INVISION sells AK Group to mobilezone for CHF 180 million

Zug (Switz­er­land) — INVISION VI (“INVISION”) has sold its stake in AK Group AG (“AK Group”), inclu­ding the subsi­dia­ries SkySale Schweiz GmbH (opera­tor of the e‑commerce plat­form Apfelkiste.ch) and Marein AG, to the listed company mobi­le­zone holding ag (“mobi­le­zone”). The tran­sac­tion under­lines the successful deve­lo­p­ment of the AK Group under the parti­ci­pa­tion of INVISION and gene­ra­tes an attrac­tive return for the INVISION VI Fund and its investors. 

The tran­sac­tion price (enter­prise value) is around CHF 180 million. The tran­sac­tion is expec­ted to be comple­ted by the end of June 2026.

Value crea­tion during the INVISION invest­ment period

INVISION acqui­red a stake in the AK Group in 2021 and has supported the company as an active and entre­pre­neu­rial part­ner ever since. Working closely with foun­der Pierre Droigk and the rest of the manage­ment team, key stra­te­gic mile­sto­nes were achie­ved: the Apfelkiste.ch e‑commerce plat­form was syste­ma­ti­cally expan­ded and the product range exten­ded to over 60,000 imme­dia­tely available products. The plat­form was successfully diver­si­fied and expan­ded beyond the core busi­ness through targe­ted trend reco­gni­tion and product range expan­sion. The acqui­si­tion of Marein AG in 2024 was also a stra­te­gi­cally important step that signi­fi­cantly streng­the­ned the Group’s exper­tise in retail bran­ding and sourcing. INVISION actively promo­ted the further deve­lo­p­ment of the orga­niza­tion by recrui­ting Marc Isler as opera­tio­nal CEO and expan­ding the manage­ment team, among other things. In addi­tion, profes­sio­nal report­ing struc­tures were intro­du­ced and central value-added func­tions such as marke­ting and IT were inter­na­li­zed. The origi­nal busi­ness plan was signi­fi­cantly exceeded. 

The AK Group curr­ently employs around 100 people and gene­ra­ted sales of over CHF 100 million with EBITDA of around CHF 20 million in 2025. There are no plans for chan­ges in opera­tio­nal manage­ment, employees or locations.

Comm­ents on the transaction

Pierre Droigk, foun­der and former Group CEO of the AK Group, explains: “INVISION has been a valuable part­ner for us, provi­ding us not only with capi­tal, but above all with stra­te­gic spar­ring and opera­tio­nal support. Toge­ther we have deve­lo­ped Apfel­kiste into one of the leading e‑commerce plat­forms in Switz­er­land. With mobi­le­zone, we are now embar­king on an exci­ting new chap­ter in which we can combine our strengths and further expand the custo­mer experience.”

Chris­tian Hemm­rich, Part­ner at INVISION, comm­ents: “We are proud of the deve­lo­p­ment of the AK Group achie­ved toge­ther with Pierre and the entire team. A successful, foun­­der-led e‑commerce company has become a profes­sio­nally posi­tio­ned and diver­si­fied group with sales of over CHF 100 million. The sale to mobi­le­zone repres­ents an excel­lent stra­te­gic fit and enables AK Group to realize its full poten­tial as part of a listed group. We would like to thank Pierre, Marc and the entire team for the great colla­bo­ra­tion over the past few years and wish them all the best for the future. 

About the AK Group

AK Group AG, based in Switz­er­land, compri­ses the e‑commerce plat­form Apfelkiste.ch and Marein AG, a specia­list in retail bran­ding and sourcing. Apfelkiste.ch is a leading Swiss online plat­form for smart­phone access­ories and life­style products with over 60,000 imme­dia­tely available products. Marein, foun­ded in 1979 and part of the AK Group since 2024, specia­li­zes in trend scou­ting, product sourcing and private labels in the craft, crea­tive and life­style sectors. The AK Group employs around 100 people. —- www.apfelkiste.ch

About Invi­sion

Since its foun­da­tion in 1997, INVISION has deve­lo­ped into one of the leading mid-market invest­ment compa­nies in the German-spea­king region. The focus is on succes­sion plan­ning and growth capi­tal. INVISION has inves­ted in over 80 compa­nies and helped to realize and sustain­ably secure value increa­ses for various invest­ments. INVISION sees itself as an entre­pre­neu­rial part­ner for foun­ders, entre­pre­neurs and manage­ment teams. When making invest­ments, INVISION places parti­cu­lar empha­sis on under­stan­ding the speci­fic needs of compa­nies and entre­pre­neurs and deve­lo­ping indi­vi­dual solutions.
The AK Group is an invest­ment from the INVISION VI fund. — www.invision.ch

About mobi­le­zone

Foun­ded in 1999, mobi­le­zone holding ag is the leading inde­pen­dent Swiss tele­com specia­list. The regis­tered shares of mobi­le­zone holding ag (MOZN) are traded on the SIX Swiss Exch­ange AG. mobi­le­zone employs around 600 people at its sites in Rotkreuz and Urnäsch and in around 125 of its own stores throug­hout Switz­er­land. —- www.mobilezoneholding.ch