Light & Living acquires Present Time
13TH APRIL 2021
Bluegem is pleased to announce that Light & Living (a company backed by Bluegem II) has finally signed the acquisition of 100% of PT Group BV (www.presenttime.com) – the group behind the Karlsson, PT Living and Leitmotiv brands.
Present Time is a well-recognized and fast-growing home décor company based in Almere, Netherlands, and led by Birger Nielsen, who is very dedicated to the business and will fit well into the Light & Living team. Present Time, born as a small gift company in 1984, rapidly expanded by buying two other brands, Karlsson and Leitmotiv. The group has today a broad range of products and counts on a portfolio of approximately 1,700 active clients.
Despite the store closures in its core markets (Benelux, UK, DACH, etc..), the group has proven to be highly resilient and has been able to improve its financial performance in 2020, both in terms of top line and profitability. Present Time closed 2020 at €12.0 million Gross Sales, compared to €10.5 million in 2019 (up 14%).
Bluegem and the Light & Living team are very excited by this acquisition thanks to multiple cross selling opportunities and potential to share best practices with Light & Living. Present Time has a strong network of e-tailer customers, which should benefit Light & Living, while Light & Living has a strong pan-European footprint with offline retailers and a broader product offering. Moreover, Present Time products range fits well and adds three brands and a hip, young, Nordic style as well as new items (e.g. clocks) to Light & Living collection.
Mathieu Develay, Investment Director at Bluegem, says: