Munich — Mavie, the leading provider of workplace health promotion in Austria, is expanding into the German market by acquiring a majority stake in wellabe.
The strategic partnership offers companies and employees a more comprehensive range of services to promote physical and mental health with innovative solutions and a strong network of experts.
Mavie, an innovative holistic healthcare provider from Austria, is entering the German market with the acquisition of a 60% stake in the HealthTech start-up wellabe.
wellabe offers health check-ups at the workplace and personalized, digital prevention programs.
With their mobile health stations, they provide employees with a comprehensive insight into their current health status in less than 20 minutes.
The results are available to participants in real time in the wellabe app and can be discussed with a health coach as part of a video consultation.
By acquiring a majority stake in wellabe, Mavie is taking a further step in its expansion strategy and consolidating its position as a leading provider of workplace health promotion in Austria.
Building on Mavie Work’s strong market position in Austria, the company will work with wellabe to offer an even broader range of innovative health services for companies in future. wellabe: HealthTech startup for healthier cooperation Founded in Germany in 2018, the HealthTech startup wellabe currently supports around 100 B2B customers in the field of occupational healthcare.
With health check-ups at the workplace, personalized, digital prevention programs and mobile health stations, the company gives participants a comprehensive insight into their current health status.
The resulting data-based recommendations are tailored to the specific needs of the participants and support them in making sustainable lifestyle changes.
Overall, risk factors can be identified in good time and lifestyle diseases can be proactively prevented.
The company is owned by the Austrian healthcare provider Mavie and SANA Kliniken AG, the third-largest private clinic operator in Germany. Mavie Work: Number 1 in Austria Mavie Work is a leading provider of workplace health promotion in Austria and supports companies and their employees on the path to a healthier organization.
Mavie’s portfolio includes everything that helps organizations and their employees stay healthy.
The services are holistic, encompass physical and mental health and range from modern, low-threshold diagnostic services to exercise programs, mental coaching and nutritional advice.
EAP (Employee Assistance Program) is dedicated to the mental health of employees in confidential personal consultations.
Managers are supported with coaching, seminars and training.
Mavie currently supports around 190 companies with around 145,000 employees.
Mavie is backed by experienced and passionate health experts who are committed to making a lasting and tangible difference to health. Mavie: innovative holistic health provider Mavie has been active as a group of companies since 2020. The Group’s aim is to develop into a holistic, modern healthcare provider that supports and accompanies people throughout their lives in maintaining and improving their health.
Mavie focuses on prevention (staying healthy) and rehabilitation (getting healthy).
Offers are available to both end customers (B2C) and corporate partners (B2B).
Mavie is already active with offerings such as Mavie Work, a provider of occupational healthcare with around 190 corporate customers throughout Austria.
The portfolio also includes cura domo, the Austrian market leader in 24-hour care and an expert in active & assisted ageing with more than 2,500 caregivers.
This is complemented by MavieMe, innovative home tests for blood and gut microbiome, both of which can be carried out conveniently and easily from home.
In addition, Mavie cooperates with the PremiQaMed Group in the development of healthcare services such as Health Mobil, a mobile healthcare service for companies.
As a holistic healthcare provider and strategic investor, Mavie focuses on existing business models and innovations in equal measure, identifying, developing and scaling them to make them accessible to as many people as possible.
Mavie sees itself as an innovator and business partner and invests in companies that fit its strategic focus in the healthcare sector and with which joint business models can be developed through collaboration. POELLATH provided comprehensive legal advice to Mavie with the following team:Christian Tönies, LL.M. Eur. (Partner, Co-Lead, M&A/VC, Munich) Markus Döllner (Photo © Poellath) , LL.M.
(London) (Counsel, Co-Lead, M&A/VC, Munich) Dr. Sebastian Gerlinger, LL.M.
(Partner, M&A/VC, Munich) Christine Funk, LL.M. (Counsel, IP/IT, Frankfurt aM)
Marvin May (Associate, Employment Law, Munich)
Author: Tatjana Anderer
Berlin/ Munich — Alphalytik Pharmaservice GmbH, a leading expert in pharmaceutical analytics, announces its integration into GREENPEAK Partners’ subsidiary, the CERTANIA Group, a dynamic group specializing in testing, inspection and certification services.
This strategic move represents a significant milestone for Alphalytik as it expands its offering of specialized stability testing and method validation services to a broader range of pharmaceutical clients. Alphalytik was founded in 1995 and is headquartered in Berlin, Germany.
Alphalytik has built a strong reputation as an independent laboratory specializing in drug product stability testing, method development and release testing under Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) and US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) guidelines.
With a focus on complex drug formulations, including low-dose and hormonal preparations, Alphalytik serves a diverse customer base that includes some of the world’s leading pharmaceutical companies.
The company’s expertise in ensuring the long-term safety and efficacy of pharmaceutical products makes it a reliable partner.
The merger with CERTANIA will give Alphalytik access to a powerful platform that will enable it to expand its service offering and strengthen its position in the pharmaceutical analytics market.
This partnership will enable Alphalytik to meet the growing demand for specialized pharmaceutical testing services driven by increasing drug development and regulatory requirements.
Dr. Nicolas Schauer has been appointed as the new Managing Director, while Dr. Richard Herzog, the founder of Alphalytik, will continue to support the company in an advisory capacity to ensure a seamless transition and continuity in customer relationships.
“We are excited to join CERTANIA, a group that shares our commitment to excellence in pharmaceutical testing,” said Dr. Richard Herzog, founder of Alphalytik.
“This partnership will provide us with the resources and support we need to continue providing high-quality, reliable services to our customers while pursuing new growth opportunities.” Karsten Xander, CEO and founder of CERTANIA, welcomed Alphalytik to the group and emphasized the strategic importance of the acquisition.
“The addition of Alphalytik significantly strengthens CERTANIA’s position in the field of pharmaceutical laboratory analytics. Their expertise in stability testing and method validation complements our existing services and we see great potential for synergies and growth.”
The acquisition of Alphalytik by CERTANIA underlines the Group’s commitment to expanding its competencies in the life sciences and strengthening its market presence in Germany and beyond.
The integration is expected to drive innovation, enhance the service offering and promote significant growth within the CERTANIA Group. CERTANIA offers medium-sized, knowledge-based companies a platform to develop under one roof, retain entrepreneurial freedom and at the same time benefit from the resources and support of the group. About Alphalytik: Founded in 1995 and headquartered in Berlin, Alphalytik Pharmaservice GmbH is a specialized pharmaceutical laboratory offering stability testing, method development and release testing for medicinal products.
With a focus on complex analytical requirements, Alphalytik serves a diverse clientele, including leading pharmaceutical companies.
The company’s expertise and accredited services ensure the long-term safety and efficacy of pharmaceutical products.
For more information, visit alphalytik.com. About CERTANIA: Under the umbrella of CERTANIA Holding GmbH, a new global market player in the fields of Testing, Inspection & Certification is emerging.
The group offers medium-sized partners a sustainable home for their life’s work.
CERTANIA enables entrepreneurs and owners to develop their business with like-minded people while preserving their entrepreneurial roots, corporate culture, brand and values.
More information at certania.com
Munich — The global law firm Reed Smith, together with DealCircle as main sponsors, invites you to the international conference pemacom for private equity specialists and M&A experts on September 24, 2024 in Munich.
Since 2010, the annual pemacom conference has taken place in Munich during the Oktoberfest and has continuously expanded the range of topics into a private equity and M&A platform.
The event sees itself as a “networking place-to-be” to exchange views on current developments in the markets, economy and strategy. Prof. Dr. Gregor Kirchhof, LL.M. from the University of Augsburg will open this year’s pemacom with a keynote speech on “Paradigm Lost? — About the European Path in a New World”. Dr. Nikolaus von Jacobs (photo © ReedSmith) and Christian von Sydow, both private equity and M&A experts and Partner/Senior Counsel at Reed Smith, will introduce the event.
“With this event, we are bringing together top-class discussion partners and experts from international private equity funds with leading German companies and international institutions and consulting firms, thus creating a unique opportunity for networking and direct exchange on the current private equity and M&A challenges in the market,” says Dr. Nikolaus von Jacobs, Partner at Reed Smith in Munich and Co-Chair pemacom.
The overarching theme against the backdrop of the impact of the US elections is to take stock of the private equity landscape in the current market.
Cross-border transactions to and from the US and within Europe are a topic of this year’s conference, alongside special sector panels on topics including ESG standards, the role of family offices, sector expertise for healthcare/life sciences and digital business models, a look at mid-market transactions and developments in the areas of AI and digitalization, financing and private funds.
Christian von Sydow, Senior Counsel at Reed Smith and Co-Chair of pemacom: “It may come as a surprise that the current transaction data shows that the market is gaining stability. It will be interesting to see what impact, if any, the US election will have on takeover activity. To explore this, our panels in the various sectors will provide an in-depth snapshot of the market and the expectations of market participants.”
All further information on the pemacom event on 24.9.2024 at the Bayerischer Hof in Munich and the current program can be found on the website www.pemacom.com
Bizzdesign and MEGA International, two Gartner-recognized leaders in Enterprise Architecture (EA) software, announced a definitive merger agreement.
In addition, Bizzdesign has signed a further acquisition that will bring the group to total revenues of EUR 110 million and over 600 employees.
These two significant acquisitions will create a leading global player in the digital transformation software market with offices, employees and customers around the world.
The combined group will continue to operate under the Bizzdesign brand, reflecting a shared commitment to innovation and customer-centric solutions. MEGA MEGA will be acquired by its founder and management, as well as by Belgian private equity investor GIMV.
The acquisition of MEGA marks the second step in Bizzdesign’s buy-and-build strategy since the merger with strategic software investor Main Capital Partners (“Main”).
MEGA was founded in 1991 and is headquartered in Paris, France.
The company is represented worldwide, has offices in 10 countries and employs approximately 350 people.
MEGA’s HOPEX platform enables collaboration, automation and actionable insights to accelerate transformation initiatives.
HOPEX’s four core solutions focus on Enterprise Architecture (EA), Business Process Management (BPM), Governance, Risk & Compliance (GRC) and Data Governance.
MEGA serves more than 600 customers in the EMEA, North America, LATAM and APAC regions, including major banks, insurance companies and aerospace companies. Building a global leader in Enterprise Architecture The combination of Bizzdesign and MEGA creates a new market leader in Enterprise Architecture and Digital Transformation, serving a diverse client base of more than 1,000 corporate and government institutions, including blue-chip clients such as HSBC, Shell, Wells Fargo and EDF.
With a highly complementary market presence across all continents, the merger will create a true global market leader in this field.
