# Aurelius Group

Aurelius Group is a worldwide active investor with offices in Amsterdam, London, Luxembourg, Madrid, Malta, Milan, Munich, New York, and Stockholm. The company focuses on alternative investment, private equity, private debt and real estate investments.

## History

In 2005, Dirk Markus and Gert Purkert, both former McKinsey consultants, founded Aurelius as a privately held investment vehicle investing in small- and medium-sized companies.
In 2006 listed subsidiary Aurelius AG (today: AUR Portfolio III SE & Co. KGaA) was set up with a start-up capital of €500,000.
On 1 October 2015 Aurelius changed from a joint-stock company into an limited partnership as SE & Co. KGaA.
In April 2021, Aurelius announced that it had launched a more than €500 million investment fund specializing in corporate spin-offs and companies in transition, whose investors include US and European university endowments, pension funds, insurance companies and family offices.

## Divisions

Due to Aurelius Group’s approach to buying and developing value assets, it is often referred to as the German Berkshire Hathaway. It has six divisions:
* Aurelius European Opportunities Fund IV
* Aurelius Equity Opportunities
* Aurelius Wachstumskapital Growth Investments
* Aurelius Real Estate Opportunities
* Aurelius Finance Company
* Aurelius Refugee Initiative
Aurelius Wachstumskapital (Growth Investments) is a long-term oriented private equity investor focussed on succession solutions for small and medium enterprises in Europe. Aurelius Real Estate Opportunities focuses on investments in residential, office, retail, hotel and care properties as well as multi-storey and underground car parks. Aurelius Finance Company is an alternative lender providing capital to European companies. Non-profit charity Aurelius Refugee Initiative e.V. Aurelius conducts a support and aid program for people with a migration background.

## Acquisitions

Aurelius European Opportunities Fund IV currently holds 11 investments. The best-known investments include:
* LSG Sky Chefs (LSG Group), global Airline-Caterer
* WECK, renowned glass jar manufacturer
* Hallo Healthcare Group, pharmaceutical wholesaler
* Footasylum, retailer of fashion streetwear and sneakers
Aurelius Wachstumskapital (Growth Investments) currently holds 15 investments in small and medium-sized companies in Germany. The best-known investments include:
* Greenovis Group, gardening and landscaping
* Kirotec, structural fire protection
* LittleBigHotels, hotel management
* G&N Group, technical building equipment
AUR Portfolio III SE & Co. KGaA currently holds 19 investments in its portfolio (May 2024). The best-known investments include:
* Scholl, manufacturer of shoes
* VAG, manufacturer of valves
* Hanse Yachts, manufacturer of sailing yachts
* European Imaging Group, retailer of photographic and video equipment
* Silvan, ‘Do-It-Yourself’ retail chain

## Recent exits

connexta, an IT services platform, was sold by Aurelius Wachstumskapital (Growth Investments) to the private equity investor Fremman Capital in 2023.
Distrelec, a B2B distributor of electronic and technical components, was sold to RS Group for €365 after three years in the Aurelius portfolio.
Blaupunkt was sold to the private equity backed licensing company Established in 2023.
Scandinavian Cosmetics Group was sold to Accent Equity for €60 million in October 2019.
The solid board and printed carton business of the Smurfit Kappa Group, acquired in April 2015, with production sites in the Netherlands, Belgium and the UK, which was later renamed Solidus Solutions, was sold to Centerbridge in June 2019 for €330 million. This was the largest exit in the company's history to date for Aurelius.
In 2017, it sold Getronics for €220 million; it had been acquired from KPN in 2012. That year, it also sold Secop for €185 million, which had been acquired from Danfoss in 2010.
On 25 Mar 2024, SSE reacquired Enerveo from the Aurelius group for an undisclosed sum SSE had previously sold the business, which was then known as SSE Contracting, to Aurelius in 2021 and due to difficulties post Aurelius acquisition, Enerveo has found it challenging to operate independently under the group. Following the repurchase, SSE will now work with Enerveo management to conduct a review to develop and implement a longer-term strategy for each part of the business.