Aurelius SE & Co. KGaA

M&A Activity • Mar 2, 2017

News Details

Corporate | 2 March 2017 07:30

AURELIUS acquires Wex Photographic

DGAP-News: AURELIUS Equity Opportunities SE & Co. KGaA / Key word(s): Takeover

02.03.2017 / 07:30

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

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AURELIUS acquires Wex Photographic

– Online retailer with half a million customers across the UK

– Integration with Calumet Photographic to offer significant synergies and create leading multi-channel, pan-European photographic retailer

– Combination of Wex Photographic with Calumet Photographic brings AURELIUS’ pan-European photographic retail businesses to combined revenues of EUR 175 million

Munich/London, March 2, 2017 – AURELIUS Equity Opportunities SE & Co. KGaA (ISIN DE000A0JK2A8) (“AURELIUS”) today announces the acquisition of leading photographic retailer Wex Photographic (“Wex”) from Barclays, for an undisclosed sum. Following the deal, Wex will be merged with Calumet Photographic (“Calumet”), a multi-channel photographic retailer acquired by AURELIUS in June 2016, to create a leading omni-channel offering servicing the enthusiast and professional photographer market across the UK and Europe with combined revenues of over EUR 175 million.

Servicing half a million customers across the UK, Wex is the country’s largest online specialist photographic retailer, with an annual turnover of EUR 84 million. The integration with Calumet will offer significant strategic benefits to both companies with scope to couple Wex’s award winning, online expertise with Calumet’s pan-European in-store experience. Once combined, these factors will create a strong multi-channel business that will serve both the UK and the wider European market, supported by the firms’ complementary management teams and organisational infrastructure.

AURELIUS Vice President Eric Blumenthal, said: “We are extremely pleased to announce this acquisition of Wex, a high-caliber business and AURELIUS’ second investment in the specialist photographic retail sector, following that of Calumet last year. This highly synergistic acquisition demonstrates AURELIUS’ commitment to supporting and scaling our initial investment in Calumet, and also testifies to our continued interest and dedication to investing in UK businesses, post-Brexit.”

David Garratt, CEO Wex Photographic said: “The Wex team is very excited to be working alongside both AURELIUS and the Calumet team to develop and expand our existing strategy for the business. The combined business will be able to offer customers a genuine multi-channel experience and, by leveraging Calumet’s in-store expertise, significantly expand our leading online offering to a wider customer base in the UK.”

Christof Bergmann, Managing Director of Calumet Photographic, commented: “This further investment in the photography retail market by AURELIUS represents its continued commitment to the development of Calumet Photographic since its acquisition in June of last year. Wex’s leading positioning in the UK market, as well as its award winning online business, will substantially reinforce our Pan-European offering.”

**ABOUT AURELIUS

**AURELIUS Group is a pan-European asset manager with offices in Munich, London, Stockholm and Madrid. Over the last ten years AURELIUS has grown from a local turnaround investor to an international multi-asset manager investing in a wide range of sectors and across the capital structure.

AURELIUS Equity Opportunities SE & Co. KGaA (ISIN: DE000A0JK2A8, Ticker Symbol: AR4) represents the listed entity within the AURELIUS Group that focusses on investing in Special Situations and MidMarket transaction opportunities. AURELIUS Equity Opportunities currently has 23 portfolio companies located across Europe which employ around 25,000 people and generate annual revenues of more than EUR 4.0 billion. The shares of AURELIUS Equity Opportunities are traded on all German stock exchanges with a market capitalisation of c. EUR 2 billion as of February 2017.

With its group charity AURELIUS Refugee Initiative, AURELIUS provides comprehensive support for refugees on their way towards a better life.

To find out more, visit www.aureliusinvest.com

**CONTACT

**AURELIUS Group

Anke Banaschewski

Investor Relations & Corporate Communications

Phone: +49 (89) 544799-0

Fax: +49 (89) 544799-55

E-Mail: investor@aureliusinvest.de

**About Calumet International Ltd.

**

Calumet International Ltd. represents over 70 years of experience in photography. Calumet is a leading multi-channel retailer of both branded and own-label digital and analogue photographic and video equipment with 17 locations across Europe, including six in Germany and eight in the UK.

Calumet is the best starting point for those who want to produce perfect images, whether for business or pleasure. It offers an expansive range of photography products and services, informed advice, and personalised customer service, both online and in store, to photography enthusiasts, professionals, and companies alike. Calumet’s broad assortment of cameras, lenses, bags, tripods etc. is complemented by its extensive selection of lighting equipment and post-processing products, such as monitors, printers, and software. In addition, Calumet provides its customers with in-store testing and expert advice, rental options, workshops, sensor cleaning, and numerous other services that distinguish it as a unique all-service photography retailer.

Calumet’s staff shares its customers’ passion for photography. Colleagues use their comprehensive knowledge of the subject to deliver an enjoyable purchasing experience and help customers produce images the way they want.

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02.03.2017 Dissemination of a Corporate News, transmitted by DGAP – a service of EQS Group AG.

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

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Language:	English
Company:	AURELIUS Equity Opportunities SE & Co. KGaA
	Ludwig-Ganghofer-Straße 6
	82031 Grünwald
	Germany
Phone:	+49 (0)89 544 799-0
Fax:	+49 (0)89 544 799-55
E-mail:	info@aureliusinvest.de
Internet:	www.aureliusinvest.de
ISIN:	DE000A0JK2A8
WKN:	A0JK2A
Listed:	Regulated Unofficial Market in Berlin, Munich, Stuttgart, Tradegate Exchange; Open Market in Frankfurt

End of News	DGAP News Service