GHO Capital Partners acquires majority stake in FotoFinder Group

Bad Birnbach/ London (UK) — Foto­Fin­der Group wins GHO Capi­tal Part­ners as new majo­rity share­hol­der. Foto­Fin­der Group starts a new chap­ter toge­ther with GHO Capi­tal Part­ners. GHO, a Euro­pean specia­list inves­tor in the Global Health­Care sector, has acqui­red a majo­rity stake in Foto­Fin­der. EMZ Part­ners remains on board as a mino­rity share­hol­der. — Henge­ler Muel­ler advi­sed GHO compre­hen­si­vely on the tran­sac­tion in an inte­gra­ted team with Slaugh­ter and May (Harry Bacon, Alee­zeh Liaqat). 

Since its foun­da­tion in 1991 by Andreas and Rudolf Mayer, Foto­Fin­der has deve­lo­ped into one of the worl­d’s leading provi­ders of inno­va­tive skin imaging solu­ti­ons. The port­fo­lio includes tech­no­logy for the early detec­tion of skin cancer using total body mapping and AI-supported dermo­scopy as well as solu­ti­ons for hair analy­sis and aesthe­tics. With the acqui­si­tion of Derm­Lite 2024, Foto­Fin­der has added market-leading analog dermo­sco­pes to its product port­fo­lio and crea­ted a unique offering. 

“I am proud of what we have built toge­ther over more than 30 years,” says Andreas Mayer, CEO of the Foto­Fin­der Group. “We have taken important steps with EMZ, espe­ci­ally the acqui­si­tion of Derm­Lite. The part­ner­ship with GHO now marks a new mile­stone. Their indus­try expe­ri­ence and inter­na­tio­nal network will give us a tail­wind to conti­nue our growth, drive inno­va­tion and further expand our inter­na­tio­nal presence.” 

Klaus Maurer, Senior Part­ner at EMZ Part­ners, also empha­si­zes this: “Since our entry, Foto­Fin­der has consis­t­ently expan­ded its market leader­ship. Toge­ther with GHO and the strong manage­ment team, we have crea­ted the best condi­ti­ons to take advan­tage of the next growth oppor­tu­ni­ties. We look forward to conti­nuing to support Foto­Fin­der as a share­hol­der in the future.”

Ken Eich­mann and Stuart Quin, part­ners at GHO Capi­tal, empha­size: “Foto­Fin­der is a pioneer in the field of skin imaging and has set stan­dards with the highest level of inno­va­tion. We see great poten­tial to utilize the syner­gies between Foto­Fin­der and Derm­Lite to further deve­lop the plat­form globally. We are very much looking forward to working with Andreas Mayer, John Bott­jer and the entire team.”

Rising skin cancer rates, an ageing popu­la­tion and growing aware­ness of the need for regu­lar skin checks are incre­asing the demand for precise diagno­stic tools world­wide. Foto­Fin­der offers solu­ti­ons that speed up diagno­ses, opti­mize work­flows and improve care — making an important contri­bu­tion to early detection. 

“We look forward to conti­nuing on this path toge­ther with our teams in Bad Birn­bach and Aliso Viejo as well as our part­ners and custo­mers,” empha­si­zes Andreas Mayer. “GHO has all the prere­qui­si­tes to accom­pany the Foto­Fin­der Group into the next phase of inter­na­tio­nal expansion.” 

The closing of the tran­sac­tion is subject to regu­la­tory appr­ovals and is expec­ted in the coming weeks.

About EMZ Partners

EMZ is a leading Euro­pean invest­ment firm with offices in Paris and Munich. Over the last 25 years, EMZ has backed more than 160 compa­nies with invest­ments of more than €5 billion. EMZ covers the small and mid-cap segments with invest­ments between €15 million and €150 million. EMZ is owned by its partners.
EMZ views manage­ment teams as the primary drivers of value crea­tion and places them at the center of its invest­ment stra­tegy. Our approach supports mana­gers, foun­ders and family share­hol­ders in their growth projects. The part­ner­ships we enter into with them are based on the alignment of inte­rests and balan­ced and trust-based gover­nance. — https://emzpartners.com/

About GHO

GHO Capi­tal is a leading Euro­pean private equity inves­tor specia­li­zing in health­care, buil­ding leading global health­care compa­nies that deli­ver better, faster and more acces­si­ble health­care. — https://ghocapital.com/

Henge­ler Muel­ler team for GHO Capital

Corporate/M&A: Dr. Martin Ulbrich (Düssel­dorf), Dr. Ingo Berner (Berlin, both lead), Dr. Katha­rina Hesse (all part­ner), Dr. Okan Isikay (both Düssel­dorf), Dr. David Negen­born (Munich, both senior asso­ciate), Oleg Gold­schmidt (Düssel­dorf), Elmar Willem­sen (Berlin), Leon­hard Kappen­ha­gen, Van Nguyen (both Düssel­dorf, all associate),

Tax law: Dr. Markus Ernst (Part­ner, Munich), Jan Adami (Senior Asso­ciate, Frankfurt),
Anti­trust law: Dr. Anja Balitzki (Coun­sel, Düsseldorf),
Finan­cing: Dr. Henning Hilke (Part­ner), Dr. Tobias Chowd­hury (Coun­sel, both Frankfurt),
Employ­ment law: Dr. Chris­tian Hoefs (Part­ner), Musa Müjdeci (Senior Asso­ciate, both Frankfurt),
IP/IT: Dr. Andrea Schlaffge (Coun­sel, Nina Macken­stedt, Johan­nes Jäkle (both Asso­ciate, all Düssel­dorf), Andrea Schlaffge (Coun­sel), Nina Macken­stedt, Johan­nes Jäkle (both Asso­ciate, all Düsseldorf),
Public Commer­cial Law/Healthcare: Dr. Susanne Koch (Coun­sel), Dr. Sandra Plötz (Senior Asso­ciate), Tanja Peschen (Asso­ciate, all Düsseldorf),
FDI: Jan Schül­ting (Senior Asso­ciate, Düsseldorf).

About Henge­ler Mueller

Henge­ler Muel­ler is an inter­na­tio­nal law firm with offices in Berlin, Brussels, Düssel­dorf, Frank­furt, London and Munich. With around 354 lawy­ers, 93 of whom are part­ners, the firm specia­li­zes in provi­ding legal advice in complex tran­sac­tions, conten­tious dispu­tes and special situa­tions. Henge­ler Muel­ler’s clients include major commer­cial enter­pri­ses as well as leading inves­tors and family busi­nesses in Europe and worldwide.