Munich / Mann­heim — As part of the majo­rity take­over of Bitter­Power GmbH (“Bitter­Liebe”) by ARCUS Capi­tal AG, BayBG also became invol­ved as a co-inves­tor with equity and mezza­nine. Both the foun­ders Andre Sierek and Jan Strat­mann as well as the previous share­hol­der Judith Williams will retain a signi­fi­cant stake in the company. The law firm Gütt Olk Feld­haus advi­sed ARCUS Capi­tal AG on the transaction.

Mann­heim-based Bitter­Power was foun­ded in 2018 and distri­bu­tes dietary supple­ments contai­ning bitter subs­tances under the brand “Bitter­Liebe”. The company quickly achie­ved a high level of reco­gni­tion and was able to posi­tion itself sustain­ably in the market. The product port­fo­lio curr­ently includes bitters in the form of drops, capsu­les, (cooking/baking) powder as well as tea, which are manu­fac­tu­red in Germany and contain only natu­ral ingredients.

“In this promi­sing envi­ron­ment, we want to make the Bitter­Liebe brand the market leader for prepa­ra­ti­ons contai­ning bitter subs­tances in Germany toge­ther with the commit­ted foun­ders and also gain a foot­hold in the inter­na­tio­nal market,” says Stefan Eishold, CEO of ARCUS, on the acqui­si­tion of Bitterliebe.

In its third finan­cial year, Bitter­Power GmbH recor­ded growth of over 120% with the Bitter­Liebe brand, sales of almost double-digit milli­ons and a profit in the seven-digit range. The successful parti­ci­pa­tion in the VOX TV show “Die Höhle der Löwen” in 2019 has signi­fi­cantly acce­le­ra­ted this deve­lo­p­ment. The products are available throug­hout Germany in more than 4,000 stores at dm, Ross­mann and Budni­kow­sky, as well as regu­larly in tele­shop­ping at HSE24.

Legal advi­sors to ARCUS Capi­tal AG: Gütt Olk Feld­haus, Munich
Dr. Sebas­tian Olk (Part­ner, Corporate/M&A), Dr. Tilmann Gütt (Part­ner, Banking/Finance, both Lead), Thomas Becker (Of Coun­sel, IP/IT), Matthias Uelner (Asso­ciate, Corporate/M&A), Domi­nik Forst­ner (Asso­ciate, Corporate/M&A)
— Alten­burg Fach­an­wälte für Arbeits­recht, Munich: Andreas Ege, Dr. Dirk Schnelle (both Labor Law)
— Blom­stein, Berlin: Dr. Max Klasse (anti­trust law)

About Arcus Capital

ARCUS Capi­tal is a Munich-based inde­pen­dent invest­ment company focu­sing on majo­rity invest­ments in medium-sized family-owned compa­nies in the DACH region. www.arcuscapital.de

About BayBG

With an inves­ted volume of more than 300 million euros, BayBG Baye­ri­sche Betei­li­gungs­ge­sell­schaft is one of the largest provi­ders of equity capi­tal, espe­ci­ally for Bava­rian SMEs. With its venture capi­tal and equity invest­ments, which it provi­des in the form of equity and mezza­nine, it enables medium-sized compa­nies to imple­ment inno­va­tion and growth projects, arrange for corpo­rate succes­sion or opti­mize the capi­tal struc­ture, as well as solve special situa­tions or diver­sify the assets of entre­pre­neu­rial fami­lies. BayBG opera­tes as an ever­green fund and is not subject to exit pressure.