Advent enters bid to acquire Douglas Holdings

Advent International, a US-based private equity firm, has announced that it has entered its bid to take over German perfume chain Douglas Holdings.

The firm has offered a purchase price of $1.95bn, which includes Douglas’ three main shareholders – Oetker (25.8%) Kreke (12.78%) and Müller (10.8%) stake, reports cosmetics design.com.

The firm said all the three stake holders welcomed the offer and now it has assurances for at least 50.5% of the company’s share capital.

According to a company statement, after completion of the takeover, Kreke will hold a 20% stake in Beauty Holding Three AG, the investment channel making the offer, while the other 80% will be vested by Advent.

The firm said from January 2012, the Kreke family with the help of financial investors has been looking to take over Douglas private, and a deal had been agreed with an investor and was already backed by major shareholders.

Advent said the new deal will make it as one of the most active buyout groups in Europe since the credit crisis, with deals from financial services to retail.

Once the bid is accepted, Kreke and Advent International are said to want to jointly carry forward the success of the Douglas Group, identify the company’s growth opportunities and combine their strengths to further evolve the chain.

An Advent spokesperson told the newsagency that the new bid aims to accelerate the growth of the perfume and jewelry division jointly.

"Major focus will be placed on an increased presence in the domestic and international markets as well as the rapid innovative integration of cross-channel sales concepts," the company spokesperson added.