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Great opportunities in smaller SMEs
We are a growth partner for smaller SMEs. We are usually the first investor to show local entrepreneurs a perspective on how to successfully transfer the business to the next generation while retaining the corporate culture and making it fit for the future. In one of our core Business Services sectors, for example, we have brought together numerous trade businesses in all Scandinavian countries to form a strong network with a national presence and support the local sites with professional services in areas such as recruiting, marketing, purchasing, invoicing and financing.
Since our foundation 10 years ago, we have completed 40 platform investments, for which we have made more than 200 acquisitions. We currently manage approximately €3 billion across 5 fund generations. Our latest fund has a volume of €930m, but we start a partnership from €15m of equity, mostly to support SMEs in a consolidation strategy.
When we joined, Handverksdata was a Swedish company with the claim “to make the everyday office life of craftsmen easier in the long term.” The management team and the sellers have reinvested 46% of the shares and opted for Adelis as a growth investor. We have invested in the product range, transferred the software to the cloud and increased the number of software developers from 30 to 100 by the end of 2023. In addition, the Group’s presence was expanded with suitable acquisitions in all Scandinavian countries and the market entry in Germany was carried out.
The Group’s growth potential remains very high in the long term, as the skilled crafts sector is still often organized manually and has not yet come into contact with ERP systems. Digitalization through Handverksdata will simplify commercial tasks for users, provide a better project overview and generate major efficiency benefits.
The internationalization of the Group will also continue. For this purpose and for the acquisition of the complementary company Next, we took on the investor EQT as an additional shareholder in the Group at the beginning of 2024 and re-invested in a minority stake by means of a continuation fund so that we can remain a partner for Handverksdata in the coming years.
We continue to focus on the market niches of our 3 core sectors in which Adelis has already successfully gained experience. — In the tech & software sector, we are convinced that AI applications and increasing automation can also achieve major efficiency gains in many industries in Germany. This is demonstrated by our portfolio companies Pixelz (photo editing for e‑commerce) and Diakrit (real estate technology and solutions).
If you are well versed in the construction industry, you can achieve a lot with the right structure by forming a group — and also deal better with the increasing shortage of skilled workers through more innovative recruiting options.
Our third sector, Healthcare & Life Sciences, is characterized by a structural long-term growth trend in which we focus on attractive niches such as pharmaceutical suppliers, medical technology companies and life science tools manufacturers. Our portfolio companies Europa Biosite and SSI Diagnostica are also active in this area.
About Franz Reiffenstuel:
Franz Reiffenstuel is a partner at Adelis Equity Partners and is responsible for investments in the German-speaking region. He has been active in the private equity industry since 2009, consistently with a focus on growth investments and partnerships with entrepreneurs. Prior to Adelis, he worked at DPE, Chequers and Citi, among others.
www.adelisequity.com