Allen & Overy advises Riverside on the acquisition of GFP

GFP HandelsgesmbH, a leading specialised online provider of greenhouses, raised garden beds and related products in the DACH region, is managed by its owners, the brothers Wolfgang and Andreas Berger, and is headquartered in Eferding, Upper Austria.

Toolport is a leading European specialised online provider of professional tents and spare parts for the consumer and industrial markets.  Riverside invested in Toolport in 2019 and, since then, has worked with Toolport’s management to significantly grow the business through a dedicated internationalisation strategy, as well as through enhancements to key operational areas such as procurement, logistics and marketing. In recent years, Toolport has developed into a strong pan-European platform that now enables GFP to exploit the potential of its product category across Europe.

Riverside, a global private equity player, focusses on investing in growing companies with a value of up to USD 400 million.  Since its foundation in 1988, Riverside has made more than 800 investments.  The international private equity and structured capital funds of Riverside comprise more than 140 companies.

The Allen & Overy team was led by partner Dr Astrid Krüger, senior associate Tobias Hugo and associate Johannes Graßl (all Corporate/M&A, all Munich).  In addition, financing advice was provided by partner Thomas Neubaum (coordination), counsel Dr Jan-Hendrik Bode and associate Hans-Joachim Jähnichen (all Banking & Finance, all Frankfurt). The team further included partner Dr Börries Ahrens and associate Sören Burdinski (both Antitrust, both Hamburg) and counsel Dr Sebastian Schulz (Employment, Frankfurt).

Allen & Overy has already advised Riverside on various transactions, most recently early this year on the sale of the REPA group, last year on the sale of its shareholding in ACTINEO and on the Bike24 IPO and in 2019 on its investment in Toolport.