- Sun European remains active in the Benelux market; acquisition of omnichannel wholesaler of water technic solutions serving various end-markets and customer segments
- Firm to draw on operational toolkit and extensive experience in buy and build to accelerate MegaGroup’s growth both organically and inorganically
London and Veghel, Netherlands, March 16, 2023 – Sun European Partners, LLP (“Sun European Partners” or “Sun European”), a leading private investment advisory firm focused on defensible businesses in growing markets with tangible performance improvement opportunities, today announces that an affiliate is to acquire MegaGroup, a leading wholesaler of water technic solutions serving installers, professional end-users, resellers and original equipment manufacturers across Northwestern Europe in five end-markets: irrigation, building services, industry, pools and livestock.
The acquisition is subject to required anti-trust approvals and the completion of a works council consultation process. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Headquartered in Veghel, Netherlands, MegaGroup operates in the large and growing water equipment market, supported by favourable underlying momentum from ESG and climate related tailwinds and legislation, including new climate change and sustainability regulation introduced on the back of rising temperatures and shifting precipitation patterns (floods and droughts) and the subsequent increase in demand for water reuse with the demand for smarter, more efficient solutions using tech enabled products.
MegaGroup is a leader in Northwestern Europe through its unique one-stop-shop proposition providing water technics products across applications, geographies, price points and customer types. Beyond its Dutch roots, MegaGroup serves 16,000 customers across 45 countries with two distribution centres in the Netherlands and Poland, ten sales offices (incl. Belgium, Germany and Netherlands) and an eCommerce platform with local web shops in 13 countries.
Paul Daccus, Managing Director of Sun European Partners, LLP, said: “We have been impressed by Bernard and his management team’s work over the past few years to turn MegaGroup into the leading water technics wholesaler in Northwestern Europe. We think there are fantastic opportunities to further grow MegaGroup both organically, building on its omnichannel capabilities and portfolio breadth, as well as through selective acquisitions across existing and new markets, whilst building on their past acquisitions and further integrating these.”
Bernard Verburg, CEO of MegaGroup, added: “We have been successful over the past years in executing our strategy together with the support of Nimbus. We all reached the feeling that a new owner of MegaGroup will bring to the table the necessary skills and means to further develop our company, both organically as well as through targeted acquisitions. With Sun as our partner, we are confident to realise our future ambitions.”
Sun European is committed to the Benelux market, where it is currently invested in Afriflora, CNC and Sports & Leisure Group and continues to seek opportunities. Furthermore, it has extensive experience in specialty distribution businesses as evidenced by the recent acquisition by an affiliate of Sun European of DD Group, a dental and medical aesthetics distribution and service platform in the UK and Ireland. In addition, an affiliate of Sun European recently acquired Architectural Surfaces Group (“ASG”), a leading US importer and distributor of natural stone, engineered stone and tile slabs for residential and commercial applications.
Sun European was assisted by Alantra (M&A Advisor), DLA Piper (Legal Advisor), BCG (Commercial Due Diligence Advisor), KPMG (Financial & Tax Advisor), and ERM (Environmental Due Diligence Advisor). The sellers (among which Nimbus) were advised by KPMG (M&A), PwC (Commercial, Financial, Tax, IT and Environmental), Florent (Legal).
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About Sun European Partners, LLP
Sun European Partners, LLP is a leading private investment advisory firm, focused on partnering with outstanding management teams to accelerate value creation. Since 1995, affiliates of Sun European have invested in more than 500 companies worldwide with revenues in excess of €40 billion across a broad range of industries and transaction structures. The Firm has built a reputation as a trusted partner, recognised for its operational experience. Sun European focuses on defensible businesses in growing markets with tangible performance improvement opportunities in the Business Services, Consumer, Healthcare, Industrial, and Technology sectors. Sun European Partners has offices in London and affiliates with offices in Boca Raton, Los Angeles, and New York.
For more information, please visit www.suneuropeanpartners.com.
About MegaGroup Trade Holding BV
MegaGroup is the holding organisation for ten sales offices across Europe dealing with water transport solutions. MegaGroups’ mission is to make water solutions more accessible to impact and improve people’s lives. The local sales offices service professional customers in different water technics markets including irrigation, building services, industry, pools, and livestock. MegaGroup offers approximately 16,000 different products including, pipes, couplings, hoses, filters, and pumps and are stocked in the European Distribution Centres in Holland and Poland delivering to more than 20,000 customers from all over the world. As part of MegaGroup, the sales offices profit from the purchasing power, knowledge and experience of the group and use this to support their customers in the best way possible.
For more information, please visit https://www.megagrouptrade.com/
Media contacts
Sun European Partners, LLP.
Camarco (United Kingdom)
Jen Renwick / Julia Tilley
07928 471 013 / 07815 068 387
SunEuropeanPartners@Camarco.co.uk
Sun European Partners, LLP.
Bellier Financial (The Netherlands)
Jakob Geerts
Singel 266
1016 AC Amsterdam
The Netherlands
jakob.geerts@bellierfinancial.com
T: +31 20 419 0901
F: +31 6 8342 9715
MegaGroup Trade Holding BV
Anouska van Geffen-van Doorn
+31 (0)6 295 123 11
avandoorn@megagrouptrade.com