Artmadis accelerates its expansion in the Belgian market through the takeover of the distributor Verbeelen.

Artmadis, a portfolio company of mutares AG, is the leading distributor for tableware and kitchenware in France. Over the past years the company has been growing organically by leveraging its well established business relationships to French retail chains. Now it accelerates its expansion in the Belgian market through the takeover of the distributor Verbeelen.

Artmadis is the leading French wholesaling company of glassware, tableware and kitchenware. It supplies all major French retail chains as well as furniture stores and e-commerce retailers. In 2015, it generated revenues of EUR 76m and an operative result (EBITDA) of EUR 3m.

mutares acquired the company in 2012 and successfully repositioned it by introducing a more comprehensive category management as a value-adding service to its customers. Therefore, Artmadis established a dedicated sourcing team in its newly opened Hongkong office. Its own brands “Novastyl” and “Menastyl” have been extraordinarily successful besides the existing lines of well-known branded and licensed products for example from Pyrex, Victorinox or Le Parfait.

Through the acquisition of Verbeelen, Artmadis gains a stronger foothold in the distribution of glassware and tableware to hotels, restaurants, and cafes (HORECA) in Belgium. Verbeelen is a supplier of renowned brands like Rosenthal and Stoelzle.

mutares AG, Munich (www.mutares.de), acquires companies, that are being sold in the course of a repositioning process at their owners and that show a clear operational improvement potential. Getting engaged with its own teams, mutares actively supports its portfolio companies to achieve a clear value increase. The focus of the operational work is to ensure sustainable, long-term growth. The shares of mutares AG are traded in the Open Market of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (Entry Standard) under the symbol MUX (ISIN: DE000A0SMSH2).

Centum Capital in cooperation with it’s Belgian network partner Axxess initiated this transaction and advised the buyer in 2015.