Egeria enters into a new partnership with Sonic Equipment

Egeria is acquiring a majority stake from Torqx Capital Partners (“Torqx”) alongside management who will be reinvesting. Financial terms of the transaction are not disclosed.

Sonic is a global specialist in professional hand tools, filled toolboxes and premium storage solutions, founded in 2004 by Remko Papenburg and Niels Veldt. In 2019, the founders partnered with Torqx to accelerate growth through international expansion. Over the past four years Sonic has doubled in size, entered multiple new countries and has set up an effective marketing strategy with a differentiated customer approach. Today it has established 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.

Under the current management team, consisting of founder and CEO Remko Papenburg, CFO Freddy Peeters and CCO Gerben de Jong, Sonic has a track record of strong international growth by delivering efficiency, style and support to professionals worldwide. Sonic empowers them to excel in their daily jobs and achieve great success and satisfaction. Going forward, management will continue to drive the success and growth of Sonic in partnership with Egeria.

REMKO PAPENBURG, FOUNDER AND CEO AT SONIC EQUIPMENT:
“We look forward to the next chapter which will see us working closely together with the team of Egeria to continue full throttle. With their support, we aim to realize our ambitious growth plans through organic initiatives and M&A. I would also like to use the opportunity to thank Torqx. We are grateful for the support that Torqx has provided us with over the past years.”

SANDER VAN KEKEN, PARTNER AT EGERIA:
“We are impressed by Sonic’s entrepreneurship, growth track record and unique value proposition in the tools market. We strongly believe in the further international growth potential of the Sonic brand and product offering in the years to come and very much look forward to collaborate with Remko and the team to develop Sonic further.”

DAVID VAN HASSELT, PARTNER AT TORQX CAPITAL PARTNERS:
“Over the last years, Sonic has shown an impressive, international growth trajectory with its differentiating brand, customer oriented proposition, and high quality products. It has been an honor to support management in the value creation for Sonic and develop the Company into the strong player it is today. We would like to thank management and the entire Sonic team for the very pleasant, entrepreneurial and successful partnership. We still see endless opportunities for Sonic and are looking forward to following Sonic’s successes closely with their new partner Egeria.”

For this transaction, Lincoln International acted as corporate finance advisor to the sellers, Houthoff acted as legal advisor, Deloitte provided the financial and tax vendor due diligence and Roland Berger assisted in vendor commercial due diligence. Egeria was advised by Boston Consulting Group on their commercial due diligence, EY performed the financial & tax due diligence, Allen&Overy acted as legal advisor and DC Advisory as financial advisor.

ABOUT
Egeria
Established in 1997, Egeria is an independent Dutch investment company focused on mid-sized companies in the Netherlands and DACH region. Egeria invests in healthy businesses and believes in building businesses jointly with entrepreneurial management teams (Boldly Building Together). Egeria Private Equity Funds has interests in 15 companies in the Netherlands and Germany, while Egeria Evergreen has investments in 7 companies. Egeria’s portfolio companies generate combined revenues of more than EUR 2 billion and employ more than 12,000 people.

Sonic
Sonic is a leading global specialist in the development, marketing and distribution of professional hand tools and storage solution systems. Founded in 2004 by Remko Papenburg and Niels Veldt, Sonic today extends across the global market, having achieved strong and consistent growth since its inception. With an innovative and complete product range of 6,000+ high-quality tools & storage systems, Sonic improves the efficiency, image, ergonomics and productivity of thousands of professionals in over 65 countries across the globe. Sonic is known for its exceptional value proposition, unique branding and highly customer-oriented approach. The Company has office facilities and warehouses in the Netherlands, Germany, Austria, France, Taiwan, Italy and the USA. Sonic employs c.80 FTE. For more information please visit www.sonic-equipment.com.

Torqx
Torqx invests in medium-sized companies with significant value creation potential. Situations include growth-, buyand-build-, performance improvement-, turnaround- and transformational investments across a range of industries including manufacturing, distribution and services. Torqx acquires majority positions based on a partnership with co-shareholders and management teams, offering the companies smart capital, network, expertise and talent to support implementation of their plans and achieve their full potential. The Torqx team consists of 15 highly experienced and skilled investment professionals who look beyond spreadsheets and understand what it takes to build businesses and increase momentum. Torqx currently manages over € 380 million in committed capital and is backed by reputable international institutional investors and the Torqx team itself. For more information please visit www.torqxcapital.com.