Slovak fitness and lifestyle brand GymBeam could seek to raise between EUR 30m and EUR 70m from a stake sale this year to finance DACH-region acquisitions, CEO and founder Dalibor Cicman told Mergermarket.
The EUR 170m-revenue company is in early-stage talks with several targets in Germany, Cicman said, and hopes to complete an acquisition this year, he said. It could finance a deal of up to around EUR 10m through a combination of its own resources and bank financing, he said.
If GymBeam decides to acquire larger targets, it will launch a fundraising round within a few months, he said.
Any fundraise would involve a minority stake but, as the size of the round would depend on the acquisition targets, it is too early to specify the size, he said. He declined to disclose what valuation the company is targeting.
GymBeam had EBITDA of EUR 17m on EUR 170m revenues in 2023, he said, adding that revenues grew 66% last year.
Management would seek global investors, particularly financial investors such as private equity funds for the round, Cicman said, adding that it receives a lot of inbound approaches.
The company, an e-commerce fitness products platform, is working with unnamed financial advisers on both the acquisitions and the potential fundraising, he said. It sources targets through a combination of pitches from advisers, in-house research and inbound approaches, he said.
It is in contact with targets of various sizes, he said, adding that it is interested in distributors of B2C products, and peers that manufacture tablets, capsules, powders and soft gels.
Founded in 2014, GymBeam focuses on the online retail of sports nutrition supplements, vitamins and dietary supplements, healthy foods, accessories, sportswear – including its own STRIX brand – and exercise equipment.
The company is seeking acquisitions in the DACH region to accelerate expansion in these key markets, Cicman said. Consumers in these German-speaking markets are particularly loyal to local products, so owning a manufacturer in Germany would help to increase conversion rates, he said.
Around 10% of its products are currently manufactured in Germany, which could rise to around 40% with an acquisition of a local brand, he said.
GymBeam is present in 16 European markets in Central and Eastern Europe, the DACH region and Italy. Its largest markets are the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Romania and Hungary.
The company is increasingly focusing on vertical integration and is seeking to bring more production in-house, Cicman said. It is investing several million euros into building a production line in Slovakia, which should be ready by year-end, and wants to have highly automated production, he said.
It ships more than 10,000 packages per day and has more than 7,000 stock-keeping units (SKUs), Cicman said. It has more than 540 employees, he said.
GymBeam raised EUR 6m in 2020 from the sale of an 18% stake through Slovak crowdfunding platform Crowdberry and the state-owned Slovak Investment Holding (SIH), Cicman said.
