Freshstream today announces that it has agreed to enter into a strategic partnership agreement in the leading Dutch jewellery and lifestyle brand, My Jewellery, and will partner with CEO and founder Sharon Hilgers and CFO/CTO Vilmar Bliekendaal to accelerate the international growth of the business.

My Jewellery was founded by Sharon in the summer of 2011, driven by her passion for jewellery and design. Since its inception the has swiftly ascended to prominence, offering a diverse array of on-trend products becoming the largest affordable jewellery brand in the Benelux. Today the company’s omnichannel offering attracts a loyal customer base and the business employs over 800 people with over 40 stores in The Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, and France.

Gimv together with founding partner Emile Kuenen and his business partner Stan Vermeulen sell their stake in the fast-growing Dutch high-quality stroller brand Joolz to Bugaboo, the global market-leader in strollers and high-quality juvenile consumer products. Both strong and complementary Dutch brands Joolz and Bugaboo have agreed to join forces to accelerate their international growth in the fragmented worldwide stroller market.

Gimv Consumer invested in Joolz in 2016, alongside founding partner Emile Kuenen and his business partner Stan Vermeulen, to support its further geographical expansion in Europe and beyond. The joint ambition was to develop Joolz into a true next-gen high-quality stroller brand: a brand that stands for beautiful design and top-quality products developed for kids, parents and the planet. The conscious strollers are designed for real life and made to last. Today, Joolz sells premium strollers in more than 60 countries with well-established presence across Europe, APAC and the United States.

Both Joolz (www.joolz.com) and Bugaboo (www.bugaboo.com) are pioneers in the market for high-quality baby strollers and innovative juvenile consumer durables with leading performances in quality, sustainability and design. Founded by Dutch entrepreneurs, both companies have excelled at realizing international growth with Bugaboo being one of the leading brands, while Joolz has quickly scaled and holds a strong position in Europe and other international markets. Their combined portfolios will span everything from award-winning strollers to innovative parenting accessories.

The brands Bugaboo and Joolz will continue to operate separately in the market, as both will further benefit from existing and new market opportunities in the global stroller market. The combined company will have a total of 1,200 employees, with its headquarters located in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

Patrick Franken, Partner and Jelle Assink, Principal at Gimv Consumer, declare: “At Gimv Consumer, we are very proud of Joolz’s strong growth and the journey we have realized together. By building on their core philosophy of design, innovation, and sustainability, Joolz has developed into a truly recognized global high-quality stroller brand. The Joolz and Bugaboo brands are highly complementary and together will create an unrivalled platform in the juvenile category, allowing both companies to accelerate growth and unlock their full potential.”

Richard den Hollander, CEO Joolz, declares: “By joining forces with Bugaboo, we will be able to accelerate the exciting growth journey we have been on for the last five years, as Bugaboo is the strongest strategic partner who can and is willing to make smart and healthy investments in our brand. Our combined commercial strength, together with our mutual strong belief in consumer-centric innovation, superior design, engineering and ESG, will enable us to build a global house of brands and drive strong growth in the high-quality stroller market across the globe. While we both consider ourselves international companies, our mutual Dutch roots and our commitment to quality, sustainability and our brands offer a solid foundation for our continued journey together.”

Adriaan Thierry, CEO Bugaboo, declares: “The global stroller market is highly fragmented and offers enormous opportunities for high-quality brands. Us teaming up with Joolz is exemplary for our strategy of organic growth and growth by acquisition. Bugaboo and Joolz are distinct, yet complementary brands. But the quality of both brands is exceptional. Together, we will be able to innovate even better and faster. And we will be able to offer more choice in high-quality strollers to our customers in Europe, as well as the Americas, Asia and the Middle East, through our current and new distribution channels in those markets.”

Exit follows transformational partnership that established the Company as the global glass packaging market leader to the luxury beauty industry

France, 26^th May 2025 – Stirling Square Capital Partners (“Stirling Square”), a leading pan-European mid-market private equity firm, today announces the completion of the sale of Verescence, the market leader in luxury glass packaging for the perfumery and cosmetics industry, to a consortium comprised of Movendo Capital, an investment holding company and family office, and Draycott, an asset manager.

Verescence is a specialist manufacturer of glass bottles for the perfumery and cosmetics industry and the partner of choice to the world’s largest luxury beauty market players, including Hermès, LVMH and L’Oréal. Founded in 1896, Verescence has 2,500 employees across three continents and brings 130 years of glassmaking expertise globally. It operates seven glass manufacturing factories around the world in France, Spain, North America, and South Korea with an annual production capacity of 600 million bottles.

Stirling Square acquired Verescence in 2019 as the first investment of its Fourth Fund. Over the past six years, it has worked alongside the Company’s leadership team to transform it into the market-leading sustainable glassmaker for the global luxury beauty industry. Stirling Square spearheaded transformational M&A, most notably through the strategic acquisition of a manufacturing facility in South Korea in 2021 that enabled the business to expand into the high-growth, premium beauty segment in Asia. Under Stirling Square stewardship, the Company invested €100 million into additional capacity and automation to increase productivity, through the development of proprietary IP underpinned by AI and machine learning. Stirling Square also supported significant sustainability initiatives – today, bottles can be made from 100% recycled glass, compared with a 2% rate when it assumed ownership. The Company also now upholds industry-leading ESG ratings, notably EcoVadis Platinum and CDP AA- for climate and water action.

