Apheon - Logo
Apheon - Burger Menu Icon

Ergon Capital Partners to acquire Thomas Hirschberger’s remaining minority stake in Sausalitos

Brussels, 30 October 2017 – Ergon Capital Partners III (Ergon) announces that it has reached an agreement to acquire Thomas Hirschberger’s remaining minority stake in Sausalitos. Following the sale of his shares Thomas Hirschberger will focus on other opportunities. He will also resign from the Sausalitos advisory board with immediate effect. This is pursuant to Thomas Hirschberger’s wife Gunilla Hirschberger stepping down from her operative functions at Sausalitos 18 months ago. In the meantime Christoph Heidt has been appointed CEO of Sausalitos.

Wolfgang de Limburg, Managing Partner of Ergon: “We thank Thomas Hirschberger for his contribution to the Sausalitos success story and wish him all the best.”

Thomas Hirschberger: “I wish Christoph Heidt and the whole Sausalitos team the very best for the future – Sausalitos is well positioned to continue its success story.”

***

About Sausalitos

Sausalitos is one of the leading leisure restaurant chains in Germany. The Company, which employs approx. 1,400 people, has built its success on a unique concept combining innovative cocktails and high-quality Californian-Mexican cuisine served in a trendy and friendly atmosphere. Sausalitos is specifically targeting the 18 to 30 years- old customer group and has created with its customers a high sense of community through social media and its restaurant staff. Over 4 million guests visit the Company’s restaurants each year. Since Ergon Capital’s investment in 2014 the number of Sausalitos restaurants has increased from 26 to 41. In addition to new restaurant openings in Germany Sausalitos plans to open its first international restaurant and its first bar-only location in 2018.

For more information, please see www.sausalitos.de

About Ergon Capital Partners

Ergon Capital Partners III is a mid-market private equity investment company with

~€500 million under management backed by family-controlled Groupe Bruxelles Lambert, through its fully-owned subsidiary Sienna Capital, as cornerstone investor, and selected European institutional investors. Ergon is a disciplined and discreet value investor, which provides “patient and friendly capital” to entrepreneurs and managers, who need capital and industrial solutions to accelerate the development of their companies. Ergon makes equity investments from €25 million up to €75 million in leading companies with a sustainable competitive position in attractive niche markets located in the Benelux, France, Germany, Italy, Iberia and Switzerland. Ergon is advised by Ergon Capital Advisors which has offices in Brussels, Paris, Munich, Milan and Madrid.

Since its inception in 2005, Ergon, together with its two preceding investment programs, invested in 17 companies (of which 5 in the Benelux, 7 in Italy, 2 in France, 1 in Spain and 2 in Germany) and has completed 25 add-on acquisitions for a total aggregate transaction value in excess of €3 billion. Ergon’s current portfolio consist of 6 companies in various sectors encompassing luxury, specialty retail, industrial manufacturing, healthcare, media, leisure and gastronomy.

For more information on Ergon, please visit www.ergoncapital.com

Download press release in PDF
Contact us
Explore
Legal
Follow
Apheon - Linkedin Logo
© APHEON 2025

Our manifesto: contributing to the development of sustainable finance

Sustainability generates long-term and higher value

Apheon’s ambition is to contribute to the development of sustainable finance by placing sustainability at the core of its strategy and demonstrating by example that it delivers higher and better value for portfolio companies and investors.
 
We are convinced that businesses that respect the planet, that look after their employees and that support their communities will in turn attract the best talent, differentiate themselves from their competition and ultimately emerge as the strongest in the future.

A holistic and collective approach

To succeed with this strategy, Apheon believes a holistic and collective approach is fundamental.

Holistic: it is essential that all aspects of ESG are equally and continuously supported. This is why we are active at every stage of the investment cycle by applying proprietarily developed methodologies and initiatives which are built on 5 priorities covering the broad ESG spectrum:

  • Sustainable revenues (strategy): increasing, when applicable, the share of revenues which directly benefit the environment and/or society

  • Carbon (environment): reducing emissions

  • Talent (social): creating a positive working environment which will attract, develop and retain the best talent

  • Youth, diversity and inclusion (societal): fostering a more inclusive society

  • Transparency (governance): reporting on metrics transparently, and being transparent on potential obstacles
Collective: we believe that it is only through collective action that we can create significant impact. This is why it is our intention to pull together Apheon’s entire ecosystem to undertake our ESG initiatives. This includes mobilizing our employees, portfolio companies, investors, external experts, charitable organizations, public institutions and peers. At this time of global transition, we believe that sustainable finance plays a key role in advancing towards a sustainable planet and society. Financial players, in particular private equity firms such as Apheon, are in a position to drive forward action by leveraging their business model of transforming companies. Apheon is keen to play such role and to move forward every day with humility but also conviction.