Afinum acquires majority stake in SanderStrothmann Group

Munich — Afinum Achte Betei­li­gungs­ge­sell­schaft mbH & Co KG, advi­sed by Afinum Manage­ment GmbH, indi­rectly acqui­res a majo­rity stake in the Sander­Stroth­mann Group, a leading full-service provi­der (CDMO) in the fast-growing market for cosme­tics, beauty and health­care products. Afinum invests toge­ther with the two mana­ging direc­tors Sabrina Berg­haus and Stefan Vogels in the context of an entre­pre­neu­rial succes­sion situa­tion. Toge­ther with the manage­ment team, Afinum will support the group in conti­nuing the successful growth path of the past years.

The Sander­Stroth­mann Group (www.sanderstrothmann.de, “Sander­Stroth­mann”), consis­ting of the two group compa­nies Sander­Stroth­mann GmbH and Compes Cosme­tic GmbH & Co. KG (“Compes”), is a leading certi­fied full-service CDMO (Contract Deve­lo­p­ment and Manu­fac­tu­ring Orga­niza­tion) in the fast-growing market for cosme­tics, beauty and health­care products. Typi­cal Sander­Stroth­mann custo­mers have their own brand and/or distri­bu­tion chan­nel, but often lack the neces­sary exper­tise to deve­lop and manu­fac­ture beauty and health­care products (e.g. global e‑commerce platforms/social media networks/influencers, pharmacies/drug stores/stationary retail­ers, home shop­ping provi­ders and beauty centers).

In addi­tion to custo­mi­zed cosme­tic products, the broad product range also includes bioci­des, disin­fec­tants as well as nutri­tio­nal supple­ments with a specia­liza­tion in active ingre­di­ent cosme­tics and health-promo­­ting “problem solvers”. The IP/formulation remains in the posses­sion of Sander­Stroth­mann. Thanks to the in-depth group-inter­nal know-how along the entire value chain (market analy­sis, product deve­lo­p­ment and formu­la­tion, design and pack­a­ging, regu­la­tory aspects and appr­oval proce­du­res, purcha­sing and logi­stics, produc­tion and filling, quality assu­rance, after-sales), Sander­Stroth­mann is distin­gu­is­hed by its full-service offe­ring, high flexi­bi­lity, very short deve­lo­p­ment and imple­men­ta­tion time, and — espe­ci­ally with a view to the fast-growing Asian market — its “Made in Germany” quality promise. The Group opera­tes an asset-light busi­ness model. Thus, most of the produc­tion is outsour­ced to trus­ted exter­nal part­ners, while the in-house Compes manu­fac­tu­ring exclu­si­vely produ­ces high-quality cosme­tic products for Pres­tige Beauty brands.

Sander­Stroth­mann GmbH was foun­ded in 2000 by Michael Sander and Rene Stroth­mann, who acqui­red a majo­rity stake in Compes in 2019 as part of an add-on acqui­si­tion. The two Group compa­nies toge­ther employ around 160 people at the joint site in Georgs­ma­ri­en­hütte, Lower Saxony, where the two certi­fied (inclu­ding DIN EN ISO 13485 for medi­cal products) high-tech labo­ra­to­ries with state-of-the-art equip­ment are also operated.

Afinum invests toge­ther with the two mana­ging direc­tors Sabrina Berg­haus and Stefan Vogels in the context of an entre­pre­neu­rial succes­sion situa­tion, wher­eby the foun­ders Michael Sander and Rene Stroth­mann will conti­nue to support the group as stra­te­gic advi­sors in the future. Toge­ther with the manage­ment team, Afinum will support the Group in conti­nuing the successful growth trajec­tory of the past years, inclu­ding by further streng­thening its posi­tio­ning in exis­ting and new geogra­phies and by progres­si­vely expan­ding its product and custo­mer portfolio.

The invest­ment in Sander­Stroth­mann repres­ents the eleventh plat­form tran­sac­tion of Afinum Achte Betei­li­gungs­ge­sell­schaft mbH & Co KG.

About Afinum

AFINUM Manage­ment GmbH is an inde­pen­dent mana­ge­­ment-owned invest­ment company with offices in Munich, Zurich and Hong Kong, specia­li­zing in invest­ments in successful medium-sized compa­nies in German-spea­king Europe.