Bizzdesign and MEGA have been recognized as market leaders in Gartner’s Magic Quadrant for Enterprise Architecture for over ten years, underlining the leading position of both companies in this field.
The combined product offering is well positioned to support organizations in their enterprise transformation initiatives.
“We are very excited to partner with MEGA,” said Bert van der Zwan, CEO of Bizzdesign.
“The merger will accelerate our growth and enable us to deliver more innovative solutions and provide greater value to our customers around the world. We see a fruitful strategic partnership with great potential to deliver a value proposition in international markets together with MEGA.”
Luca de Risi, CEO of MEGA International, explains: “Bizzdesign is an excellent strategic and cultural fit for MEGA.
Our combined strengths and resources will greatly enhance the value of enterprise architecture in transforming organizations.
The MEGA management team is very excited to be a part of this. Sven van Berge Henegouwen, Managing Partner at Main and Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Bizzdesign, summarizes: “This transaction is a milestone in Bizzdesign’s growth strategy. We strongly believe in working with committed entrepreneurs to accelerate innovation for the benefit of their customers. Over the past 20 years, this has been one of the key value drivers for Main Capital in the successful organic and buy-and-build growth strategies we have executed with our business partners. With Bizzdesign and MEGA, we are bringing together two companies that are both known for their innovation and expertise in enterprise architecture, creating a strong foundation for further global expansion. The merger reinforces our strategy of building leading international software groups in one of our core product markets and also marks the official launch of our expansion into France.”
The closing of the MEGA acquisition is still subject to the necessary regulatory approvals. Additional strategic acquisition in the field of digital transformation In addition to the acquisition of MEGA, Bizzdesign recently signed another significant strategic acquisition in the field of digital transformation.
This further acquisition will further strengthen the Group’s already global market-leading position in this area and bring additional complementary and synergistic product opportunities to the Group.
The combined group, including this undisclosed acquisition, will generate revenues of approximately EUR 110 million and employ over 600 people, creating a strong foundation for further organic and inorganic growth.
A detailed announcement of this latest acquisition is expected to be published during Q4 2024. About Bizzdesign https://bizzdesign.com/ Founded in 2000, Bizzdesign is recognized as the trusted global SaaS platform for enterprise architecture and is recognized as a leader by major analyst firms such as Gartner and Forrester.
Bizzdesign helps the world’s leading public and private organizations ensure successful prioritization of investments, transformation initiatives and risk management.
Bizzdesign helps architects and executives to fully envision multidimensional architectural structures, design and plan both current and future architecture, and execute their strategic transformation initiatives with confidence. About MEGA International https://www.mega.com/ Founded in 1991, MEGA is a global software provider specializing in digital transformation solutions to connect IT leaders, process owners, risk managers and data governance officers.
The company is headquartered in Paris, France, and has offices in 10 countries worldwide.
MEGA’s SaaS platform, HOPEX, enables collaboration, automation and creates actionable insights to accelerate transformation initiatives. MEGA serves more than 600 clients in the EMEA, North America, LATAM and APAC regions, including large banks, insurance companies, public administration and the airspace industry. About Main Capital Partners https://main.nl/ Main Capital Partners is a leading software investor in the Benelux, DACH, the Nordics, and the United States with approximately EUR 6 billion in assets under management.
Main has over 20 years of experience in strengthening software companies and works closely with the management teams in its portfolio as a strategic partner to achieve profitable growth and larger outstanding software groups.
As a leading software investor managing private equity funds active in Northwestern Europe and North America, Main has over 75 employees operating out of its offices in The Hague, Düsseldorf, Stockholm, Antwerp, and an affiliated office in Boston.
Main maintains an active portfolio of over 45 software companies.
The underlying portfolio employs over 12,000 employees.
Through its Main Social Institute, Main supports students with grants and scholarships to study IT and Computer Science at Technical Universities and Universities of Applied Sciences.
Berlin — Monda, the all-in-one data monetization platform, announced that it has raised USD 5 million in a seed funding round.
The round was led by Senovo and Acrobator Ventures, with participation from Techstars.
The capital will be used to expand business operations in the US, grow the partner ecosystem and expand the platform to enable any business to securely monetize data.
Monda’s software enables companies to start and scale a data services business.
Monda has seen strong growth in 2024 and the platform is now used by over 150 Data-as-a-Service (DaaS) companies that have created more than 6,000 data products.
Monda has built key partnerships and integrations with world-leading cloud platforms such as Google Cloud, Databricks and SAP.
Since the beginning of the year, the team has doubled to 32 employees.
In addition, Monda is opening its first US office in Boston in fall 2024 to be closer to North American customers, who make up 50% of its customer base.
Monda was founded by tech entrepreneurs and data experts Thani Shamsi and Richard Hoffmann
as a spin-off of Berlin-based Datarade, the world’s largest comparison platform for data providers. Thani Shamsi, founder and CEO of Monda, said: “AI has created a huge demand for high-quality and unique data sets to train AI models. Companies have recognized the monetization of their proprietary data for AI as a business opportunity, but face an increasingly complex global data market. Having worked for a data provider myself, I know these challenges first-hand. We have created Monda to enable any company to build a secure, growing and sustainable data services business — driving AI forward.” More and more AI companies are trying to secure access to proprietary data sets to train and refine their models — and are signing data licenses with data-rich companies like Reddit, Shutterstock, or Yelp. But technical, regulatory and operational challenges prevent companies from monetizing their data: Building a successful data-as-a-service business involves creating data products, integrating with data marketplaces, setting up data distribution, securely sharing data, handling data licenses, and managing compliance. Mona Gindler, Partner at Senovosaid: “As the sourcing and monetization of data moves into the mainstream, data providers need better tools to manage the increasing complexity of the data market. Monda helps them reach more customers while reducing operational overhead, putting the company in a strong position to lead this new software category. Thani and Richard have built a fantastic team and culture in Berlin. We are excited to support their expansion into the US with the new Boston office.” Monda’s data monetization platform has three key differentiators: First, the product is easy to use and allows business users to create data products and publish them to their own data storefront or data marketplaces in just a few clicks. Secondly, Monda’s vertical SaaS approach enables companies to run and manage their entire data services business on one platform. Thirdly, customers appreciate the first-class service and support from an international customer care team. Part of the seed funding will be used to further develop data integrations with cloud platforms, support unstructured data products and roll out additional compliance functionalities.
Richard Hoffmann, Founder and President of Monda, said: “The opening of our first US office in Boston is a pivotal moment for Monda, our US customers and for me personally. I am currently relocating with my family from Germany to the United States to fully dedicate myself to the success and growth of our US client base and local team. The US has always been our most important market as a pioneer in data and AI innovation.” About Monda Monda is a leading B2B SaaS company in the data services industry.
Monda’s all-in-one data monetization platform enables any business to securely share and monetize its proprietary data.
The company was founded in 2024 by Thani Shamsi and Richard Hoffmann as a spin-off of Datarade, the world’s largest comparison platform for data providers.
Monda’s vision is to create a global ecosystem for transparent, secure data sharing to accelerate the AI revolution and progress.
— https://www.monda.ai/ About Senovo Senovo is an early stage venture capital firm based in Munich and Berlin, partnering with exceptional founders and building global B2B SaaS category leaders from Europe.
As a European first-mover, the fund has been investing since 2013 in a new generation of B2B software start-ups that enable the digitalization of medium-sized and large companies.
Senovo invests after the first sales of a company in a late seed or Series A round.
The team of SaaS specialists looks for meaningful relationships at eye level and regularly publishes their insights and expertise on https://medium.com/senovovc. — https://senovo.vc About Acrobator Ventures Acrobator Ventures is an operator-led VC focused on (pre-)seed founders building technology and data companies.
The partners bring a deep understanding of AI/ML and operational excellence with a founder-first mentality.
— https://acrobator.vc
— Lakestar is leading the Series B round, with Elaia and General Catalyst, Speedinvest and Bertelsmann as well as several existing investors also participating.
The funding comes two years after Doccla raised a $17 million Series A round.
The startup Doccla is using technology to solve this problem: It is developing “virtual bed” technology that allows doctors to remotely care for patients who have either been discharged early or, in some cases, never come to the hospital at all.
The company has completed the new financing round to ensure that its expansion into the D‑A-CH region (Germany, Austria and Switzerland) and France is as successful as possible.
The company claims to enroll 1,000 new patients per month.
In the long term, Doccla is aiming for 100,000 new patients per month.
— According to a study funded by the NHS, regional NHS departments were able to reduce emergency room visits by 63 percent by using Doccla and at the same time achieve a 300 percent return on investment.
This probably also convinced those responsible at the Bad Reichenhall district clinic: they brought the system to Germany without further ado as part of a pilot project in February 2024, but are only using it for individual patients for the time being due to the healthcare system not yet being geared towards telemedicine.
Munich / Hamburg — Liberta Partners, a Munich-based multi-family holding company, has taken over CBW- College Berufliche Weiterbildung GmbH from founder and managing director Fahima Wieghard as part of a succession solution.
As part of the takeover, Ms. Wieghard’s daughter Naheed Priehn has been appointed as the new Managing Director.
Ms. Priehn has been with the company for 16 years and was most recently responsible for the operational management of the company as division manager.
Ms. Priehn has acquired a stake in the company as part of the transaction, thus sending a strong signal for the joint growth plans.
CBW is a DIN EN ISO and AZAV-certified training institute with locations in Berlin, Hamburg and Frankfurt am Main.
In addition to subsidized further training and retraining, which can be funded by education or activation vouchers, CBW also offers in-service and open seminars as well as individual company seminars.
CBW offers retraining and further training with state-recognized professional qualifications from the Chamber of Industry and Commerce as well as internationally recognized certificates, for example from SAP or Microsoft.
The focus is on commercial topics, IT training and individual coaching.
CBW also offers special German courses for refugees, particularly in the field of academic healthcare professions, which are funded by the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF).
Fahima Wieghard says: “After 20 years, it is time for me to pass the company on to new hands. I am delighted that we have found a responsible owner in Liberta Partners, who will provide my daughter with the best possible support in the further development of CBW.”
Naheed Priehn, Managing Director of CBW, says: “I am looking forward to working with Liberta Partners. The labor market is in the midst of structural change. We want to accompany this change with our offer and enable people to benefit from digitalization and give them new opportunities on the job market.” Nils von Wietzlow, Partner at Liberta Partners says: “CBW is ideally positioned for further growth. Fahima Wieghard and her team have developed a strong product that we want to expand further with Naheed Priehn. We see great potential for new locations, particularly in other major German cities, in order to give even more people access to CBW’s high-quality educational offerings.” CBW- College Berufliche Weiterbildung GmbH CBW is a leading training provider in the field of vocational training/retraining with locations in Berlin, Hamburg and Frankfurt am Main.
