Carlsquare’s Debt and M&A Teams together successfully advised Vendis Capital on the acquisition and financing of BitterLiebe

BitterLiebe, based in Mannheim (Germany), is a direct-to-consumer premium health brand for gastrointestinal supplements in the DACH region. The company was founded in 2018 by Andre Sierek and Jan Stratmann with the idea to use natural bitter substances as core ingredients for supplements addressing the increasing consumer demand for solutions around gut health and digestion. Since then, BitterLiebe has experienced considerable growth driven by product innovation and its multichannel distribution model. ARCUS Capital, a family equity investor based in Munich, has supported the development of BitterLiebe since 2020. Start Now Consulting GmbH by Judith Williams was part of BitterLiebe since the earliest days.

The Company’s product portfolio comprises bitter products offered as drops, sprays, capsules or powder, complemented by complexes including probiotics, combining bitter substances with natural vitamins, minerals or bacteria. BitterLiebe’s content driven knowledge platform around gastrointestinal topics supports strong customer loyalty and new customer wins. Building on its success of its own webshop, the company has successfully expanded its distribution model to offline channels, now being represented in over 6,000 point-of-sales located in drugstores and food retailers.

Vendis Capital stands as an independent specialized private equity firm, dedicated solely to investing in European consumer sector scale-ups. Since its inception in Belgium in 2009, Vendis Capital has expanded its investments across Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Germany, Italy, and the Scandinavian countries. The German branch is situated in Frankfurt am Main. Partnering with experienced entrepreneurs and managers, Vendis Capital focuses on fostering the growth and advancement of small to medium-sized consumer companies that show promising potential for value-driven growth or transformation. The private equity firm embodies this philosophy as “building brands together.” The involvement in BitterLiebe marks Vendis Capital III’s eighth investment from the €300 million fund launched in 2019 and represents the sixth acquisition in Germany.

“The expertise of Vendis Capital in building brands, e-commerce and international roll-out will be instrumental to support our ambitious growth path.” – Jan Stratmann, Co-founder BitterLiebe

“We are very grateful for Carlsquare’s strong support regarding the success of the transaction. Having an advisor with such expertise in the consumer sector and supplements market in particular, combined with their deep understanding of the debt market was truly pivotal to succeed in a competitive auction process and secure lending in a challenging environment.” – Alexander Matthes, Partner at Vendis Capital

Carlsquare acted as exclusive M&A and debt advisor for Vendis Capital.

Vendis Capital

BitterLiebe