Berlin – International private equity firm EQT has signed an agreement via its EQT Mid Market Fund to acquire Berlin-based kfzteile24 GmbH. The company is being sold by its two founders, Matthias Kieper and Torsten Hainke. Both remain substantial shareholders in kfzteile24 and will continue in their roles as co-CEOs in order to drive the company’s growth and development. kfzteile24 is a leading German online retailer for vehicle parts and accessories. Three bricks and mortar stores in Berlin with affiliated repair shops supplement the online operation. kfzteile24 has around 500 employees.
A Berlin-based team from CMS Germany headed by lead partners Dr Jörg Zätzsch and Dr Gerd Leutner advised the founders of kfzteile24 on the entire transaction process, through to the final negotiations both with international private equity investors and with international strategic investors. Dr Jörg Zätzsch: "This transaction involving a Berlin target company has been closely watched in the market. It’s really impressive to see what the founders have achieved since 2001. The company has an exciting future, which will be boosted now by the special experience of EQT and its strong e-commerce expertise."
This year the Berlin team led by Dr Jörg Zätzsch has already advised on the sale of the Absolventa job portal to Funke Mediengruppe and on the investment by Market Tech Holdings in glispa GmbH, a Berlin-based specialist provider of digital marketing and mobile advertising services. The team advised on the seller side in both cases. In 2014, they provided advice on the sale of online advertising provider Sociomantic to London-based dunnhumby Ltd., one of the biggest Berlin exits of 2014.
The parties agreed not to disclose details of the transaction. The acquisition is subject to merger control approval by the relevant competition authorities.
CMS Hasche Sigle
Dr Jörg Zätzsch
Dr Gerd Leutner, both Lead
Dr Martin Bredol
Dr Herrmann Hoffmann
Patrick Lühr, all Corporate
Jesko Nobiling, Tax/Corporate
Axel Dippmann
Alexander Schmitt
Anne Neumann, all Finance
Dr Ole Jani, IP
Dr Rolf Hempel, Competition
Press Contact
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