Lion Capital puts Hema up for sale again

Investment firm Lion Capital is preparing another attempt to sell HEMA. It will now contact bankers, lawyers and communication specialists to help it offload the Dutch company.

Third time’s the charm?

Lion Capital acquired HEMA (Hollandsche Eenheidsprijzen Maatschappij Amsterdam) in 2007 from Maxeda and allegedly paid slightly more than 1.1 billion euro back then. The fund, whose core activity is to invest in brands and retail formulas, tried to sell its stake in 2010, but failed to do so. Department store chain Ahold was interested to use HEMA for its Ahold to go formula, but it did not offer enough.

A second attempt to sell it in 2014 failed prematurely. Lion Capital will now try for the third time and is looking at every possible option: a sale or a partial sale through an IPO, De Telegraaf writes.

Improved results should increase Hema’s chances, because its turnover grew 4.7 % to 1.19 billion euro in 2016. It still suffered a net loss, but it dropped from 72.5 to 26.2 million euro. Turnover continued to grow in early 2017.