AURELIUS

AURELIUS Private Equity Mid-Market Buyout announces the acquisition of What’s Cooking Savoury Division from What’s Cooking Group. The acquisition further strengthens AURELIUS’ regional footprint in the Benelux. The division is one of the leading suppliers of deli meats, spreads and savoury snacks in the Benelux. Backed by AURELIUS, the company will be enabled to drive its operational excellence, growth and innovation. Specialists from AURELIUS Operations Advisory will support the carve-out and help to reduce complexities within the process. “AURELIUS has been active in Belgium and the Netherlands for many years, since 2019 with a dedicated office in Amsterdam. The acquisition of What’s Cooking’s renowned Savoury Divison complements our existing strategy and footprint in the region. With both international and local expertise, especially in smoothly handling carve-out situations, the AURELIUS Operations Advisory team will support management and the company on its new growth path”, stated Andrzej Cebrat, Managing Director at AURELIUS European Opportunities IV. AURELIUS Investment Advisory will work alongside the management to drive inorganic growth through an active buy & build strategy.

The people at AURELIUS create impact even beyond our portfolio. While studying for his MBA at the renowned Mannheim Business School, our colleague Daniel Schlosser participated in a social class to support children with disabilities. AURELIUS is proud to have contributed to this project – a collaboration between the MEMBA25 class with Johannes-Diakonie St. Leon-Rot – by helping to equip a new residential facility that will provide a safe, nurturing, and engaging environment for children with disabilities aged 6 to 18. We wish all the best to everyone involved with this important initiative!

Following recent record financials, FOOTASYLUM continues its transformation with another milestone: Supported by AURELIUS, the team received a HSBC Sustainability Improvement Loan. This will enable Footasylum, now with over 61 stores nationwide, to further drive its ESG initiatives, reflecting its commitment to being an accountable sustainability leader. Footasylum recently reported all-time high results, with revenues of GBP 319.5m for the year to 27 January 2024, up from GBP 298m in the previous financial year. Over the period, Footasylum’s profit before tax increased by 112%, supported by strong performances in its online and wholesale divisions. The company continues its exceptional journey from a retailer to a brand builder and into a disruptive entertainment company. Congratulations, to everyone involved!

🔎 Boosting growth with Buy & Build: A journey of quadrupling revenues European Imaging Group is Europe’s largest omni-channel retailer of photo and video equipment for professionals and enthusiasts. The company operates in the UK, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands and Poland through online and physical stores staffed by industry experts. It holds No 1 & 2 positions in four key regions. Since being backed by AURELIUS in 2016, EIG has embarked on an exceptional growth journey, adding a number of retail brands to the group to reach over EUR 430m of turnover in 2023. M&A-led growth started with Calumet Photo Video (Germany) in 2016 and was followed by acquisitions of Wex Photo Video (UK) in 2017 and Foto-Video Sauter (Germany) in 2018. In 2021, EIG Holding was established to prepare for further international expansion, and Cameranu (Benelux), Cyfrowe.pl (Poland) and Sansa Europe (Poland) were added in 2022 as well as Vocas (Netherlands) in 2023. This international expansion has added over EUR 100m of revenues, and AURELIUS is supporting EIG to pursue further acquisitions. However this acquisition cadence tells only half of EIG’s success story. Organic growth, supported by AURELIUS Operations Advisory accounts for the other half. Its specialists helped to transform the company by improving its omni-channel approach and its service offering – in particular its second-hand, customer financing and insurance offerings. In addition, EIG was supported in broadening its product range enhancing its focus on video and audio, optimising its warehouse network, and implementing state-of-the-art ERP systems. Among all of this intense activity, EIG’s customer-centric focus remains key to its success: this year alone, EIG has opened or relocated eight destination stores across Europe, thus increasing its total footprint to 43. In the medium term, the number of stores is planned to increase to around 55. The firm’s recently launched own-brand battery Mathorn and lighting brand GlareOne are further proof of EIG’s commitment to its customers by providing photographers with the power solutions they need. “From day one, AURELIUS not only understood our business model but was able to help us steer our vision. Together, we created a leading omni-channel retailer and expanded across Europe, quadrupling our revenues in the process. The combination of AURELIUS' expertise in transforming businesses through operational improvement and strong M&A support remains a cornerstone of our success today.” – Sam Nicols, Group CEO European Imaging Group.

