Berentzen

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Berentzen-Gruppe Aktiengesellschaft
legal form Corporation
ISIN DE0005201602
founding 1758
Seat Haselünne , Lower Saxony , Germany
GermanyGermany 
management
Number of employees 498 (2019)
sales 167 million euros
(2019, excluding alcohol tax )
Branch Food and luxury food industry
Website www.berentzen-gruppe.de
As of December 31, 2019

The Berentzen Group Aktiengesellschaft is a listed German beverage company headquartered in Haselünne in Emsland .

The focus of business activity is on the production and sale of spirits , non-alcoholic beverages and fresh juice systems. The group employs almost 500 people at locations in Germany as well as in Austria and Turkey . The majority of the shares have been in free float since 2016 (as of December 2019: around 74%). Initially, the company was family-owned for 250 years, after which the company was majority owned by the financial investor Aurelius AG from 2008 to 2016 .

history

Former Berentzen grain distillery in Haselünne
Advertising of the Berentzen brand at the Korn- und Hansetag Haselünne 2012

The Berentzen grain distillery 1758–1988

Today's Berentzen Group goes back to several family businesses . The oldest, the I. B. Berentzen grain distillery ('JB Berentzen'), was founded in 1758 by councilor Johann Bernhard Tobias Berentzen (* April 2, 1718, † December 18, 1798) in Haselünne in the Emsland . At that time there were already 25 other "fusel burners" in Haselünne, as can be seen from the protocol of a judicial visit in 1758.

The family name was secured under trademark law in 1899 when the grain brandy Berentzen from the old barrel was registered as a trademark . In 1958, the establishment of Emsland-Getränke GmbH succeeded in entering the distribution of non-alcoholic beverages. In 1960 the Pepsi- Cola concession for Germany was acquired.

A breakthrough in the company's history marked the introduction of the apple grain (mixed drink made from wheat grain and apple juice ) in 1976 by the brothers Friedrich and Hans Berentzen . Berentzen apple grain is considered the most successful new introduction of a spirit in Germany since the Second World War and has also been exported abroad since 1979.

Foundation of the Berentzen Group and initial public offering

In 1988 the Berentzen Group was created through a merger with the Pabst & Richarz distillery and became the second largest spirits company in Germany. The roots of Pabst and Richarz are in the 19th century: In 1861 Wilhelm Josef Richarz began to distill wine in Königswinter ; In 1898 Hermann Pabst founded a wine shop in Düsseldorf , which was later followed by a distillery. The two family businesses merged in 1969.

In 1994, the Berentzen Group was the only German spirits manufacturer to venture to go public . As a result, Berentzen bought numerous companies in the spirits industry, including Strothmann (1996) and Dethleffsen (1999). While the ordinary shares with voting rights were in the hands of the owner families, numerous investors on the stock exchange purchased the non-voting preference shares. These were also popular as “entry tickets” to the general meetings , which were celebrated “like a folk festival” in Haselünne until 2005 and at which the products of the group of companies were generously served as a dividend in kind .

After initial price successes , however, the share lost over 90% of its value compared to its all-time high from 1996 (over 35 euros or almost 70 Deutsche Mark) to 2003 (3 euros). Despite several restructurings, various changes at the top of the company and a takeover, the share was unable to recover from this price slide until 2009.

The main problems were in the core business of spirits. Within ten years, domestic sales in this area shrank from over 200 million euros in 1996 (at that time almost 400 million German marks) to only 104 million euros in 2006, despite acquisitions and the acquisition of licensed brands . excluding spirits tax ) was only 180 million euros in 2006. A good quarter of this was accounted for by non-alcoholic beverages.

Withdrawal of the owner families

In 2006 Jan Berentzen resigned from the board. For the first time, the operational business was now in the hands of a non-family management. In 2007 Berentzen announced a consolidation course. An extensive marketing campaign was intended to strengthen the company's position on the generally declining spirits market in Germany. The first year of implementation 2007 ended with a loss of 11.8 million euros.

In summer 2008, the year of the company's 250th anniversary, the previous owner families Berentzen, Pabst, Richarz and Wolff largely withdrew from the company and sold around 75% of the common shares to a subsidiary of the Munich financial investor Aurelius . The remaining 24.9 percent of the ordinary shares remained with around 20 shareholders, including the family members around Jan Bernd Berentzen, Christian Berentzen and Friedrich Berentzen. The Pabst and Richarz families, however, sold their shares in full. As a result of a takeover offer under the Securities Acquisition and Takeover Act , further ordinary shares and some of the preference shares were transferred to Aurelius by the end of 2008. Against this background, the company's 250th anniversary was not celebrated in 2008.

