OptiGroup acquires Top Service and expands to Germany

GÖTEBORG, Sweden, Dec. 21, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- OptiGroup today announces the acquisition of Top Service GmbH ("Top Service"), a German leading distributor of tabletop products, food packaging and cleaning & hygiene products. The acquisition marks the entrance of OptiGroup into Germany and further strengthen OptiGroup's position as a leading European B2B distributor of mission-critical business essentials in Europe.

Top Service, founded by Andreas Zapp more than 30 years ago, has a turnover of approximately EUR 25m and around 40 employees. The company is a German leader in critical facility management products to many well-known restaurants and hotels in the Bavarian region. With its attractive business model, based on long-term customer relationships and high quality, Top Service has demonstrated a solid track-record of profitable growth.

The acquisition of Top Service is in line with OptiGroup's international growth strategy to consolidate the large and highly fragmented and attractive European B2B distribution market, estimated at EUR ~150 billion for OptiGroup's key segments. The entry into the German market is key in pursuing this strategy that includes highly selective add-on acquisitions to develop its business portfolio towards leading positions in attractive market segments in Europe. Germany remains a priority market for all of OptiGroup's core segments.  

Over the last years, OptiGroup has strengthened its position as a leading European B2B distributor of mission-critical business essentials, partly thanks to a successful M&A strategy. The group has presented a strong track-record of successful and synergistic acquisitions, recently with Van den IJssel Bedrijfskleding BV in the Netherlands, a leading distributor specialized in workwear and personal protective equipment (PPE). The acquisition of Top Service is the 8th announced add-on acquisition since December 2021, when FSN Capital VI* signed the deal with the previous owners to become the leading shareholder of OptiGroup.

Today, OptiGroup has a strong balance sheet supported by positive cash generation and its successful fund-raising of EUR 100 million additional debt from leading investors in 2023, enabling its M&A strategy including add-on acquisitions. OptiGroup has continued to deliver a solid operational and financial performance in 2023.

"Top Service is a well-established company with a leading position in Germany, and I am really impressed by its strong track-record, leadership team and customers. This leading distributor in facility management provides high-quality products and an infrastructure that is critical for the success of its customers' operations. Together we will continue to improve our customer offering for B2B customers active in facility management in Europe." Niklas Järbur, Senior Vice President Facility & Safety. 

"We look forward to welcoming Top Service, which is a growing German leading company in its segment, to OptiGroup. Top Service is a very strategic add-on transaction for OptiGroup as it marks the entrance for the important German market and will strengthen the Group on its exciting growth journey. FSN Capital VI, as the lead investor of OptiGroup, looks forward to continuing to support OptiGroup's successful M&A strategy with highly selected strategic add-on acquisitions in Germany and rest of Europe." Niclas Thiel, Board Director, and Principal at FSN Capital Partners (investment advisor to FSN Capital VI).

"Since I founded Top Service, we have had a great journey becoming a local leader within the attractive food service equipment market in Germany. Today's deal is truly an important milestone that proves everything we have accomplished. I am really excited to join OptiGroup and look forward to offering our loyal customers as well as new ones our outstanding high-quality products in a stronger setting" Andreas Zapp, Founder CEO Top Service.

The founder and management of Top Service will continue to be engaged in the company. Top Service will become part of OptiGroup's Business Area Facility & Safety and will continue to operate under its current brand Top Service. 

The parties have agreed not to disclose the terms of the transaction. Completion of the transaction is expected in Q1 of 2024.

* FSN Capital GP VI Limited, acting for itself and in its capacity as general partner or portfolio manager (as applicable) for and on behalf of each of FSN Capital VI L.P., FSN Capital VI Invest L.P. and FSN Capital VI Lux SCSp ("FSN Capital VI"). 

CONTACT:

For further information, please contact:
Niklas Järbur, SVP Facility & Safety, OptiGroup, [email protected]   
Stefan Sikander, Corporate Communication Director, OptiGroup, [email protected]