15 August 2019
Oakley Capital Investments Limited
Acquisition of Seven Miles, a leading consumer technology company in multi-brand gift cards
Oakley Capital Investments Limited1 (AIM: OCI) is pleased to announce that Oakley Capital IV2 ("Fund IV") has agreed to acquire a majority stake in Seven Miles GmbH ("Seven Miles"), partnering with its founders, Tom Schröder and Valentin Schütt.
Seven Miles is based in Germany and is a leading consumer technology company in the gift voucher and B2B gift card sector. Since it was founded in 2014, the business has grown rapidly to become one of the leading physical and digital gift card networks in the DACH region. In 2019, Seven Miles expects to sell gift solutions in excess of €100 million, following very strong growth. The market for multi-brand gift cards in Germany is expected to grow at over 15% in the coming years, as consumers increasingly value the convenience and flexibility that make gift cards an attractive present for many occasions.
Seven Miles offers a diverse range of gift card and employee incentive subscription products to both consumers and businesses. Operating under the brands 'Wunschgutschein', 'WishCard', 'SteuersparCard' and others, Seven Miles multi-brand gift vouchers can be redeemed at a wide variety of retailers, online, mobile, and in store. In total, its platform connects more than 500 leading brands to the majority of German retailers, covering more than 60,000 points of sale. Seven Miles also provides a range of B2B gifting solutions to corporate partners. This service, which is a fast-growing segment of the German employee incentive market, allows companies to thank, engage and reward employees with gift cards.
The investment in Seven Miles continues Oakley Capital's successful track record of backing founder managers in consumer technology platforms and in the DACH region. Oakley will support the current management team to create a sustainable platform and continue its strong growth and leadership in product innovation. This transaction further demonstrates Oakley's ability to leverage its network, both to source opportunities and provide highly relevant expertise for its portfolio companies.
OCI's indirect contribution through its interest in Fund IV will be approximately £25 million and the transaction is expected to complete by end of September 2019.
Peter Dubens, Managing Partner of Oakley Capital commented:
"We are delighted to be partnering with Tom and Valentin. Seven Miles exhibits many of the characteristics Oakley looks for in a deal - a founder-led, high growth business with a leading position in its niche market, and we look forward to the opportunity we have to build and develop the digital platform together."
Tom Schröder, Co-Founder of Seven Miles commented:
"We look forward to working with Oakley Capital. The Oakley team has a deep understanding of the sector and our business model and is a truly entrepreneurial partner who will help to accelerate the growth of our platform in the coming years."
Valentin Schütt, Co-Founder of Seven Miles commented:
"We founded Seven Miles five years ago. Together with Oakley, using their expertise in the digital consumer space, we want to establish Seven Miles as the market leader in the gift voucher solution space and continue to strengthen Wunschgutschein and WishCard as leading consumer brands."
-ENDS-
For further information please contact:
Oakley Capital Investments Limited
+44 20 7766 6900
Steven Tredget, Investor Relations
Greenbrook Communications Ltd
+44 20 7952 2000
Alex Jones / Matthew Goodman / Gina Bell
Liberum Capital Limited (Nominated Adviser & Broker)
+44 20 3100 2000
Gillian Martin / Owen Matthews
Notes:
This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) No. 596/2014.
1 About Oakley Capital Investments ("OCI")
OCI is a listed investment vehicle, which provides access to the Oakley funds. It is a liquid vehicle that aims to provide capital growth and dividends to investors. OCI's ordinary shares ("Ordinary Shares") are currently traded on AIM. It is anticipated that the Ordinary Shares will be admitted to the Specialist Fund Segment of the London Stock Exchange's ("LSE") Main Market and simultaneously cease trading on AIM at 8 a.m. on or around 23 August 2019.
LEI Number: 213800KW6MZUK12CQ815
2 The Oakley Funds
Oakley Capital Private Equity L.P. and its successor funds, Oakley Capital Private Equity II, Oakley Capital Private Equity III and Oakley Capital IV, are unlisted, Western Europe-focused mid-market private equity funds with the aim of providing investors with significant long-term capital appreciation. The investment strategy of the funds is to focus on buy-out opportunities in industries with the potential for growth, consolidation and performance improvement.
The Investment Adviser
Oakley Capital has demonstrated the repeated ability to acquire attractive growth assets at attractive prices. To do this they rely on their sector and regional expertise, their ability to tackle transaction complexity and their deal generating entrepreneur network.