The company provides participants with up-to-date professional knowledge using the latest technologies for the labor market.
CBW offers challenging further training and retraining in commercial subjects, IT training, language courses and individual coaching.
Further information can be found at: www.cbw-weiterbildung.de About Liberta Partners Liberta Partners is a multi-family holding company based in Munich. The company makes targeted investments in companies in German-speaking countries, particularly in succession situations and group spin-offs, with clear operational and strategic development potential. These companies are actively developed as part of the 100% Core & Care concept and benefit from the entrepreneurial expertise of Liberta Partners. The Liberta Partners team consists of 20 employees working in the areas of M&A, Corporate Development and Legal & Administration, supported by an active industry advisory board. www.liberta-partners.com
Munich — With a cross-location team led by Munich partner Eike Fietz (Corporate/M&A), Deloitte Legal advised Rohlik founder Tomáš Čupr and his family office TCF Capital on the preparation of a strategic investment to rescue Töpfer GmbH based in Allgäu.
In cooperation with the restructuring experts from PLUTA and Grub Brugger as well as Deloitte Financial Advisory, the Deloitte Legal team developed an investment concept that includes a capital reduction and breaks new ground in a number of aspects.
The innovative deal structure provides for TCF Capital, an investment company owned by Tomáš Čupr, founder and CEO of the Rohlik Group, to acquire all of Töpfer’s business activities and assets.
The transaction will enable Töpfer to continue its business operations, in particular the production site in Dietmannsried, while preserving around 135 jobs.
Deloitte will continue to support the project with an interdisciplinary team until completion.
The closing of the transaction will take place in early fall 2024, subject to outstanding closing conditions, including the approval of the responsible antitrust authorities. Peter Klekner, CEO of TCF Capitalsays about the collaboration with Deloitte Legal: “With the Deloitte Legal team and Eike Fietz in particular, we had a partner at our side who was extremely committed, solution-focused and had an eye for the key issues. We were able to implement our investment in Töpfer quickly and efficiently and always had the legal issues under control.” Advisor TCF Capital: Deloitte Legal Eike Fietz (lead, corporate/M&A, Munich), Torsten Cülter (restructuring, Hamburg), Theresa Bayer (employment law, Munich), Stefan Weste (employment law, Berlin) Advisor to Töpfer: PLUTA Rechtsanwalts GmbH Florian A. Zistler, Ludwig Stern, Dr. Maximilian Pluta, Daniel Barth, Laura Holzmannstetter, Dennis Stroh Grub Brugger: Dr. Hans Konrad Schenk, Philipp Nuber, Lime Dauti About TCF Capital TCF Capital is an investment company and family office founded by entrepreneur Tomáš Čupr.
Its most important asset is the Czech Rohlik Group.
With a company valuation of over one billion US dollars, the Rohlik Group is one of the leading players in European online grocery retail.
Its broad product range includes around 17,000 products, from fresh food from regional suppliers to supermarket products and own brands.
With a turnover of 700 million euros and growth of 25% in 2023, the group is active in five European countries.
In Germany, Rohlik is known under the Knuspr.de brand. About Töpfer Töpfer GmbH is a leading manufacturer of organic baby food.
Its products include baby milk formula and baby porridge.
The company also produces natural cosmetics for mothers and babies.
All products are manufactured at the Dietmannsried site in the Allgäu region. Deloitte Legal Deloitte Legal refers to the legal practices of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited member firms, their affiliates or partner firms that provide legal services. Deloitte provides industry-leading audit and assurance, tax, consulting, financial advisory and risk advisory services to nearly 90% of Fortune Global 500® companies and thousands of private companies. Legal services in Germany are provided by Deloitte Legal. Our people deliver measurable, long-term results that help build public confidence in the capital markets, support our clients to transform and grow, and lead the way to a stronger economy, a fairer society and a sustainable world. Deloitte builds on more than 175 years of history and operates in more than 150 countries. Find out more about how Deloitte’s approximately 457,000 employees live the mission statement “making an impact that matters” every day: www.deloitte.com/de.
Stuttgart — Menold Bezler has advised BWK GmbH Unternehmensbeteiligungsgesellschaft on the acquisition of a majority stake in VTQ Videotronik GmbH.
The long-standing managing director and shareholder, Dr. Steffen Enke of VTQ Videotronik GmbH, will remain closely associated with the company.
BWK GmbH Unternehmensbeteiligungsgesellschaft, founded in 1990 and based in Stuttgart, is one of the largest German private equity companies.
BWK has around 300 million euros in investment funds at its disposal and currently has around 150 million euros invested in 20 companies.
VTQ Videotronik GmbH, based in Querfurt, Saxony-Anhalt, develops and produces high-quality electronic assemblies as well as various products and complete solutions in the field of video technology.
A Menold Bezler team led by partner Vladimir Cutura advised BWK on all legal and tax aspects of the transaction, including the financing. Advisor BWK GmbH Unternehmensbeteiligungsgesellschaft: Menold Bezler (Stuttgart)Vladimir Cutura, Foto (partner, lead), Thomas Futterer, Dr. Björn Staudinger, Nicole Brandt, LL.M.
(all corporate law/M&A); Carolin Nemec, LL.M.
(IT and internet law/data protection law); Isabelle Hörner (commercial); Lea Gäbler (IP); Elisa Himmer (real estate law); Dr. Frieder Werner (partner, employment law); Nico Haldy (partner), Clemens Mauch (partner), Laura Bommer (all tax); Daniel Haug (partner), Kevin Stegbauer (both audit) About Menold Bezler Menold Bezler is a commercial law firm in Stuttgart with a partnership structure and around 350 employees.
More than 140 professionals offer legal advice, tax advice, auditing and business advice from a single source. Our clients include well-known medium-sized companies, listed corporations, the public sector and its companies as well as non-profit organizations. More at www.menoldbezler.de.
Frankfurt a. M. — Tikehau Capital, the global alternative asset management group, announces the appointment of Christoph Rinnert as Head of Private Equity Germany.
In this role, Christoph Rinnert will lead the strategic development and management of Tikehau Capital’s private equity portfolio in the DACH region and focus on realizing investment opportunities that align with Tikehau Capital’s investment objectives.
The Group’s private equity strategy invests in mid-market companies with high growth potential, with a focus on digitalization, build-up and national and international expansion.
It targets dynamic themes such as sustainability, energy transition, regenerative agriculture, cyber security, aerospace and defense.
With this announcement, Tikehau Capital is expanding its extensive investment expertise and product offering in Germany across all four asset classes: Private Debt, Private Equity, Real Assets and Capital Markets Strategies.
Christoph Rinnert will be based in Tikehau Capital’s Frankfurt office and will report to Dominik P. Felsmann, Head of Germany, and Emmanuel Laillier, Head of Private Equity at Tikehau Capital. Christoph Rinnert (photo © Tikehaus Capital) has more than 15 years of experience in private equity and M&A.
Previously, he was a Director at 3i Deutschland Industriebeteiligungs GmbH and led the DACH industrial holdings business, global initiatives and numerous transactions.
Christoph Rinnert was a member of the Supervisory Board of Weener Plastics Holding B.V., a portfolio company of 3i, where he played a key role in the growth of the company and the execution of various acquisitions.
Prior to that, he gained extensive experience in M&A advisory at Rothschild GmbH and PricewaterhouseCoopers AG, where he led buy-side and sell-side projects and advised clients on valuation and strategic analysis.
Christoph Rinnert holds a Master of Engineering with First-Class Honors in Electrical and Electronic Engineering with Management from Imperial College London.
“With Christoph Rinnert, we have gained an experienced private equity expert for the German market. He brings a deep understanding of local conditions and a strong buy & build track record, which he has built up in his portfolio companies. His appointment also strengthens our holistic investment expertise across all four asset classes and underlines Tikehau Capital’s strong one-stop-shop offering,” said Dominik.
P. Felsmann, Head of Germany at Tikehau Capital . About Tikehau Capital Tikehau Capital is a global alternative asset management group with €46.1 billion in assets under management (as of June 30, 2024).
Tikehau Capital has a broad range of expertise across four asset classes (private debt, real assets, private equity and capital markets strategies) as well as private debt, real assets, private equity and capital markets strategies) and multi-asset and special opportunities strategies.
Tikehau Capital is a founder-led team with a differentiated business model, a strong balance sheet, proprietary global deal flow and a track record of supporting high quality companies and executives.
Deeply rooted in the real economy, Tikehau Capital provides customized and innovative alternative financing solutions to companies, striving to create long-term value for its investors and a positive impact on society.
The Group leverages its strong equity base (€3.1 billion of equity as of June 30, 2024) and invests its own capital alongside that of its clients under each of its strategies.
Tikehau Capital is driven by a strong entrepreneurial spirit and DNA, which is also shared by its 763 employees (as of June 30, 2024) across its 17 offices in Europe, the Middle East, Asia and North America.
Tikehau Capital is listed on compartment A of the regulated market of Euronext Paris (ISIN code: FR0013230612; ticker: TKO.FP).
www.tikehaucapital.com.
Bochum — SkinLove Ruhr GmbH, an innovative MedTech start-up from Bochum, has successfully completed a seed financing round.
The company was able to raise a mid-six-figure investment, which will be used to further develop and launch its revolutionary skin health solutions.
Founded in 2023 by Dr. Friederike Kogelheide, SkinLove Ruhr specializes in the development of cutting-edge cold plasma technology to effectively treat skin problems.
The company’s goal is to replace numerous consumable cosmetic products with its self-developed and German-made device.
This technology offers an innovative and sustainable alternative to conventional skincare products and aims to significantly improve users’ skin health.
SkinLove Ruhr successfully went through the accelerator program of Batch #1 of our partner HIGH-TECH.NRW and has recently launched its product successfully on the market.
The funds raised from the seed financing round will mainly be invested in the further development of the cold plasma technology and the preparation of the market launch.
In addition, SkinLove Ruhr plans to expand its production capacities and establish strategic partnerships in the health and cosmetics sector.
The seed financing round was legally advised by a team led by Dr. Patrick Müller, partner at the Düsseldorf office of the law firm HEUKING.
He was supported by Dr. Henrik Lay and Caroline Frohnwieser from Hamburg and Philipp Börger from Berlin.
HEUKING regularly advises young start-up entrepreneurs and supports them in all legal matters from their foundation to market entry. Advisors to SkinLove Ruhr GmbH: HEUKING Dr. Patrick Müller (lead), Düsseldorf, Dr. Henrik Lay, Caroline Frohnwieser, both Hamburg, Philipp Börger (all VC), Berlin
Stuttgart — A cross-location HEUKING team led by Stuttgart partner Dr. Hermann Ali Hinderer has provided legal and tax advice to Nolex AG on the takeover of Maibach Verkehrssicherheits- und Lärmschutzeinrichtungen GmbH.
