Gebr. Heinemann acquires 50% of NOBILIS GROUP – NOBILIS GROUP, the leading, independent and owner-managed beauty distributor and service partner in the DACH region, announces a change of shareholders.
Dr. Joachim Henseler will sell his share of 37.5%.
As part of the transaction, Dr. Joachim Henseler will sell his 37.5% share in NOBILIS Holding GmbH and Gebr. Heinemann SE & Co. KG will join the company as a new co-partner. Upon completion of the overall transaction, the two shareholders Udo Heuser and Gebr. Heinemann SE & Co. KG will hold equal shares in the group.
Udo Heuser will continue to lead the company as CEO
Udo Heuser will continue to lead the company as CEO and, together with the entire NOBILIS team, ensure the further development and growth of the group in the long term. Dr. Joachim Henseler will continue to perform his duties as CFO and Managing Director until the handover to a successor, who will be announced in the coming weeks.
Heuser: Perfect new partner for the NOBILIS GROUP
“The partnership with Gebr. Heinemann is the ideal constellation we have been looking for for a long time,” comments Udo Heuser, managing partner and CEO of NOBILIS GROUP. “I have known and appreciated the company Gebr. Heinemann and the owners personally for many years. As a family business with a tradition of over 140 years, they have developed into one of the world’s most important players in the international travel-retail market and have been pursuing a sustainable growth strategy for decades. For more than five generations, the company has enjoyed strong trust, stands for stability and is therefore a perfect new partner for the NOBILIS GROUP.”
Gebr. Heinemann acquires 50% of NOBILIS GROUP – growth strategy secured
According to the company, the participation of Gebr. Heinemann will secure and continue the previous growth strategy of NOBILIS GROUP without any operational changes for employees, customers and brand partners. The new shareholder structure is essential for NOBILIS GROUP to ensure a long-term future and continuation of the company as a leading distributor and service partner in the DACH region, as well as a strengthening of international relations with its partner suppliers.
NOBILIS GROUP expects positive further development – long-term securing of the company’s future
Through the acquisition of further partnerships and brand portfolios in the coming months and years, as well as the advancement of the internationalisation of the company, the NOBILIS GROUP will develop to a turnover of around 300 million euros in 2024. With Gebr. Heinemann as a co-partner, NOBILIS GROUP has now set the course for a lasting and positive further development that goes beyond the two current shareholders and ensures the company’s future and the associated jobs in the long term.
NOBILIS GROUP can continue to act autonomously and independently in the future thanks to the new shareholder
“We have been thinking long and hard about the long-term safeguarding of the corporate strategy, because the continued existence of a company of the size of NOBILIS GROUP and with the prospects for the coming years cannot and must not be tied to individual persons. Since neither Udo Heuser nor I personally see any long-term family members in the company succession who could continue the company in the long term, it was an important concern and a special responsibility for us to set the right course early on and in the long term, so that the strategy we have embarked upon can also be pursued further and continuously,” says Dr. Joachim Henseler, CFO and outgoing shareholder of NOBILIS GROUP. The upcoming transaction will thus ensure that the NOBILIS GROUP can continue to operate autonomously and independently in the future – this is a clearly formulated assurance by the two future shareholders. Therefore, nothing will change for the company’s employees, customers and brand partners.
Gebr. Heinemann acquires 50% of NOBILIS GROUP – Gebr. Heinemann holds shareholdings worldwide
Gebr. Heinemann has shareholdings in companies all over the world. For the company, which is headquartered in Hamburg and has several international locations, the investment in NOBILIS GROUP offers the opportunity to expand its business model into related areas. “The partnership with NOBILIS GROUP will not only further develop our company, but also contribute to the diversification of our activities. Moreover, we have found a partner in NOBILIS GROUP, whose corporate culture is similar to ours, both in terms of values and the fact that people are the focus of both companies. This is a perfect basis for our future cooperation with Udo Heuser and his team,” explains Max Heinemann, Co-CEO and shareholder of Gebr. KG, Hamburg.
Heuser: “Everything just fits together…
Udo Heuser: ” Gebr. Heinemann has an outstanding, international market position. It is a German family business with a rich history and close ties to the beauty industry and many NOBILIS brand partners. Everything simply fits together in this partnership, which will secure the NOBILIS GROUP in the long term and permanently strengthen the company’s market position.”
About Gebr. Heinemann
Gebr. Heinemann is one of the world’s most important retailers and distributors in the international travel market. In Europe, the company is the market leader and the only family-owned company among the global players in the travel retail industry. Gebr. Heinemann operates duty free & travel value shops, brand boutiques and concept shops under licence at international airports as well as shops at border crossings and on board cruise ships. In addition, the company supplies airports, airlines, cruise ships, ferries and border shops worldwide with a steadily growing range of international branded goods in the areas of perfumes & cosmetics, wines & spirits, wine and tobacco, cosmetics, wine & spirits, confectionery, delicatessen, tobacco, fashion & accessories, watches & jewellery and much more.
Since its foundation in 1879, the family business has been located in what is now Hamburg’s HafenCity and has been run by members of the Heinemann family ever since. Today, the fourth generation is represented by Claus and Gunnar Heinemann on the Supervisory Board and the fifth generation by Co-CEO Max Heinemann on the Management Board. Gebr. Heinemann employs around 7,340 people worldwide. In 2022, the family-owned company generated a total group turnover of 3.8 billion euros.
About the NOBILIS GROUP
The NOBILIS GROUP is the leading, independent and owner-managed beauty distributor in the DACH region and has been operating successfully in the market for over 30 years. The company focuses on future-oriented growth in all segments and sees itself as a driving force in the market.
[Text: epcnews/Graphic: Nobilis Group/Geb. Heinemann]
