Investments and Activities
Bock Capital EU Luxembourg Nina II Sàrl:
whs ag holds a minority share in Bock Capital EU, Holding Company of Nactarome SpA, Milano.
In 2011 Select Alimenta, a small provider of natural and nature-identical food and beverage flavors, with main markets in Northern Italy was acquired.
A further step was the acquisition of Emans Derivati Aromatici srl, a producer of aromatic extracts of plants, herbs and fruit, mainly for alcoholic beverages and in 2015 Variati Aromi Srl, a producer of flavours for various applications, with main focus in the sweet and savoury segments. In 2016 Fiorio Colori SpA was acquired, a producer of food colours. In 2018 the majority of AromataGroup was acquired by Ambienta Sgr who strongly supported its further development. In June 2019 IPAM was acquired, a producer of breading and coating solutions for the food industry and in December 2019 the Group acquired Nactis Flavours, a leading company in France and Belgium in the production of flavours and functional ingredients. In 2020 the Group acquired Create Flavors (UK) and TasteConnection (UK), as well as the Milanese flavourhouse FIAS in 2021. In 2022 and 2023 various additional acquisitions followed the change of the majority investor form Ambienta to TA- Associates.
The Group is based in Milano with a total turnover of over 200 Mio € in 2023. [http://www.nactarome.eu]
PTF Pfueller GmbH, Stollberg (Germany)
Minority stake since 2010. The company is a highly specialized player in the field of manufacturing precision parts, i.e. the processing of various materials to precision parts (of aluminum alloy to titanium) and assemblies with highly complex geometries and finest contours for high-tech industries such as aerospace, medical, optics, food packaging, etc). A subsidiary in Suzhou supplies Chinese subsidiaries of European and American customers of PTF.
In 2013 a local competitor, Kehl GmbH, was acquired and integrated. Beginning of 2014 the group developed further with the acquisition of another operator in the field Hitega Präzisionsmechanik GmbH. Thereafter two more companies were acquired, one in China and another one in Germany. In 2022 the shareholder structure changed, with the exit of some investors and the entry of new ones. whs ag reinvested the whole proceed amount and maintained ist participation of 2,7% in the group.
I-Sense SA, Zürich (Switzerland)
A catalyst for the taste industry’s digital transformation. iSense is a Swiss Startup that aims to disrupt the flavor industry’s business model by creating many firsts: a universal open flavor language, digital sensory profiles for flavors and an eco-system of online tools to manage and optimize flavor operations. whs AG acquired a minority in 2018, followed by 2 Convertible Loan investments in 2010 and 2011.
Graceful Cosmetics SA, Baar (Switzerland)
In 2023 whs ag acquired the above company, distribution partner of MBR GmbH (Medical Beauty Research, Bad Schlema, Germany), in Switzerland. The company was merged into whs ag and will continue to run and develop its operations as an autonomous division under the management of the former owner.