The previous owners Hans-Dieter Maibach, Barbara Maibach, Sabrina Maibach and Marc-Christian Maibach are selling all of their shares in order to promote the future development of the company.
In the short term, there are plans to expand the product range and international sales.
Maibach VuL GmbH is a well-known and recognized specialist company in Germany and Europe in its product segments, primarily road safety, noise protection and amphibian protection.
The company has subsidiaries in Austria and Switzerland.
On August 1, 2024, Sven Bechtloff took over the management of the Maibach Group.
Sabrina Maibach, who was a member of the management board together with Hans-Dieter Maibach, will remain with the company.
Nolex AG is a Swiss investment holding company based in Wollerau that invests in small and medium-sized companies and develops them strategically and operationally on a sustainable basis using entrepreneurial expertise.
The acquisition of Maibach is the second transaction for Nolex this year.
Consultant Nolex AG: HEUKING
Dr. Hermann Ali Hinderer, LL.M. (lead, M&A), Dr. Frank Baßler (real estate law), both Stuttgart, Fabian G. Gaffron (tax law), Dr. Frederik Wiemer (antitrust law), both Hamburg, Christoph Hexel (employment law), Düsseldorf, Dr. Andreas Schabenberger (trademark, design & copyright law), Dr. Tania von Schwanebach (commercial), Marcel Behrendt, (corporate law), Carina Bart (employment law), all Stuttgart, Simon Pommer (tax law), Hamburg
Munich/Gütersloh — Biotec GmbH, a leading consulting and environmental laboratory specializing in microbiological hygiene and occupational safety, has joined the CERTANIA Group, a dynamic organization known for its services in testing, inspection and certification.
This strategic integration marks a turning point for Biotec GmbH and strengthens its ability to expand its environmental and hygiene solutions globally.
The CERTANIA Group is a portfolio company of GREENPEAK Partners.
Founded in 1991 and based in Gütersloh, Germany, Biotec GmbH has built a solid reputation over 25 years as a pioneer in air purification technology.
Its customer base includes industrial giants as well as major players in the food industry who rely on its expertise in comprehensive air purification testing and certification, drinking water analysis and specialized hygiene training.
By joining CERTANIA, Biotec GmbH positions itself on a strong platform that supports its commitment to excellence.
The partnership strengthens Biotec GmbH’s capabilities in the optimization of hygiene-sensitive production processes and the validation of washer-disinfectors in hospitals to meet stringent hygiene standards.
Under the leadership of Managing Directors Dr. Andreas Bermpohl, Jörg Weißer and Frank Weißer, Biotec GmbH’s management team will maintain its independence while accessing the resources of the larger group, which will allow for continued growth and expansion of services.
“We are very excited to be part of CERTANIA, as this allows us to increase our impact on ensuring safe and compliant environments,” said Dr. Andreas Bermpohl, Co-Founder and Managing Director of Biotec GmbH.
“This partnership not only expands our service offering, but also underscores our dedication to providing high-quality solutions backed by rigorous scientific expertise.”
Moritz Gruber, CEO and major shareholder of CERTANIA, welcomes Biotec and invites other entrepreneurs and companies in the field of scientific, laboratory and compliance services to join this unique group: “We offer the opportunity to integrate your business into a future-proof structure. Our goal is to build a group for the future where strong partner companies thrive while maintaining their identity. Biotec GmbH’s renowned expertise in microbiological hygiene perfectly complements CERTANIA’s focus on environmental and regulatory services. Together, we are well positioned to support industries in meeting safety and compliance standards amidst global challenges such as the COVID-19 pandemic.”
CERTANIA’s ecosystem provides a platform for mid-sized, knowledge-based companies to thrive under one roof, retaining their entrepreneurial freedom while benefiting from the group’s resources and support. About Biotec GmbH Founded in 1991 with headquarters in Gütersloh, Germany and a branch office in Mittweida, Germany, Biotec GmbH is a leading consulting and environmental laboratory specializing in microbiological hygiene and occupational safety.
With over 25 years of experience, we develop pioneering solutions for air purification in various industries and the food sector. Our services include air purity tests, inspections of HVAC systems according to VDI 6022 standards and hygiene training.
Biotec GmbH stands for excellence and supports its customers with high-quality services and expert opinions to ensure safe and compliant environments.
www.biotec-gmbh.de About CERTANIA Under the umbrella of CERTANIA Holding GmbH, a new global market player in the fields of Testing, Inspection & Certification is emerging.
The group offers medium-sized partners a sustainable home for their life’s work.
CERTANIA enables entrepreneurs and owners to develop their business with like-minded people while preserving their entrepreneurial roots, corporate culture, brand and values.
More information at certania.com About GREENPEAK PARTNERS Our goal is long-term growth and profitability by building sustainable businesses.
We are convinced that companies that are truly sustainable can achieve above-average returns in the long term.
At the same time, companies can only be truly sustainable if they are financially viable and growing.
Düsseldorf/Munich — McDermott Will & Emery has advised Great Point Partners (GPP) on the acquisition of contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) Lyocontract GmbH.
The senior secured loan provided by Rantum Private Debt Fund III serves as part of the purchase price financing for this acquisition.
— The transaction marks the first investment by the European arm of GPP Great Point Partners, which recently established a presence in London.
A McDermott team of German and US lawyers led by Dr. Jan Hückel and Ludwig Zesch provided comprehensive advice on the M&A transaction, including the acquisition financing by Rantum Capital. Great Point Partners, headquartered in Greenwich, Conneticut, is a leading investment firm focused on the healthcare industry.
Since its founding in 2003, GPP has provided growth capital and management buyout financing to more than 100 growth-oriented companies.
GPP is currently making new minority and majority private equity investments from its GPP IV fund. Rantum Capital is a mid-market financier for the German-speaking region (DACH), founded by financial professionals, successful entrepreneurs and former DAX top managers.
Rantum Capital currently manages three private debt funds focused on flexible, customized debt financing and one private equity fund focused on majority investments in mid-market companies.
Lyocontract GmbH, founded in 2007, is an independent contract development and manufacturing company based in Ilsenberg, Germany.
The company specializes in the production of liquid and lyophilized parenteral drugs, which are distributed worldwide for both clinical and commercial applications. Advisor Great Point Partners: McDermott Will & Emery, Düsseldorf/Munich Dr. Jan Hückel (Corporate/M&A, Düsseldorf), Ludwig Zesch (Finance, Munich; both lead), Robert K. Clagg (Chicago, Corporate/M&A), Daniel N. Zucker (Chicago), Alex Farr (Dallas), Michael J. Bruno (Miami), Daniel J. Bell (Washington, DC), Dr. Maximilian Meyer (Counsel, Frankfurt), Sarah Gabbai (Counsel, London; all Tax), Christian Krohs, Carina Kant (both Düsseldorf/Cologne), Dr. Laura Stammwitz (Counsel, Frankfurt), Timothy Carson (Counsel, Washington, DC; all Antitrust), Dr. Alexa Ningelgen (Public Law), Dr. Thomas Gennert (Employment Law; both Düsseldorf), Jana Grieb (Healthcare & Life Sciences, Frankfurt); Associates: Dr. Alexander Hoppe, Darius M. Mosleh (both Corporate/M&A, Düsseldorf), Jeff Cassidy, Joe Luzadder, Betty Miguelina Brito (all Corporate/M&A, Chicago), Matthias M. Bosbach, Romy Lanz (both Finance), Julian Rößler-Weis, Dr. Anja Bertrand, Max Küttner (all Antitrust; all Düsseldorf), Alexandra Heberle (Healthcare/Regulatory, Frankfurt), Dr. Tim Weill (Public Law), Lukas Deutzmann (Employment; both Düsseldorf), Carina Schützeberg (Frankfurt)
Essen/ Frankfurt a. M. — Global growth investor The Riverside Company (“Riverside”) has acquired a majority stake in GFOS Group (“GFOS”), a market leader for professional workforce management and personnel requirements planning.
Riverside will support GFOS in key strategic value creation strategies, in particular further internationalization and cloud migration.
The management of the company remains unchanged.
POELLATH provided legal and tax advice to the shareholders of GFOS in connection with the transaction.
Founded in 1988 and based in Essen, GFOS Group is an internationally recognized provider of innovative software solutions in the areas of workforce management, smart manufacturing and access control as well as secure and flexible cloud & IT infrastructures.
GFOS employs more than 200 people and, in addition to its headquarters in Essen, has another office in Hamburg and a subsidiary in Switzerland (GFOS Schweiz AG).
The company’s customer base comprises 4,500 customers in 30 countries.
These include ARI Armaturen Albert Richter GmbH & Co KG, Arthrex GmbH, Feller AG, IMS Gear SE & Co KG, MANN + HUMMEL International GmbH & Co KG, Transgourmet Deutschland GmbH & Co KG, NOWEDA Apothekergenossenschaft eG, Schwan Cosmetics Germany GmbH & Co KG and Senneiser electronic GmbH & Co KG. About Riverside Riverside is a global investment firm that focuses on partnering with companies to drive transformational growth and lasting value.
Since its inception, Riverside has made more than 1,000 investments and currently holds 140 portfolio companies.
The company employs more than 350 people at 15 locations on three continents. POELLATH advised the shareholders of GFOS on the legal and tax aspects of the transaction with the following team: Otto Haberstock, M.C.J. (NYU) (Partner, Lead, M&A/Private Equity, Munich) Gerald Herrmann (Associated Partner, Tax, Munich) Daniel Wiedmann, LL.M.
(NYU) (Associated Partner, Antitrust, Frankfurt aM) Dr. Andreas Reuther (Associated Partner, Employment, Munich) Daniel Zhu (Counsel, M&A/Private Equity, Munich)
Berlin — Macquarie Bank is facilitating new funding for the rental fintech Topi, which has grown strongly over the past year.
Further growth is now to be financed: Macquarie Bank Europe is providing a credit line of 50 million euros — linked to individual interim targets.
Previously, prominent venture capitalists such as Index Ventures and Creandum had invested a total of 50 million dollars in the young company, part of which already consisted of a credit line. Topi turnover increased twenty-fold The Topi founders Charlotte Pallua and Estelle Merle (photo © topi) together with online retailers such as Conrad and Cyberport, who offer “Rent with Topi” as a payment method for corporate customers alongside PayPal, credit cards and the like.
topi offers retailers a hardware-as-a-service platform through which they can offer their products for rent.
