The management of the French SOLO (Invest SAS), one of the leading suppliers of personalisable products in Europe, has announced this week that it has entered into an agreement allowing for 100% of its shares to be acquired by Platinum Equity. Closing is expected shortly after the summer. The potential transaction remains subject to the information and consultation processes of the relevant employee representative bodies as well as customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals.

SOLO, founded by Alain Milgrom in 1991 and head officed in Paris, has established over the last few years a nr 2 position (after the listed New Wave; red) in the European market of personalisable products. Key driver for this was the 2022 acquisition of the Dutch full-service supplier midocean, resulting in the first true one-stop-shop solution of hard goods and textiles in the global market of personalisable products. This acquisition has driven accelerated growth of revenues, acknowledging the developing consolidation in the still highly fragmented European market and drawing the attention of private equity in the process. By attracting Platinum Equity as financial sponsor, the funding for the company’s ambitious growth plan is secured.

Audélia Krief, ceo of the Group and moral architect of the collaboration between Solo and midocean, explains: “Solo aims to shape the future of personalisation. One that is not only high performing but also sustainable and designed to meet the challenges of today and anticipate the needs of tomorrow. This requires a continuous investment in innovation, service and automation that is now made possible through the financial sponsorship of Platinum Equity.”

Stephen Gibson, coo of Solo and former ceo of midocean, adds to this: “the market of personalisable products is developing fast with corporates and SMEs gasping for inspiration and efficiency, hence more value for money. We feel Platinum Equity to be the perfect fit to financially support the company’s program to fulfil this need through continuous process innovation and automation”.

Platinum Equity Co-President Louis Samson said: “Solo’s strong foundation and entrepreneurial heritage make it an excellent fit for our hands-on approach to value creation. We have great confidence in the company’s leadership team and fundamentals. We believe that our M&A resources and operations capabilities can help the company accelerate its growth and foster new innovative solutions for an increasingly complex personalized products market.”

“Solo’s integrated model, combining distribution scale and on-demand printing, delivers compelling advantages in cost, product breadth, inventory availability and speed to Solo and its B2B customers,” said Malik Vorderwuelbecke, Managing Director at Platinum Equity. “In a highly fragmented market, these strengths position the company as an attractive platform for organic growth and strategic acquisitions. We will look to expand geographically and into new product categories.”

Websites

Corporate www.wearesolo.com

Solo Paris www.sologroup-paris.com

Solo midocean www.midocean.com