Aurelius Group

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: Aurelius Equity Opportunities SE & Co. KgaA) was set up with a start-up capital of 500,000 euros.[2]

On October 1, 2015, Aurelius changed from a joint-stock company into an SE & Co. KGaA.[3]

Due to Aurelius Group’s approach to buying and developing value assets, it is often referred to as the German Berkshire Hathaway.[4] It has five divisions:[5]

• Aurelius Equity Opportunities
• Aurelius Growth Investments
• Aurelius Real Estate Opportunities
• Aurelius Finance Company
• Aurelius Refugee Initiative

Aurelius Growth Investments is a long-term oriented private equity investor focussed on succession solutions for small and medium enterprises in Europe.[6] Aurelius Real Estate Opportunities focuses on investments in residential, office, retail, hotel and care properties as well as multi-storey and underground car parks.[7] Aurelius Finance Company is an alternative lender providing capital to European companies.[8] Non-profit charity Aurelius Refugee Initiative e.V. Aurelius conducts a support and aid program for people with migration backgrounds.[9]

In August 2019 Aurelius carved out the European operations of ceiling tile and grids business Armstrong from Knauf International.[10] The acquisition was completed in April 2020.[11]

Additionally, in August 2019 BT Group sold BT Fleet Solutions to Aurelius.[12] BT Fleet solutions was renamed to Rivus Fleet Solutions.[13]

Aurelius  acquired VAG, a Mannheim-based manufacturer of water and waste water valves from US-based Rexnord. VAG generated sales of approximately EUR 200 million in its 2017/18 fiscal year with about 1,200 employees.[14]

In 2018, it bought Ideal World, a British home-shopping TV Channel,[15] and acquired Connect Books from Connect Group,[16] renaming it to Bertrams Group.[17]

In 2016, it acquired the European Business of Office Depot[18] and bought Calumet Photographic, Europe's largest photo equipment dealer.[19]

In 2014, the firm acquired the shoe business of Dr. Scholls from Reckitt Benckiser.[20]

Scandinavian Cosmetics Group was sold to Accent Equity for €60 million Euros in October 2019.[21][22]

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 with a multiple of 16 for 330 million Euros. This was the largest exit in the company's history to date for  Aurelius.[23]

In 2017, it sold Getronics for 220 million Euros; [24] it had been acquired from KPN in 2012.[25] That year, it also sold Secop for 185 million Euros, which had been acquired from Danfoss in 2010.[26]

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