Carlsquare advised OCEANSAPART on an investment by Chinese investor, Auster Capital, in partnership with Altor
OCEANSAPART received an investment from Altor Fund V (“Altor”) and Auster Fund I L.P. (“Auster”), two internationally focused private equity Funds to support the continued development of one of Europe’s fastest growing e-commerce apparel companies.
Founded four years ago, OCEANSAPART today employs 160 people and is the uniquely positioned non-competitive activewear apparel company serving a growing community focused on inclusivity and diversity rather than just sports performance. The activewear designs include leggings, bras, hoodies and activewear accessories, targeting mainly female Gen Y and Gen Z customers. Headquartered in Berlin, the company’s core markets comprise the DACH region with recent entries into France, Italy, Poland and Spain. Its success is anchored in clear product design, digital and influencer-led marketing, driven by a powerful analytics platform. On its Instagram channels alone, OCEANSAPART already has a community of nearly 900,000 people. The company more than quadrupled its revenues in 2020 and has continued this growth momentum into 2021.
“We have a clear vision to become the global activewear brand for the new generation. We are delighted to be partnering with our new shareholders Altor and Auster as long-term partners and we are excited to drive the internationalisation of OCEANSAPART,” say co-founders Paul Engelmann (CEO) and Susanna Wagner. Both will continue their role and remain significant shareholders alongside the new and existing shareholders.
“The investment in OCEANSAPART builds on Altor’s successful investment track-record in the apparel and direct-to-consumer market. Altor recently IPO’ed RevolutionRace, the online direct-to-consumer outdoor sports apparel company, on the Nasdaq Stockholm stock exchange. We have invested across a broad range of direct-to-consumer and sportswear apparel brands, including Helly Hansen, Rossignol, iDeal of Sweden and Network of Design. The whole Altor team is excited about this investment and to partner with such a fast growing and dynamic company,” says Klas Johansson, Partner and Head of DACH Altor.
“We are very impressed by the management team’s success in building OCEANSAPART as a fast-growing data-driven business, and are excited to be able to support its next stage of international growth. We are also delighted to share this vision with Altor and the other existing investors, and look forward to working with the management team in realising this potential,” says Jennifer Yu, Founder and CEO of Auster Capital.
Carlsquare acted as the exclusive financial advisor to oceansapart in the transaction with Auster Capital and Altor.