Management.
“The acquisition will ensure the long-term development of the Nanso and Vogue brands in the future and will significantly contribute to the acceleration of our growth strategy,” says Antti Rönkkö, Managing Director of Nanso Group.

For more information:
Managing Director, Partner Sami Tuominen, Folmer Management Oy, tel. +358 40 708 4905, sami.tuominen@folmer.fi
Managing Director Antti Rönkkö, Nanso Group Oy, tel. +358 50 5184 750, antti.ronkko@nansogroup.com

Nanso Group Oy, established in 1921, is a consumer driven brand company that operates two iconic, well-known fashion brands, Nanso and Vogue. Its products are known for unique patterns, high quality and timeless Finnish design. Vogue is one of the most prestigious hosiery brands in the Nordic countries. www.nanso.com www.vogue.fi
Holmberg Brands Oy has a wide selection of own and licensed brands. In addition, the company has its own design and production expertise, and it also acts as an importer of textiles and apparel products. www.holmbergbrands.fi

Folmer Management Oy is a Finnish private equity company investing in Finnish SMEs. Folmer creates value through active development work. Folmer provides companies with support and professional experience – a requirement for success. www.folmer.fi
Folmer Equity Fund II Ky benefits from the support of the European Union under the Equity Facility for Growth established under Regulation (EU) No 1287/2013 of the European Parliament and the Council establishing a Programme for the Competitiveness of Enterprises and small and medium enterprises (COSME) (2014-2020). Businesses can contact selected financial institutions in their country to access EU financing:

Oakley Capital (“Oakley”) is pleased to announce that it has acquired a majority stake in 7NXT GmbH (“7NXT” or the “Group”), the leading online fitness and nutrition platform in the German-speaking region, from founder and CEO Markan Karajica and Crosslantic Capital. Mr Karajica will continue in his role as CEO and will retain a significant minority stake in the business.
7NXT comprises three businesses: Gymondo, the leading female-focused online fitness subscription platform; Shape Republic, a direct-to-consumer fitness nutrition and supplements brand; and Brand Solutions, 7NXT’s complementary merchandising and licensing division. Gymondo accounts for the majority of the Group’s revenues, offering subscription-based access to high-quality workout videos, customised fitness programs and personalised nutrition plans. Since launching in 2013, Gymondo has seen over 2 million accounts registered.

Through its investment, Oakley will partner with Mr Karajica and the management team to scale 7NXT in the rapidly growing online fitness and health market and accelerate both its domestic and international growth. Oakley will support the management team through its network, operational experience and expertise in the consumer technology sector, established through its track-record of successful investments in market leading platforms, such as Parship Elite, Facile.it and Wishcard Technologies Group (formerly Seven Miles).

Oakley originated the deal through its strong relationship with Markan Karajica. The investment demonstrates Oakley’s ability to leverage its wider network and its reputation as an attractive business partner for entrepreneurs.

Peter Dubens, Managing Partner of Oakley Capital, commented:
“7NXT is a leader in the high-growth digital fitness and nutrition market, with an excellent leadership team, driven to fulfil their mission of empowering people to live healthy and positive lifestyles. As a founder-led, tech-enabled business, 7NXT demonstrates many of the traits that Oakley targets in an investment and we believe that it is well placed to build on its position as the German market leader. We are looking forward to partnering with Markan and the team at this exciting stage.”