Jürgen Schwarz, Partner and Head of M&A Consumer Business in Germany, has been awarded the Deal Maker of the Year Award 2016 for advising Outfitter Group on their sale to Karstadt owner Signa Retail/René Benko.

Jürgen joined Capitalmind Investec as a partner in August 2016. With his extensive experience as founding entrepreneur and M&A advisor in the retail sector he is supporting Capitalmind Investec’s consistent pan-European sector approach in the consumer industry.

Transaction report

Jürgen Schwarz acted as M&A sell-side advisor for the Outfitter founder/shareholder on the sale of the Outfitter Group to the Karstadt shareholder Signa Retail/René Benko.

SIGNA  Retail  has  taken  the  next  important  step  towards becoming an integrated retail business. In a move designed to unlock even stronger online growth potential, in April 2016 the company acquired a majority interest in OUTFITTER, the leading multi-channel retailer in sports business. SIGNA Retail has taken a 60% stake in OUTFITTER – the remaining 40% are retained by Ron Berger. The OUTFITTER’s founder and former sole shareholder will  remain  a  major shareholder  and  will  also  continue  to operationally head the company together with the co-general manager Thorsten Bichowski.

OUTFITTER’s strong online presence and the excellent position in Germany’s  bricks-and-mortar  retail  segment  of  SIGNA  Retail’s subsidiary  Karstadt  sports,  create  an  outstanding  basis  for  a strategic  partnership.  The  companies’  expert  management teams  and  young,  energetic  employees  with  a  passion  for sports will be instrumental in capitalising on the strengths of each business and the synergies between them.

Jürgen on his thoughts and predictions for 2017 and beyond:

« In order to achieve sustainable future success the online and bricks-and-mortar  business  need  to  be  seamlessly  integrated. With the acquisition of OUTFITTER, SIGNA Retail can quickly realize this goal in the sports goods business. Additionally, SIGNA Retail gains further strengths in the growth segment sports as well as strong  competence  in  logistics  and  processes  for  its  online business. »