— With this financing, topi wants to continue to grow in both the German and Austrian markets.
Alongside this loan financing, Macquarie has also invested in the fintech start-up so that “our refinancing partners have an interest in the overall long-term success”, says Charlotte Pallua, one of the two founders.
Charlotte Pallua came up with her start-up idea during her job at tech company Apple.
At the time, she was analyzing possible subscription programs for iPhones — and thought about offering the service to different companies.
Corporate customers can now rent smartphones, laptops, robots and other devices from the Berlin-based company Topi, which Pallua founded together with Estelle Merle.
To date, the proportion of women in many development teams at German start-ups has been low.
At topi, the proportion of women is high.
The fintech currently employs 35+ people. Advisor topi: Vogel Heerma Waitz Dr. Clemens Waitz and Dr. Lorenz Frey from the law firm Vogel Heerma Waitz advised the fintech topi on this financing.
The company raised EUR 50 million from the Australian investment bank Macquarie.
The new financing consists partly of equity, but also of funds to refinance new products.
Dr. Clemens Waitz, Dr. Lorenz Frey Vogel Heerma Waitz is a Berlin-based law firm specializing in growth capital, technology and media.
Frankfurt a. M. — A cross-office team led by HEUKING partners Dr. Thorsten Kuthe and Dr. Kai Erhardt has provided legal advice to SGT German Private Equity GmbH & Co. KGaA on the acquisition of majority stakes in three internet payment service providers.
The acquisition will be financed by EUR 9.15 million in cash on the one hand and by issuing 24.8 million treasury shares on the other.
A price of EUR 2.40 per share has been set for the SGT shares.
On August 13, 2024, the Frankfurt-based private equity manager announced the acquisition of 72.9% of Funanga AG (Berlin), 75% of Campamocha Ltd (Malta) and 75% of Surfer Rosa Ltd (Isle of Man).
With this acquisition, SGT begins its transformation into a listed FinTech company, which will operate under the new name “The Payments Group Holding”.
The transaction is still subject to various conditions, including the necessary regulatory approval.
SGT German Private Equity GmbH & Co KGaA is a listed investment company based in Frankfurt am Main.
From its history as a leading German venture capital provider under the former name German Startups Group, SGT German Private Equity holds a heritage portfolio of minority stakes in partly promising German tech startups. Advisors to SGT German Private Equity GmbH & Co. KGaA: HEUKING Dr. Thorsten Kuthe (Capital Markets/M&A, lead), Cologne Dr. Kai Erhardt (M&A, co-lead), Hamburg, Dr. Christoph Gringel, Frankfurt, Dr. André Hofmann, LL.M.
(banking supervisory law), Frankfurt, Dr. Frederik Wiemer (antitrust law), Hamburg, Dr. Hans Markus Wulf (IP/IT), Hamburg, Marcel Maybaum (IP/IT), Düsseldorf, Stefan Westerheide, LL.M.
oec (Corporate/M&A), Cologne, Michèle von Lewinski (Banking Supervision), Frankfurt, Nathalie Hemmerling (Corporate/M&A), Hamburg, Tatiana Vorotnitskaya, k.i.n. (Capital Markets), Cologne About HEUKING With over 400 lawyers, tax advisors and notaries at eight offices in Germany, HEUKING is one of the largest German business law firms.
Founded over 50 years ago, HEUKING is one of the TOP 20 law firms with the highest turnover in Germany according to the industry publisher JUVE.
The spectrum of our legal advice ranges from medium-sized companies based in Germany and abroad to large international companies (including listed companies) in all matters of commercial law.
Aachen, August 9, 2024 — PL BioScience GmbH, pioneer in the field of sustainable, animal-free cell culture media, has successfully closed a Series A financing.
The financing round attracted significant investments from AVANT BIO (New York), LePure Biotech (Shanghai), b.value AG (Dortmund) and better ventures (Munich).
The four partners contribute their experience in deep tech, life sciences and health tech.
The consortium joins a group of existing investors led by Brightlands Venture Partners (Geleen) and TechVision Fonds (Aachen), who have once again pledged their support for the Aachen-based biotech company’s mission.
PL BioScience’s innovative Human Platelet Lysate (HPL) technology enables breakthrough developments in cell therapy.
“We look forward to continuing our support for PL BioScience and its outstanding HPL products in the coming years together with this great consortium of investors,” says Bernhard Kugel, Managing Partner of the TechVision Fund.
Dr. Luc Starmans, Partner at Brightlands Venture Partners, also expresses his continued commitment: “We warmly congratulate the team and welcome our new partners on this exciting journey. Together, we look forward to building on PL BioScience’s groundbreaking work to advance effective cell therapies that will bring transformative benefits to both patients and the planet.” Pioneering cell culture technology from Aachen
HPL is derived from donated blood that is no longer suitable for transfusion and offers a sustainable and effective alternative to animal-derived cell culture media. Conventional methods often use fetal calf serum (TCS), which is obtained from the blood of calf fetuses. With HPL, a more seamless transferability of research results to humans is possible. The technology ensures reliable results in laboratories worldwide, paving the way for major advances in regenerative medicine. “PL BioScience’s Elarem platform uniquely meets the needs of researchers by providing human platelet-based cell culture media along the entire research chain,” says Reinhard Vogt, Partner at AVANT BIO, who will join PL BioScience’s Advisory Board upon completion. “We are excited to support PL BioScience as it enters a new phase of commercial expansion, both with working capital and with our team’s decades of experience in cell culture media.”
Regenerative treatments based on cell therapies The company’s extensive customer base, which includes leading life science and biomedical companies, research institutions and university hospitals, relies on PL BioScience’s HPL to develop breakthrough cellular therapies. These cell therapies rely on highly safe and effective growth media to improve the treatment options for autoimmune diseases such as type 1 diabetes mellitus or the possibilities in wound healing. Tina Dreimann, founder and Managing Director of better ventures, summarizes the company’s mission: “We are excited to support PL BioScience in revolutionizing regenerative medicine with their innovative HPL technology. With a strong team, a proven market fit and a strategic patent portfolio, PL BioScience stands out as an exceptional investment in the biomedical space.” Massive growth in global demand for cell culture media Dr. Hatim Hemeda, co-founder and CEO of PL BioScience
is observing the growing demand for cell culture media that meet the high requirements of clinical studies: “The increasing number of clinical studies, especially with stem cells, is opening up promising approaches. This increase is driving the establishment of production facilities and the further development of regulatory frameworks, which is leading to a significant rise in global demand for cell culture media.” The global market for stem cell therapy, for example, is forecast to grow from USD 15 billion in 2024 to USD 63 billion in 2031, more than quadrupling in terms of market volume. (Source: Global Stem Cell Therapy Market, Coherent Market Insights, 2024.) This trend is clearly visible not only in Europe and the USA, but also in China, where demand for HPL is growing rapidly. “China currently relies almost exclusively on imported media for the cultivation of stem cells and T cells. With the advancement of regenerative medicine, the market potential for HPL culture media in China is huge,” said Yu Chen, CFO at LePure Biotech.
Strategic partnership drives geographic expansion Christian Wilkes, co-founder and CFO of PL BioScience
emphasizes the strategic importance of the international partnerships: “By offering high-quality, animal-free growth media, we have been able to build a solid reputation both locally and globally. The involvement of renowned investment companies from Europe, the US and China accelerates our global growth strategy and strengthens our presence in these emerging geographic markets.” Peter Kallien, Managing Partner and founder of b.value AG, highlights the potential of the Aachen-based company: “PL BioScience is perfectly positioned as its HPL meets the high demands of clinical cell culture while being scalable to serve the growing regenerative medicine market. We are proud to support a team that not only has the expertise, but also the passion to make a real difference.”
Frankfurt am Main / Bous / Merelbeke — KTP Kunststoff Palettentechnik (portfolio company of Frankfurt-based investment company VR Equitypartner) and conTeyor International (majority-owned by Dutch investor Gilde Equity Management) have merged to form a new market leader in the packaging sector.
The group combines KTP’s expertise as a leading specialist for reusable, foldable carrier and container systems made of plastic with conTeyor’s know-how in the field of textile inner packaging solutions.
Together, the group with around 1,000 employees will generate global sales of approximately EUR 200 million.
The transaction, which is still subject to regulatory approval, is expected to be completed this year.
KTP Kunststoff Palettentechnik GmbH was founded in 1988 and is a pioneer in the development and manufacture of sustainable and innovative reusable plastic packaging.
The foldable containers and large load carriers are made from 80% recycled material and save a significant amount of space when returning goods by reducing their volume.
From the Saarland, KTP supplies customers worldwide with the vision of making logistics greener by reducing CO2 emissions.
VR Equitypartner acquired a minority stake in KTP at the end of 2011 and has since supported the family entrepreneur and other management in the company’s strong expansion.
In addition to diversifying the customer structure and ongoing product innovation, a new production site was built in Lisdorf, Saarland, which enabled the company to reflect the high growth and deeper value creation in production.
In 2022/23, the Slovenian inner packaging specialist K2 PAK was also acquired. conTeyor, founded in 1995 near Ghent, is an international provider in the development and production of customized textile and steel packaging solutions for scratch- and damage-sensitive parts.
The company is a leader in innovative and sustainable packaging for the automotive industry.
Its customers include automotive manufacturers, household appliance and electronics producers in particular.
To achieve maximum protection with minimum space requirements, conTeyor uses advanced 3D design and construction methods, supported by proprietary software.
conTeyor’s production sites are located in Europe and North America.
conTeyor’s declared goal is to significantly reduce CO2 emissions through innovative packaging and to become an ESG pioneer in its field.
Gilde, a leading investment company from Benelux, has held a stake in conTeyor since 2018.
As part of the transaction, the KTP founding family Wintrich is withdrawing from the shareholder group and management, although the previous CEO Andreas Wintrich will continue to support the new group in an advisory capacity.
The KTP shareholders VR Equitypartner and Wagner Holding will retain a significant stake in the group.
The management team consists of the two conTeyor managing directors Orm Verberne (CEO) and Tim van Londersele (CFO) as well as KTP managing director Martin Hentschel (COO).
The current KTP site in Bous (Saarland) will serve as the group’s headquarters. Orm Verberne, CEO of conTeyor and the future group, says: “We are delighted to open a new chapter in the history of both companies. A joint market presence and the combination of our know-how is the best of both worlds and makes us a true House of Competence. Sustainability is in the DNA of KTP and conTeyor. We help our customers to cut costs and reduce their carbon footprint by developing reusable packaging and storage solutions with a long shelf life. The combination of standardized containers and customized inlays is the way to a more sustainable world.”
