maconda's strong expertise in dietary supplements also proves valuable in ARCUS Capital's investment in plant specialist Aplantis
maconda-News December 2024
ARCUS Capital has acquired a majority stake in Aplantis, a premium importer of high-quality plant-based ingredients, focusing on food supplements and cosmetics. Through refined research and targeted interviews, maconda provided in-depth insights into this niche market and thus facilitated a well-founded investment decision.
Aplantis has established itself as a quality leader in the field of plant-based and biotechnologically produced raw materials. The company offers an extensive portfolio of plant powders and extracts, medicinal mushrooms, marine products and enzymes for food supplements, foodstuffs, animal feed and cosmetics. The Cologne-based consulting firm maconda is particularly experienced in less transparent niche markets across numerous sectors and was therefore able to provide a tailored analysis for this due diligence.
As always, the team compared, weighted, and analysed various sources, including trade magazines and blogs, association information and annual reports. “This once again demonstrated the advantage of our highly analytical approach, as general studies cannot reliably depict specific markets and there is no reliable data in this dynamic industry anyway,” explains maconda Managing Director Rainer Mayer. In addition to the data analysis, the maconda team completed an interview programme with customers and other market experts. This served as the foundation for evaluating Aplantis’ growth strategy.
As a result, maconda provided extensive evidence of Aplantis’ strong market positioning: the company impresses with its far above-average customer service expertise, excellent supplier relationships as well as high flexibility and delivery capability. All this in a market with many participants and high demand food safety, for instance, requires technically sophisticated laboratory services and documentation. ARCUS Capital followed the positive assessment and decided to acquire a majority stake in Aplantis.
About Aplantis
Aplantis is a full-service provider for global sourcing of high-quality plant-based ingredients. Based in Weilheim, south of Lake Starnberg, the company offers high-quality natural raw materials for dietary supplements, food, beverages, cosmetics, pet food and animal feed. The experienced team led by founder Dr Robert Gick has extensive market and product expertise, along with significant competence in the application of technology and legal regulations.
About ARCUS Capital
ARCUS Capital is a Munich-based investor focussing on investments in medium-sized companies in the DACH region. As an independent investor with a flexible investment horizon, ARCUS Capital invests its own capital as well as the capital of selected co-investors.
maconda further expands its expertise in food supplements and wholesale
The maconda team has carried out countless projects on nutritional supplements, sports nutrition, food in general and wholesale and is undoubtedly one of the most experienced consultants in the DACH region. This applies to all stages of the value chain: from raw materials and production (often organised as external contract manufacturing) to product and recipe development and marketing via all distribution channels. These include food retailers, drugstores, direct marketing (online and offline), fitness studios and pharmacies for food supplements and online platforms. maconda’s mandates include many commercial due diligences, projects for strategic realignment and business model optimisation as well as operational performance improvements.
Extensive industry experience: food supplements and vitamins | conventional, plant-based and certified organic products | vegetarian and vegan products | protein and muesli bars | cereals | food in general | brand and private label | ecommerce & D2C | volume channels such as drugstores and food retailers | Amazon & other marketplaces | athletes and lifestyle target groups | contract manufacturing | consumer goods of all kinds | and much more
About maconda
For more than 20 years, maconda has been providing support for company takeovers, performance optimisation and restructuring. With over 800 consulting and implementation projects and more than 450 transaction-related mandates, maconda has extensive experience in providing pragmatic support for even the most challenging projects. Its clients include medium-sized companies, divisions of large companies as well as international private equity investors and family offices.
maconda sector expertise: consumer goods | food | retail & ecommerce | packaging | B2C services | B2B services (incl. business process outsourcing) | future technologies | construction-related products & services | manufacturing companies | healthcare
maconda core topics: Commercial transaction services | Business model development | Performance management