Pfennigpfeiffer has sold a 49% stake to Management Trust Holding AG

December 2008 — The private shareholders of Pfennigpfeiffer Dako Warenhandelsgesellschaft mbH (Pfennigpfeiffer) have sold a 49% stake in the company to Management Trust Holding AG (MTH) for an undisclosed consideration.

Pfennigpfeiffer, headquartered in Kesselsdorf, Dresden, is the leading non-food discounter in eastern Germany selling products mainly in the low-end segment. The subsidiary network consists of over 90 subsidiaries centered mainly in the federal states of Saxony and Thuringia. Since its foundation in 1990, Pfennigpfeiffer has achieved consistent and profitable growth. Pfennigpfeiffer specializes in the sale of goods for daily use and consumption with the key item categories such as school and writing goods, homewares and gifts, office items, cosmetics, domestic cleaning agents and seasonal goods.

Headquartered in Austria, MTI is an active international group with approximately 2,800 employees and more than US$500 million turnaround, mainly focused on industry, retail, private equity and consulting. Pfennigpfeiffer represents an ideal addition to MTH’s strong-selling commerce portfolio with majority holdings in LIBRO and PAGRO.

The private shareholders intend to harness the existing growth potential, due to the extremely positive acceptance of the product and subsidiary concept, as quickly as possible through an alliance with a financially sound partner. The majority holding remains with the founding shareholder and managing director, Christoph Pfeiffer. Selling shareholders, including Mr Pfeiffer, took on compensatory interests in the MTH Group’s commercial holding.

Our role in the transaction

Oaklins' team in Germany advised the seller in this transaction. The team was appointed to search for a suitable international partner. During the process, a number of financial investors and companies in the sector locally and overseas expressed an interest. The Austrian MTH Group was selected as the best option.