Apax to acquire RFS Holland

José Rojo
07 July 2015

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Dutch online retail platform RFS Holland Holding, in which IK Investment Partners is a minority shareholder, is set to be acquired by Apax Partners.

The SBO, expected to be finalised in Q3, would reportedly value RFS Holland around the €450m mark.

IK and Apax both declined to comment on the sale for the time being. The former is understood by unquote" to have kept a minority interest in the company after a partial exit in December 2008.

Under Apax's ownership, RFS Holland intends to continue to invest in the customer experience following the development of a personal department store scheme, among other plans.

The online retailer will launch a fully automated distribution facility at its Zwolle headquarters in the coming autumn that will allow deliveries to reach customers on the day of purchase, according to the company. Via these developments, the business foresees renewed growth after reportedly hitting €711m revenues and €46m EBITDA in the last financial year.

Previous funding
Wehkamp, one of four business units within RFS Holland, came under IK's ownership in December 2005. The buyout saw the GP secure a significant majority stake in both Wehkamp and credit management business Transfair, the latter founded in 1972 as a debt-collection service. Investing alongside IK, the management teams in each business secured the remaining stake, according to unquote" data.

After divesting Transfair to European credit manager Lindorff in 2007, IK exited its shareholding in Wehkamp to a group of private investors in December 2008. The firm, which retained a minority stake in Wehkamp, claimed a 5x return on the sale of the business, which was valued at €500m at the time of the exit.

Company
RFS Holland Holding comprises four business units: Wehkamp, which was founded in 1952; as well as Lacent; Fonq; and Create2Fit. The group specialises in the online sale of fashion, sports, beauty, home and electronic wares, and claims to be the third-largest electronics retailer in the Netherlands.

Headquartered in Zwolle, the business employs 830 staff and posted €46m in EBITDA and €711m in sales in the 2014-2015 financial year, with €546m generated by Wehkamp itself.

People
Tom Hall, a partner at Apax Partners, led the deal on behalf of the GP. Gert van de Weerdhof is CEO at RFS Holding Holland.