Development after the takeover by Aurelius AG

In the 2008 financial year, there was a loss of 22.5 million euros. The management appointed by the new owner decided on reorganization measures, including streamlining administration, outsourcing sales, marketing and logistics and closing the distillery at the historic location in Haselünner's old town. The production of spirits was relocated from there to the existing location in Minden. The administration and a bottling plant for soft drinks and mineral water are still located in Haselünne.

Since April 1, 2009, two well-known import brands, Licor 43 from Spain and Line Aquavit from Norway, are no longer in the Berentzen distribution; the manufacturers terminated the contracts after the sale to Aurelius. For the 2009 financial year, with a further decline in sales, net income was reported for the first time in several years.

In June 2013, the soft drinks group announced to Pepsico that it would not renew the concession agreement that ran until the end of 2015. In the more than 50 years of cooperation with the Berentzen Group, the Vivaris subsidiary had developed into the largest of the four Pepsi concessionaires. In January 2014, according to an ad hoc announcement, the Berentzen Group first reached an agreement with the PepsiCo Group within one day to terminate the contract early at the end of 2014, and then with Deutsche Sinalco GmbH Markengetränke & Co. KG on a new concession contract direct connection. Sinalco has been sold under concession since 2015 .

At the beginning of September 2014, the Berentzen Group announced that the acquisition of all shares in the then TMP Technic-Marketing-Products GmbH (today: Citrocasa GmbH) based in Linz (today: Citrocasa GmbH) for a purchase price between 15.50 and 17.45 million euros Austria) was agreed. The company is an international system provider for freshly squeezed orange juice (brand: Citrocasa).

In the course of 2016, Aurelius completely sold its own shares. The Dutch investment company Monolith currently holds the highest share of shares. The majority of the shares are in free float. In 2015, the Berentzen Group had already converted all non-voting preference shares into voting ordinary shares. This made ordinary shares the only class of shares in the Berentzen Group.

owner

The registered capital of nearly 25 million euros distributed since 2015 to 9.6 million common shares. Previously, there were 4.8 million common shares and 4.8 million preferred shares. The common shares and thus all voting rights were held by several owner families until 2008. As of 2008, around 80% of them were held by BGAG Beteiligungs GmbH, a subsidiary of the Munich investment company Aurelius . The preference shares were traded on the stock exchange and were predominantly (2009: 73%) in free float , including employees of the company and investors from the region, Aurelius controlled a further 13%. In 2015, the preferred shares were all converted into common shares. In 2016, after the successful renovation, Aurelius decided to sell all shares. Since then, the majority of the shares have been in free float.

Berentzen is one of the 20 most important listed companies in Lower Saxony . The price development is therefore mapped in the regional share index NISAX20 .

Shareholder structure As of December 31, 2019, the shares were distributed as follows:

proportion of Shareholders
9.9% Monolith Investment Management, NetherlandsNetherlandsNetherlands 
8.5% Mainfirst SICAV, LuxembourgLuxembourgLuxembourg 
5.1% Lazard Frères Gestion, France (investment company of the Lazard Group) FranceFrance 
2.1% Own shares
74.4% Free float (shareholders with less than 3.0% of the voting rights each)

Subsidiaries and investments

The following companies belong to the Berentzen Group (unless otherwise stated: 100% stake):

  • Haselünne: Berentzen Distillers International GmbH, Der Berentzen Hof GmbH, Kornbrennerei Berentzen GmbH, Medley's Whiskey International GmbH, Puschkin International GmbH, Strothmann Spirituosen Verwaltung GmbH, Turoa Rum International GmbH, Vivaris Getränke GmbH & Co. KG, Winterapfel Getränke GmbH, Berentzen Distillers Asia GmbH, Berentzen Distillers Turkey GmbH, Berentzen North America GmbH, Die Stonsdorferei W. Koerner GmbH & Co. KG, Vivaris Getränke Verwaltung GmbH
  • Flensburg: DLS Spirituosen GmbH
  • North: Doornkaat AG
  • Minden: Landwirth's GmbH, Pabst & Richarz Vertriebs GmbH
  • Grüneberg: Grüneberger Spirituosen and Beverage Society mbH
  • Istanbul (Republic of Turkey): Berentzen Alkollü İçkiler Ticaret Limited Sirketi
  • Shanghai (People's Republic of China): Berentzen Spirit Sales (Shanghai) Co., Ltd.
  • Jelenia Góra (Poland): Sechsämtertropfen G. Vetter Spolka z oo
  • Linz (Austria): TMP Technic-Marketing-Products GmbH