Christian Futterlieb, Managing Director of VR Equitypartner, adds: “The business models and market coverage of KTP and conTeyor are highly complementary — our KTP stands for foldable container solutions and load carriers made of plastic, while conTeyor offers individualized inner packaging solutions made of textile. A high-potential combination that benefits from the strong trends towards more sustainable logistics and customized packaging solutions. We look forward to working together with the employees of KTP and conTeyor as well as our partners Wagner and Gilde. In addition to the employees, special thanks are due to Christel, Andreas and Horst Wintrich and Martin Hentschel, whose tireless commitment has made KTP a unique success story.”
Andreas Wintrich, Managing Director of KTP, says: “Together with our long-standing partners, VREP and Wagner, we as a family and management have developed KTP into a strong and successful innovation leader. Sustainability, customer and employee orientation are our top priorities. The merger with conTeyor is an important step for the future of the company and the right time to hand over the baton to a new generation of managers. My family and I are delighted that KTP’s success story will continue.”
The VR Equitypartner transaction team: Sarah Ostermann, Vincent Mrohs, Jens Schöffel, Simone Weck, Falk Steckenborn Advisors VR Equitypartner on this transaction: M&A: Rautenberg & Company (Philipp v. Hochberg, Maximilian Gailer, Marcel Hellenthal) Legal: Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe (Dr. Christoph Brenner, Adrian Dengler, Stefan Riedl) Financial Due Diligence: Deloitte (Tanya Fehr, Nils Nobereit, Stefan Spies, Marvin Reissland) Tax Due Diligence: Deloitte (Hannah Hildebrand, Dorothea Paar, Marie-Christin Wienand) Tax Structuring: Flick Gocke Schaumburg (Dr. Florian Kutt, Larissa Rickli, Rickard Kelch) Antitrust Advice: Lupp + Partner (Tilman Siebert)
Munich — ARCUS Capital AG has acquired a majority stake in FLBE Health GmbH.
The founders Betül Yönak-Bein and Florian Bein, together with other shareholders, have acquired a significant stake in the company.
They will manage the business together with ARCUS in the future.
FLBE Health GmbH offers high-quality, certified organic bee products under the “bedrop” brand, which are primarily used as cosmetics and care products.
Since its foundation in 2020, the company has grown strongly and has established extensive multi-channel distribution.
Munich-based ARCUS Capital AG focuses on majority shareholdings in the DACH region.
ARCUS invests both its own capital and capital from selected co-investors.
The company portfolio currently consists of industrial, media and online companies with a total turnover of approx. 300 million euros. Legal advisors ARCUS Capital AG: Gütt Olk Feldhaus, Munich Dr. Sebastian Olk (Partner, Corporate/M&A, Lead), Dr. Dominik Forstner (Senior Associate, Corporate/M&A, Lead), Thomas Becker, LL.M., David Ziegelmayer (both Of Counsel, IP/IT/Commercial), Tobias Bergmeister (Associate, Corporate/M&A) Altenburg Fachanwälte für Arbeitsrecht, Munich: Andreas Ege (Partner, Employment Law) 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.
Munich — Gleiss Lutz has advised Jernbro, one of Sweden’s leading providers of industrial services, on the acquisition of Veltec Nordics Holding GmbH from Bochum-based PSS.
The transaction is expected to close in September 2024 and is subject to customary closing conditions and approvals.
Jernbro is a leading provider of industrial maintenance services and projects with 30 locations and over 1,000 employees in Sweden.
Veltec is a leading industrial services company with a strong presence in Norway and Denmark.
Jernbro is a portfolio company of Bluewater, an international private equity fund specializing in the energy sector.
Bluewater currently has USD 2.5 billion of capital under management with a portfolio of 19 companies, focusing primarily on projects or technologies that contribute to the energy transition.
As a signatory to the UN Principles for Responsible Investment, Bluewater has a strong focus on ESG.
Following the acquisition, a team of around 1,300 employees will operate in over 35 locations in Sweden, Norway and Denmark, providing comprehensive end-to-end industrial services and supporting decarbonization projects. Advisors to Jernbro: Gleiss Lutz Dr. Jan Balssen (lead, partner, photo © GL), Dr. Stephanie Dausinger, Dr. Adrian Schulz (all Munich), Dr. Pirmin Emanuel Schreiner (all M&A, Berlin), Dr. Stefan Mayer (partner), Dr. Dominik Monz (both Frankfurt), Jochen Pfleger (all tax, Hamburg), Dr. Alexander Molle (partner, Berlin), Christian Eulenpesch (both commercial, IP/tech, Stuttgart).
Jernbro was also advised on the acquisition by the law firms Wikborg Rein Advokatfirma AS and Accura Advokatpartnerselskab. About Gleiss Lutz Gleiss Lutz offers full service at the highest level in offices in Berlin, Frankfurt a. M., Stuttgart, Munich, Düsseldorf, Brussels and London.
We aim to be a market leader in every area of law and every sector.
The special plus: our lawyers always keep an eye on aspects to the right and left of their own area of law.
If necessary, they involve experts from all relevant areas in a project on an ad hoc basis.
In individually assembled teams, we develop innovative solutions and pragmatic recommendations for action, even for the most difficult and complex issues facing companies.
www.gleisslutz.com
Schaffhausen, Switzerland — Acronis (the “Company”) and EQT have agreed that EQT X Fund (“EQT”) will acquire a majority stake in Acronis.
The Company’s founders, management team and current investors — including CVC, Springcoast and BlackRock Private Equity Partners — will remain as significant minority investors.
The transaction values Acronis above the valuation of the last investment round in 2021 (2021: over USD 250 million at a valuation of USD 2.5 billion).
Founded in 2003, Acronis is a leading provider of IT solutions for managed service providers, offering an integrated, highly efficient platform for cyber security and data protection.
As data volumes continue to grow and IT landscapes become more complex, companies are increasingly recognizing the importance of cyber security.
Acronis enables its customers to outsource IT functions while ensuring high standards of data security, integrity and reliability.
Through managed service provider distribution, Acronis is well positioned to continue to rapidly expand its customer network.
With 15 locations worldwide and more than 1,700 employees, Acronis has a network that spans 150 countries and enables more than 20,000 service providers to protect the data of over 750,000 organizations.
Johannes Reichel (Photo: EQT),
Partner and Co-Head of Technology in EQT’s Private Equity Advisory team, said: “Acronis has built a strong market position as a cyber security and data protection software platform by offering a compelling proposition to managed service providers. EQT has followed the company’s development over many years and has been impressed by its performance and innovation. We are very excited to partner with Acronis, the management team and existing investors in the next phase of growth.”
Ezequiel Steiner, CEO of Acronis, said: “We are very pleased to have EQT on board as a majority shareholder who supports our strategic expansion and stands behind our growth vision. We would like to thank our existing investors for their support and are pleased that many of them will remain involved. Most importantly, I would like to thank the Acronis team for the outstanding work that has enabled us to achieve this.”
Phil Goodwin, Research Vice President at IDC, said of Acronis’ product offering: “Data security is the foundation of cyber security and the two areas are increasingly intertwined. Acronis’ architecture of integrated data protection, cyber security and remote management in a single, customizable platform enables managed service providers and IT departments to easily and reliably build a robust cyber readiness for their business.”
The closing of the transaction is subject to customary regulatory approvals and is expected to close in the
1st to
2nd quarter of 2025. Advisor Acronis: Willkie Farr & Gallagher About EQT EQT is a global investment organization with EUR 246 billion in assets under management (EUR 133 billion in fee-earning assets) across two business lines — Private Capital and Real Assets.
EQT’s funds invest in companies in Europe, Asia, the Pacific and the Americas. EQT supports its portfolio companies to achieve sustainable growth, operational excellence and market leadership.
www.eqtgroup.com About Acronis Acronis is a global cyber protection company that provides directly integrated cyber security, data protection and endpoint management for managed service providers (MSPs), small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) and enterprise IT departments.
Acronis solutions are highly effective and designed to identify, prevent, detect, respond to, remediate and recover from modern cyber threats with minimal downtime.
This complete approach ensures data integrity and business continuity.
Acronis offers the most comprehensive security solution on the market for MSPs with its unique ability to serve the needs of diversified and decentralized IT environments.
Acronis is a Swiss company founded in Singapore in 2003 and has 15 offices and employees in over 50 countries worldwide.
Acronis Cyber Protect is available in 26 languages in 150 countries and is used by over 20,000 service providers to protect over 750,000 organizations.
Learn more at www.acronis.com.
Munich — FSN Capital, a private equity company based in Scandinavia and Germany, has raised 588 million euros for its “FSN Capital Confluence” fund.
The newly launched fund focuses on the re-investment in two portfolio companies whose regular holding period is coming to an end.
FSN Capital Confluence is acquiring the managed IT service provider Nordlo and the traffic safety and infrastructure solutions provider Saferoad.
Both had been held by FSN Capital Fund V since 2018. The new investment by the continuation fund provides both companies with additional capital and lays the foundation for the next growth phase. The fund was significantly oversubscribed at closing The investors include leading institutional investors, including international foundations, pension funds and investment managers, some of whom were and are already involved in previous FSN Capital funds.
The main investor is Liechtenstein-based LGT Capital Partners; AltamarCAM Partners and Cubera act as co-underwriters.
As a so-called continuation fund, FSN Confluence follows a model that is still relatively new in the industry: initially it was a vehicle for the continuation of investments that were difficult to sell, but today it is generally used to support successful companies at the end of the previous fund term.
With the Capital Confluence Fund, FSN aims to seamlessly continue its successful partnership with attractive portfolio companies and thus support them on their continued growth path.
“We were able to solve a common dilemma in such models with an attractive construct for all sides,” explains Robin Mürer, Co-Managing Partner at FSN Capital Partners.
“Unusually for the industry, we offered existing investors the opportunity to switch to the continuation fund at the previous conditions. Many took advantage of this status quo rollover option, while others used the opportunity to raise liquidity,” the investment expert continued.
For FSN Capital Confluence’s two portfolio companies, the re-investment represents an opportunity for additional organic growth and further strategic add-on acquisitions.
Nordlo, which FSN Capital formed through the merger of four Scandinavian IT companies, has already made 15 such acquisitions and is one of the region’s leading providers of managed IT outsourcing, cloud services and process digitization.
Saferoad is considered one of the largest European service providers for traffic safety.
