As a listed German investment company, 029 Group purchases minority stakes in strongly growing companies during early funding rounds (typically Seed or Series A) or incubates its own ideas and brands which are adopting already proven business models and go-to-market strategies.

029 aims to become a global hospitality and lifestyle investment holding and platform, which aims to capitalize on new patterns of work, life and leisure, which have brought forward thriving next-generation consumer brands, built on connection, experience and community.

The portfolio comprises six companies across three segments: Hospitality (79% of fair NAV), Enabling Technologies (4% of fair NAV) and Consumer Brands (17% of fair NAV). Going forward, 029 is expected to make three to five investments per year across all three segments. 029 is typically looking for high growth B2C business models, supported by emerging mega trends (e.g. TRIP, which sells CBD infused drinks) with attractive valuation entry points and significant network and synergy potential (e.g. cross selling opportunities  partially overlapping customer groups and  marketing strategies).

Limestone Capital is the group’s largest portfolio company accounting for 55% of 029’s reported and 73% of our fair NAV. Limestone operates a similar business as Soho House, which is centered around high-end hospitality solutions in combination with a strong community.

In detail, Limestone is a vertically integrated investment firm focusing on identifying and creating value within the high-end hospitality sector. The aim is to find undervalued real estate to buy, turn-around, manage under its own brand (incl. membership club in certain locations) and sell them after a holding period of around five to eight years.

Positive newsflow should stem from upcoming funding rounds and exits by revealing upside to the last reported and our fair NAVs. This should be due to the long time since the last financing rounds and only little publicly available information on the companies’ operational developments.

We initiate our coverage with a BUY and a PT of € 14.2, which is derived from a sum-of-the-parts valuation less a 5% holding discount. The individual portfolio companies’ values are either derived from their last funding rounds, if it took place within the past six months, or our own fair value calculations.