Proventis Partners accompanies the sale of all4golf to Afinum
Hamburg — Proventis Partners has supported the owner of Europe’s largest online retailer for golf equipment Golf Versand Hannover GmbH (“all4golf”) as exclusive M&A advisor in its succession planning. The owner of Golf Versand Hannover GmbH has sold the company to Afinum Achte Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH & Co KG, advised by Munich-based Afinum Management GmbH. As part of the transaction, Afinum is acquiring a stake in Europe’s largest online retailer of golf equipment, which operates under the brand name “all4golf” in e‑commerce as well as with a branch in its main and logistics center in Hanover.
Stefan Kirste, owner of all4golf, will continue to lead the company as managing director after the transaction and, together with Afinum, drive the company’s further expansion. Proventis Partners’ role Proventis Partners acted as exclusive M&A advisor to Mr. Kirste in the preparation and implementation of the transaction. In addition to the complete documentation, Proventis identified a selection of established investors as partners for all4golf and guided them through a structured divestment process, coordinated the due diligence and accompanied the contract negotiations up to the closing of the transaction.
Legal advice from: KSB INTAX, led by Friedrich Graf zu Ortenburg.
“With Proventis Partners, I had an advisor at my side who supported me in the best possible way during the implementation of my company succession,” notes Stefan Kirste. “Ulrich Schneider and his team planned the project in detail and implemented it stringently, while at the same time demonstrating a great deal of tact in dealing with my organization. With Afinum, we were thus able to find a partner who shares my vision for all4golf and with whom I can now tackle the next phase of the company’s development, a task I am very much looking forward to!”
About all4golf
all4golf (www.all4golf.de) is Europe’s largest e‑commerce company for golfing supplies. This leading market position is reflected in the extensive range of more than 20,000 items, which covers the entire range of golf equipment, clothing and accessories. In addition to the online store, the store in the main and logistics center in Hanover offers one of the largest ranges of golf products in Germany on an area of over 500 square meters, in addition to a fitting center. Since the acquisition of “Stephan Moll Golf Versand” in 1997, Mr. Kirste has grown the business from a classic mail order company to a leading e‑commerce provider and the clear market leader in the golf segment, with a strong position across all categories and an established private label. The far-sightedness of this strategic decision, taken at the beginning of the 2000s, is reflected in particular in the growth achieved in every single financial year since the beginning.
About Afinum
Afinum is an independent investment company that invests in successful medium-sized companies in German-speaking countries. Afinum currently manages funds with a volume of around EUR 1 billion in equity. Afinum has been an active investor in medium-sized companies for 19 years and has carried out over 70 transactions during this time, the vast majority of which (>90%) in connection with family businesses/out of start-up situations, whether with further participation and active management of the founders or a complete sale as part of a company succession. Afinum’s investment professionals have a total of more than 200 years of private equity transaction experience and have successfully accompanied numerous companies on their growth path during this time.
About Proventis Partners
Proventis Partners is a partner-led M&A consultancy whose clients include a majority of medium-sized family businesses, group subsidiaries and private equity funds. With 30 M&A consultants, Proventis Partners is active in the sectors Industrials, Business Services, Consumer & Retail, TMT, Healthcare and Energy and covers the German-speaking region with offices in Hamburg, Cologne, Munich and Zurich. Exclusive membership in Mergers Alliance — the international partnership of leading M&A specialists — allows Proventis Partners market coverage in 30 of the world’s leading countries. The 20 members of the Mergers Alliance, with over 200 M&A professionals, provide Proventis Partners, and therefore its clients, with unique access to local markets in Europe, North America, Latin America, Asia and Africa.