Since the delisting in 2018 and the subsequent split into Saferoad and ViaCon, the company has been on a steady growth path through FSN Capital, driven by innovation, ESG leadership, operational excellence initiatives and strategic market consolidation. Fredrik Almén, CEO of Nordlosays: “The continuation of the partnership opens up exciting new opportunities for further development. With additional capital, we can further expand Nordlo’s successful entrepreneurial model and grow through even larger acquisitions, both in the Nordics and in other markets.” Bernd Frühwald, CEO of Saferoadcommented: “We look forward to continuing our journey together with FSN Capital. We share a passion for road safety, sustainable infrastructure and our goal to create value for our customers, employees and society. Looking to the future, our partnership puts us in an excellent position to seize new opportunities and lead the way in our industry.” Michael Gentili, Head of Capital Markets at FSN Capital Partnersadded: “Through FSN Capital Confluence, the FSN Capital funds reaffirm their support and confidence in Nordlo and Saferoad and their management teams. It is particularly pleasing to have such high profile investors at the helm with LGT Capital Partners, AltamarCAM Partners and Cubera and so many existing FSN Capital V investors wanting to be part of this next phase of growth — we look forward to continuing our journey together.” André Aubert, Partner at LGT Capital Partners“We have been covering the secondary market for more than two decades and have focused on attractive, high-quality assets. With this transaction, we are not only supporting Nordlo and Saferoad, but also deepening our partnership with FSN Capital Partners. This creates opportunities for both FSN Capital V and our own investors.” The advisers to the fund closing: Campbell Lutyens and K&E About FSN Capital FSN Capital, one of the leading Northern European private equity firms, was founded in 1999 and has four offices in Oslo, Stockholm, Copenhagen and, since 2017, Munich.
The four funds advised by FSN Capital have more than four billion euros under management; for the latest Fund VI, 1.8 billion euros were raised for investments in Scandinavia and the DACH region.
The funds make majority investments in growth-oriented companies in order to support them in their continued success and to make them even more sustainable, competitive, internationalized and profitable.
True to the motto “We are decent people making a decent return in a decent way”, FSN Capital’s team of more than 90 people (25 of whom are based in Munich) is committed to investing responsibly, achieving a positive ESG impact on the portfolio and generating market-leading returns.
Current portfolio companies in Germany include Bäcker Görtz, MEGABAD (Swash Group), Ecovium, Lobster, impreg, Adragos Pharma, Rameder and TASKING.
www.fsncapital.com
Frankfurt am Main — Deutsche Beteiligungs AG (DBAG) is investing in UNITY AG — Aktiengesellschaft für Unternehmensführung und Informationstechnologie (UNITY AG), a leading international consulting firm specializing in technology consulting and digitalization processes.
A fund advised by DBAG acquires a controlling stake in UNITY AG.
The previous shareholder, UNITY Innovation Alliance, which in turn is owned by its founders and employees, acquires an almost equal economic stake.
In addition, UNITY AG employees are also investing directly in UNITY AG as part of the transaction.
This results in a constellation of strong partners through the capital share ratios.
The transaction, which is still subject to approval by the antitrust authorities, is expected to be completed by the end of the third quarter of 2024.
The parties have agreed not to disclose the terms of the sale. Holistic consulting approach for sustainable success UNITY AG, which was named as one of the 14 most important management consultancies in Germany in the renowned Lünendonk® List 2024, offers comprehensive services to clients such as AIRBUS, GEA, Lufthansa Technik, Mercedes-Benz, Miele and the University Hospital of Cologne.
From 14 locations, almost 400 employees enable UNITY AG customers to successfully position themselves in the age of digitalization and sustainability — in 2023, a total output of more than 72 million euros was generated.
Traditional, isolated consulting approaches fall short due to the complex challenges of digital transformation.
This is UNITY AG’s core area of expertise.
It offers its customers the experience of hundreds of successful projects paired with the innovative power of continuous further development of its areas of expertise and consulting approaches.
The strong growth of UNITY AG also characterizes this strategy.
In recent years, the company has grown by an average of 13 percent per year, clearly outperforming the overall market in Germany (approx. seven percent). UNITY AG is an ideal addition to DBAG’s portfolio The investment decision stems from the fact that the digitalization market is largely resilient to macroeconomic effects.
The demand for consulting services is characterized by structural growth and therefore offers attractive development opportunities.
These can be further intensified through the implementation of strategic M&A transactions.
As a management consultancy, UNITY AG fits seamlessly and complementarily into DBAG’s IT services and software portfolio, which accounts for around 17 percent of the overall portfolio.
The investment in UNITY AG will benefit from this sector expertise and DBAG’s network.
Both are fed by current (akquinet, AOE, Cloudflight, freiheit.com) and former (in-tech, Solvares) investments. “UNITY AG is an ideal addition to our portfolio. The company impresses with its innovative and integrative consulting approach, which goes far beyond pure IT consulting. UNITY AG supports customers as a sparring partner along the entire value creation process. This turns them into digital champions and also enables them to take the demanding challenges of digitalization into their own hands. Together with the founders, board members and partners of UNITY AG, this forms the basis for the growth path that we have jointly defined and that will be pursued in the coming years,” says Jannick Hunecke, Member of the Management Board of Deutsche Beteiligungs AG (Photo: DBAG).
Values and management systems guarantee success UNITY AG organizes its services within seven service units, including Cyber Security, IT Transformation and Sustainability.
The range of services is value-oriented and is based on “Innovate”, “Integrate”, “Transform” and “Realize”.
These values are the foundation of the consulting approach and ensure successful project implementation.
The UNITY AG management system plays a central role in the corporate strategy, focuses action on a concrete target image and serves as a compass in consulting.
By continuously analyzing new trends, UNITY AG is able to anticipate and identify dynamic and technological developments at an early stage.
The high quality of the management system is regularly confirmed by external certifications, including the internationally valid DIN EN ISO 9001:2015 and DIN EN ISO/IEC 27001:2017 for information security management.
Future-oriented consulting for digital change “We are looking forward to great growth opportunities thanks to our brand core of ‘innovation, digitalization and transformation’. This can be further leveraged through strategic acquisitions. DBAG’s diverse M&A experience also helps us here. In this respect, we are very much looking forward to the collaboration and the opportunity to work together on our strategic development,” says
Christoph Plass, founder and CEO of UNITY AG, explains further: “We have found the ideal investor in DBAG. Its proximity to SMEs and its sector expertise represent real added value for UNITY AG. In addition to these technical factors, the ‘cultural fit’ also played a decisive role for us — we not only share a common vision, but also the same values.”
Dr.-Ing. Frank Thielemann, long-standing CEO of UNITY AG, adds: “In recent years, we have realized a very successful organic growth story. The industry and customer portfolio that we have built up is an excellent basis, also for our organic growth in the coming years. The continuation of this path — coupled with the additional opportunities of acquisitions with our strong investor DBAG — will lead to a more ambitious growth path.”
UNITY AG is committed to active transformation.
In this respect, the corporate strategy is geared towards linking all relevant economic and ecological factors in order to continuously increase customer and employee satisfaction.
This claim is underlined by various awards.
These include the fifth “Best of Consulting” award from WirtschaftsWoche, the “Top Company” award from the employer rating portal kununu and the “Very Good Employer” award from the international research and consulting institute Great Place to Work®.
In addition, numerous certifications and memberships in the ESG context, such as the UN GLOBAL Compact, the German Sustainability Code, the ecovadis® award and the ÖKOPROFIT® certification, demonstrate UNITY AG’s high level of ESG commitment. About DBAG Deutsche Beteiligungs AG (DBAG), which has been listed on the stock exchange since 1985, is one of the most renowned private equity companies in Germany. As an investor and fund advisor, DBAG’s investment focus has traditionally been on medium-sized companies with a focus on well-positioned companies with development potential, primarily in the DACH region. The industry focus is on manufacturing companies, industrial service providers and IndustryTech companies — i.e. companies whose products enable automation, robotics and digitization — as well as companies from the broadband telecommunications, IT services, software and healthcare sectors. Since 2020, DBAG has also been represented in Italy with its own office in Milan. Assets managed or advised by the DBAG Group amount to approximately 2.6 billion euros. As part of its strategic partnership with ELF Capital Group, DBAG is adding private debt capital to its range of flexible financing solutions for SMEs.
Berlin — identity.vc has launched the first European LGBTQ+ venture capital fund with a target volume of EUR 50 million.
The investor team includes Til Klein, former BCG partner and FinTech founder, Jochen Beutgen, family office investor with 20 years of experience in venture capital and Mari Luukkainen, marketing expert and former investor at Icebreaker.vc.
Identity.vc invests primarily in LGBTQ+-led start-ups at founder or management level (C‑level) across all industries.
The focus is on young companies, from the pre-seed to the Series A phase, primarily in Europe, but also beyond.
The social impact fund (Article 9 SFDR) has already made four investments, including in the Berlin start-up Frontnow, which has developed an AI solution for online retailers, and in the London start-up Omni, which offers vegan dog food. POELLATH advised identity.vc on all contractual, regulatory and tax aspects of the fund structuring and contractual documentation with the following Berlin team: Dr. Philip Schwarz van Berk (Photo, Partner, Lead, Private Funds) Katharina Hammer (Associate, Private Funds)
About PÖLLATH POELLATH is a market-leading international business and tax law firm with more than 180 lawyers and tax advisors in Berlin, Frankfurt and Munich. We stand for high-end advice on transactions and asset management. We offer legal and tax services from a single source. In our selected and highly specialized practice groups, we not only know the law, but also shape best practice in the market together with our clients. National and international rankings regularly list our consultants as leading experts in their field. We offer comprehensive services in the following areas: Mergers & Acquisitions | Private Equity | Venture Capital | Private Funds | Real Estate Law | Corporate and Capital Markets Law | Financing | Tax Law | Succession and Assets | Foundations and Non-Profit Organizations | IP/IT, Distribution and Antitrust Law | Litigation and Arbitration.
www.pplaw.de www.identity.vc
Munich — Biomatter, a company in the field of synthetic biology, closes a seed financing round of 6.5 million euros.
UVC Partners and Inventure VC lead the round.
Existing investors Practica Capital and Metaplanet, as well as business angels and industry experts, are also participating.
The start-up plans to use the fresh capital to further expand the platform and create fundamentally new enzymes.
Enzymes play a key role in various industrial applications, such as in diagnostics, for example with DNA polymerases, in gene therapy, for example with CRISPR, in biofuels, for example with cellulases, or in agriculture, for example with phytases.
Every new application requires a new enzyme.
The design of new enzymes is currently still lengthy — the process can take months or years -, expensive and based on trial-and-error screening around small improvements to naturally occurring enzymes.
Biomatter’s technology makes it possible to overcome these challenges with generative AI (artificial intelligence).
