AUCTUS INVESTS IN LABORATORY EQUIPMENT SPECIALIST a1-envirosciences

a1 has deep technical expertise and high-quality service, delivered by its over 50 qualified technicians and engineers. Based in Düsseldorf, a1 is also present in several other European countries, including the UK, France, Belgium and the Netherlands. As part of the transaction, Mr. Andree Behrens is joining a1 as the new Managing Director and successor to Mr. Olaf Wolf-Kunz. Mr. Behrens has extensive industry experience and will jointly drive the further development of a1 with the current management and employees.

a1 is a reputable specialist for elemental analyzers for environmental testing as well as for containment solutions for pharma developing laboratories. With its experienced team and operational capabilities, a1 can support customers from the pre-sale phase, through installation and the training of equipment users, all the way to the aftermarket phase with spares, consumables and maintenance services. AUCTUS acquires a1 to support its further growth by enabling its employees to further address customer requirements, adding new product lines and serving additional geographies.

In addition, growth will be accelerated through acquisitions of niche laboratory supplies specialists as part of the larger, Europe-wide Buy-and-Build concept for lab-equipment and consumables.

Managing Director Dr. Nicolas Himmelmann of AUCTUS comments: “a1-envirosciences has shown a tremendous development over the past 20 years, continuously delivering highest quality products and services to critical processes for their clients. We are excited to work with the – old and new – management team and a1 towards further growth. At the same time, we see many specialists like a1 facing similar challenges in maintaining the innovation edge and serving a consolidating and increasingly professionalized customer base with high requirements. We want to enable those niche experts to expand their product portfolio and their customer groups by joining forces together.”

On the part of AUCTUS, the transaction was advised and executed by Dr. Nicolas Himmelmann and Timo Bräu.

About AUCTUS

AUCTUS is the most active investment company for small- and medium-sized companies. With over 300 investments in the last 20 years, we are the definite No. 1 in Germany. Our successful work is regularly rewarded with prestigious awards and top international rankings.
The focus of our investments is on majority holdings in companies with annual sales of between EUR 10 million and EUR 150 million.
AUCTUS stands for sustainable organic and also inorganic growth by acquisitions. We achieve this in a trustful partnership together with the management of our companies. We are specialized in building successful medium-sized company groups – We create market leaders.
The more than 20 experienced AUCTUS investment experts currently manage around 50 platform investments from various sectors of the economy. The sum of the platform investments with a total of more than 150 individual companies achieves annual sales of far more than € 2 billion. Sales and results have been growing at >10% per year for years.