CPE Acquires Swiss Heritage Brand Mammut From Jacobs Capital
Chinese private equity firm CPE is acquiring the heritage mountain brand Mammut from Jacobs Capital, extending its capital base to over CHF 18 billion as it scales the company's international growth ambitions.
Chinese alternative asset manager CPE has agreed to acquire the Swiss mountain performance brand Mammut from private equity firm Jacobs Capital. The transaction for the company, which was founded in 1862 and is headquartered in Seon/Lenzburg, includes no disclosed financial terms CEO Heiko Schäfer and existing leadership will remain in place as the deal targets accelerated growth. The strategic goal driving the acquisition is to push the heritage label into new commercial territories, specifically accelerating Mammut’s expansion across China, Asia-Pacific, and North America.
Mammut has fundamentally reshaped its commercial trajectory during Jacobs Capital’s tenure, which began when the private equity group took ownership of the Aargau-based company in 2021. Annual revenue expanded at double-digit annual rates under that stewardship, and the operating margin more than doubled over the hold period. Today, more than half of the company’s turnover originates outside of Europe, shifting the brand’s center of gravity well beyond its Alpine origins.
CPE brings a distinct set of capabilities to the transaction, having assembled a capital portfolio managing over CHF 18 billion across its alternative asset vehicles. Despite the scale of that balance sheet, the firm has not previously been active in Switzerland marking its first documented entry into the Swiss market with this transaction. This makes the acquisition a deliberate cross-border deployment rather than a routine portfolio rotation, particularly given Mammut’s proven ability to scale internationally under private ownership.
The strategic fit relies heavily on the distribution channels Jacobs Capital already cultivated. A mountain performance brand built over 160 years in the Swiss Alps now operates as a genuinely global commercial entity rather than a regional manufacturer exporting surplus production. CPE’s mandate to accelerate penetration in Asia-Pacific and North America aligns directly with that existing export infrastructure.
Leadership continuity provides immediate operational stability during this equity transition. Keeping Heiko Schäfer at the helm ensures that day-to-day commercial execution faces no structural interruption. The deal effectively transfers capital oversight to a non-European investor while leaving product development and retail partnerships untouched, a common structure when acquiring businesses that have already maximized their operational leverage under prior management.
This transaction reflects a broader shift in how European specialty manufacturers are positioned for private equity accumulation. Brands that successfully transitioned from domestic heritage labels to international revenue generators over the last five years now sit at a premium valuation floor. Jacobs Capital’s willingness to sell, coupled with CPE’s aggressive capital deployment model, creates a bridge between Swiss industrial legacy and Asian institutional distribution. Mammut’s next chapter will be defined less by alpine craftsmanship alone and more by how well that foundation integrates into a vastly larger financial ecosystem.