Motion Equity Partners announces the successful closing of a newly formed single-asset Continuation Fund with a €215m hardcap, structured around Olyos, a leading European platform specializing in natural and health nutrition.
The fund, which was oversubscribed, will be managed by Motion Equity Partners and is capitalized by Coller Capital, a global leader in the secondary market for private assets, as the lead investor, following a competitive process advised by Rede Partners. The transaction brings together existing Motion LPs, new institutional investors, a significant equity reinvestment from Olyos’ management and LFPI as minority co-investor.
Since acquiring Olyos in 2018, Motion has deployed an ambitious value creation strategy, transforming a single-country lab into a high-growth international platform in natural health. Upon entry, Olyos was a legacy French-focused business with €40 million in Revenue. Today, it generates near €145 million in Sales, with a CAGR of +27% from 2020 to 2024, and has ranked as one of the fastest-growing players in the European market. Under Motion’s ownership, Olyos has tripled in size, through a balanced mix of organic and external growth (2/3 from organic growth and 1/3 from acquisitions). The company has executed four major acquisitions to expand its European footprint. Olyos today owns a portfolio of strong brands in the VMS space built around the same DNA (naturalness, performance and scientific background), being category leaders in various segments and positioned today as a strategic B2B2C partner for pharmacists.
Motion Equity Partners will support Olyos’ next phase of growth (notably the further deployment of its successful commercial model in pharmacy and online channels) and the acceleration of its ambitious external growth strategy, both in France and internationally. The Continuation Fund has been sized to anticipate and finance future build-up opportunities.
The transaction is supported by a Unitranche financing involving both long-standing partners and new lenders: LGT Private Debt, Muzinich, Crescent, and Cerea. The financing package has been structured to also fund future add-ons.
“Our ambition for Olyos is to become one of the Top 10 leading European players in the food supplements market. Since 2020, we have significantly transformed the business. As a result, Olyos is now the #1 growth performer in terms of pharmacy sell-out in the VMS segment. We have strong growth, unique innovation capabilities, advanced digital expertise, one of the most effective salesforces and a lot of market opportunities still to be seized” said Thierry Verne, CEO of Olyos.
“Olyos operates in a highly fragmented European market of €24 billion supported by long-term structural trends and with many M&A opportunities. Olyos has become a natural consolidation platform and has already executed and integrated four acquisitions. During our extended partnership with Motion, our focus will be to accelerate our M&A strategy in our existing geographies (France, Italy, Spain) but also to penetrate new markets through acquisition. Motion Equity Partners has actively supported us in our last successful acquisitions, and we are very happy to continue the journey with them” commented Jonathan Bienfait, Deputy CEO of Olyos.
“We are extremely proud of Olyos’ trajectory over the past few years and the transformation achieved. Olyos is the perfect candidate for a continuation fund and a clear example of the business transformation and growth journey we aim to deliver at Motion. VMS players have attracted many strategic and investment interests in recent years and Olyos stands out as a top performer, with vast opportunities on the horizon’” added Patrick Eisenchteter, Managing Partner at Motion Equity Partners.
“During the first chapter of our ownership, we significantly transformed the business and laid solid foundations with 4 main strategic acquisitions, complete overhaul of the commercial model and team reinforcement. This next chapter will be about reaping its full potential by continuing to deploy our M&A roadmap and seizing all market opportunities” commented Anthony Baudoin, Partner at Motion Equity Partners.
“Olyos has achieved remarkable growth since 2020 driven by Motion Equity Partners operational expertise and the Company’s visionary leadership team. Coller is delighted to support a platform that has a clear opportunity to build-on its foundations, track-record of successful M&A, and rapid organic growth to become a truly pan-European champion” commented Said Alwan, Principal at Coller Capital.
