Billionaire retail clan eyes buyout of car interior firm Novem

FRANKFURT: The billionaire Brenninkmeijer clan is exploring a potential deal to take Novem Group SA private roughly three years after listing the German car-interior designer, people with knowledge of the matter said.

The family’s private equity arm Bregal Investments is discussing a possible offer to acquire all the Novem shares it doesn’t already own, the people said.

Bregal and other family vehicles already own a controlling stake in Novem, which makes premium trim elements used in dashboards and center consoles for automotive brands like Maserati and Porsche.

Shares of Novem have fallen nearly 70% since the company’s 2021 initial public offering, giving it a market value of about €233 million ($258 million).

The firm is led by CEO Markus Wittmann, who replaced former Autoliv Inc. executive Günter Brenner last year.

The Brenninkmeijer family also owns European clothing retailer C&A. Deliberations are ongoing, and there’s no certainty that Bregal will proceed with an offer, the people said.

Representatives for Bregal and Novem declined to comment.

There have been other recent cases of German companies’ controlling shareholders taking the firms private again following stock slumps.

Buyout firm EQT AB agreed last year to acquire the shares it doesn’t already own in software developer SUSE SA, after an attempted sale to Thoma Bravo failed.

Cinven agreed to buy out Synlab AG in September last year, two years after listing the German laboratory operator.