Transaction Overview

Chapter International acted as exclusive sell-side advisor to Pentra Brands in its acquisition by Neulabs, an Italian based Consumer Brand Group company executing a strategic expansion into the German Consumer market. The transaction was structured as a full acquisition & Share Sale, with Chapter managing the end-to-end process from initial valuation through to due diligence and final close.

The deal represents one of the firm’s landmark cross-border mandates — navigating a multi-jurisdictional process across the IT and DE markets, with buyer engagement running simultaneously across the US, EU and UK to build the competitive tension required to achieve an above-market outcome for the founder.

About Pentra Brands

Pentra Brands is a German based consumer brand group operating numerous sub brands across the Kids, Toys and Home & Household categories. Founded in 2016 by two brothers, Rudi & David, the business had achieved consistent year-on-year revenue growth, with a diversified client base and strong net revenue retention metrics that positioned it as an attractive acquisition target in the current market environment.

Prior to approaching Chapter International, the founders had explored the market independently but recognised the complexity of running a structured international process without specialist advisory support, particularly given the cross-border nature of the most credible buyer pool.

Our Role

Chapter International managed the full transaction process on behalf of Pentra Brands. This included a comprehensive pre-market preparation phase, restating financials for an acquisition audience, preparing the Information Memorandum, and structuring all due diligence materials prior to buyer engagement.

The firm ran a targeted outreach process across its buyer network in the UK, US, and EU, generating multiple expressions of interest and ultimately facilitating a competitive process between several credible acquirers. Chapter managed all buyer communication, negotiated deal terms across price, structure, and transition arrangements, and coordinated the full due diligence workstream through to a clean completion.

Outcome

The transaction closed in March 2023, delivering a valuation in line with the upper range of the market multiple for comparable Ecommerce businesses at the time and taking 4.5 months from engagement to closing. The cross-border dimension of the process validated Chapter’s international approach and the competitive tension it creates for clients in the lower mid-market.

A Message from the Founders, David and Rudolph Penner:

“We just closed a transaction selling our business of significant size through Chapter International. After talking to almost 50 Advisors, Brokers, and Investors directly, we decided to go with Chapter International.

Alex Munday was our primary contact here. His superb service, business acumen and outstanding skillset caught our attention and was the initial reason we decided to go with CI. He guided us through the whole process, helped to prepare all required documents and gave us great insights into the industry. His experience and talent are exceptional. He has a great network of investors that made it easy to find a perfect match within 10 business days. Alex led throughout the bidding process, helped to create the shortlist of compelling offers, and pick the right investor. Since Alex was in the driver seat all the way up until signing, we could comfortably rely on his expertise and recommendation.

The negotiation was very intense, conducted in 3 languages and with many lawyers involved – we had some difficult phases – but in times like these there is nothing more important than a calm, constructive and trusted advisor leading the process and finally finding a way to achieve a deal that works for all parties involved.

We are grateful to have worked with Alex – otherwise the deal would not have happened. I can only recommend working with Alex, his exceptional talent will boost every deal.”