Wolf Theiss advises Bain Capital on its investment in Berlin Brands Group

As one of the legal advisors to Bain Capital, Wolf Theiss advised the private equity firm on buying a minority stake in Berlin Brands Group from Ardian. 

The Wolf Theiss team was led by Florian Kusznier (Partner, Vienna) and Bruno Štefánik (Counsel, Bratislava) together with Dalibor Palatický (Associate, Bratislava). Other team members included, amongst others, Jozef Virčík (Associate, Bratislava), Marcel Vereš (Associate, Bratislava), Stanislav Bojnanský (Associate, Bratislava), Mário Juhaniak (Associate, Bratislava) and Christopher Juenger (Associate, Vienna). 

The investment by Bain Capital sees Berlin Brands Group joining the ranks of European “unicorn” start-ups. Furthermore, Berlin Brands Group has secured $700 million in additional equity and debt financing to fund growth and M&A. The Berlin-based company also intends to use the fresh capital to expand its supply chain and logistics infrastructure and further develop its own tech platform. Bain Capital replaces Ardian as a minority shareholder. The majority is still held by the CEO and the executive team. Wolf Theiss advised on the deal together with lead counsel KIRKLAND & ELLIS INTERNATIONAL LLP.

Bain Capital Private Equity is one of the world’s leading private equity firms based in Boston, Massachusetts with approximately $140 billion of assets under management. Bain Capital has offices in North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. Since the founding in 1984, the firm has grown into the top leading private investment firms and specializes in private equity, venture capital, credit, public equity, impact investing, life sciences, and real estate. The company pioneered the value-added investment approach while partnering with management teams and helping to build and grow great companies. 

Berlin Brands Group is a global e-commerce company operating in the direct-to-consumer business. Company was founded in 2005 by Peter Chaljawski in Berlin and covers the entire value chain from product development, conception and design through production and marketing to customer service. The company currently sells 3700 products through its 14 own brands (including Klarstein, auna, blumfeldt and Capital Sports) through more than 100 channels in 28 countries.