AURELIUS

Helene Schutrumpf, Director IR and Fundraising at AURELIUS, recently spoke at the Private Equity International Women in Private Markets Summit. On a panel alongside fellow experts Gemma Roberts, Kalyani Harar and Marta Stojanova discussing the deal dynamics in the European PE market, she shared her perspective on the industry, its opportunities and prerequisites of investors to leverage those. 𝗛𝗲𝗿 𝗸𝗲𝘆 𝗼𝗯𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗲: 𝟭) PE is going back to basics: while multiple expansion and leverage are hard to come by, success can still be achieved by operational improvements, a fundamental tenet of AURELIUS’ investment approach 𝟮) AURELIUS’ operational approach also means, doing deals is not strongly linked to the macroeconomic environment 𝟯) Operations as a value booster – if done right: while operational improvement has become a buzz word, filling it with meaning is crucial, and difficult. AURELIUS Operations Advisory has been specialising in operational transformation since its inception almost 20 years ago. Today, more than 180 specialists, both Generalists and Functional Experts, support the portfolio 𝟰) Readiness for a revived market: deal activity is picking up, and PE firms are keen to support a recovering market Thanks to everyone who attended this discussion!

The recent months have been very successful for AURELIUS Finance Company, and the team is delighted to share some of the latest highlights! 𝗦𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘄𝘁𝗵 𝗮𝘁 𝗧𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗻𝘆 𝗟𝗼𝗻𝗱𝗼𝗻 In September, the team completed a highly bespoke £15m fully revolving facility for Trinny London, which will provide the liquidity the company needs to realise its growth ambitions. Trinny London was founded in 2017 by Trinny Woodall, an award-winning entrepreneur who rose to fame in the 2000s as a fashion and makeover expert and TV presenter for the iconic BBC show ‘What not to wear’. Trinny has remained true to her roots: Today, the company is a London-based, international beauty brand specialising in premium make-up, skincare and accessories. 𝗦𝗵𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗹𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝘆 𝗜𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗠𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗮 AURELIUS Finance Company has been on a strong growth trajectory since its establishment in 2017. Following recent deals, supporting amongst others Trinny London, Amscan, Finders International and Trutex with bespoke finance solutions, the team is proud to be shortlisted as Alternative Finance Provider of the Year at the Insider Media South East Dealmakers Awards 2025. James Marler, Director and Head of Business Development at AURELIUS Finance Company said: “The reason I joined AURELIUS Finance Company two years ago was the energy and ambition I could feel in this small team. I was sure they were going places. I also secretly hoped that we would be nominated for an award like this at some point. This has now happened only two years after I joined, which I am absolutely delighted about. We are still a small team, but we have delivered some exceptional deals for our clients, achieving strong growth in the process. This nomination is a great external validation for us.” The team at AURELIUS Finance Company appreciates all the support from its introducer base in achieving this nomination, and is looking forward to continuing to grow the business with you over the coming years.

Great to see our AURELIUS Corporate Carve-out Survey 2024 covered in today’s Private Equity International by Madeleine Farman! It surveyed about 130 senior executives from across the private equity industry to better understand what top dealmakers expect for 2025. A majority of respondents expect to see a narrowing of the price gap that today still limits deal activity, and predict that the most successful PE buyers will be those able to execute transactions. This clearly favours AURELIUS, with its proven track record of successfully getting complex transactions across the line, and for delivering attractive returns for its investors on that basis. Follow the link in the comments to PEI and read how Tristan Nagler, Partner at AURELIUS Investment Advisory, summarises the initial results.

𝗕𝘂𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱 𝗶𝗻 𝗙𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗠𝗼𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘀𝘂𝗺𝗲𝗿 𝗚𝗼𝗼𝗱𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗯𝗲𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗱. 𝗦𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗙𝗠𝗖𝗚 𝘀𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗱 𝗳𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗳𝗲𝘄 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀. Today, global brands expect from their partners a fully integrated suite of support function across distribution, sales and marketing departments. This is where Conaxess Trade comes in. The company is a renowned, fully integrated partner for well-known global brands as well as high-quality local brands in Northern Europe. It operates in the Nordic region as well as Switzerland and Austria. 𝗗𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘄𝘁𝗵 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗯𝗼𝗼𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 Since AURELIUS acquired the company in 2016, and in anticipation of the changes in its market as an early mover, Conaxess Trade has expanded its operating model from traditional distribution and established itself as a significant actor within marketing and sales, able to provide individual or full-package solutions for its partners and taking end-to-end care of the brands in their portfolios. Today, the company is in a strong position to ensure visibility and availability of its partners’ brands to consumers across its geographical footprint. And visibility matters, especially at this time of year, which is why Conaxess helps its customer Lindt, for example, to make sure that its famous Christmas chocolate Santas and Lindor truffles are in the right place at the right time, and displayed in shops as appealingly as possible. The Conaxess team visits the sites to ensure that everything is up to top quality standards. 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗯𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗴𝘁𝗵𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗔𝗨𝗥𝗘𝗟𝗜𝗨𝗦 AURELIUS’ Investment and Operations Advisory teams have also helped Conaxess Trade grow outside of the FMCG sector, completing three major acquisitions, with the newest purchase of Piresma Oy in Finland having completed in May 2024. This latest addition strengthens the Group’s retail presence and expertise, especially in the private and the public non-food sector. “𝘈𝘜𝘙𝘌𝘓𝘐𝘜𝘚 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘰𝘶𝘣𝘵𝘦𝘥𝘭𝘺 𝘶𝘯𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘶𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘶𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦-𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘧 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘰𝘥𝘦𝘭, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘶𝘱 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘵 𝘧𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺,” 𝘴𝘢𝘺𝘴 Jens Alexander Gjedrem, 𝘊𝘰-𝘊𝘌𝘖 𝘰𝘧 𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘹𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘛𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘎𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘱. “𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘤 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘸𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘢𝘳𝘬 𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘤𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘈𝘜𝘙𝘌𝘓𝘐𝘜𝘚 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘶𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘺 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘵𝘩 𝘫𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘨𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘰. 𝘞𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘫𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦.”