“Enzymes will play a prominent role in the future of the bioeconomy — they are the critical element that will ultimately allow us to create new molecules, cells and organisms for the world. The enzymes we have successfully developed for our global partners to date demonstrate our ability to go far beyond the simple optimization of known enzymes. At Biomatter, we believe that the unlimited capacity to design fundamentally new enzymes will help shape a better future for all,” says Laurynas Karpus, co-founder and CEO of Biomatter.
Innovative technology for a sustainable future Back in 2019, the Biomatter team published a key study showing that their generative AI tool can understand the intricacies of large amounts of enzyme data and use the information to design entirely new enzymes.
This was a significant breakthrough, demonstrating for the first time the ability to create fully functional enzymes with generative AI.
The Intelligent Architecture™ platform is the result of these years of research.
Enzymes can be redesigned as if on a drawing board: First, the ideal properties of the enzyme are described, carefully considering the end application.
The enzymes are then designed from scratch or existing natural protein scaffolds are redesigned.
This enables developers of new proteins to build precisely fitting molecules from the very first atoms.
This innovation has been made possible by the development of new generative AI and physical models that are constantly improving at a rapid pace with experimental validation in laboratories to create unique enzymes. “AI-powered protein design is currently one of the most exciting and dynamic areas for venture capital. Biomatter’s innovative approach to designing fundamentally new enzymes allows them to break the boundaries of natural enzymes, leading to breakthroughs in biotechnology. We are deeply impressed by the strength of the team and are convinced that Biomatter is a pioneer in the field of AI-based protein design,” says Dr. Oliver Schoppe, Principal at UVC Partners. Application of unique enzymes in various industries Using the Intelligent Architecture™ platform, Biomatter creates customized enzymes for various industries, including chemical bioproduction, agriculture, food and medicine.
Customers include companies such as Thermo Fisher Scientific, BASF and Neogen.
Kirin, a global leader in nutrition and health, achieved a breakthrough in infant nutrition with Biomatter’s solution: The collaboration yielded amazing results in the efficient production of human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs).
The focus here was specifically on one of the most important HMOs in human milk (lacto-N-fucopentaose I; LNFP I for short).
HMOs are critical to infant health and provide numerous benefits such as supporting gut health, strengthening the immune system and protecting against infection.
The ability to produce HMOs like LNFP I on an industrial scale means that more infants worldwide can have access to these benefits. About Biomatter Biomatter is a synthetic biology company that creates new enzymes for medical and industrial applications.
Through partnerships with global companies (including Thermo Fisher Scientific, BASF, Neogen) across multiple industries, Biomatter is bringing new products and technologies to market enabled by its unique enzymes.
This funding round marks a significant milestone for Biomatter and positions the company well for the completion of its next major milestones and future growth.
More at www.biomatter.com About UVC Partners UVC Partners is a Munich and Berlin based early stage venture capital firm investing in European B2B start-ups in the fields of enterprise software, industrial technologies and mobility. The fund generally invests between €0.5 and €10 million at the outset and up to €30 million in total per company. The portfolio companies benefit from the extensive investment and exit experience of the management team as well as from the close cooperation with UnternehmerTUM, Europe’s leading innovation and start-up center. With over 400 employees and more than 100 industry partners, UnternehmerTUM can draw on many years of experience in building young companies. This collaboration gives UVC Partners the opportunity to provide startups with unique access to talent, industry clients and other financial partners. www.uvcpartners.com
Munich, Germany, Westminster, Colorado — Dcubed, a German NewSpace provider, has successfully closed a Series A financing round that was oversubscribed by 26%.
Eight well-known investors from France, Sweden, Germany and the US participated in the round, including Expansion and BayBG as lead investors as well as HTGF, Aurelia Foundry, Ventis, Rymdkapital and Decisive Point Europe.
The funds will be strategically deployed to quadruple the production of satellite actuators by the end of 2024 to meet the expected demand of over 100,000 satellite launches in the coming years.
In addition, Dcubed aims to extend its leadership in space manufacturing technologies critical to the development of high-power satellites, space solar power, lunar bases and the acceleration of space exploration.
To support these plans, Dcubed is also expanding its presence in the U.S., NewSpace’s largest market, by opening an office in Westminster, Colorado.
The new office will be headed by Andria Fortier as Managing Director, who will oversee operations in the US and foster strategic relationships with American customers and partners.
Dcubed also plans to demonstrate a world first in 2025 by 3D printing a high-performance solar panel in free space.
The initiative is supported by the European Innovation Council of the European Commission with 9.5 million euros.
“Despite a tense global financial environment, investors significantly oversubscribed our Series A round.
This financing round demonstrates the market’s high confidence in our capabilities.
Together with our global investors, we now have a solid foundation to drive future growth in the booming space market.
With the new financing, we will quadruple the production of our current product.
At the same time, we are striving for the ’next big thing’ in space by taking a pioneering role in the field of manufacturing in space.
With the opening of our US office, we are tapping into the most dynamic space ecosystem in the world to further expand our global footprint and develop space innovations for years to come,” explains Thomas Sinn, CEO of Dcubed.
“Deep tech and NewSpace start-ups need to show that they can make money while pursuing a big vision.
Dcubed has done this impressively in recent years.
As lead investor in the seed round, I am very pleased about the closing of the Series A and see my investment thesis confirmed,” says Christian Ziach, Principal at HTGF. “Space is one of the fastest growing markets.
The market volume is expected to quadruple from around 500 billion dollars to 2 trillion dollars in just ten years,” comments Ted Elvhage, General Partner at Expansion Aerospace Ventures.
Dcubed also plans to demonstrate a world first in 2025 by 3D printing a high-performance solar module in free space. The initiative is supported by the European Innovation Council of the European Commission with 9.5 million euros. About Dcubed Dcubed, a NewSpace company based in Munich, Germany, makes space missions accessible by developing durable and affordable release actuators, solar arrays and deployable components.
Utilizing patented shape memory technology and proprietary origami structures, Dcubed’s products are superior in cost, mass and volume while offering increased reliability, durability and reusability.
Serving a global customer base in over 20 countries on 4 continents, Dcubed offers immediate product availability through its European supply chain and is ready to help you realize more cost-effective and frequent space missions.
By developing technologies to manufacture large structures directly in space, Dcubed is at the forefront of space manufacturing and is truly doing great things in space. About High-Tech Gründerfonds The seed investor High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF) finances technology start-ups with growth potential and has supported more than 750 start-ups since 2005. With the launch of the fourth fund, HTGF has around 1.4 billion euros under management. The team of experienced investment managers and start-up experts supports the young companies with know-how, entrepreneurial spirit and passion. The focus is on high-tech start-ups in the fields of digital tech, industrial tech, life sciences, chemistry and related business areas. To date, external investors have invested around EUR 6 billion in the HTGF portfolio in more than 2,000 follow-up financing rounds. In addition, the fund has already successfully sold shares in more than 180 companies. Fund investors in the public-private partnership include the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection, KfW Capital, and 45 companies from a wide range of industries. www.htgf.de
Wetzlar / Feldkirchen-Westerham / Munich — Nachfolgekontor, in association with sonntag corporate finance one of Germany’s leading M&A advisory boutiques for medium-sized companies, is supporting the owners of roofing specialist JNS Dachtechnik GmbH (“JNS”) in its merger with the Wierig Group (“Wierig”), a portfolio company of Vidia Equity (“Vidia”).
Alexander Neureither from the owner family will remain involved in the future joint venture in his role as Managing Director and as part of a growth partnership.
JNS, based in Feldkirchen-Westerham, was founded in 1982 and is a long-standing specialist in the waterproofing and renovation of flat roofs and the installation of photovoltaic systems.
With a service portfolio ranging from consulting and service work to project planning and execution, JNS mainly serves commercial and public customers in the Alpine region, particularly in the Munich and Rosenheim area as well as in Upper Bavaria and Austria.
The company’s high-profile customer base includes numerous DAX-listed and international corporations as well as public-sector clients, including JNS, which was responsible for the renovation of the roofs of the Deutsches Museum in Munich and Schloss Elmau in Krün.
JNS currently employs around 50 people and most recently generated a total output of around 14 million euros.
Wierig is an established family business with over 130 years of history and specializes in the waterproofing and renovation of flat roofs and photovoltaic systems for industrial and commercial customers.
With over 200 employees at five locations in Germany, Wierig offers complete solutions from planning and execution to continuous roof maintenance and monitoring.
Vidia is a medium-sized investment company based in Munich that specializes in investments in the field of industrial climate solutions to promote decarbonization.
In December 2023, Vidia Climate Fund I acquired a majority stake in the Sieburg-based Wierig Group with the strategy of leveraging operational value creation potential and increasing the Group’s clout through selected add-on acquisitions.
The merger of JNS and Wierig represents the next milestone in the successful implementation of this strategy.
Both companies are united by their character as a family business and their focus on industrial flat roofs.
In future, the group will be able to offer customers operating nationwide an even more comprehensive range of services. In-depth expertise for succession planning in the trades Decarbonization in the wake of climate change is a global megatrend, and the installation industry is a key pillar in tackling it on a national level.
The traditionally medium-sized and fragmented skilled trades sector is simultaneously confronted with challenges such as regulatory changes, a shortage of skilled workers and a lack of company succession.
For affected companies, merging with larger groups is therefore often an option.
For the Nachfolgekontor project team, consisting of Sebastian Ringleb and Dennis Minnert, the growth partnership they supported is part of a series of transactions in this context. Sebastian Ringleb, Partner in charge at Nachfolgekontor, says: “The roof is becoming increasingly important for property owners. Especially in the industrial sector, companies rely on their production and storage facilities being fully protected from the weather. The increasing prevalence of photovoltaic systems for energy generation further increases the relevance. The industry can therefore look forward to a positive future. The partnership between JNS and Wierig will not only strengthen the market position of both companies, but will also make an important contribution to the energy transition and the decarbonization of the building sector.” About Nachfolgekontor and sonntag corporate finance Nachfolgekontor GmbH, in association with sonntag corporate finance GmbH, is one of the leading M&A advisory firms in the German SME sector. The team of almost 30 experts accompanies medium-sized entrepreneurs exclusively through the entire sales process. “Our task is to safeguard life’s work,” is how we see ourselves. In doing so, customers benefit from a unique approach that has won multiple awards from the business press, and which protects the identity of their companies to a special degree. Thanks to their excellent access to medium-sized companies, Nachfolgekontor and sonntag corporate finance have also established themselves as a strong partner at the side of renowned national and international major companies and investors in acquisitions. This is also demonstrated by the top position recently achieved at the Mergermarket League Table. With a total of ten accompanied transactions in the first quarter of 2024, the M&A consultancy ranks first in Germany.
www.nachfolgekontor.de | www.sonntagcf.com About JNS Dachtechnik GmbH jns-dachtechnik.de