28.08.2018 News
Oppenhoff & Partner advises on the acquisition of a majority stake in the aktivoptik Group by Argos Wityu
The shareholders of the aktivoptik Group, one of Germany’s largest chains of opticians, have sold a majority stake in their enterprise to the private equity investor Argos Wityu. The parties agreed not to disclose the purchase price. The transaction is still subject to approval of the cartel authorities. With this sale, the founder and majority owner Rolf Schneider has organised the enterprise’s succession planning. He retains a substantial stake in the purchasing company and will continue his activities as the enterprise’s CEO.
The aktivoptik Group, which is situated in Bad Kreuznach, was founded in 1989 and employs about 560 people. It has more than 70 branches, primarily in hypermarkets but also at highly frequented inner city locations. The family-run enterprise, which has a turnover of ca. 50 million euros, is amongst Germany’s top five optician and hearing care chains.
Argos Wityu is an independent, pan-European private equity company whose focus lies in management buy-outs, buy-ins and spin-offs at small and medium-sized enterprises with company values of between 20 and 200 million euros. The private equity investor has offices in Paris, Milan, Geneva, Brussels and Frankfurt am Main.
Led by partner Dr. Markus Rasner, Oppenhoff & Partner comprehensively advised the family owners of the aktivoptik Group on the sale and reinvestment. Further Oppenhoff team members were Till Liebau, Daniel Zimmer, Kirsten-Joy Windle-Wehrle (all M&A/private equity), Dr. Luise Hauschild (corporate), Anja Dombrowsky, Cornelia-Cristina Scupra (both employment), Georg Lecheler (IP), Dr. Simon Spangler (antitrust) and Jérôme S. Friedrich (finance).
Oppenhoff & Partner stands for 110 years of top level legal advice. The independent law firm advises national and international companies and entrepreneurs on matters of commercial and tax law.