Proventis Partners advises on the sale of Golfversand Hannover GmbH (“all4golf”) to Afinum

Hamburg, 15 November 2019 – Proventis Partners has acted as exclusive M&A advisor to the owner of all4golf, Europe’s largest e-commerce player for golf equipment, on the sale of the company to Afinum, a leading German mid-market financial investor.

The Transaction

Stefan Kirste, owner of Golfversand Hannover GmbH, has sold his company to Afinum Achte Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG, advised by Afinum Management GmbH. With this acquisition, Afinum invests in the largest European e-commerce player for golf equipment and the clear German market leader in the online segment.

Mr Kirste will continue to lead all4golf as managing director and, together with Afinum, seek to continue all4golf’s success story by further increasing its market share in Germany and expanding the business abroad.

The Role of Proventis Partners

Proventis Partners has supported Stefan Kirste as exclusive M&A advisor throughout the entire transaction process, starting with a strategic analysis of the company and the preparation of the entire relevant marketing documentation. Furthermore, Proventis Partners identified a selection of established investors as potential partners and led them through a structured sales process. Finally, Proventis Partners coordinated the due diligence and supported the SPA negotiations, which were led by Friedrich Graf zu Ortenburg from KSB INTAX as legal counsel.

“ I had an advisor at my side that supported me in the best way possible in my plans to settle my succession. Ulrich Schneider and his team at Proventis Partners planned the transaction process in detail and executed it rigorously — at the same time, they showed a lot of discretion and sensitivity in dealing with my organization,” Stefan Kirste states, “With Afinum, we found a partner that shares my vision for all4golf and with whom I can now initiate the next phase in the evolution of the company, a challenge that I am looking forward to!”

About all4golf

all4golf (www.all4golf.de) is Europe’s largest e-commerce player for golf equipment. Its leading position is reflected in the extensive range of more than 20,000 SKUs, which includes the full range of golf equipment, apparel and accessories. In addition to the online shop, the physical store, attached to its headquarter and main and logistics center in Hanover, offers one of the largest golf assortments in Germany as well as a state of the art fitting center in an area of more than 500 sqm.

Since taking over “Stephan Moll Golf Versand” in 1997, Mr Kirste has grown the business from its mail order origins to a leading e-commerce market leader in the golf segment, with strongholds across all categories and an own established white label brand. Since the early 2000s, the company has realized year on year in any year, with accelerating growth since taking over market leadership. ProventisPartners.

Afinum is an independent financial investor wholly-owned by its management with offices in Munich, Zurich and Hongkong, specializing in the acquisition of shareholdings in financially sound and successful mid-market companies in the German speaking region as well as in neighboring countries in Europe.

The investment in all4golf represents the sixth platform investment of Afinum Achte Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG.

About Proventis Partners

Proventis Partners is a partner-managed M&A advisory firm whose clients include mainly corporate groups, medium-sized family businesses and private equity funds. With 30 professionals, Proventis Partners is active in the sectors Industrials, Business Services, Consumer & Retail, TMT, Healthcare and Energy and covers the German-speaking region with offices in Hamburg, Cologne, Munich and Zurich. Through its exclusive membership in Mergers Alliance – the international partnership of leading M&A specialists – Proventis Partners offers local market coverage in the 30 most important economies globally. The 20 members of the Mergers Alliance, with more than 200 M&A professionals, offer Proventis Partners and our clients unique access to local markets in Europe, North America, Latin America, Asia and Africa.