𝐅𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐩𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐡 𝐟𝐚𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐨𝐧: 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐁𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐠𝐚 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝’𝐬 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐥𝐮𝐱𝐮𝐫𝐲 𝐡𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐬. Backed by AURELIUS, Scholl Shoes continues its unique transformation from an Italian orthopaedic footwear supplier to a global high fashion house. To achieve this, AURELIUS’ Operations Advisory team has guided the company’s strategic repositioning, supported the expansion into new geographies, coordinated the launch of new product lines, orchestrated a brand transformation and significantly improved operational and financial efficiency along the way. The result of this multi-year operation is profound: Scholl has become a global fashion house, collaborating with renowned brands such as Ganni, Eres, Yamamoto and others. Yesterday, Scholl proudly added avant-gardist Balenciaga to this exclusive list. Balenciaga and Scholl share a simple yet ambitious goal: to create the most comfortable luxury heels ever made. By combining Balenciaga’s iconic design talent with Scholl’s unrivalled expertise in crafting comfortable shoes and insoles, the two collaborators have achieved a fundamental redefinition of luxury footwear and set a new standard for footwear innovation. Read more in the news below!

Digitalising the house-buying process in the UK has enabled TM Group, backed by AURELIUS Operations Advisory, to embark on a journey to become the number 1 solutions provider for the domestic property market. “Key to achieving this growth was AURELIUS’ support and advice to reduce complexity and pursue operational transformation. Now, we aim to offer ‘best-in-class’ service to shape the industry,” stated Thomas Maerz, CEO of TM Group. The company is experiencing fast growth, with 20 % staff added to the team, a double-digit revenue increase and profits more than doubling in the first three quarters of 2024 alone.

AURELIUS Operations Advisory has unique expertise in transforming businesses. With a global team of more than 180, our in-house advisory is a key value creation differentiator. Last week, the team came together in Vienna at the 36th Operations Advisory Meeting to share insights and develop strategies around how to create impact across the portfolio. As well as discussing how the AURELIUS Operating Model (AUROM) can be used to boost growth, it also got the chance to hear Dirk Bauermann, international successful and former head coach of the German national team, about how great teams work together. All of us here at AURELIUS Operations Advisory are proud to be part of the largest in-house operations advisory in the private equity industry.

Growing profits ten-fold at Distrelec: The result of a smooth carve-out, followed by a holistic operational transformation combined with a focus on customers and digitalisation. AURELIUS’ three-year stewardship helped the business grow to serve 180,000 customers in 19 countries, with two-thirds of its revenue derived from digital channels. During that time, Distrelec was turned into a leading pan-European multi-channel platform for B2B customers for electronic components. To achieve this, specialists of AURELIUS Operations Advisory advised, among other initiatives, on a wholesale digitalisation process which optimised the end-to-end customer experience. Find out more about how AURELIUS created impact in the case study. Follow the link in the comments!

Tristan Nagler, Partner at AURELIUS Investment Advisory, recently spoke at the opening panel of the Real Deals Value Creation Conference. During the event, Tristan shared his views on the 2025 roadmap for value creation in the UK and EU, with the audience and his fellow panellists Richard Haynes, Joe Petrusic, and Charlie Lyon Carroll, CFA. He pointed out three strategic advantages which AURELIUS can leverage to unlock value creation opportunities: 1) Providing in-house support: With more than 180 in-house specialists, the team at AURELIUS Operations Advisory has the skills and resources needed to advise and support a portfolio company from day 1, by providing the hands-on support that is a cornerstone to its value-creation process.   2) Managing international complexity: AURELIUS’ Operations Advisory is also well equipped to support companies as they navigate a range of different markets and cultural contexts.   3) Believing in management teams: AURELIUS works with management teams to make them the best they can be, functioning like a dedicated personal trainer that can support them to get their organisations to a level of fitness which they would find difficult to deliver on their own. Thanks to everyone who attended this incisive discussion!

Curious about building a career at AURELIUS? Svenja Wilfert talks about her path to becoming Director Finance at AURELIUS Growth Capital, where she now leads a team of ten. For Svenja, the best part of her role is working with a motivated team that drives financial growth and strengthens the success of portfolio companies. #AURELIUSCareers #AURELIUSinside #Finance