New owner for prefabricated house pioneer: Equistone sells Oikos Group to Goldman Sachs

Funds advised by Equistone Partners Europe ("Equistone") have agreed to sell their majority stake in Oikos Group, a leading European provider of prefabricated houses, headquartered in Schlüchtern, Germany, to West Street Capital Partners VIII, a fund managed by Goldman Sachs. Equistone acquired Oikos Group – consisting of the brands Bien-Zenker, Hanse Haus and Living Haus – at the beginning of 2018 and, together with management, drove the growth strategy as well as the digitalization and operational excellence of the group. The financial terms of the transaction are not disclosed and the transaction remains subject to approval from the relevant competition authorities.

Oikos Group, which combines the brands Hanse Haus, Bien-Zenker and Living Haus, is one of the leading B2C providers of single and two-family houses with a focus on creating future-oriented, sustainable living spaces. The multi-brand strategy provides the group with an excellent position in the market for prefabricated houses and enables it to serve a wide variety of customer groups: From shell construction to turnkey-ready housing solutions, Oikos Group offers its customers houses across all completion stages in accordance with the highest quality and sustainability standards. The group, which, beyond its core market Germany, is active in Austria, Switzerland, and the UK, currently employs around 1,300 people and increased its turnover to more than EUR 400 million in 2020.

Bien-Zenker, founded in 1906, is one of the pioneers in prefabricated energy-saving houses. Headquartered in Schlüchtern, the company has a nationwide sales network and distinguishes itself with its innovative prefabricated housing solutions, particularly in the medium price segment. With the establishment of the independent brand Living Haus in 2015, the company expanded its range of products to include a quality-focused prefabricated house concept for more price-sensitive customers.

Hanse Haus, based in Oberleichtersbach, is one of the German pioneers in the construction of turnkey prefabricated houses. Since its foundation in 1929, the company has developed from a carpentry business into a full-service provider of high-quality house solutions with a product portfolio primarily serving the medium and higher price segments.

Equistone acquired a majority stake in Bien-Zenker and Hanse Haus in January 2018. By establishing a best practice-sharing approach between the companies, a group with a common vision was created. Equistone has successfully supported the growth of the various brands under the umbrella of Oikos Group in recent years, most notably through the continuous improvement of the group’s operational excellence and the expansion of its digitalization strategy, especially in the areas of sales and customer journey.

Stefan Maser, Partner at Equistone, comments: “In the past three years, Oikos Group has achieved an outstanding development. The initiatives taken together with management have strengthened the company in the long-term. As a result, Oikos Group has succeeded in further expanding its market-leading position compared to its competitors and was able to significantly increase its revenues.”

Marco Hammer, CEO of Oikos Group, adds: “Together with Equistone, we have been able to strengthen our leading position across Europe, targeting important areas such as digitalization as well as the expanding our competence in ESG and a sustainable marketing strategy. We look forward to continuing this successful growth trajectory with Goldman Sachs in the future.”

“Oikos has successfully established itself as one of the leading European providers of prefabricated houses, with a strong and innovative product and brand portfolio. We are delighted to invest into the future of sustainable construction and look forward to supporting Oikos in realizing its growth ambitions,” said Mike Ebeling, Managing Director at Goldman Sachs. “We are impressed by the high quality and strength of Oikos's management team led by Marco Hammer and are very excited about our partnership with them.”

Stefan Maser, David Zahnd and Tanja Berg led the transaction on behalf of Equistone. Equistone was advised by Alantra (M&A und Debt), Boston Consulting Group (Commercial), Ernst & Young (Financial + Tax), Latham & Watkins (Legal) and ERM (Environmental). West Street Capital Partners VIII, a fund managed by Goldman Sachs, was advised by Goldman Sachs Investment Banking Division (M&A), Roland Berger (Commercial), Deloitte (Financial), Ernst & Young (Tax), Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer (Legal), Allen & Overy (Debt Legal), Herter & Co (Debt), ERM (Environmental), Aon (Insurance) as well as Arup and CBRE (Technical).