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Latest Case Studies
The Qualios transaction: Engineering a partnered buy-in
The Qualios case tracks the search, negotiations and ultimate acquisition of an industrial, family-owned SME in Southern Germany. Using a variety of materials, including sophisticated composites, the company produces customized, high-quality braided sleeves primarily for technical applications. The fourth-generation owners were led to sell due t…
By
Benoit F. Leleux and
Konstantin Dreyer
Case reference: IMD-2745, ©
2026
The Qualios transaction: Engineering a partnered buy-in
Summary
The Qualios case tracks the search, negotiations and ultimate acquisition of an industrial, family-owned SME in Southern Germany. Using a variety of materials, including sophisticated composites, the company produces customized, high-quality braided sleeves primarily for technical applications. The fourth-generation owners were led to sell due to a lack of succession and health issues. A reputable niche business serving automotive, packaging, construction and industrial clients across Germany and internationally, Qualios generated €12 million in revenue and healthy EBITDA and employed around 50 staff. The company faced several issues, such as rising raw material and production costs, difficulty attracting skilled workers to the region and growing demands from customers for sustainability certifications. The potential buyer, Konrad, believed he had a joker up his sleeve with Georg, an experienced operating manager, family confidant and potential co-investor. Negotiations proved complex until the duo was able to bypass the broker and establish direct links to the seller. A deal was ultimately closed, involving not only a significant earnout element from the seller but also 90% leverage offered by local banks, with strenuous covenants. Nonetheless, fundamental questions remained after the deal: Had the buyer paid the right price and established the proper structure to ensure long-term success? Closing was only the first battle: Could Qualios grow fast enough to service the debt, repay the vendor loan and justify the price tag – all while honoring the company legacy that mattered so deeply to the seller?
Reference
IMD-2745
Copyright
©2026
Copyright owner
IMD Copyright
Organization
Qualios (Disguised)
Industry
Manufacturing, Textile;Materials, Construction Materials
Available Languages
English
Contact
Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications
Oculis: Transforming ophthalmology a drop at a time
For the team at Oculis, the announcement of the new USD 100 million fundraising could not have come at a more opportune moment. The biopharmaceutical startup was founded in 2017 to transform ophthalmology by developing not only original delivery mechanisms but also groundbreaking treatments for eye diseases like Diabetic Macular Edema (DME). Est…
By
Benoit F. Leleux, Abdulaziz A. AlSayyari, Barbara Müller and
Vladimir Novotny
Case reference: IMD-2692, ©
2025
Oculis: Transforming ophthalmology a drop at a time
Summary
For the team at Oculis, the announcement of the new USD 100 million fundraising could not have come at a more opportune moment. The biopharmaceutical startup was founded in 2017 to transform ophthalmology by developing not only original delivery mechanisms but also groundbreaking treatments for eye diseases like Diabetic Macular Edema (DME). Established by seasoned industry experts, Oculis aimed to replace invasive eye treatments with more accessible, patient-friendly solutions such as topical eye drops. The initial research conducted in a laboratory in Iceland led to a pipeline of drug candidates, now at various stages of clinical testing. The firm continued to ramp up thanks to successive rounds of financing from top investors and partners, totaling more than USD 500 million at the end of 2024. However, it also faced some dramatic events, including the sudden death in early 2024 of its CTO. The company continued to scale, strategically balancing clinical advancements with regulatory milestones. The recent secondary offering on Nasdaq would accelerate the clinical development pipeline, in particular its novel neuroprotective candidate Prisosegtor (OCS-05), OCS-01, a topical eye drop for DME, and OCS-02, a topical biologic eye drop candidate for dry eye disease. Oculis now grappled with a number of strategic decisions, with two questions in particular concerning the team. Should it rely mostly on outsourcing production to a contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) or develop its own in-house manufacturing capabilities? There were strong benefits and drawbacks to both approaches. It faced a related dilemma with its product pipeline. Should it continue to rely on its own R&D, as in the past, or should it consider acquiring technologies outside, through M&A activities?
