Exit for DPE: Telefónica Tech acquires BE-terna for up to EUR 350m.

Madrid/ Munich — Tele­fó­nica Tech has acqui­red BE-terna, a leading Euro­pean provi­der of Micro­soft cloud solu­ti­ons for cloud-based indus­trial appli­ca­ti­ons, for up to €350 million (inclu­ding poten­tial profit sharing). The acqui­si­tion posi­ti­ons Tele­fó­nica Tech as one of the leading Euro­pean provi­ders of Micro­soft solu­ti­ons and secu­res its presence in Germany, Austria, Switz­er­land, the Adria­tic and Scan­di­na­via. — Gütt Olk Feld­haus advi­sed DPE Deut­sche Private Equity and other co-inves­­tors on the sale of BE-terna Group to Tele­fó­nica Tech. The closing of the tran­sac­tion is subject to anti­trust clearance.

Tele­fó­nica Tech will acquire 100 percent of the shares of BE-terna Group from Deut­sche Private Equity and other mino­rity share­hol­ders. The tran­sac­tion is subject to a valua­tion of BE-terna at 13.7 times gross opera­ting income (EV/OIBDA), taking into account syner­gies and expec­ted 2022 results. BE-terna gene­ra­ted pro forma sales of €121 million in 2021, show­ing a year-on-year growth rate of 30 percent. The tran­sac­tion will be comple­ted in the coming weeks follo­wing clearance by the German compe­ti­tion authorities.

BE-terna was foun­ded in 2005 and has a highly quali­fied team of more than 1,000 employees at 28 loca­ti­ons, inclu­ding Germany, Austria, Switz­er­land, the Adria­tic and Scan­di­na­via. As one of the five largest cloud Micro­soft Dyna­mics part­ners in Europe, BE-terna specia­li­zes in driving digi­tal trans­for­ma­tion prima­rily based on Micro­soft solu­ti­ons, but also works with Infor, UI Path and Qlik to opti­mize busi­ness proces­ses for diffe­rent industries.

The acqui­si­tion expands Tele­fó­nica Tech’s geogra­phic reach and profes­sio­nal and mana­ged services capa­bi­li­ties across Europe and under­lines its ambi­tion to become a leading provi­der of tech­ni­cal services in Europe. The acqui­si­tion of BE-terna once again demons­tra­tes Tele­fó­nica Tech’s growth story, with reve­nues approa­ching the 1 billion euro mark at the end of 2021 and growing by 33.6 percent year-on-year.

Advi­sor to Tele­fó­nica Tech: Clif­ford Chance
Lead part­ner Stefan Bruder, photo © Clif­ford Chance (Frank­furt) and Simon Schmid (Düssel­dorf, both Corporate/M&A).

Inhouse at Tele­fó­nica, Diego Colchero Paetz (Gene­ral Coun­sel Tele­fó­nica Tech) and Miguel Basterra Marti­nez de San Vicente (Direc­tor Legal M&A Tele­fó­nica) led the tran­sac­tion team.

Legal advi­sors to DPE Deut­sche Private Equity: Gütt Olk Feld­haus, Munich
Dr. Kilian Helm­reich (Part­ner, M&A/Private Equity, Lead), Isabelle Vran­cken (Senior Asso­ciate), Karl Ehren­berg (Senior Asso­ciate), Dr. Domi­nik Forst­ner (Asso­ciate, all Corporate/M&A)

About Gütt Olk Feldhaus

Gütt Olk Feld­haus is a leading inter­na­tio­nal law firm based in Munich. We provide compre­hen­sive advice on commer­cial and corpo­rate law. Our focus is on corpo­rate law, M&A, private equity and finan­cing. In these specia­list areas we also take on the litigation.

About Clif­ford Chance

Clif­ford Chance, one of the world’s leading law firms, is present for its clients with around 3,400 legal advi­sors in all major busi­ness centers around the world.
In Germany, Clif­ford Chance is repre­sen­ted by around 300 lawy­ers, audi­tors, tax advi­sors and soli­ci­tors in Düssel­dorf, Frank­furt am Main and Munich.