Private equity investor Advent International and the Kreke family announced on 1 June 2015 that they have signed an agreement to sell beauty retailer Douglas to a holding company jointly owned by CVC Capital Partners and the Kreke family. The Kreke family will remain a shareholder in Douglas, holding a 15% stake. The possibility of an IPO was examined parallel to the sale so that the transaction was conducted in a dual track process. 

Hengeler Mueller advised Advent International both relative to the sale and to the proposed IPO. Legal advice on the sale was provided by partners Hans-Jorg Ziegenhain, Daniel Wiegand (both lead partners, M&A, Munich), Thorsten Mager (Antitrust, Düsseldorf) and Christian Hoefs (Labour, Frankfurt), counsels Astrid Harmsen and Andrea Schlaffge (both IP, Düsseldorf) as well as associates Benjamin Leyendecker-Langner, Georg HeiB, Jakub Lorys (all M&A, Munich), Jorg Meinzenbach (Antitrust, Düsseldorf) and Peter Wehner (Labour, Frankfurt). In terms of the proposed IPO, advice was provided by partners Reinhold Ernst and Dirk Busch (both lead partners, Capital Markets, Düsseldorf), counsel Cecilia Di Cio (Capital Markets, Frankfurt) as well as associates Caspar Haarmann and Christian HauBer (both Capital Markets, Düsseldorf).