Accursia Capital · Value Creation Case Study · Oktober 2026

The Company

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Yourzip is one of Europe’s most traditional zipper manufacturers. The company traces its roots to the OPTI brand, founded in 1936, one of the pioneers of the spiral zipper and still used as a product brand today. For decades the business was part of the British Coats group. In 2023 it was carved out and sold to a financial investor. In 2025 Accursia acquired the German and the Estonian company.

Yourzip Germany produces in Rhauderfehn in East Frisia on around 22,000 m², Yourzip Estonia in Viimsi near Tallinn on around 7,000 m². Both plants manufacture spiral, metal and plastic zippers, from standard products to customised solutions, for customers in apparel, home textiles, workwear and protective clothing, and the automotive industry. Together the two companies generate revenues of around EUR 20 million with just over 180 employees.

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Substance Behind the Red Numbers

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The figures from the period before the acquisition show how serious the situation was. The German company had been loss-making for years. Operating earnings before depreciation stood at minus EUR 2.3 million in 2022 and minus EUR 2.9 million in 2023, on revenues of around EUR 16 million. In autumn 2024 the largest automotive customer also terminated its supply contracts. The Estonian plant was profitable, generating EBITDA of EUR 1.4 million in 2023. Its surplus liquidity, however, was passed on within the group instead of being invested in its own site. In 2024, EUR 0.64 million of this had to be written off. At the same time, administrative and IT costs rose, and EBITDA in Estonia halved to EUR 0.55 million. For Accursia, none of this was a reason to walk away. Red numbers do not deter us; a business model without a future does. Yourzip had what matters: substance, meaning customers, know-how and a position in the market.

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New Leadership as the Starting Point of the Transformation

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The transformation began with leadership, immediately after the acquisition in summer 2025. The most important decision was taken very early. Rather than waiting to see whether the existing leadership could manage the change on its own, Accursia consistently replaced the management and appointed Matej Kurent, an experienced restructuring manager, to head both companies.

In parallel, governance was reorganised with clear decision-making processes and a direct reporting line to the shareholder. In his first month, Matej Kurent asked himself just two questions: Why are these companies losing money? And with whom in the company can this be changed? After four weeks his diagnosis was clear. The problem lay less in the market than in the organisation. Both companies had considerable reserves that had never been used, because for years they had operated with the processes, cost structures and mindset of a large corporation.

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Step One: Restoring the Ability to Act

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The first measure after a transaction is always to secure solvency. Everything painful has to happen in the first weeks. At Yourzip, this above all meant stopping the cash burn. The expensive IT contracts from the former group structure were terminated as consistently as possible. In retrospect, this was the largest single cost lever. Inventory coverage was reduced within six months from around half a year to roughly three months. The high stock levels dated from a time when the group always provided liquidity. Payment plans were agreed with suppliers and creditors to reduce existing liabilities in an orderly manner. Factoring and new credit lines in Estonia secured the financing of necessary investments. In addition, the German and Estonian companies, which had previously operated separately, were merged into joint teams for sales, supply chain, production and finance. Especially after a carve-out, an organisation continues to follow corporate logic for a long time. Independence does not arise by itself; it has to be actively brought about.

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Step Two: Creating Transparency

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Integration into Accursia’s reporting produced a reliable picture of the actual situation. In addition, production controlling was introduced. Until then, nobody even knew how much was produced per day. Since daily output has been measured and managed, output has increased significantly. A further example shows how much transparency can achieve: the controller compared internally measured waste volumes with the waste disposal company’s invoices. The result: Yourzip was paying for twice as much waste as it actually produced. The cause was water in the waste containers. The team found the solution within two weeks. It was implemented only two months later, however, because every decision went across the plant manager’s desk. This revealed the real bottleneck. Speed of implementation is a question of clear roles and capacities, not of strategy. Controlling is more than reporting: it makes progress measurable and uncovers what remains hidden in the P&L. The consequence was to relieve the plant manager of day-to-day business, focus him on developing new products and move responsibility to where the problems arise.

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Step Three: Implementing Measures Together

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On this basis followed the catalogue of measures, developed together with management and the organisation. It was not a restructuring plan imposed from above; it began with listening. In a situation like this, speed does not come from launching as many initiatives as possible, but from clear answers to two questions: Who decides what, and who delivers what by when?

This is exactly where Accursia and Matej Kurent started together. With the new governance, Accursia had clarified the roles. On this basis the new management brought the organisation on board. In early September, all functional teams in Germany and Estonia spent a full day together. Each team had 15 minutes to show what works, what does not and what it proposes itself. Senior management deliberately stayed away, because the people on the front line see the inefficiencies every day. These sessions produced a list of measures that was implemented immediately. The HR team proposed consolidating all office workplaces in Germany on one floor to save space and heating costs, and implemented this itself. In addition, a corner marking machine in production had been idle for four months because nobody had set up its controls properly. Within 14 days it was running again. Under the previous leadership the problem had been known, but nothing had happened.

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Value Creation in Figures

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The value creation can be clearly expressed in figures. From January to August 2026, the two companies together achieved EBITDA of EUR 0.69 million, compared with minus EUR 0.91 million in the prior-year period, an improvement of EUR 1.6 million. A loss of EUR 1.4 million turned into a slightly positive result, even though revenue declined slightly. The turnaround therefore came not from the market, but from the organisation. 


 

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This is most evident in Germany, where EBITDA improved by more than EUR 1 million, from minus EUR 1.12 million to minus EUR 0.08 million. Where an operating loss of EUR 2.9 million stood in 2023, the company is now at break-even. Operating expenses excluding materials and personnel fell from EUR 3.46 million to EUR 1.31 million. Group charges of almost EUR 1.6 million were eliminated, IT costs fell from EUR 317 thousand to EUR 13 thousand, facility costs by more than a fifth and personnel expenses by 14%.

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Estonia shows where the journey is heading. After eight months, EBITDA of EUR 0.77 million already exceeds the figure for the whole of 2024. The EBITDA margin on total output is 15%. Inventories have fallen by around 11% since the beginning of the year, and operating cash flow stands at EUR 0.36 million. All this was achieved while a new ERP system was being introduced.

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The full-year view also confirms the turnaround. According to the current forecast, the two companies together will reach EBITDA of more than EUR 1.2 million in 2026, after minus EUR 1.5 million in the previous year, an improvement of more than EUR 2.7 million within one year.

This makes 2025 the low point: the first half of the year was still under the previous owner, and group charges alone burdened Germany with EUR 1.5 million. In 2026 Germany will reach operating break-even for the first time in years, and Estonia will almost triple its EBITDA to EUR 1.2 million. On this basis, the company plans revenue growth of 3% for 2027.

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Hurdles Along the Way

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Not everything went according to plan. The social dialogue with the German trade unions took three months in one phase alone, and the ERP implementation took two months too long. This is typical of turnarounds: the objectives are usually right, the timelines rarely.

What mattered was something else: from the end of September there was a management team that drove the change itself, and a managing director who walked through production and the warehouse every morning, showing that the transformation does not just happen in Excel.

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The Key Value Drivers of the Turnaround

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In retrospect, three key value drivers of the turnaround can be identified. The first is leadership. Accursia decided early and consistently to replace the existing management and appointed the right person in Matej Kurent before individual measures were decided, complemented by a reorganised governance. The second is operational transparency. The functional teams disclosed where things were stuck in daily operations, and the new controlling made visible what remained hidden in the P&L. What was identified was implemented quickly, which built trust in the change. The third is the focus on a few, right measures. Instead of a comprehensive programme, management concentrated on the levers with the greatest impact: terminating the expensive IT contracts, reducing inventories and merging the two sites into one organisation. These measures were consistently seen through, rather than launching many in parallel.

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From Turnaround to Growth

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Two companies that consumed capital have become a group that generates capital. Almost three quarters of the EBITDA improvement comes from Germany, where the elimination of group charges and a significantly leaner cost structure have ended years of losses.

Estonia contributes with almost triple the earnings power. Added to this is the cash effect: the liquidity that Estonia used to pass on to the group now stays in the company and finances investments on site. The workforce structure was adjusted only moderately. With the return to profitability, both production sites, their know-how built up over decades and the jobs will be preserved for the long term. The foundation of the transformation has thus been laid. 

 

The next phase of value creation will come from the market. The strategy for this has been defined and is already under way. It has two thrusts. First, Yourzip is expanding its portfolio with technical niche products with higher margins, such as S64 for the automotive industry or solutions for the defence industry. Second, the company is betting on speed for standard products: delivery within one week as a clear answer to Asian competition. Estonia already achieves this level, and Germany is catching up.

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For us, responsibility means recognising substance in a special situation, preserving it and making it valuable again.

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