Castik Capital-Portfolio: Alpega erwirbt wtransnet
München — Alpega acquires wtransnet to significantly expand its freight exchange footprint in Southern and Western Europe. wtransnet is the leading freight exchange in Spain and Portugal with a growing footprint in countries such as Italy, France and Germany.
wtransnet is owned by Wotrant SL, founded in 1996 and headquartered in Terrassa, Spain. Wotrant has shown attractive growth in the past and created an appealing product that is used by more than 11,500 customers. wtransnet differentiates itself from its competitors with a strong focus on ensuring trust between users of the platform, for example by thoroughly screening any new carrier.
Alpega’s freight exchanges Teleroute, Bursa and 123cargo focus on other geographic areas such as France, Benelux and Romania. The combination with wtransnet promises an increase of the liquidity in terms of shipments and trucks for all freight exchanges in the Group. This will improve the value proposition to customers who will be able to access a wider market in the future. It is envisaged that all freight exchange brands in the Group, including wtransnet, continue to operate in the market with different geographical focus areas.
Alpega intends to continue its investments in innovating freight exchange products to further improve their attractiveness to customers by adding functionalities allowing for more convenience and higher efficiency in the daily use of the products.
The management of Alpega, as well its majority shareholder Castik Capital, Foto: Michael Phillips, Investment Partner Castik Capital, are grateful to the founders of Wotrant SL, Jaume Esteve, Anna Esteve, Salvador Ejarque, Carmen Grau and Josép Maria Sallés about the opportunity to partner with Wotrant as this is an exciting strategic addition to the Group.
With the addition of wtransnet, Alpega is growing its carrier network to significantly more than 70,000 members across Europe, which provides for a strong value-add to its customers. Alpega was formed in 2017 as a leading global logistics software company that offers end-to-end solutions covering all transport needs, including transportation management solutions (“TMS”) and freight exchanges.
About Castik Capital
Castik Capital S.à r.l. (“Castik Capital”) manages investments in private equity. Castik Capital is a European multi-strategy investment manager, acquiring significant ownership positions in European private and public companies, where long-term value can be generated through active partnerships with management teams. — Castik Capital has an investment horizon of up to ten years – longer than most other private equity funds. This enables Castik Capital to focus resources on its portfolio companies and ensure sustainable, long-term value creation.
Founded in 2014, Castik Capital is based in Luxembourg and focuses on identifying and developing investment opportunities across Europe. Investments are made by the Luxembourg-based fund, EPIC I SLP, the first fund managed by Castik Capital, which had its final close at EUR 1bn in July 2015.
Berater Alpega-Gruppe: Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP
Partner Dr. Axel Wahl (federführend, Corporate/M&A, Frankfurt) und umfasste Partner Luca Leonardi(Corporate/M&A, Mailand), National Partner Didier Willermain (Corporate/M&A, Brüssel), den Counsel Leonardo Fedrini (Tax, Mailand) sowie die Associates, Karsten Silbernagel, Manuel Köchel, Ilie Manole (alle Corporate/M&A, Frankfurt), Virginie Sayag, Marie Aubard (beide Corporate/M&A, Paris), Federica Pecorini (Corporate/M&A, Mailand) und Zoé Janssen (Corporate/M&A, Brüssel).