Carlsquare advised Experience Brands, a portfolio company of Sustainable Growth Fund I and II a Luxembourg SICAV-SIF SCSp, private equity fund (“SGF”), on the complete sale of its German subsidiary Hess GmbH Licht + Form (“Hess”) to Ragni Group SAS (“Ragni”). The strategic acquisition unites a German market leader in outdoor, smart-city lighting and site furnishings with a French peer.
The transaction includes two prestigious brands, .hess and Vulkan, the latter (founded 1898) one of the oldest in the European lighting industry. The Americas (USA, Canada and Latin America) will continue to be served by Hess USA, which remains part of Experience Brands.
Experience Brands is an international group of lighting companies, managing seven distinct brands across over 100 countries. Among these brands, GRIVEN stands out as a premier manufacturer of both white and colour-changing LED lighting, while WILA specializes in innovative wireless lighting solutions. Lamp is dedicated to providing technical and architectural lighting solutions for both indoor and outdoor spaces, and Pantheon is emerging as a rapidly growing provider of cost-effective outdoor and commercial lighting products.
Headquartered in the Black Forest, Germany, Hess focuses on powering the cities of tomorrow through its highly engineered smart-city lighting products. Its refined combinations of luminaires and site furnishings enable the realization of holistic concepts for urban and open-space design.
The Ragni Group specializes in street lighting solutions and connected technologies, including solar street lighting, where it is the French market leader. Founded in 1927 and based on the Côte d’Azur, Ragni has been family-run for four generations. In recent years the once small company has grown into a major French and international player, with sales of almost 100 million Euros.
This acquisition strengthens Ragni’s position in the European outdoor lighting and smart solutions market, particularly in the DACH region, and advances its strategic vision of becoming the global market leader in public lighting and urban furniture.
“This transaction is a significant step for our group and allows us to focus our resources more strongly on our core markets and thus better serve our customers.Carlsquare was instrumental in achieving a successful transaction and consistently demonstrated their experience in the lighting sector throughout the process. Experience Brands could not have done it without their support and will continue to lean on their expertise in the future.” – Chris Stockton, CEO, Experience Brands
“The sale of Hess Germany to a strategic buyer allows Experience Brands to focus on its core strategy of commercializing the US operations by importing European products into the Americas. Experience Brands will continue to operate Hess in the Americas and be an influential commercial partner to Hess Germany.” – Jennifer Wick, Co-Founder, SGF & Director of the Board of Directors for Experience Brands
Carlsquare served as the exclusive financial advisor to Sustainable Growth Fund and its portfolio company Experience Brands.
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