As a result of Stirling Square’s investment and strategic transformation, during the ownership period, Verescence’s revenues increased by 40% to €421m and EBITDA trebled to more than €80 million.

Thomas Riou, CEO of Verescence, said: “Stirling Square have been a phenomenal partner, providing investment and expertise that enabled our global expansion, strategic shift to expand our skincare offering to meet the growing needs of our customers. They have also encouraged us to embed innovation across our industrial processes and accelerated our digital transformation that has resulted in us adopting a more data-driven approach across the organisation.”

Julien Horreard, Partner at Stirling Square, added: “We are delighted to have had the privilege of collaborating with Thomas and the brilliant Verescence team over the last six years, during a transformational period linked to our strategic investment in digitalisation, innovation, sustainability and international expansion into the Asian market. We are incredibly proud of what Thomas and the management team achieved during this time as today, Verescence is the market leading specialty glass packaging player with a strong global footprint across France, Spain, the US and South Korea. We wish the team all the best in its next chapter.”

João Coelho Borges, Draycott’s Founding Partner, and Pedro Pereira Gonçalves, Movendo’s CEO, concluded: “We are excited about the opportunity to acquire a global leader with a strong and experienced management team fully aligned with our value creation strategy. Verescence’s leadership position in the industry aligns with our investment criteria across multiple key dimensions. By combining management’s expertise with our own, we aim to drive sustainable growth and maximize value for all stakeholders.”

Stirling Square has a strong track record in France, having been investing locally for over 15 years, with its current and prior portfolio comprising Médisup, Vernet, Siblu, AD Industries, Citec Environnement (ESE) and Permaswage (GDT).

Paris, France, 15 May 2025 – Global investment firm Carlyle (NASDAQ: CG) today announced that its Global Credit platform has acted as sole lender in providing a financing package of €280 million to Fitness Park, the largest “Full Service Best Price” operator and franchisor of fitness clubs in France. The investment will be used to accelerate Fitness Park’s long-term growth, through M&A in France and internationally, and invest in its customer proposition. Fitness Park will continue to be majority owned by the company’s founders, alongside minority shareholders Future French Champions and Momentum Invest.

Present in France for more than 40 years, Fitness Park has developed into a leading gym chain. Today, the group counts in France, Spain, Portugal and Morocco more than 350 clubs and 1.3 million members across both affiliate and franchised gyms. Fitness Park operates a proven “full service best price” model and has established a strong reputation through a customer offering underpinned by high-quality facilities and best-in-class fitness equipment, extended opening hours, and affordable and flexible membership options. The business is supported by strong market tailwinds, with increasing gym membership rates in France fueled by growing health consciousness and resilient demand for affordable and quality gyms.

Otto Alaoui, Managing Director in Carlyle Global Credit, said: “We are delighted to support Fitness Park in strengthening and expanding on its leading position in fitness club services across France. The transaction demonstrates our ability to provide flexible capital solutions to accelerate the growth trajectory of founder-owned businesses in Europe.”

Gaëtan Dubuisson, Group CEO of Fitness Park, said: “Fitness Park is grateful for the support of Carlyle, which enables the business to continue to pursue its growth ambitions through its high-quality customer offering, and via strategic acquisitions. We strongly believe Carlyle’s expertise and capital will help us further capitalize on the fragmented French fitness market as we look to expand on our strong positioning.”

Carlyle’s Global Credit platform manages $199 billion in assets under management, as of March 31, 2025. It regularly pursues investments in privately negotiated capital solutions partnering with high-quality sponsors and leading family or entrepreneur-owned companies. The Fitness Park transaction follows an active last few months for Carlyle’s European credit platform, recently announcing investments including Suntera Global, Argon, Sanoptis, Your.World and Bianalisi.

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About Carlyle

Carlyle (NASDAQ: CG) is a global investment firm with deep industry expertise that deploys private capital across its business and conducts its operations through three business segments: Global Private Equity, Global Credit, and Carlyle AlpInvest. With $453 billion of assets under management as of March 31, 2025, Carlyle’s purpose is to invest wisely and create value on behalf of its investors, portfolio companies, and the communities in which we live and invest. Carlyle employs more than 2,300 people in 29 offices across four continents. Further information is available at www.carlyle.com. Follow Carlyle on X @OneCarlyle and LinkedIn at The Carlyle Group.

About Fitness Park

Founded in 2009, Fitness Park is a next-generation fitness brand offering premium facilities at affordable prices. As the #1 fitness franchisor in Europe and recently named Brand of the Year 2025*, the company operates over 350 clubs in France and abroad, through both corporate-owned and franchised locations. With more than 350,000 m² of training space and over 1.3 million members, Fitness Park achieved a revenue of nearly €400 million in 2024. Learn more at: www.fitnesspark-group.com and follow Fitness Park on LinkedIn

* Independent study conducted by treetz/Cint at the end of 2024 with a representative sample of French consumers – poyfrance.com.

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