Transactions - Consumer & retail

Terry White Group, a leading Australian pharmacy franchise, merged with EBOS Group’s Chemmart, creating one of Australia’s largest retail pharmacy networks of approximately 500 stores representing AUD 2 billion in annual sales.

Ets Grassot,  a family company owning garden centers under the franchise Villaverde, was sold to Gamm Vert, the top garden center retailer in France. Ets Grassot is the leading garden center in Lyon.

A private investor acquired a minority share in The Vegetarian Butcher, a producer and wholesaler of a whole new generation of meat substitutes.

Since 1977, Bouvigne Wijnimport imports quality wines from all over the world for the specialized wine retailer. The company was acquired by the Rynja family through a Management Buy In. Vondel Finance acquired a minority shareholding in the new company.

Famous Flavours, a fast-growing caterer, was sold to Compass Group, provider and developer of original and innovative concepts in the field of food and support services.

Cherry Blooms, a niche cosmetics business, raised equity from a high-net-worth individual for a stake in the business.

Two minority shareholders of Geizhals, a leading Austrian and German price-comparison site, sold 16% of the company to majority shareholder Heise Gruppe. Geizhals was founded in 1996 and today is a leading price-comparison portal in the DACH region

Sherry’s, a leading provider of termite and pest management services in Australia, merged with Flick Anticimex, a pest-control company based in Sweden.

FineFrance UK Limited, an importer and distributor of premium food products sourced from across Europe, was sold to Vestey Holdings Limited. FineFrance supplies over 400 restaurants as well as wholesale markets.

Extreme Digital, a leading online consumer electronics player in Central and Eastern Europe, was sold to Steinhoff International, an international furniture and household goods retailer chain.

Safil S.p.A and Gruppo Tessile Industriale, both Italian-based worsted yarn manufacturers, were sold to Südwolle Group, a global producer of worsted yarn for weaving, circular, and flat knitting in pure wool and wool blends.

The sausage manufacturer Sipas Group opened up its capital to two private equity funds, Siparex and Carvest. The transaction involved the purchase of a stake from historical shareholders and partially financed the acquisition of Clavière from Bongrain.

Governia Oy, a 100% state-owned investment company used for special-ownership restructuring purposes, acquired Pajakulma from Raskone. Pajakulma equips versatile commercial vehicles according to customer specifications. Raskone is one of the largest chains of service shops in Finland.

Autonetzer, the German market leader in private car-sharing, was sold to Drivy, a French community-based car rental service. Autonetzer is Germany’s market leader in peer-to-peer car sharing with the largest offering of cars and the highest number of registered members.

AgroVision, supplier of specialized software for the international agricultural sector, was sold to AgroSoft, a Danish company focused on IT-solutions for the pig industry.

Quincaillerie Féraud, a hardware store created in 1959, acquired Auto Fermeture AF, a hardware store specializing in locksmithery and accessories.

Windoware and Smart Home Products, Australia’s largest wholesalers of prepackaged and custom-made window coverings, were sold to a consortium of private investors.

Genelec, a family-owned global business that develops high-quality studio monitors and active speaker systems for professional, home, and AV installation use, sold a minority stake to private investors.

Clairfield Benelux provided debt advisory services to the shareholders of Brouwerij Martens. Brouwerij Martens was founded in 1758 and is the second largest brewery in Belgium engaged in the development, production, distribution and sale of private label beer as well as their own beer brands.

Riverside sold the Spanish NJoy Baby S.L., a designer, developer, and marketer of strollers and related accessories, to Newell Rubbermaid, a global marketer of consumer and commercial products.