HQ Equita acquires Well Plus Trade

The former managing partners of WPT will retain a minority stake in the business. Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.

According to unquote" sister publication Mergermarket, WPT was put on the block around the beginning of Q4 last year, with advisory firm Imap tasked with running the auction process. According to that same source, the business generates EBITDA of €4-5m.

HQ Equita stated it decided to invest based on the strong growth potential for protein-based sports nutrition in Germany, which still has catch-up potential compared to markets such as the US, UK and the Nordic region.

Having grown its revenues by an average of 15% per year since 2013, according to HQ Equita, WPT will now look to grow its product offering, investigate new sales channels and target new customer groups.

HQ Capital, the parent group of HQ Equita, held the final close for its $375m private equity fund Auda Capital VII in July last year. It remains unclear at this stage whether the WPT investment was made via this vehicle.

Company
Established in 2001, WPT produces and distributes protein-based sports nutrition and weight management products, which are sold to retailers and drugstores under the Power System and Slim System brands. In addition, the Hamburg-based company produces supplements on a private-label basis for other brands.

People
HQ Equita – Torsten Krumm (managing partner).

Advisers
Company – Imap (corporate finance).

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• Topics
• Buyouts
• DACH
• Consumer
• Germany