PRINT THIS PAGE European IK acquires Wehkamp and Transfair from GUS for €390m28/10/2005. Source: AltAssets. 
 Industri Kapital, a European private equity firm with Nordic roots, has acquired Dutch home shopping company Wehkamp and Dutch credit management company Transfair, from the London Stock Exchange-listed retail and business services group GUS for a combined €390m.
Wehkamp has 1.4 million regular customers and completes more than five million orders every year. Its product range counts more than 22,000 articles in six categories: fashion, living, home appliances, electronics, health and beauty, and leisure.
Transfair provides products for the payment of goods and services, from simple debt collection to complete payment processes including invoicing.
The sale is part of GUS's strategy to exit from its European home shopping operations and follows exits from the Austrian, Swiss, UK, Irish and Scandinavian operations.
Wehkamp and Transfair will continue to operate independently.
Kristiaan Nieuwenburg, IK partner, Benelux, said 'Wehkamp has a unique position in the Dutch market with a well-known brand, an efficient logistics operation, and a large customer base. We see great potential to benefit from the overall growth in multi-channel retail, as well as from further development of the consumer credit and debt collection activities. These are businesses which we know very well from our previous investments in Ellos (a leading Nordic home shopping company) and Intrum Justitia.'
This acquisition is IK's sixth investment in the Benelux region. The other five companies are Amas, Pieters, Continental Bakeries, Fortex and Welzorg.
IK manages close to €4bn in fund commitments and invests mainly in mid-sized companies. Previous IK investments in the retail, distribution and financial service sectors include Ellos, Guldfynd and Intrum Justitia.
IK's previous investments in Benelux include Amas, Pieters, Continental Bakeries, Fortex and Welzorg.
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