Background
- Sonic Equipment (Sonic) is a leading global specialist in the development, marketing and distribution of professional hand tools, filled toolboxes and premium storage solutions
- Sonic has a leading brand position in more than 65 countries worldwide, with local teams, warehouses and showrooms in the Netherlands (HQ), Germany, Austria, France, Taiwan, Italy and the USA
- In 2019, the founders of Sonic partnered with a private equity firm, Torqx to accelerate growth through international expansion
- Established in 1997, Egeria is an independent Dutch investment company focused on mid-sized companies in the Netherlands and DACH region
- Egeria’s current 22 portfolio companies generate combined revenues of more than €2 billion and employ more than 12,000 people
Process
- DC Advisory acted as exclusive financial advisor as well as debt advisor to Egeria on the transaction
- With an innovative and complete product range of 6,000+ high-quality tools and storage systems, Sonic received significant interest from the financial sponsors community in a sale process started in Q1 2023
- After being allowed access to a competitive round 2, Egeria speeded up its due diligence work in order to submit a near binding offer, upon which exclusivity was granted
- Under the terms of the transaction, Egeria will obtain a majority stake in Sonic with the balance held by company management
Outcome
- Completion of the transaction is subject to anti-trust clearance and is expected in Q3 2023
- The deal represents the sixth for DC Advisory’s Benelux office since opening in January 2022
“We are impressed by Sonic’s entrepreneurship, growth track record and unique value proposition in the tools market. It was a pleasure to again successfully sign a deal with the support of the DC Advisory teams in Amsterdam and London.”
“It’s great to be supporting the Egeria team again on a new investment in a Benelux headquartered global niche market leader. Egeria is well positioned to support acceleration of the company materialise the further international growth potential of the Sonic brand and product offering in the years to come”
