7days
Case study
7days
7days is a leading supplier of fashionable medical workwear, in which we saw significant potential to bolster its international growth.
It designs, makes and directly sells high-quality products ranging from tunics to lab coats, to medical professionals in its home market of Germany and in Austria, Switzerland, France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Scandinavia.
Strategy
Internationalisation
Buy & build
Our investment
7days had already outperformed its competitors and grown beyond Germany when we completed our acquisition of the company in January 2018. It had also proven itself as a stable and anti-cyclical business.
Value creation
We’re working with the management to build on this established international presence and enter new markets; the company’s growth rates are higher outside Germany.
The market for medical workwear remains fragmented so when we helped them break into Scandinavia, we searched for an add-on acquisition of a local player.
7days bought Denmark-based Praxis Herning, which supplies the same end markets in Denmark, Sweden and Iceland, in December 2018. The Scandinavian business now benefits from 7days’ existing centralised sales and logistics functions, extensive product range and from its multi-channel operation.
7days began as a catalogue business and today secures about half of its sales online - a proportion we’re working to grow. In addition, our team has helped 7days to implement internationally recognised CSR standards.
Supporting our team and the 7days management is entrepreneur Ronny Lemmens, co-founder of global fashion brand Mexx, which he helped grow into a 500-store group with sales of €500m.
