Family investors take over Moser Trachten

Munich — MOSER Trach­ten GmbH, a leading specia­list for tradi­tio­nal clot­hing with 40 stores and 250 employees, is being acqui­red by Family Trust. The inter­na­tio­nal law firm Reed Smith advi­sed the Family Trust, a group of Euro­pean family inves­tors, on their joint invest­ment in MOSER Trach­ten GmbH. 

MOSER Trach­ten GmbH (“MOSER Trach­ten”) is the leading retailer of Bava­rian tradi­tio­nal costu­mes with around 40 stores in southern Germany and a turno­ver of around 45 million euros. The company has a long tradi­tion in the design and sale of tradi­tio­nal costume fashion and deve­lops its own coll­ec­tions under estab­lished brands such as Ludwig & Therese, MOSER, LIEBLINGSGWAND and Alpen­glanz. It also sells selec­ted exter­nal brands such as KRÜGER Dirndl, Spieth & Wensky and Hammer­schmid. In addi­tion to over-the-coun­­ter retail and key account busi­ness (e.g. restau­rants and clubs), MOSER Trach­ten also opera­tes three online stores: trachten.de (or dirndl.de), ludwig-therese.de and kerstins-landhausmode.de.

MOSER Trach­ten shows how a market-leading posi­tio­ning in the niche can be achie­ved through a strong regio­nal presence and a large store network in the most important chan­nel for tradi­tio­nal costu­mes, the statio­nary retail trade. The gradual trend towards less frequent but higher-quality and more sustainable tradi­tio­nal costume purcha­ses enables addi­tio­nal orga­nic growth poten­tial due to the very stable demand and the high level of aware­ness of the Moser brand. 

Investment approach

The foun­der and mana­ging direc­tor Mr. Wirkes had been looking for a long-term succes­sion solu­tion for his company. He will conti­nue to be available to the company as Mana­ging Direc­tor for a tran­si­tion period of two years to ensure a smooth hando­ver and to enable a suita­ble succes­sor to be effi­ci­ently trained. 

Paral­lel to the succes­sion plan, the focus is on the conti­nuous expan­sion of the MOSER Trach­ten loca­ti­ons. The aim is to expand the store network both orga­ni­cally and through targe­ted acqui­si­ti­ons as part of a possi­ble market conso­li­da­tion — parti­cu­larly with regard to the “MOSER Trach­ten­wel­ten” concept. In addi­tion, the expan­sion of own brands is to be inten­si­fied. There are plans to streng­then the design and product manage­ment team and to set up our own show­rooms for opti­mal brand presen­ta­tion. At the same time, the targe­ted use of social media offers a great oppor­tu­nity to bring the world of tradi­tio­nal costu­mes to life for exis­ting and new custo­mers. Authen­tic insights into the brand, the coll­ec­tions, the craft­sman­ship and the people behind MOSER Trach­ten can create an emotio­nal connec­tion. Social media serves as a “digi­tal shop window” that not only provi­des inspi­ra­tion, but also conveys the values, quality and diver­sity of the MOSER Trach­ten brand in a modern way. 

The Reed Smith team advi­sed on all aspects of the tran­sac­tion, from its struc­tu­ring to the co-inves­t­­ment and the share purchase agree­ment to the financing.

Consul­tant MOSER Trach­ten: Reed Smith

Under the joint leader­ship of the two Munich corpo­rate part­ners Dr. Niko­laus von Jacobs and Dr. Germar Enders (both Corpo­rate, Part­ner), the team in Munich also compri­sed Robert Werz­lau (Corpo­rate, Asso­ciate), Michaela Westrup (Anti­trust & Compe­ti­tion, Part­ner), Nadja Rünzel (Anti­trust & Compe­ti­tion, Asso­ciate), Elisa Saier (Employ­ment Law, Asso­ciate), Tim Sauer­ham­mer (Enter­tain­ment & Media, Asso­ciate), Katrin Gerce­ker (Real Estate, Asso­ciate) and Alex­an­der Harding­haus (Enter­tain­ment & Media, Coun­sel). From the Reed Smith team in Frank­furt, Nina Siewert (Tax, Part­ner), Dr. Oliver Hahn­elt (Finance, Part­ner), Dr. Niko­las Kout­sós (Finance, Coun­sel), Markus Cejka (Finance, Coun­sel), and Cihan­gir Agdemir (Real Estate, Coun­sel) advi­sed on the tran­sac­tion. — www.reedsmith.com

About Family Trust

Family Trust is an invest­ment company with a genuine entre­pre­neu­rial menta­lity. In contrast to tradi­tio­nal invest­ment funds, we not only offer capi­tal, but also compre­hen­sive opera­tio­nal exper­tise. We provide targe­ted support for succes­sion solu­ti­ons, digi­ta­liza­tion, the estab­lish­ment of corpo­rate groups, inter­na­tio­na­liza­tion and streng­then compa­nies on their way to a future-proof and resi­li­ent busi­ness model. — www.familytrust.de