International law firm Simmons & Simmons has advised private equity group Waterland on the acquisition of LionsHome GmbH (LionsHome). The sellers and founders of LionsHome, Michael Röcker, CEO, and Christoph Königer, CTO, re-invested significantly.
LionsHome operates one of Europe's leading product comparison platforms in the home and living vertical with web portals across ten countries. Backed by partnerships with more than 3,000 e-commerce retailers, LionsHome aggregates online products for its end customers allowing for a unique product discovery experience. The platform is a powerful basis for developing a leading commerce content player that aggregates a wide range of digital publishing models under one roof.
The Simmons team advising on this deal was led by the Waterland client partner, Dr. Christian Bornhorst, and supervising associate Sabine Krause, both based in our Düsseldorf office and focusing on private equity investments. Simmons has advised Waterland on all relevant aspects of the transaction, particularly the deal structure, the acquisition documentation, the legal due diligence, and the management participation program.
Commenting on the transaction, Christian Bornhorst said: "It was a pleasure to advise the Waterland team on another platform deal. Advising on transactions in the growing and fast-moving e-commerce space perfectly aligns with our AMIF and TMT sector focuses. We are impressed by the vision to develop LionsHome into a broadly positioned commerce content group and look forward to supporting Waterland's and the founders' ambitious buy-and-build strategy."
Simmons’ team
Dr. Christian Bornhorst (Partner and lead, Private Equity/Corporate M&A, Düsseldorf)
Sabine Krause (Supervising Associate and co-lead, Private Equity/Corporate M&A, Düsseldorf)
Michael Surmann (Associate, Private Equity/Corporate M&A, Düsseldorf)
Slaven Kovacevic (Counsel, Private Equity/Corporate M&A, Düsseldorf)
Dr. Anja Schlichting (Supervising Associate, Private Equity/Corporate M&A, Düsseldorf)
Christopher Götz (Partner, Digital Business, Munich)
Dr. Tina Gausling (Counsel, Digital Business, Munich)
Kilian Wolf (Associate, Digital Business, Munich)
Sven Lombard (Associate, Employment, Düsseldorf)
Dr. Daniel Kendziur (Partner, Intellectual Property, Munich)
David Kless (Associate, Intellectual Property, Munich)
Dr. Bernulph von Crailsheim (Partner, Tax, Frankfurt)
Elmar Weinand (Counsel, Tax, Frankfurt)
Dr. Martin Gramsch (Counsel, Merger Control, Düsseldorf)
