Ardian invests again in BBG

Berlin/London, November 17th, 2021. Global e-commerce company, Berlin Brands Group (BBG) is receiving additional growth capital from Ardian, at a valuation of billions, following the investment by Bain Capital a few weeks ago. In return, the investment company will receive a minority stake. Peter Chaljawski and his founding team will remain majority shareholders. The second largest shareholder is Bain Capital.

BBG will use this capital to further expand and accelerate the international growth story of recent years, both organically and through M&A. The company currently has locations in Europe (Berlin, Bratislava, Istanbul, now also Oxford), Asia (Hong Kong, Shenzhen) and the USA (Los Angeles, San Francisco, Boston). Global sales are complemented by the constant expansion of the company's own procurement organization in China and its own logistics locations throughout Europe.

BBG markets more than 3,700 products in 28 countries via its own stores (D2C), as well as through all relevant marketplaces. Its claim as a "brand accelerator" is supported by its own highly automated tech platform, which aids the rapid scaling of new brands across all channels, as well as by its own product team with over 100 employees. In the past twelve months, BBG has acquired 42 brands, most notably, successful Amazon sellers in BBG's core categories: sports, garden, living and kitchen. The company is using the newly raised capital to further accelerate additional acquisitions and the expansion of these brands. Among the brands currently acquired are Glaswerk and Schmatzfatz.

"I’m very happy that we can continue our cooperation, which has been very successful so far," says Peter Chaljawski. "With two very strong partners on board, we can achieve our goal of becoming a 'Global House of Digital Brands' much faster."

Marc Abadir, Managing Director in the German team of Ardian Expansion: "We know Peter Chaljawski and his team very well. Together with Peter and Bain Capital, we want to further expand the leading position in European e-commerce that BBG has built up over the past few years, both organically and strengthened through M&A.”

About Berlin Brands Group

Berlin Brands Group (BBG) is a global e-commerce company and one of the pioneers in the direct-to-consumer business. The Internet brand company currently sells 3,700 products under 56 e-commerce brands (including Klarstein, auna, blumfeldt, Capital Sports) on more than 100 channels in 28 countries, enabling a more beautiful and better life. BBG is one of the few companies that has been profitable since its inception. The company employs more than 900 people in five countries and generated sales of more than €334 million in 2020 (2019: €217 million).

BBG currently has a logistics center in Kamp-Lintfort for Western Europe, another in Bratislava for Eastern Europe, and also in Hong Kong, Los Angeles and Istanbul. In Europe, more are now to follow in Germany, the UK, Spain and France. Against the background of capacity bottlenecks in many European and international warehouses, products of the BBG brands can be shipped from the company's own logistics hubs. For more information, please visit www.berlin-brands-group.com

About Ardian

Ardian is a world-leading private investment house with assets of US$114bn managed or advised in Europe, the Americas and Asia. The company is majority-owned by its employees. It keeps entrepreneurship at its heart and focuses on delivering excellent investment performance to its global investor base. Through its commitment to shared outcomes for all stakeholders, Ardian’s activities fuel individual, corporate and economic growth around the world. Holding close its core values of excellence, loyalty and entrepreneurship, Ardian maintains a truly global network, with more than 780 employees working from fifteen offices across Europe (Frankfurt, Jersey, London, Luxembourg, Madrid, Milan, Paris and Zurich), the Americas (New York, San Francisco and Santiago) and Asia (Beijing, Singapore, Tokyo and Seoul). It manages funds on behalf of more than 1,200 clients through five pillars of investment expertise: Fund of Funds, Direct Funds, Infrastructure, Real Estate and Private Debt. www.ardian.com