Agrarzone.at (Rehrl Handels GmbH)↓Austro Holding
Situation
According to the company, Agrarzone's history begins in 1996 with "Schnauzerl", a pet supplies shop. schnauzerl.com went online in 2005, and equestrian products were added in 2014. In 2016 Bernhard Rehrl founded the GmbH that still carries the business today. 2019 brought the agricultural online shop Agrarzone with .at, .de and .com domains, the renaming to Rehrl Handels GmbH and a new office in Lengau, Upper Austria. A year later, shops for France and Italy followed. The range extends from animal feed sourced in Austria to livestock and stable supplies, equestrian equipment and pet products. A family business had become an e-commerce company with growing European reach. For further expansion, the question was which partner could contribute capital and experience without dissolving the owner-managed model.
Process
The role of exclusive M&A adviser lay with IGCP, covering preparation, a targeted partner search and the structuring of the transaction. The aim was a partner with a long-term entrepreneurial mindset and experience in the DACH retail environment. An investor with a fixed exit horizon is only a partial fit for an owner-managed online retailer with agricultural roots. A more natural fit is an investment holding that keeps mid-sized companies for the long term and already holds businesses in agricultural machinery and food production whose markets touch those of an agricultural retailer. The partner ultimately chosen has exactly this profile.
Outcome
In 2022 Austro Holding, through its sub-holding AH & Capital Partners GmbH, made a substantial growth investment in Rehrl Handels GmbH. The Vienna-based investment company, established in 2010, says it focuses on mid-sized, predominantly Austrian companies and their long-term development. Its holdings include Ankerbrot, Bene, Gaulhofer, Lohberger and Austro LBK with Deutz-Fahr and JCB; Agrarzone belongs to its Food and Farming division. Bernhard Rehrl continues to run the company. In the year of the investment, shops for Sweden, Hungary and Romania were added. Today Agrarzone cites a 2,500 m² warehouse, more than 700 brands in its range and over 1,000 orders a day.
What the case shows
Agrarzone shows how a family business with almost three decades of history can take on a partner without giving up control. What matters is less the size of an investor than its holding horizon and its surroundings. A holding company that keeps investments for the long term and already runs businesses serving farmers brings a different perspective from a pure e-commerce investor. For owners of online retailers in specialist markets, this means that the circle of potential partners is wider than their own sector suggests. Investment holdings with a link to the target customer group can be the better choice when the goal is growth with the existing management rather than a resale after a few years.