Milbank advised the global growth capital investor General Atlantic on its investment in Chrono24, a leading global digital marketplace for new and pre-owned luxury watches. The underlying Series C investment round with a volume of more than €100 million was led by General Atlantic with participation from Aglaé Ventures, the technology arm of the Arnault family’s investment company, and existing investors Insight Partners and Sprints Capital. This newest minority growth funding brings Chrono24’s cumulative funds raised to over €200 million to date. With the new investment, the company plans, among others, to accelerate its growth trajectory, deepening its presence in existing markets and augmenting its global team with additional top talent.
Founded in 2003, Chrono24 was one of the first companies of scale to connect watch dealers and collectors around the globe through its digital marketplace. The company now counts an average of 500,000 unique visitors per day. With more than 3,000 retail dealers and 30,000 private sellers across more than 100 countries worldwide, Chrono24 lists approximately half a million luxury watches for sale at any given time. The company employs around 400 people in offices in Karlsruhe, Berlin, New York and Hong Kong.
General Atlantic is a leading global growth equity firm providing capital and strategic support for growth companies. General Atlantic combines a collaborative global approach, sector-specific expertise, a long-term investment horizon and a deep understanding of growth drivers.
Milbank advised General Atlantic on corporate, antitrust and tax law aspects of the transaction.
The Milbank team was led by Global Corporate partner Sebastian Heim (Corporate/M&A, Munich) and included partners Matthias Schell (Tax, Munich) and Alexander Rinne (Antitrust, Munich), special counsel Bijan Ganji (Transportation & Space, Washington, DC) as well as the associates Alexandra Schäfer (Corporate/M&A, Munich), Pinky Mehta (Transportation & Space, Washington, DC) and Susanne Schricker (Antitrust, Munich).