Operational excellence has been a focus of AURELIUS for almost two decades. To support portfolio company transformations, the dedicated AURELIUS Operations Advisory was established back in 2005. In today’s world of limited opportunity for multiple expansion and leverage, the skill to improve businesses through operational excellence is a powerful competitive advantage. Starting out as four specialists, the AURELIUS Operations Advisory has since grown into a global team of more than 180 today, making it one of the industry’s most sizable and impactful in-house advisories. The team comprises Strategy & Transformation Managers who act as Generalists and Functional Experts, specialised in reducing complexity and providing bespoke advice. AURELIUS Operations Advisory employs the proven AUROM, a clear and concise operating model that minimises transaction risks for buyers, fosters trust in future returns through transparency, and clearly communicates the model for success to investors. The AUROM has four core modules to drive value creation: - Strategy Design and Re-Design - Key Value Driver Execution - Operational Playbooks - Exit Readiness Curious to learn, how AURELIUS Operations Advisory is leveraging AUROM to create success stories? To find the link, just jump into the comments!

The key to successful business transformation is a dedicated and highly experienced team. At AURELIUS Operations Advisory we are proud to bring together talent, ambition and character to craft growth stories. To share knowledge, strengthen capabilities and foster connections, our Transformation Office TxO, part of the 180+ specialists strong Operations Advisory, came together at marvellous Lake Constance. In focus: 1) Sharing success-proofed strategies to maximise operational value creation 2) Learning how to best implement and leverage strengths from the AURELIUS Operating Model AUROM and its Key Value Drivers 3) Discussing first-hand insights from portfolio companies Furthermore, the team gained insights on how high-quality aircraft seats are manufactured, visiting the AURELIUS portfolio company ZIM Aircraft Seating. The key takeaway? It´s all about teamwork!

AURELIUS is proud to see FOOTASYLUM’s impressive results. Increasing the EBITDA by 38 per cent to £22m, an all-time high for the business, is no mean feat. Their growth story is testament to the impact of highly talented and motivated teams at Footasylum and the bespoke and powerful advice of the team at AURELIUS Operations Advisory. Congratulations! https://lnkd.in/erE5MS-7

Reducing complexity was a key driver of the successful transformation at AAH Pharmaceuticals. The AURELIUS Operating Model (AUROM) helped to boost growth in the business. The framework works on five guiding elements fully focused on operational excellence and business plan execution. Today AAH is a scalable organisation with swifter project execution and a more engaged team as the result of a refreshed corporate culture. "It's about providing hands-on support by advising how to drive change in collaboration with teams. Clear responsibilities support efficient cooperation between practices and project teams, including across finance, sales and marketing, purchasing, and more", states Anthony Tan, Director at AURELIUS Operations Advisory.

AURELIUS was thrilled to host this year's Portfolio Evening at the iconic BAFTA in London, where we celebrated the remarkable success stories of portfolio companies. Impact is at the heart of what AURELIUS does, with transformational growth journeys underpinned by the strength of AURELIUS Investment and Operations Advisory. The teams’ support in operational transformation to drive growth was highlighted by several portfolio company CEOs during the evening. Guests from across the industry heard insights from David Pujolar, (CEO of FOOTASYLUM), Thomas Maerz and Gary Barker (CEO and COO/CTO of tmgroup (UK) ltd.), Paul Adams (CEO of LloydsPharmacy Clinical Homecare) as well as Ryan Kerr (CEO of Minova). A common theme among all presentations was that the bespoke support from AURELIUS’ well-resourced team has a profound impact on success. Thank you to everyone who joined, and we look forward to seeing you again next year!

Discussing what matters to the industry: Freya Macken and Grayden Reece-Smith, Principals at AURELIUS Investment Advisory, spoke at UK´s largest PE conference by Private Equity Insights. Freya discussed key value drivers in private equity across market cycles, alongside panelists Tommy O'Sullivan, John C.R. Nery, Lou G. and moderator Robert Vrugtman. Key topics included how to focus on operational excellence and continuous improvement while ensuring leadership and business buy-in.  Grayden shared his view on the best sectors for private equity deals in 2024 alongside panelists nathalie bruls, Reidun Tysseland and moderator Andrii Gorokhov. He touched on industry insights including AI – a topic that could be a driver for operational value creation – and how GPs need to adapt to the current market environment.