DC Advisory's European Mid-Market Private Equity Round-Up: Germany Q1 2019 Highlights

Highlights

Private equity investment into Germany is down this quarter vs. the record high of Q1 2018. Yet it continues to be a fundamentally attractive region to deploy capital, not only due to the fact that it is the largest economy in the EU, but it is also the world’s third biggest exporter behind China and the US.

TMT and Industrials proved to be the strongest sectors in terms of buyout activity in Germany this quarter, whilst Services and Consumer, Leisure & Retail deal volumes struggled vs. their 2018 counterparts. With strong trade ties to China, the German economy may have been feeling the effect of global trade tensions this quarter which could be expected to continue over the course of H1.

The key transactions that took place during the period include:

Healthcare

• Waterland Private Equity acquired Rehacon, the provider of physiotherapy services, for an undisclosed consideration

Industrials

• Equistone Partners acquired RENA Technologies, the manufacturer of technologically high-quality machinery for wet-chemical surface treatments, from Capvis Equity Partners, for an undisclosed consideration

Services

• DPE Deutsche Private Equity acquired Valantic, the provider of IT consulting solutions and SAP support, from AUCTUS Capital Partners and Rohde Invest, for an undisclosed consideration

TMT

• Hg acquired Transporeon, the provider of cloud-based logistics platforms, from TPG Capital, for an undisclosed consideration for an undisclosed consideration
• The Carlyle Group acquired SER Group, the provider of Enterprise Content Management (ECM) software, for an undisclosed consideration