Bencis sells Elbfrost to NPM Capital

Amster­dam / Munich / Marl — Marl-based Elbfrost, a leading food distri­bu­tor and logi­stics service provi­der, wants to become a supra-regio­nal supplier cham­pion and is brin­ging a new majo­rity share­hol­der on board: the leading invest­ment company NPM Capi­tal — head­quar­te­red in Amster­dam and also active in German-spea­king count­ries since the begin­ning of the year — is acqui­ring a majo­rity stake in Elbfrost. The tran­sac­tion is expec­ted to be comple­ted within the third quar­ter of 2025, subject to regu­la­tory approvals. 

Foun­ded in 1990, Elbfrost has deve­lo­ped from a local company into a regio­nal market leader for frozen and dry products with over 210 employees. The company is head­quar­te­red in Marl, North Rhine-West­­pha­­lia, and opera­tes four stra­te­gi­cally loca­ted distri­bu­tion centers in western and eastern Germany. Elbfrost offers 1,400 prima­rily frozen items from the product groups meat, fish, poul­try, game, fruit, vege­ta­bles, vege­ta­rian foods as well as potato and dough products, supple­men­ted by an exten­sive range of conve­ni­ence products. On the custo­mer side, the company has focu­sed on commu­nal cate­ring: univer­si­ties, schools, cate­ring compa­nies, company canteens and public autho­ri­ties as well as compa­nies in the cate­ring sector such as hospi­tals and reti­re­ment homes are among its regu­lar customers. 

Elbfrost brought the invest­ment company Bencis on board as a part­ner around three years ago. During their time toge­ther, important initial steps were taken towards an inten­si­fied growth stra­tegy, inclu­ding the acqui­si­tion of A+K Kälte-Team GmbH from the Ruhr region. With the newly concluded part­ner­ship, NPM Capi­tal, toge­ther with the manage­ment, is taking over the previous shares in the frozen food specia­list and intends to usher in the next growth phase towards a leading supra-regio­nal role. 

NPM Capi­tal is a leading invest­ment company based in Amster­dam that has been successfully inves­t­ing in fast-growing medium-sized compa­nies since 1948. It is part of SHV Holding, one of Euro­pe’s largest priva­tely mana­ged family busi­nesses with roots in the Nether­lands and acti­vi­ties in over 60 count­ries. As a result, NPM Capi­tal has a parti­cu­larly stable and secure capi­tal base and can operate with a long-term invest­ment hori­zon. The focus is on sustainable value crea­tion in the areas of digi­tal tech­no­lo­gies, health­care, educa­tion, indus­try, food and sustainable tech­no­lo­gies. NPM Capi­tal sees itself not only as an inves­tor, but also as an active part­ner that stra­te­gi­cally supports compa­nies in growth phases — be it in expan­sion, digi­ta­liza­tion or succes­sion solu­ti­ons. The invest­ment in Elbfrost is part of NPM Capi­tal’s invest­ment area Feeding the World, which focu­ses on sustaina­bi­lity and inno­va­tion in the global food supply chain. The opening of an office in Munich and the first successful tran­sac­tion marks an important step for NPM Capi­tal in rolling out the successful invest­ment philo­so­phy of a family inves­tor in German-spea­king count­ries in the future. 

“We will provide Elbfrost with long-term support in scaling its busi­ness. With its opti­mi­zed product port­fo­lio, effi­ci­ent proces­ses and broad custo­mer base, the company is ideally posi­tio­ned to take advan­tage of the growth oppor­tu­ni­ties in the German food­ser­vice sector,” explains Alexis Milko­vic (photo © NPM Capi­tal), Head of NPM Capi­tal’s Munich office, Part­ner and Coun­try­head. In addi­tion to him, two other invest­ment profes­sio­nals are alre­ady working on site: Phil­ipp Gauß as Invest­ment Direc­tor and Vincent Falcke as Asso­ciate. “We want to expand the team further and are alre­ady working on the next tran­sac­tions,” says Milkovic. 

About NPM Capital

NPM Capi­tal is an inde­pen­dent invest­ment company that helps medium-sized and large compa­nies in the Bene­lux and DACH region to realize their ambi­ti­ons and build the compa­nies of the future. With offices in Munich, Amster­dam and Ghent, NPM Capi­tal focu­ses on family busi­nesses and compa­nies with strong manage­ment teams. The current port­fo­lio compri­ses 24 invest­ments, both majo­rity and mino­rity stakes, in themes that are shaping the future: Sustainable Future, Digi­tal & Tech­no­logy, Feeding the World and Healthy Life & Lear­ning. For more infor­ma­tion visit www.npm-capital.com

About Bencis

Bencis is an inde­pen­dent invest­ment firm that supports owners and manage­ment teams in achie­ving their growth objec­ti­ves. With offices in Amster­dam, Brussels and Düssel­dorf, Bencis has been inves­t­ing in strong and successful compa­nies in the Nether­lands, Belgium and Germany since 1999. For more infor­ma­tion, visit www.bencis.com.

The ARQIS team, led by part­ner Dr. Jörn-Chris­­tian Schulze, regu­larly acts for Bencis, in parti­cu­lar also on the entry into Elbfrost 2022.

Advi­sor Bencis: ARQIS (Düssel­dorf)

Deal Team: Dr. Jörn-Chris­­tian Schulze (Part­ner, Lead), Dr. Maxi­mi­lian Back­haus (Mana­ging Asso­ciate), Tim Meyer-Meisel (Asso­ciate, all Tran­sac­tions), Part­ners: Thomas Chwa­lek (Tran­sac­tions), Dr. Ulrich Lien­hard (Real Estate), Coun­sel: Malte Grie­pen­burg (Tran­sac­tions), Jens Knip­ping (Tax), Nora Strat­mann (Commer­cial, Munich), Martin Wein­gärt­ner (HR Law), Mana­ging Asso­cia­tes: Tim Brese­mann (Real Estate), Marina Bume­der (HR Law, Munich), Rolf Tichy (IP, Munich), Asso­cia­tes: Ivo Erte­kin, Stef­fen Schu­bert (both Tran­sac­tions), Rebecca Gester (Commer­cial, Munich), Senior Legal Specia­list: Qing Xia (Tran­sac­tions)

MARCK (Düssel­dorf): Dr. Georg Schmitt­mann (Anti­trust Law)

POELLATH (Munich): Dr. Barbara Koch-Schulte, Dr. Michael de Toma (Consul­ting Management)