Argand Partners’ OASE Living Water Acquires the Söll Group

Argand Partners, the New York- and San Francisco Bay Area-based middle market buyout firm, today announced that Oase Living Water (“OASE”) has acquired the German-based Söll Group (“Söll”), a leading supplier of specialized water treatment products, water analysis and filtering technology, and premium fish food for consumer and commercial applications. Headquartered in Hörstel, Germany, OASE is the global market leader in water gardening products, offering a suite of products that enable the creation of tranquil, inviting outdoor oases, from simple to elaborate. The terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

The Söll Group has a 25-year history of developing and producing environmentally friendly and innovative premium water treatment products for end consumers and professional contractors. Söll designs systems for ecological maintenance of natural and man-made bodies of water and for the treatment of drinking water and waste water. The company also offers water analysis instrumentation for the management of water resources. Söll will benefit from OASE’s global distribution capability, which will expand the market for Söll’s innovative products internationally. Söll provides OASE with a leading research and development capability and product portfolio that significantly enhances OASE’s existing water treatments offering.

“Söll’s expertise is highly complementary to OASE’s current line of products and services,” said Thorsten Muck, CEO of OASE. “OASE’s customers, from hobbyists to expert users to commercial contractors, stand to greatly benefit from Söll’s solutions. The acquisition is an exciting milestone for OASE and promises to open up myriad business opportunities.”

“Partnering with OASE puts us in a position to introduce Söll’s extensive range of innovative, premium products and systems to an international market,” said Thomas Willuweit, Founder and Managing Director of Söll. “Together, we aim to offer the most comprehensive array of water treatment solutions to meet the varied needs of our end consumers and professional-use clients.”

“We are excited to support strategic growth consistent with OASE’s long-standing heritage of offering premium products underpinned by strong research and development and continuous innovation. The Söll acquisition is highly complementary to OASE’s existing business,” added Heather Faust, Partner and Managing Director of Argand Partners.

Company Information

About OASE Living Water:

Headquartered in Hörstel, Germany, OASE has more than 700 employees worldwide and production facilities in Germany, the United Kingdom, the United States, Italy, and China, doing business in two segments:
• The Consumer Business (Water Gardens, Indoor Aquatics, Drainage & Irrigation) is focused on pumps, filters and equipment for private ponds, swim ponds, water courses, and water features with proven success for decades. As the world market leader in this segment, OASE is a benchmark for innovation and quality. Through various acquisitions, OASE has expanded its activities, most notably into the field of indoor aquatics. The company also recently launched its drainage & irrigation line.
• The Commercial Business (Fountain Technology and Lake Management) has designed and executed countless large-scale projects worldwide. Recent projects include the floating fountain at DaMing Lake (China) and the Unirii Square in Bucharest (Romania).

About the Söll Group:

Founded in 1994 by chemist Thomas Willuweit, Söll is a specialized chemicals company focused on developing and manufacturing environmentally friendly premium water treatment products with consumer and commercial applications for garden ponds, farming ponds, aquariums, and swimming pools. The company also operates in the field of water analysis and filter technology, and under the trademark “Organix®,” offers ornamental fish food sourced from sustainable fishing carrying the MSC Eco Label. The company has a strong research and development capability that enables it to bring innovative, new products to market ahead of industry trends.

Söll has ~80 employees and is headquartered in Hof, Germany. The company is certified according to ISO 9001:2015 and is environmentally certified in accordance with ISO 14001:2015.

About Argand Partners:

Argand is a New York‐ and San Francisco Bay Area‐based middle market buyout firm founded in 2015 by long‐time colleagues, Heather Faust, Howard D. Morgan, and Tariq Osman. Argand is a growth‐oriented, control investor focused on complex, often contrarian, situations that involve solid, market‐leading industrial and industrial‐oriented consumer and energy businesses, often with significant global operations and expansion opportunities. Argand’s portfolio includes Sigma Electric Manufacturing Corp., Brintons Carpets Ltd., Oase Living Water GmbH, and Concrete Pumping Holdings, Inc. Argand has approximately $600 million in assets under management.

The Argand team has a disciplined approach of investing in businesses that have the potential for transformational value creation through the implementation of managerial, operating, and strategic initiatives. Argand focuses on investments into manufacturers and service providers, where the team has deep sector experience and can leverage its senior executive advisory network to drive the rapid execution of an investment thesis. Further information on Argand can be found on the website: www.argandequity.com.

For more information about OASE or the transaction, contact:
Thorsten Muck
CEO OASE Group
+49 5454 80 240
t.muck@oase-livingwater.com

For more information about Argand, contact:
Heather Faust
Partner & Managing Director
Argand Partners
(212) 588-6470
hfaust@argandequity.com