Products and brands, key figures

Citrocas juicer

The Group's best-known core brands are Berentzen and Puschkin . The Berentzen Group also manufactures northern German products such as wheat grain and Bommerlunder and, as an importer, also sells international licensed brands. The Vivaris subsidiary produces non-alcoholic beverages (e.g. mineral water and soft drinks ) that are sold in twelve of sixteen federal states (northern and eastern Germany and parts of Hesse and North Rhine-Westphalia). The Austrian subsidiary Citrocasa offers so-called fresh juice systems under the Citrocasa brand . These include fruit juicers, bottles, and oranges.

The company's fruit spirits are made from wheat grain and have an alcohol content between 15 and 20 % vol . They are produced in various flavors, including apple , Sour Apple, Wild Cherry , Passion Fruit , Wild Berry and Woodruff. Other products are Berentzen Traditionskorn (32% vol), Berentzen Doppelkorn (38% vol) and the Berentzen Edelkorn (38.5% vol) matured in oak barrels.

Other brands of the group are:

Non-alcoholic drinks from the product range are:

Former products include:

  • Kiwisala (kiwi liqueur)
  • Lufthansa Cocktail (apricot-orange liqueur with 30% vol, license production 2005-2014)

Key figures

In the 2017 financial year, the group generated sales of 172.13 million euros (excluding alcohol tax ).

The sales volume in the spirits business area amounted to 82.6 million 0.7-l bottles in 2017. Of which around 69% was (57.2 million 0.7-liter bottles) on trade and secondary brands at home and abroad, almost 31% on branded spirits at home (20.5 million 0.7-liter Bottles) and abroad (4.9 million 0.7-l bottles). The spirits segment contributed around 53% (91.0 million euros) to consolidated sales.

The group sold 171.8 million liters of mineral water and soft drinks in the non- alcoholic beverages segment in 2017 . Lemonades and other soft drinks accounted for 45% (77.1 million liters), mineral water 44% (75.9 million liters), concession brands 6% (9.6 million liters) and 5% million (9 , 2 million liters). This business area contributed around 29% (49.42 million euros) to consolidated sales.

The fresh juice systems segment contributed around 12% (EUR 20.7 million) to group sales with the fruit presses sold (2540 pieces), filling containers and fruits.

Personalities

Web links

Commons : Berentzen  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Annual Report 2019. (PDF) In: berentzen-gruppe.de. Retrieved May 2, 2020 .
  2. ↑ One more thing about the crisis. In: taz.de . May 13, 2005, accessed January 29, 2015 .
  3. ↑ Ingo Reich: Half-year ends with a profit - Berentzen is aimed at younger audiences. In: handelsblatt.com. September 11, 2009, accessed January 29, 2015 .
  4. ^ Taking action with humility , in: Handelsblatt of October 23, 2006, accessed on April 2, 2010.
  5. ↑ Press release of the Berentzen Group of September 4, 2008, accessed on April 2, 2009.
  6. ↑ After the entry of a financial investor: CEO Axel Dahm leaves Berentzen. In: handelsblatt.com. Retrieved January 29, 2015 .
  7. ↑ AURELIUS confirms profitable growth course in the first nine months of 2008 - dgap.de. Retrieved September 3, 2019 .
  8. ↑ a b Annual Report 2009 (PDF file; 2.68 MB), accessed on April 2, 2010.
  9. ↑ Ad hoc announcement of January 20, 2014 (PDF), accessed January 29, 2015.
  10. ↑ Berentzen Group: Strategic acquisition expands Berentzen Group's beverage portfolio to include freshness. Retrieved September 3, 2019 .
  11. ↑ a b Aurelius sells last shares: Berentzen-Gruppe Aktiengesellschaft successfully completes the new shareholder structure. Berentzen Group, September 26, 2016, accessed June 17, 2018 .
  12. ↑ a b Press release Berentzen Group 09/30/2015. Retrieved November 13, 2017 .
  13. ↑ NWZonline.de: Berentzen gets real money in the till , July 13, 2005, accessed on December 30, 2018.
  14. ↑ Annual Report 2017 of Berentzen-Gruppe AG, accessed on June 16, 2018 (PDF).