Reference
IMD-2692
Copyright
©2025
Copyright owner
IMD Copyright
Organization
Oculis
Industry
Healthcare, Pharmaceuticals
Available Languages
English
Contact
Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications
dss+: Carving out a sustainability consulting leader
The case examines the entrepreneur-led carve out and buyout of dss+, DuPont’s safety and sustainability consulting division, by Gyrus Capital and dss+ management team. dss+ (formerly “DuPont Sustainable Solutions”) played a pivotal role in high-risk industries such as oil, gas, and chemicals, providing critical consulting services at a time when…
By
Benoit F. Leleux, Giorgio Pignalosa, Larissa Margot Bieler, Mojisola Onabanjo Akinkunmi and
Nicolas Campodonico
Case reference: IMD-7-2639, ©
2025
dss+: Carving out a sustainability consulting leader
Summary
The case examines the entrepreneur-led carve out and buyout of dss+, DuPont’s safety and sustainability consulting division, by Gyrus Capital and dss+ management team. dss+ (formerly “DuPont Sustainable Solutions”) played a pivotal role in high-risk industries such as oil, gas, and chemicals, providing critical consulting services at a time when global regulatory pressure on operational safety and sustainability was intensifying. Gyrus Capital, a mid-market private equity specialist, came together with the management team to engineer the buyout, based on the firm’s strong and predictable revenue streams, long-term client relationships and specialized expertise in safety and sustainability consulting. What emerged out of the 2019 transaction was an independent sustainability consulting powerhouse with over 1,500 consultants around the world. By 2024, dss+ was still expanding rapidly in terms of staff and domains of expertise, not to mention geography, and had to respond to quickly evolving external and internal demands, with clients increasingly expected to be served globally on a full range of sustainability-related services. With a strong sense of purpose (saving lives and creating a sustainable future), a potent pitch line (Protect. Transform. Sustain), over 750 clients on 1,800 projects across 41 countries, a global team of 1,500 people and plenty of organic growth across 7 core industries, the company was clearly heading for the stars. Yet, new questions loomed: Was it time to start managing that wild growth, deepening competitive advantages and building functional moats? How would dss+ remain competitive? Was it time to put a few new initiatives on high octane fuel: Leadership? Digital transformation? Global growth? Some totally new ideas?
Reference
IMD-7-2639
Copyright
©2025
Copyright owner
IMD Copyright
Organization
dss+, Gyrus Capital, Inflexion
Industry
Services, Environmental Services;Healthcare, Health and Medical Services;Services, Public Safety;Business Management Services, Consultancy
Available Languages
English
Contact
Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications
Sea2see: Seastainable vision
BARCELONA, JANUARY 2023. What started in 2016 as a humble entrepreneurial attempt to contribute to a more sustainable future had turned into a solid eyewear brand present in major Western markets. François van den Abeele was even more excited by the rapid development of the Sea2see Foundation, which he set up in Ghana. But success brought its ow…
By
Benoit F. Leleux and
Thomas Brochier
Case reference: IMD-7-2564, ©
2024
Sea2see: Seastainable vision
Summary
BARCELONA, JANUARY 2023. What started in 2016 as a humble entrepreneurial attempt to contribute to a more sustainable future had turned into a solid eyewear brand present in major Western markets. François van den Abeele was even more excited by the rapid development of the Sea2see Foundation, which he set up in Ghana. But success brought its own new questions and issues. From the start, he had relied on the superb craftmanship and dedication of an Italian frame manufacturer. Over time that relationship had turned into a mutual dependency: He was now one of its major clients but, reciprocally, had developed a key supplier risk. What if something happened to that relationship? Should he develop a broader set of suppliers and, if so, how could that be done without antagonizing a great working relationship? Recycling very much set the stage for the brand’s sustainability claims, but it also took massive amounts of time to manage. As other companies started to develop their own fishing net recycling supply chains, did it still make sense to invest so much time in the upstream phase or should he pour his energy into his beloved brand? Finally, maybe it was also time to revisit the growth/profitability dilemma and open up the capital to increase the speed of growth, all for the benefit of the environment as impact fed on scale.
Reference
IMD-7-2564
Copyright
©2024
Copyright owner
IMD Copyright
Organization
Sea2see
Industry
Consumer Goods, Optical Products
Available Languages
English
Contact
Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications