Author: Tatjana Anderer

Düssel­dorf – ARQIS provi­ded compre­hen­sive legal coun­sel to the globally active IHI Corpo­ra­tion in connec­tion with the sale of all its shares in Stein­mül­ler Engi­nee­ring GmbH to Muta­res SE & Co. KGaA. This tran­sac­tion will streng­then Stein­mül­ler Engineering’s sustainable growth and compe­ti­ti­ve­ness, parti­cu­larly through syner­gies with Muta­res’ port­fo­lio. This move will enable IHI to opti­mize its Carbon Solu­ti­ons busi­ness and thus focus speci­fi­cally on its future-orien­ted and growth areas. The signing took place in Septem­ber 2026. The tran­sac­tion was closed in Octo­ber 2026. 

Foun­ded in 1853, IHI Corpo­ra­tion is a Japa­nese tech­no­logy and indus­trial conglo­me­rate opera­ting inter­na­tio­nally, with its head­quar­ters in Tokyo. The company is active in the fields of resour­ces, energy, and the envi­ron­ment; social infra­struc­ture; indus­trial systems and gene­ral-purpose machi­nery; and aircraft engi­nes, aero­space, and defense. In fiscal year 2025, IHI gene­ra­ted conso­li­da­ted reve­nue of appro­xi­m­ately 1.64 tril­lion yen and employs over 26,000 people world­wide. IHI is listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. 

Stein­mül­ler Engi­nee­ring GmbH, head­quar­te­red in Gummers­bach, provi­des ther­mal process engi­nee­ring solu­ti­ons for the energy and indus­trial sectors. The company offers engi­nee­ring, procu­re­ment, and turn­key EPC solu­ti­ons for combus­tion systems, exhaust gas treat­ment, and heat trans­fer. The roots of this long-estab­lished company date back to 1874. 

Muta­res, head­quar­te­red in Munich, is an inter­na­tio­nally active, publicly traded private equity inves­tor. Its invest­ments focus on compa­nies with high growth poten­tial and estab­lished busi­ness models, inclu­ding those in the auto­mo­tive & mobi­lity, energy & tech­no­logy, and infra­struc­ture & defense sectors. 

An ARQIS team led by Dr. Shigeo Yama­guchi and Dr. Meiko Dill­mann provi­ded compre­hen­sive legal coun­sel to IHI Corpo­ra­tion in connec­tion with this tran­sac­tion. At the same time, ARQIS led an inter­na­tio­nal team of lawy­ers consis­ting of Gide (Morocco), Nauta­Du­tilh (Belgium), and TMI Asso­cia­tes (Japan).

Consul­tant for IHI Corpo­ra­tion: ARQIS (Düssel­dorf)

Part­ners: Dr. Shigeo Yama­guchi (Düssel­dorf), Dr. Meiko Dill­mann (Munich, both Lead and Japan Desk), Dr. Fried­rich Gebert (Regu­la­tory), Johan­nes Landry (Restruc­tu­ring), Lisa-Marie Niklas (HR Law), Tobias Neufeld (Tech Law), Marcus Noth­hel­fer (IP, Munich), Dr. Chris­tof Schnei­der (Tran­sac­tions); Of Coun­sel: Dimi­trios Chris­to­pou­los (Dispute Reso­lu­tion); Coun­sel: Dr. Yohei Nagata-Vogel­sang (Japan Desk), Dennis Reisich (Tax, Munich), Martin Wein­gärt­ner (HR Law); Mana­ging Asso­cia­tes: Dr. Hanna Caesar (HR Law), Anselm Graf (Tran­sac­tions, Munich), Dr. Bern­hard Gröhe (Regu­la­tory), Marius Mesen­brink (Japan Desk); Asso­cia­tes: Carla Benkel­berg (Regu­la­tory), Anna Munsch (HR Law), Dr. Julia Wild­gans (IP, Munich); Foreign Lawyer: Miho Kuram­ochi (Japan Desk); Legal Specia­list: Tim Kottmann

Munich/Berlin/Milan — Lingotto is inves­t­ing once again in the Munich-based robo­tics company RobCo. The tran­sac­tion includes both new capi­tal for the company and the sale of exis­ting shares by long-time employees, and values RobCo at more than 1 billion USD. — In addi­tion to Lingotto, exis­ting inves­tors Sequoia, Lightspeed, Green­field, Kind­red, and Promus Ventures are parti­ci­pa­ting, as well as new inves­tors, inclu­ding Cherry Ventures and Euro­pean Tech Collective. 

RobCo deve­lops auto­no­mous robo­tics solu­ti­ons for indus­trial appli­ca­ti­ons. Foun­ded in Munich in 2020, the company combi­nes robo­tics with AI to auto­mate produc­tion proces­ses and address chal­lenges such as the shortage of skil­led workers, cost pres­su­res, and work­place safety. The systems are offe­red through a Robo­tics-as-a-Service model, allo­wing them to be deployed without upfront invest­ment. In addi­tion to its Munich loca­tion, RobCo has manu­fac­tu­ring and assem­bly faci­li­ties in Austin and a deve­lo­p­ment lab in San Francisco. 

In the next phase of deve­lo­p­ment, the company is focu­sing on advan­cing auto­no­mous indus­trial robo­tics and expan­ding into the U.S. With its auto­no­mous indus­trial robot Alfie, RobCo is deve­lo­ping a system that combi­nes percep­tion, plan­ning, and execu­tion and is desi­gned to perform complex tasks in produc­tion envi­ron­ments. The commer­cial launch is sche­du­led for March 4, 2027, in Munich. 

Morgan Samet, Co-Head of Lingotto Inno­va­tion, comm­ents: “The indus­try has reached a point where auto­nomy is beco­ming a decisive compe­ti­tive advan­tage. RobCo stands out because the company inte­gra­tes physi­cal AI directly into real-world produc­tion envi­ron­ments, combi­ning proven imple­men­ta­ti­ons with a clear, step-by-step path to grea­ter auto­nomy. This enables lear­ning systems to support people where it matters most in production.”

“We are plea­sed to have advi­sed Lingotto on another invest­ment in RobCo. This enga­ge­ment follows directly on from our advi­sory work on the Series C funding round. We thank the Lingotto team for their contin­ued trust and close colla­bo­ra­tion,” says Dr. Benja­min Ullrich, a part­ner at YPOG.

About Lingotto

YPOG previously advi­sed Lingotto on RobCo’s Series C funding round in Janu­ary 2026. The round, tota­ling $100 million, was co-led by Lightspeed Venture Part­ners and Lingotto Innovation. 

Team
Dr. Benja­min Ullrich (Lead, Tran­sac­tions), Part­ner, Berlin
Silke Ricken (Corpo­rate), Asso­ciate, Berlin
Elmar Traut­mann (Tran­sac­tions), Asso­ciate, Berlin
Jonas Reguez (Tran­sac­tions), Asso­ciate, Berlin

About Us

YPOG stands for You + Part­ners of Game­ch­an­gers. The leading law and tax advi­sory firm supports foun­ders, inves­tors, compa­nies, and funds in Germany and inter­na­tio­nally in brin­ging visio­nary ideas to life within the tech ecosys­tem and in dyna­mic future markets.
YPOG advi­ses on the struc­tu­ring of venture capi­tal and private equity funds, finan­cing rounds, and complex tran­sac­tions, as well as on regu­la­tory and tax issues rela­ted to digi­tal assets and finan­cial inno­va­tion. As a stra­te­gic part­ner, YPOG deve­lops prac­ti­cal and legally sound solu­ti­ons. The firm combi­nes legal and tax exper­tise with legal tech, digi­tal work­flows, and AI-based systems to deli­ver effi­ci­ent and scalable advice. More than 380 attor­neys, tax advi­sors, tax specia­lists, a notary, and busi­ness profes­sio­nals work for YPOG at its offices in Berlin, Hamburg, Colo­gne, and Munich. —- www.ypog.de

Stutt­gart – The share­hol­ders of Lothar Walt­her have sold the company to Rigeto Unter­neh­mer­ka­pi­tal GmbH (“Rigeto”) in a combi­ned share and asset deal. RÖDL served as the exclu­sive M&A advi­sor for the tran­sac­tion. The tran­sac­tion was execu­ted as part of a struc­tu­red, inter­na­tio­nal inves­tor process that targe­ted both stra­te­gic and finan­cial investors. 

With this sale, Lother Walter’s mana­ging partners—Dr. Frank Walt­her and Gerd Walther—are fina­li­zing the company’s succes­sion plan. The company will retain its opera­tio­nal inde­pen­dence, while Rigeto, as the new part­ner, will lay the ground­work for further growth. The parties have agreed not to disc­lose the finan­cial details. 

Lothar Walt­her will form the foun­da­tion of the WX Group, initia­ted by Rigeto, an indus­trial plat­form for precis­ion compon­ents for hand­guns and air guns in Europe and the United States. The WX Group will be gradu­ally expan­ded to include addi­tio­nal specia­li­zed manu­fac­tu­r­ers, which will bene­fit from the group’s combi­ned exper­tise in sales, exports, and compli­ance. The foun­da­tion is a stable civi­lian busi­ness in hunting and sports, supple­men­ted by struc­tu­rally growing demand from govern­ment agen­cies and the armed forces. 

Gerd Walt­her, mana­ging part­ner of Lothar Walt­her, explains: “My brot­her and I are the third gene­ra­tion to run Lothar Walt­her. It was clear to us that succes­sion should not only preserve the company but also help it grow. That’s exactly what convin­ced us about Rigeto—the idea of turning Lothar Walt­her into the plat­form for a growing group, where our brand opens doors to new custo­mers and other indus­try specia­lists. RÖDL has mana­ged this chal­len­ging process with great exper­tise and a clear under­stan­ding of our company, and has found the right part­ner for this jour­ney. We are actively support­ing the tran­si­tion and will conti­nue to advise the company even after it is complete.”

“We are very plea­sed to have supported the share­hol­ders of the Lothar Walt­her Group through this chal­len­ging inter­na­tio­nal process and to have contri­bu­ted our market exper­tise in metal proces­sing and the defense sector. The tran­sac­tion successfully combi­ned a long-term succes­sion plan for the family-owned busi­ness with a clear stra­te­gic deve­lo­p­ment outlook, opening up new growth oppor­tu­ni­ties and access to addi­tio­nal markets for the Group,” adds Rainer Miller, part­ner at RÖDL.

About Lothar Walther

Lothar Walt­her is an inde­pen­dent manu­fac­tu­rer of precis­ion barrels based in Königs­bronn. Foun­ded in 1925, this family-owned busi­ness is now run by the third gene­ra­tion and deve­lops and manu­fac­tures barrels for hunting, sports, and defense appli­ca­ti­ons. The group has a fully inte­gra­ted manu­fac­tu­ring process, produ­ces in Germany and the U.S., and offers a wide range of products and cali­bers. The company has a long history of custo­mer certi­fi­ca­ti­ons and opera­tes inter­na­tio­nally under the Lothar Walt­her brand. — www.lothar-walther.de

About Rigeto

Rigeto Unter­neh­mer­ka­pi­tal GmbH, head­quar­te­red in Munich, was foun­ded in 2014 and has since faci­li­ta­ted more than 50 tran­sac­tions invol­ving over 300 million euros in inves­ted capi­tal; the port­fo­lio compa­nies coll­ec­tively gene­rate over 500 million euros in reve­nue. Rigeto invests private capi­tal from entre­pre­neurs and entre­pre­neu­rial fami­lies, pursuing a long-term invest­ment approach aimed at deve­lo­ping and incre­asing the value of the compa­nies it supports. Its invest­ment acti­vi­ties focus on estab­lished medium-sized compa­nies in the DACH region that have a sustainable busi­ness model and are opera­ting profi­ta­bly. The most common reasons for invest­ment are busi­ness succes­sion and growth finan­cing. For compa­nies in these situa­tions, Rigeto is a highly expe­ri­en­ced and relia­ble part­ner. In addi­tion to provi­ding the neces­sary capi­tal, Rigeto brings, in parti­cu­lar, its exper­tise in the further deve­lo­p­ment of medium-sized compa­nies. — www.rigeto.de

Advi­sors to Lothar Walt­her’s share­hol­ders: RÖDL

M&A Advi­sory:
Rainer Miller, Part­ner, Stutt­gart – Over­all Project Management
Marcel Grätz, Mana­ger, Munich
Julian Kuscholke, Mana­ger, Munich
Niklas Henseling, Senior Asso­ciate, Stuttgart

Legal:
Kai Graf von der Recke, Part­ner, Stuttgart
Johan­nes Scher­zin­ger, Part­ner, Stuttgart
Chris­tian Speckert, Part­ner, Stuttgart
Matthias Schu­bert, Asso­ciate Part­ner, Hof
Amélie Unge­rer, Asso­ciate Part­ner, Stuttgart
Tugba Pollak, Senior Asso­ciate, Nuremberg
Maria Pingou, Asso­ciate, Stuttgart

Tax:
Dr. Tobias Schädle, Asso­ciate Part­ner, Nuremberg
— www.roedl.com

About RÖDL

RÖDL has been a trus­ted part­ner and pioneer since 1977. With legal services, tax consul­ting, audit & assu­rance, advi­sory & IT, and busi­ness process outsour­cing, our global team of over 6,000 employees deli­vers effec­tive solu­ti­ons across natio­nal borders. Forward-looking, inter­di­sci­pli­nary, and all under one roof. With a global mind­set and a local presence. At 117 of our own loca­ti­ons in 50 count­ries. In short: We lead the way—and make sustainable success possi­ble for your company. — www.roedl.com

Hamburg – Oppen­hoff advi­sed Reso­nant Clini­cal Solu­ti­ons, a port­fo­lio company of Audax Private Equity, on its acqui­si­tion of labfish rental solu­ti­ons GmbH and its affi­lia­ted compa­nies (“Labfish”) in the United States and the United King­dom. With this acqui­si­tion, Reso­nant is further expan­ding its presence in the Euro­pean Equip­ment & Ancil­la­ries (E&A) market and broa­de­ning its range of services for complex clini­cal trials. 

Reso­nant is a global provi­der of solu­ti­ons for life scien­ces compa­nies across the clini­cal supply chain and the entire life cycle of biolo­gi­cal samples. Among other things, the company offers services for the storage and manage­ment of biolo­gi­cal samples, as well as the provi­sion of kits, devices, and supple­men­tary mate­ri­als for clini­cal trials. Reso­nant employs more than 850 people in the U.S. and Europe and has supported over 2,500 clini­cal trials to date. 

Labfish, head­quar­te­red in Hamburg, was foun­ded in 2014 and supplies labo­ra­tory and clini­cal equip­ment. In addi­tion, the company offers cali­bra­tion, import, and export services, as well as logi­stics services for clini­cal trials. Labfish supplies trial sites in more than 70 count­ries and opera­tes one of the largest company-owned cali­bra­tion faci­li­ties for clini­cal trials in Europe. 

Audax Private Equity, head­quar­te­red in Boston with addi­tio­nal offices in San Fran­cisco, New York, London, and Hong Kong, is a leading private equity firm focu­sed on inves­t­ing in mid-market compa­nies in North America.
https://audaxprivateequity.com/

Consul­tant at Reso­nant Clini­cal Solu­ti­ons: Oppenhoff

Led by Dr. Markus Rasner, Moritz Schmitz, Laurenz Kiefer (all Private Equity), Dr. Gunnar Knorr (Tax), Dr. Wolf­gang Kotzur (Finance), Anja Dombrow­sky and Lisa Strieg­ler (both Employ­ment Law), Maxi­mi­lian Broich (Compli­ance), Valen­tino Halim and Melissa Irtel (both IT/Data Protec­tion), Julia Höyng and Anto­nia van Dam (both Real Estate), Dr. Patric Mau (Intellec­tual Property), as well as Chris­tine Seiz and Sarah Liomin (both Commer­cial), Dr. Cars­ten Bormann and Mareike Heesing (both Foreign Invest­ment), Daniel Dohrn and Konstan­tin Ogil­vie (both anti­trust law). Holland & Knight advi­sed on U.S. legal matters, and Walker Morris advi­sed on U.K. legal matters. 

About Oppen­hoff

The Oppen­hoff team had previously advi­sed on the German aspects of the carve-out and acqui­si­tion of Avan­tor Inc.’s Clini­cal Services divi­sion. The resul­ting inde­pen­dent plat­form was subse­quently rena­med Reso­nant Clini­cal Solu­ti­ons. Oppen­hoff regu­larly advi­ses on add-on acqui­si­ti­ons of plat­forms in the private equity sector; most recently, among others, Schenk Tank­trans­port on its acqui­si­tion of Franz Fischer Spedi­tion, Rensa Filtra­tion on its acqui­si­tion of IREMA-Filter GmbH and its U.S. subsi­diary Aeolus Filter, and Stat­Lab Medi­cal Products on its acqui­si­tion of Histo­serve. — www.oppenhoff.eu

Munich — The Afinum-backed MedTech Laser Group (“MTL”) has agreed to acquire iMS GmbH (“iMS”), a Tutz­ing-based deve­lo­per, manu­fac­tu­rer, and distri­bu­tor of surgi­cal diode laser systems and single-use fiber consu­ma­bles for endo­ve­nous laser abla­tion (EVLA) and proc­to­lo­gi­cal procedures.

iMS was foun­ded in 2018 by Dr.-Ing. Michael Schu­bert and Tors­ten Kühnle and has deve­lo­ped its own laser plat­form (simLa), which is in use in 16 count­ries with more than 100 units instal­led. To date, more than 40,000 pati­ents have been trea­ted, and iMS has laun­ched the first diode laser with a wave­length of 1940 nm.

Looking ahead, iMS streng­thens MTL’s presence in the EVLA and proc­to­logy segments and supports the Group’s goal of estab­li­shing a leading inter­na­tio­nal plat­form in the field of specia­li­zed medi­cal laser tech­no­logy through conti­nuous orga­nic growth and further targe­ted acquisitions.

We would like to thank our advi­sors at Ebner Stolz and Orrick for their contri­bu­ti­ons during the tran­sac­tion process.

Advi­sors to Afinum: Ebner Stolz and Orrick

About Afinum

Afinum Manage­ment GmbH is an inde­pen­dent finan­cial inves­tor wholly owned by its manage­ment, with offices in Munich, Frank­furt, and Zurich. The company specia­li­zes in majo­rity acqui­si­ti­ons of finan­ci­ally sound, ambi­tious medium-sized compa­nies, prima­rily in the DACH region. As a renow­ned specia­list in succes­sion plan­ning, Afinum has proven itself over the past 25 years as a trus­ted part­ner to more than 100 compa­nies in the tran­si­tion from owner-mana­ged to mana­ger-led orga­niza­ti­ons. — www.afinum.de

Munich/Bremen – The commer­cial law firm Gütt Olk Feld­haus advi­sed the Metis Group, a port­fo­lio company of the invest­ment firm Gimv, on its acqui­si­tion of Assmy & Bött­ger Elec­tro­nic GmbH.

A+B Elec­tro­nic is a full-service provi­der of elec­tro­nic manu­fac­tu­ring services (EMS) and employs appro­xi­m­ately 130 people at its loca­tion in Groß­enkne­ten, near Bremen.
The Metis Group is a leading group of elec­tro­nics compa­nies focu­sed on the deve­lo­p­ment and manu­fac­ture of advan­ced elec­tro­nic and mecha­tro­nic products and systems in the high-mix, low- to medium-volume segment. Toge­ther, they support leading OEM custo­mers throug­hout the entire product lifecycle—from engi­nee­ring, proto­ty­p­ing, and indus­tria­liza­tion to mass produc­tion, logi­stics, and life­cy­cle management. 

Gimv is a Euro­pean invest­ment firm listed on Euron­ext Brussels with 45 years of expe­ri­ence in the private equity busi­ness. The company mana­ges a port­fo­lio of appro­xi­m­ately 2.2 billion euros and curr­ently holds stakes in about 60 compa­nies. Coll­ec­tively, the port­fo­lio compa­nies gene­rate reve­nue of appro­xi­m­ately 5 billion euros and employ more than 20,000 people. GOF has advi­sed Gimv on seve­ral tran­sac­tions in the past.
The closing of the tran­sac­tion is still subject to regu­la­tory approvals. 

Legal advi­sors to Metis Group (Gimv): Gütt Olk Feld­haus, Munich

Dr. Sebas­tian Olk (Part­ner, Corporate/M&A), Maxi­mi­lian Spind­ler, LL.M. (Colum­bia) (Part­ner, Corporate/M&A; both lead coun­sel), Thomas Becker (Of Coun­sel, IP/IT), Tobias Trawin­ski (Senior Asso­ciate), Timo Hoff­mann (Asso­ciate, both Corporate/M&A)
addworx legal, Munich: Andreas Ege (Part­ner), Henning Timm (Coun­sel, both Employ­ment Law)
Blom­stein, Berlin: Dr. Max Klasse (Part­ner; Anti­trust Law), Dr. Leonard Frei­herr von Rummel, LL.M. (Stel­len­bosch Univer­sity) (Part­ner; Foreign Trade Law)
Reius, Hamburg: Panu Siemer (Part­ner), Robert Mayer (Coun­sel, both Real Estate Law)
Kind & Drews, Düssel­dorf: Dr. Ernesto Drews (Part­ner, Tax Law) 

About Gütt Olk Feldhaus

Gütt Olk Feld­haus is a leading inter­na­tio­nal law firm foun­ded in 2011 and head­quar­te­red in Munich. GOF provi­des compre­hen­sive advice on commer­cial and corpo­rate law to inter­na­tio­nal and dome­stic corpo­ra­ti­ons, finan­cial inves­tors, and family-owned busi­nesses and entre­pre­neurs. Its prac­tice areas focus on corpo­rate law, M&A, private equity, and finan­cing, inclu­ding liti­ga­tion. — www.gof-partner.com

Munich/Neuss — Orrick advi­sed the former majo­rity share­hol­ders of Hager & Meisin­ger, a global provi­der of premium dental instru­ments and work­flow solu­ti­ons head­quar­te­red in Neuss, on the sale of a control­ling stake to Apheon, a private equity inves­tor active throug­hout Europe.

Apheon will be working with the former share­hol­ders and co-CEOs of Hager & Meisin­ger, Dr. Burkard Höchst and Sebas­tian Voss. Both will retain a signi­fi­cant stake in Apheon and will conti­nue to play an active role in shaping the group’s future development. 

With Apheon as a part­ner, Hager & Meisin­ger aims to grow more quickly, both orga­ni­cally and through targe­ted acqui­si­ti­ons. The focus is on expan­ding its presence in the U.S. and streng­thening its inter­na­tio­nal sales reach and distri­bu­tion partnerships. 

Hager & Meisin­ger was foun­ded in 1888 and is head­quar­te­red in Neuss. The group is a leading inde­pen­dent specia­list in high-precis­ion dental instru­ments. The Meisin­ger and Jota brands are united under the group’s umbrella. Through its inter­na­tio­nal distri­bu­tion network, the group supplies dentists and dental profes­sio­nals in more than 100 count­ries. Its verti­cally inte­gra­ted manu­fac­tu­ring faci­li­ties are loca­ted in Neuss and Rüthi, Switzerland. 

Apheon is a private equity inves­tor active throug­hout Europe with a focus on mid-market compa­nies. Since its foun­ding in 2005, Apheon has raised more than 5 billion euros in capi­tal. Its current port­fo­lio compri­ses appro­xi­m­ately 25 compa­nies with total reve­nue of around 4 billion euros and more than 25,000 employees. Apheon is advi­sed by Apheon Advi­sors, which has offices in Brussels, Milan, Madrid, Paris, Munich, and Amsterdam. 

The former majo­rity share­hol­ders of Hager & Meisin­ger were advi­sed by an Orrick team led by Munich-based private equity part­ner Dr. Chris­toph Bren­ner, who regu­larly advi­ses on complex private equity tran­sac­tions, parti­cu­larly in the tech­no­logy sector.

Legal coun­sel to the former majo­rity share­hol­ders of Hager & Meisin­ger: Orrick

Dr. Chris­toph Bren­ner (Lead Coun­sel, Part­ner, M&A and Private Equity, Munich), Maria Teodo­rescu (Lead Coun­sel, Mana­ging Asso­ciate, M&A and Private Equity, Munich), Dr. Stefan Renner (Part­ner, M&A and Private Equity, Düssel­dorf), Adrian Deng­ler (Coun­sel, M&A and Private Equity, Munich), Dr. Stefan Schul­tes-Schnitz­lein (Part­ner, Tax Law, Düssel­dorf), Cars­ten Enge­lings (Coun­sel, Tax Law, Düssel­dorf), Dr. Lars Mesen­brink (Part­ner, Anti­trust, Compe­ti­tion, and Invest­ment Law, Düssel­dorf), Dr. Bene­dikt Kamann (Mana­ging Asso­ciate, Anti­trust, Compe­ti­tion, and Invest­ment Law, Düssel­dorf), Dr. André Zimmer­mann (Part­ner, Employ­ment Law, Düssel­dorf), Mari­anna Urban (Coun­sel, Labor Law, Düsseldorf).

Andernach/Munich — With this tran­sac­tion, CE Capi­tal Part­ners aims to streng­then Leis­ten Wagner’s core busi­ness and further deve­lop the company as a provi­der of high-quality wood solu­ti­ons for inte­rior design. The focus is on expan­ding sales and broa­de­ning the product range for trade­speo­ple, inte­rior desi­gners, and project clients. 

Leis­ten Wagner was foun­ded in 1865 by master carpen­ters Ferdi­nand and Wilhelm Wagner in Ander­nach on the Rhine and specia­li­zes in high-quality solid wood moldings. Drawing on its exper­tise in wood­wor­king, the company now manu­fac­tures not only solid wood moldings but also milled compon­ents for hard­wood floors, furni­ture, and doors, as well as deck systems. 

A HEUKING team led by Dr. Björn Biehl advi­sed CE Capi­tal Part­ners on its acqui­si­tion of Leis­ten Wagner, based in Andernach.

CE Capi­tal Part­ners is a private equity firm with offices in Hamburg and Zurich that provi­des compa­nies with equity capi­tal inde­pen­dent of banks, invest­ment funds, or the capi­tal markets. It invests in medium-sized compa­nies in German-spea­king count­ries, parti­cu­larly in special situa­tions where rapid stabi­liza­tion and sustainable growth are criti­cal. — www.cec-partners.de

Advi­sors to CE Capi­tal Part­ners: HEUKING

Dr. Björn Biehl, M.Sc. in Finance (HEC Paris), (Lead Attor­ney, Corpo­rate Law/M&A, Munich)
Peter M. Schäff­ler (Tax Law, Munich)
Henrik Lay (Tax Law, Hamburg) 

www.heuking.de

The Good­Mills milling group is under­go­ing a stra­te­gic realignment and is selling Müller’s Mühle to the Italian company Euricom S.p.A. — At the same time, Aurora Mühlen is to be streng­the­ned as an inde­pen­dent unit under new management.

Good­Mills Deutsch­land will focus on its flour busi­ness going forward. The milling group Good­Mills Deutsch­land plans to realign its busi­ness and is selling Müller’s Mühle to a company that will, for the first time, operate its own faci­li­ties in Germany. The German supplier of rice and legu­mes is expec­ted to be sold by the end of 2026 to Euricom S.p.A., head­quar­te­red in Valle Lomel­lina near Pavia in nort­hern Italy. 

The tran­sac­tion is subject to the custo­mary regu­la­tory approvals.

Euricom is an inter­na­tio­nal, family-owned supplier of rice, legu­mes, and other grain-based products. To date, the company has not had its own subsi­diary, team, or faci­lity in Germany. Müller’s Mühle is expec­ted to provide Euricom with a finan­ci­ally strong plat­form in Germany for this purpose. Retai­ning the current manage­ment team, led by Mana­ging Direc­tor Arne Tiemann, ensu­res conti­nuity for custo­mers, busi­ness part­ners, and employees. — https://www.euricom.it/

Frank­furt am Main/Paderborn – Funds advi­sed by PINOVA and their co-inves­tors have sold their stake in the Raynet Group to Main Capi­tal Part­ners. As part of the tran­sac­tion, foun­der and CEO Ragip Aydin is reinves­t­ing a signi­fi­cant amount, and Raynet’s manage­ment is also buying back a stake in the acqui­ring company. 

A CMS team led by Dr. Peter Polke provi­ded PINOVA with compre­hen­sive legal and tax advice on the tran­sac­tion. PINOVA is a long-stan­ding client and regu­larly recei­ves advice from CMS, most recently regar­ding the acqui­si­tion of a stake in Kist + Esche­rich and the invest­ment in Ideal-tek in Switzerland. 

Raynet, head­quar­te­red in Pader­born, deve­lops soft­ware solu­ti­ons for IT visi­bi­lity, IT asset manage­ment, and cyber­se­cu­rity. The company employs more than 170 people and, in addi­tion to Germany, has a presence in the United States, Poland, Turkey, and the United King­dom, among other countries. 

Toge­ther with Main Capi­tal, Raynet plans to acce­le­rate its inter­na­tio­nal expan­sion, further deve­lop stra­te­gic part­ner­ships, and expand its product port­fo­lio to include rela­ted data manage­ment and secu­rity features. These orga­nic growth initia­ti­ves will be comple­men­ted by a targe­ted inter­na­tio­nal buy-and-build strategy. 

Main Capi­tal Part­ners is an inves­tor specia­li­zing in soft­ware compa­nies that mana­ges private equity funds in the Bene­lux count­ries, the DACH region, Scan­di­na­via, France, the United King­dom, and North America, and has more than 20 years of expe­ri­ence in streng­thening and scaling soft­ware compa­nies inter­na­tio­nally. Its active port­fo­lio compri­ses appro­xi­m­ately 60 soft­ware compa­nies with a combi­ned work­force of over 15,000 employees. 

PINOVA is an inde­pen­dent private equity firm that invests in indus­trial tech compa­nies in German-spea­king count­ries through the funds it mana­ges. The focus is on highly profi­ta­ble mid-market compa­nies with reve­nues between EUR 10 million and EUR 50 million in the segments of High-Tech Compon­ents, Inno­va­tive Mate­ri­als, and Smart Systems. PINOVA invests in compa­nies whose system-criti­cal products are deeply inte­gra­ted into their custo­mers’ value chains and that are charac­te­ri­zed by strong growth poten­tial, sustainable compe­ti­tive advan­ta­ges, and a leading market posi­tion in their respec­tive niches. —www.pinovacapital.com

Raynet is a global soft­ware provi­der that offers solu­ti­ons and comple­men­tary mana­ged services for the end-to-end manage­ment of IT projects and IT opera­tio­nal proces­ses. Foun­ded in 1999, the company is head­quar­te­red in Pader­born and has addi­tio­nal offices in Germany, the U.S., Poland, Turkey, and the U.K.

Advi­sors: Pinova: CMS

Led by Dr. Peter Polke, Part­ner in Frank­furt am Main
https://cms.law/

Advi­sors to Main Capi­tal Part­ners: McDer­mott Will & Schulte

Holger H. Ebers­ber­ger, LL.M., Alex­an­dra Prato (Coun­sel; both lead coun­sel, Private Equity, Munich), Dr. Matthias Weis­sin­ger (lead coun­sel, Finance, Munich), Dr. Thomas Diek­mann, Dr. Manuel Weiß (Coun­sel; both Private Equity, Munich), Dustin Schwerdt­fe­ger (Finance, Düssel­dorf), Dr. Florian Schie­fer (Tax Law, Frank­furt), Dr. Ulrich Flege (Real Estate and Commer­cial Law, Düssel­dorf), Dr. Laura Stamm­witz (Anti­trust Law, Frank­furt), Abdel Abdel­lah (Coun­sel, Employ­ment Law, Paris); Asso­cia­tes: Macha Dinga, Tobias Thie­mann (both Private Equity, Munich), Dr. Svenja Hefner (Corporate/M&A, Munich), Lorenz Schwo­jer (Finance, Munich), Matthias Bosbach, Markus Hunken­schrö­der (both Finance, Düssel­dorf), Bastiaan Wolters (Finance, Frank­furt), Dr. Merlyn von Hugo, LL.M., OEC. (Tax Law, Frank­furt), Yves Kandel (Real Estate Law, Düssel­dorf), Caro­lin Schu­ma­cher (Anti­trust Law, Colo­gne), Atha­na­sia Eleft­he­ria­dou, LL.M. (Labor Law, Düssel­dorf), Eva Kanela (Tran­sac­tion Lawyer, Munich).

www.mcdermottlaw.com/de

Berlin – amberra and NRW.BANK advi­sed on the 9 million euro Series A funding round for syte GmbH. The round was led by amberra, the ventu­ring studio of the Volks­ban­ken Raiff­ei­sen­ban­ken Coope­ra­tive Finan­cial Group. — NRW.BANK parti­ci­pa­ted as a new inves­tor through its venture capi­tal fund, NRW.Venture. Exis­ting inves­tors, inclu­ding compa­nies from the Schwarz Group, High-Tech Grün­der­fonds (HTGF), vent.io, and Vantage Value, also inves­ted again.

syte is a PropTech startup foun­ded in Müns­ter in 2021 that is deve­lo­ping an AI-based plat­form for land and real estate analy­sis. The plat­form combi­nes various geogra­phic, real estate, and land data with analy­ses gene­ra­ted by the company’s proprie­tary AI. This enables project deve­lo­pers, banks, real estate agents, plan­ners, and housing indus­try compa­nies to assess at an early stage what deve­lo­p­ment poten­tial exists, what legal requi­re­ments apply, and whether cons­truc­tion or reno­va­tion projects are econo­mic­ally viable. Accor­ding to the company, syte maps more than 62 million parcels of land in Germany and is used by more than 200 customers. 

With this fresh capi­tal, syte intends to drive the tech­no­lo­gi­cal deve­lo­p­ment of its plat­form and prepare for expan­sion into addi­tio­nal Euro­pean markets. The focus is on further auto­ma­ting the early plan­ning phase of cons­truc­tion and real estate projects, from asses­sing deve­lo­p­ment poten­tial to revie­w­ing buil­ding codes and conduc­ting feasi­bi­lity analy­ses. In the long term, the goal is to digi­tally map the entire process leading up to the actual cons­truc­tion of a property. 

About the amberra Fund

The BaFin-regis­tered amberra Fund was estab­lished in March 2024. The first closing of the amberra Fund took place in August 2024, and the final closing—with the target volume of 100 million euros reached—took place at the end of Febru­ary 2026. The coope­ra­tive finan­cial group’s joint invest­ment vehicle forms the foun­da­tion for port­fo­lio development.
amberra is a stra­te­gic inves­tor. Many members of our team have foun­ded compa­nies them­sel­ves. Our foun­ders bene­fit from these experiences—from honest analy­sis of pitch decks to solid capi­tal and CFO advi­sory services when things get tight. A key factor for colla­bo­ra­tion is the stra­te­gic fit with the finan­cial group. Our stra­te­gic focus is on Series A invest­ments in the four areas of living, health, sustaina­bi­lity, and the regio­nal economy. — www.amberra.de

Consul­tant amberra and NRW.BANK: YPOG

Dr. Martin Scha­per (Lead, Tran­sac­tions), Part­ner, Berlin
Dr. Tim Walter (Tran­sac­tions), Senior Asso­ciate, Cologne
Laura Franke (Tran­sac­tions), Senior Project Lawyer, Cologne
Dr. Johan­nes Janning (Tran­sac­tions), Part­ner, Cologne
Paul Haren­berg (Tran­sac­tions), Asso­ciate, Cologne
Janic Kaba Salce­das (Tran­sac­tions), Asso­ciate, Cologne
Konstan­tina Natha­nail (IP/IT/Data Protec­tion), Asso­ciate, Berlin
Char­lotte Petrasch (IP/IT/Data Protec­tion), Asso­ciate, Berlin

www.ypog.de

Frank­furt am Main/Munich — Deut­sche Betei­li­gungs AG (DBAG) is inves­t­ing in Vected GmbH (Vected) and acqui­ring a signi­fi­cant mino­rity stake in the company. The invest­ment is part of the company’s “Long-Term Invest­ments” stra­tegy. These invest­ments are always struc­tu­red using funds from the balance sheet. Foun­der and Mana­ging Direc­tor Wolf­gang Schö­berl will conti­nue to lead the company. The parties have agreed not to disc­lose the purchase price. The tran­sac­tion is subject to the usual regu­la­tory approvals. 

A tech­no­logy specia­list with a unique posi­tion in Europe

Vected was foun­ded in 2012 by Wolf­gang Schö­berl. The core of the busi­ness is the deve­lo­p­ment, manu­fac­ture, and cali­bra­tion of ther­mal imaging devices, as well as their inte­gra­tion into ready-to-use end products. Vected deve­lops and manu­fac­tures ther­mal imaging tech­no­logy, parti­cu­larly for criti­cal mili­tary appli­ca­ti­ons, as well as for dual-use purpo­ses. The company offers in-depth exper­tise with a fully inte­gra­ted system “Made in Germany.” This includes proprie­tary image-proces­sing soft­ware and the use of AI for image opti­miza­tion and object recognition. 

Vecte­d’s product port­fo­lio includes porta­ble ther­mal imaging devices, vehicle-moun­ted solu­ti­ons, and drones. In addi­tion, Vected deve­lops and manu­fac­tures custom solu­ti­ons based on the company’s exten­sive port­fo­lio of patents. 

The Growing Importance of Optro­nics for the Euro­pean Defense Strategy

Euro­pean defense budgets have been rising since 2022, and with them, the volume of procu­re­ment for vehic­les, sensors, and recon­nais­sance products. Optro­nic solu­ti­ons, in parti­cu­lar, are beco­ming incre­asingly important in both estab­lished systems and new appli­ca­ti­ons. Ther­mal imaging tech­no­lo­gies often play a crucial role in ensu­ring opti­mal visi­bi­lity even under chal­len­ging condi­ti­ons. This high-tech sector is covered by only a few compa­nies in Europe. Conse­quently, there is dispro­por­tio­na­tely high demand for solu­ti­ons such as those offe­red by Vected, which are charac­te­ri­zed by tech­no­lo­gi­cal leader­ship, high-quality imagery, and excep­tio­nal relia­bi­lity. The Euro­pean market for uncoo­led infrared systems is valued at appro­xi­m­ately 1.1 billion euros and, accor­ding to indus­try experts, is expec­ted to grow by 12 percent annu­ally through 2030. For vehicle-moun­ted systems, growth projec­tions are signi­fi­cantly higher. 

Vected also manu­fac­tures its ther­mal imaging devices and elec­tro­nic modu­les exclu­si­vely in Germany and, as a true “Made in Germany” company, is ideally posi­tio­ned to meet the requi­re­ments of Euro­pean procu­re­ment agen­cies for a Euro­pean supply chain. On the custo­mer side, too, the company bene­fits from high barriers to entry: In-depth exper­tise built up over deca­des, along with its quali­fi­ca­ti­ons and deep inte­gra­tion into custo­mers’ end products, make Vected a relia­ble supplier that can scale quickly along­side its custo­mers. This strong posi­tio­ning is also reflec­ted in the company’s deve­lo­p­ment, as it is curr­ently in a phase of signi­fi­cant growth. 

Invest­ments using on-balance-sheet funds enable long-term partnerships
DBAG’s “Long-Term Invest­ments” stra­tegy focu­ses on mino­rity stakes finan­ced with on-balance-sheet funds. This allows for a holding period that extends beyond the typi­cal dura­ti­ons of private equity funds. This results in grea­ter flexi­bi­lity in stra­te­gic direc­tion and in support­ing the growth of port­fo­lio compa­nies. As is custo­mary, the invest­ment in Vected was reviewed in accordance with DBAG’s guide­lines for respon­si­ble inves­t­ing prior to the invest­ment decision. 

Jannick Hune­cke, Member of the Execu­tive Board of Deut­sche Betei­li­gungs AG, says: “Ther­mal imaging tech­no­logy was an abso­lute niche topic for many years. Today, it is a highly rele­vant compo­nent in procu­re­ment. Vected is one of the few Euro­pean market play­ers that has maste­red the entire process—from sensor tech­no­logy and image proces­sing to hard­ware and cali­bra­tion. And it does so with a supply chain that depends neither on U.S. export licen­ses nor on compon­ents from outside Europe. That’s a compe­ti­tive advan­tage that’s very diffi­cult to replicate.”

“Demand for our products is high, and with DBAG, we can expand the neces­sary infra­struc­ture. We are prepa­ring the company for further growth. Toge­ther with DBAG, we aim to expand our produc­tion capa­city and further profes­sio­na­lize the company,” says Wolf­gang Schö­berl, foun­der and CEO of Vected.

Next Phase of Growth: Profes­sio­na­liza­tion and Capacity

Toge­ther with manage­ment, DBAG aims to posi­tion the orga­niza­tion for the coming years. The focus is on expan­ding the busi­ness in terms of person­nel and capa­city. In addi­tion, the orga­niza­tion will undergo further profes­sio­na­liza­tion and scaling. By 2030, the team is expec­ted to grow signi­fi­cantly, and at the same time, the product port­fo­lio will be further expan­ded to tap into new growth potential. 

“master. And to do so with a supply chain that depends neither on U.S. export licen­ses nor on compon­ents from outside Europe. That’s an advan­tage that’s very diffi­cult to replicate.” 

“Demand for our products is high, and with DBAG, we can expand the neces­sary infra­struc­ture. We are prepa­ring the company for further growth. Toge­ther with DBAG, we aim to expand our produc­tion capa­city and further profes­sio­na­lize the company,” says Wolf­gang Schö­berl, foun­der and CEO of Vected.

Next Phase of Growth: Profes­sio­na­liza­tion and Capacity

Toge­ther with manage­ment, DBAG plans to posi­tion the orga­niza­tion for the coming years. The focus is on expan­ding the busi­ness in terms of person­nel and capa­city. In addi­tion, the orga­niza­tion will be further profes­sio­na­li­zed and scaled up. By 2030, the team is expec­ted to grow signi­fi­cantly, and at the same time, the product port­fo­lio will be further expan­ded to tap into new growth potential. 

About DBAG

Deut­sche Betei­li­gungs AG (DBAG), which has been publicly traded since 1985, is one of Germany’s most renow­ned private equity firms. As an inves­tor and fund advi­sor, DBAG’s invest­ment focus has tradi­tio­nally been on small and medium-sized enter­pri­ses (SMEs), with an empha­sis on well-posi­tio­ned compa­nies with growth poten­tial, prima­rily in the DACH region. Key sectors include manu­fac­tu­r­ers of indus­trial goods, indus­trial service provi­ders, and Indus­try­Tech companies—that is, compa­nies whose products enable auto­ma­tion, robo­tics, and digitalization—as well as compa­nies in the busi­ness services, IT services, soft­ware, health­care, envi­ron­men­tal, energy, and infra­struc­ture sectors. DBAG has also been active in Italy since 2020 and has been repre­sen­ted by its own office in Milan since 2021. The assets mana­ged or advi­sed by the DBAG Group total appro­xi­m­ately 2.8 billion euros. ELF Capi­tal comple­ments DBAG’s range of flexi­ble finan­cing solu­ti­ons for small and medium-sized enter­pri­ses by provi­ding private debt finan­cing. — www.dbag.de

Grün­wald near Munich / Zurich – SOLUTIO AG (“SOLUTIO”), with the support of Wilshire Advi­sors LLC (“Wilshire”), is prepa­ring to launch a new fund aimed exclu­si­vely at insti­tu­tio­nal inves­tors in Switz­er­land. The target volume is appro­xi­m­ately 150 million euros. The fund is inten­ded to provide access to a private markets segment that is expan­ding due to rising defense budgets, the protec­tion of criti­cal infra­struc­ture, tech­no­lo­gi­cal sove­reig­nty, and secu­rity-rela­ted aero­space technologies. 

Wilshire’s role will be to support the fund’s exter­nal Alter­na­tive Invest­ment Fund Mana­ger (AIFM) as an invest­ment advi­sor. “Follo­wing the opening of our office in Zurich a little over a year ago, Switz­er­land is a natu­ral market for this stra­tegy,” says Robert Massing, CEO of SOLUTIO AG. “Insti­tu­tio­nal inves­tors are incre­asingly focu­sing their invest­ments on secu­rity, resi­li­ence, and tech­no­lo­gi­cal sove­reig­nty. At the same time, the range of investa­ble funds has broa­dened in recent years. With this new product, we aim to select the most attrac­tive invest­ment oppor­tu­ni­ties for our clients.” 

The fund is inten­ded to invest in selec­ted target funds and cover three key areas: defense and secu­rity, resi­li­ent infra­struc­ture and tech­no­lo­gies, and aero­space. The target volume is expec­ted to be around 150 million euros. The plan­ned geogra­phic focus is Europe, inclu­ding Israel; invest­ments in North America are also planned. 

The new fund is being deve­lo­ped as part of the stra­te­gic part­ner­ship between SOLUTIO and Wilshire. It combi­nes SOLUTIO AG’s exper­tise in struc­tu­ring and mana­ging funds in the German-spea­king insti­tu­tio­nal market with Wilshire’s global invest­ment plat­form, rese­arch capa­bi­li­ties, and expe­ri­ence in due dili­gence proces­ses and mana­ger selection. 

“The secu­rity and resi­li­ence market is young, frag­men­ted, and dyna­mic,” says Todd Cass­ler, Chief Reve­nue Offi­cer at Wilshire. “The growing number of specia­li­zed private equity and venture capi­tal funds is opening up nume­rous new invest­ment oppor­tu­ni­ties for insti­tu­tio­nal inves­tors. At the same time, the demands on due dili­gence, fund selec­tion, risk assess­ment, and port­fo­lio cons­truc­tion are incre­asing.” The fund is to be struc­tu­red as an insti­tu­tio­nal fund and mana­ged by an exter­nal Alter­na­tive Invest­ment Fund Mana­ger (AIFM). Wilshire will provide invest­ment advice for the fund; howe­ver, invest­ment decis­i­ons will remain solely with the AIFM. 

About SOLUTIO AG

SOLUTIO AG deve­lops and struc­tures invest­ment port­fo­lios for insti­tu­tio­nal investors
and family offices in German-spea­king count­ries and Switz­er­land. The company focuses
on real assets and private markets, inclu­ding private equity, infra­struc­ture, private debt,
real estate, and specia­li­zed stra­te­gies in colla­bo­ra­tion with international
invest­ment part­ners. — www.solutio.ag

About Wilshire

Wilshire is a global finan­cial services firm and part­ner to appro­xi­m­ately 300
leading insti­tu­tio­nal inves­tors and finan­cial inter­me­dia­ries. The company helps
its clients improve their long-term invest­ment results. Wilshire advi­ses clients
on assets tota­ling more than 1.6 tril­lion U.S. dollars and mana­ges assets totaling
220 billion U.S. dollars (as of June 30, 2026). Wilshire is head­quar­te­red in the U.S. and has
offices world­wide. — www.prosek.com

Berlin — Venture capi­tal inves­tor Head­line has laun­ched a new fund, Head­line EU VIII, with a volume of $400 million. This is the eighth gene­ra­tion of Euro­pean funds for the early-stage venture capi­tal inves­tor. — YPOG advi­sed Head­line on the struc­tu­ring of the Head­line EU VIII fund. Inves­tors include KfW, the Euro­pean Invest­ment Fund, family offices, and compa­nies such as the Otto Group. 

Head­line opera­tes as a globally posi­tio­ned venture capi­tal inves­tor with Euro­pean roots and an invest­ment focus that extends from Europe to the U.S., South America, and Asia. Its Euro­pean invest­ment acti­vi­ties date back to the early 2000s. With in-house teams in Berlin, Hamburg, Luxem­bourg, Paris, London, San Fran­cisco, São Paulo, Taipei, and Tokyo, Head­line combi­nes deep local roots with the reach of a global player. Its Euro­pean port­fo­lio includes, among others, Mistral, Black Forest Labs, and Bioptimus. 

Head­line EU VIII is desi­gned to support Euro­pean start­ups in the seed phase and during Series A funding rounds. A key focus is on compa­nies in the AI sector. In addi­tion, the Global Growth Fund enables invest­ments start­ing with Series B funding to support port­fo­lio compa­nies through later stages of growth. 

“Successfully comple­ting a fund­rai­sing round of this magni­tude in the early-stage segment amid the current market condi­ti­ons unders­cores inves­tors’ endu­ring confi­dence in Head­line and the team’s approach to Euro­pean early-stage invest­ments. With Head­line EU VIII, the team is consis­t­ently conti­nuing its commit­ment to Euro­pean foun­ders,” says Stephan Bank, part­ner at YPOG.

This advi­sory enga­ge­ment builds on a long-stan­ding part­ner­ship between YPOG and Head­line: For many years, YPOG has supported Head­line in struc­tu­ring nume­rous fund vehic­les, inclu­ding the prede­ces­sor fund Head­line EU VII, which had a volume of 320 million euros.

Consul­tant Head­line: YPOG

Dr. Stephan Bank ( Lead, Funds), Part­ner, Berlin
Lenn­art Lorenz (Regu­la­tory), Part­ner, Hamburg
Dr. Sebas­tian Schwarz (Tax), Part­ner, Berlin
Benja­min von Mangoldt (Funds), Senior Asso­ciate, Berlin
Dr. Niklas Ulrich (Regu­la­tory), Asso­cia­ted Part­ner, Hamburg
Valen­tin Schmidt (Tax), Asso­ciate, Berlin
Camilla Shaver­dov (Tax), Asso­ciate, Berlin

London/Bielefeld — Arcus Infra­struc­ture Part­ners (“Arcus”), an invest­ment firm specia­li­zing in infra­struc­ture invest­ments, has acqui­red SK Pharma Logi­stics GmbH (“SK Pharma”), a provi­der of logi­stics solu­ti­ons for the health­care indus­try in Germany, through its Arcus Euro­pean Infra­struc­ture Fund 4. SK Pharma’s exis­ting manage­ment team will retain a stake in the company. The tran­sac­tion is still subject to the custo­mary regu­la­tory appr­ovals and is expec­ted to close in the fourth quar­ter of 2026. POELLATH provi­ded legal coun­sel to SK Pharma’s manage­ment regar­ding a manage­ment equity stake as part of the transaction. 

SK Pharma, based in Biele­feld, is one of the leading specia­li­zed logi­stics provi­ders for the health­care indus­try in Germany. With a network of eight warehouse loca­ti­ons in northwes­tern Germany, the company has appro­xi­m­ately 85,000 m² of tempe­ra­ture-control­led warehouse space and more than 100,000 pallet spaces. SK Pharma’s custo­mer base includes phar­maceu­ti­cal manu­fac­tu­r­ers, importers, whole­sa­lers, and other compa­nies in the health­care sector. In addi­tion to its GMP- and GDP-compli­ant warehousing and distri­bu­tion infra­struc­ture, the company offers a wide range of comple­men­tary services and enables close opera­tio­nal, regu­la­tory, and digi­tal inte­gra­tion with its custo­mers’ proces­ses. The German market for outsour­ced phar­maceu­ti­cal logi­stics is expe­ri­en­cing struc­tu­ral growth, driven by demo­gra­phic trends, incre­asing outsour­cing, and rising regu­la­tory requi­re­ments. With its specia­li­zed infra­struc­ture and many years of indus­try exper­tise, SK Pharma is excep­tio­nally well-posi­tio­ned in this market. 

Arcus is an inde­pen­dent invest­ment firm focu­sed on mid-sized infra­struc­ture compa­nies with sustainable growth poten­tial, parti­cu­larly in the digi­tal, trans­por­ta­tion and logi­stics, indus­trial, and energy sectors.

Manage­ment Consul­tant for SK Pharma: POELLATH

Dr. Bene­dikt Hohaus (Part­ner, Manage­ment Buyouts, M&A/Private Equity)
Silke Simmer, LL.M. (Coun­sel, Manage­ment Buyouts, M&A/Private Equity)
Nata­lie Tafel­ski (Asso­ciate, Manage­ment Buyouts, M&A/Private Equity) 

www.pplaw.de

Munich/Paderborn – Main Capi­tal Part­ners (“Main”) announ­ces the acqui­si­tion of Raynet GmbH (“Raynet”), a German provi­der of soft­ware solu­ti­ons for IT visi­bi­lity, IT asset manage­ment, and cyber­se­cu­rity, from PINOVA. The tran­sac­tion repres­ents a signi­fi­cant step into an attrac­tive and rapidly growing market charac­te­ri­zed by strong struc­tu­ral growth drivers, attrac­tive recur­ring reve­nue, and rising demand for the manage­ment and protec­tion of complex IT environments. 

Raynet, head­quar­te­red in Pader­born, helps large enter­pri­ses disco­ver, manage, and protect complex IT envi­ron­ments. The AI-powered Raynet One plat­form combi­nes disco­very capa­bi­li­ties with a proprie­tary tech­no­logy cata­log to trans­form frag­men­ted tech­no­logy data into a centra­li­zed and relia­ble source of infor­ma­tion for IT manage­ment and cyber­se­cu­rity. With appro­xi­m­ately 170 employees, Raynet holds a strong market posi­tion in the DACH region, has a presence throug­hout Europe, and is expan­ding its opera­ti­ons in North America. The company serves custo­mers across a wide range of indus­tries through direct sales and part­ner networks. 

The incre­asing comple­xity of IT land­scapes, rising cyber thre­ats, and regu­la­tory requi­re­ments are driving the demand for grea­ter trans­pa­rency and control over enter­prise IT. The growing importance of high-quality data for AI appli­ca­ti­ons further rein­forces this need. With its combi­na­tion of IT visi­bi­lity, IT asset manage­ment, and cyber­se­cu­rity solu­ti­ons, Raynet is ideally posi­tio­ned to meet these evol­ving requirements. 

Toge­ther with Main, Raynet plans to acce­le­rate its inter­na­tio­nal expan­sion, further deve­lop stra­te­gic part­ner­ships, and expand its product port­fo­lio to include rela­ted data manage­ment and secu­rity capa­bi­li­ties. These orga­nic growth initia­ti­ves will be comple­men­ted by a targe­ted inter­na­tio­nal “buy-and-build” strategy. 

Sven van Berge Henegou­wen, Mana­ging Part­ner and Head of DACH at Main, said: “Raynet’s combi­na­tion of IT visi­bi­lity, IT asset manage­ment, and secu­rity capa­bi­li­ties addres­ses the growing need for compa­nies to under­stand and control incre­asingly complex IT envi­ron­ments. We are impres­sed by the company’s proprie­tary tech­no­logy port­fo­lio, the capa­bi­li­ties of Raynet One, and the team’s expertise.”

Ragip Aydin, foun­der and CEO of Raynet, said: “We’ve been prepa­ring Raynet for this moment—both tech­no­lo­gi­cally and strategically—for many years. Now we’re shif­ting into high gear. With Main Capi­tal Part­ners, we have a strong part­ner at our side who shares our vision, under­stands soft­ware, and knows how to scale tech­no­logy compa­nies internationally.”

Joern Pelzer, a part­ner at PINOVA, added: “Over the past five years, Raynet has evol­ved into a soft­ware provi­der with an inter­na­tio­nal reach. The successful launch and ongo­ing deve­lo­p­ment of Raynet One have laid a solid foun­da­tion for future growth. With its deep soft­ware exper­tise and proven inter­na­tio­nal ‘buy-and-build’ expe­ri­ence, we believe Main Capi­tal Part­ners is the ideal part­ner to usher in the next phase of growth on this foundation.”

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Chem­nitz — plas­mo­tion, a German deep-tech company that deve­lops and manu­fac­tures indus­trial machi­nery and proprie­tary elec­tro­lytes for the plasma-elec­tro­ly­tic surface treat­ment of metal compon­ents, has secu­red new finan­cing tota­ling 3 million euros, led by the Cotton­wood Tech­no­logy Fund and supported by the Euro­pean Inno­va­tion Coun­cil (EIC) fund. The invest­ment will support plas­mo­ti­on’s next phase of indus­trial growth, inclu­ding the contin­ued commer­cia­liza­tion of its proprie­tary plasma poli­shing tech­no­lo­gies, the scaling of its stan­dard machine plat­forms, and the expan­sion of its busi­ness with indus­trial custo­mers in Europe and around the world. 

plas­mo­tion is head­quar­te­red in the Chem­nitz region, one of Germany’s tradi­tio­nal centers for advan­ced manu­fac­tu­ring and mecha­ni­cal engi­nee­ring. The company is a spin-off of the TU Berg­aka­de­mie Frei­berg and deve­lops a new gene­ra­tion of auto­ma­ted tech­no­lo­gies for the surface treat­ment of metal components. 

Its tech­no­logy combi­nes elec­tro­che­mis­try and plasma physics to polish, deburr, clean, and modify metal surfaces—without conven­tio­nal mecha­ni­cal poli­shing or aggres­sive chemi­cal proces­ses. A key diffe­ren­tia­tor is the JETPEP tech­no­logy deve­lo­ped by plas­mo­tion, which makes it possi­ble to apply plasma-elec­tro­ly­tic poli­shing selec­tively to speci­fic areas of a compo­nent. Using a control­led elec­tro­lyte jet, this process allows for the treat­ment of complex geome­tries and indi­vi­dual surfaces without having to immerse and polish the entire compo­nent. This opens up appli­ca­tion possi­bi­li­ties for large and complex compon­ents, as well as for manu­fac­tu­ring envi­ron­ments where diffe­rent parts have diffe­rent surface requirements. 

plas­mo­tion combi­nes proprie­tary elec­tro­lyte formu­la­ti­ons, process exper­tise, in-house mecha­ni­cal engi­nee­ring, and auto­ma­tion into an inte­gra­ted solu­tion. The water- and salt-based elec­tro­lytes are desi­gned for a wide range of metals and alloys, inclu­ding stain­less steels, tita­nium, alumi­num, copper, and specialty alloys. 

The tech­no­logy enables surface rough­ness levels of up to appro­xi­m­ately Ra 0.02 µm while simul­ta­neously combi­ning poli­shing, debur­ring, and clea­ning. Exis­ting and vali­da­ted appli­ca­ti­ons range from medi­cal tech­no­logy and precis­ion engi­nee­ring to jewelry and tool­ma­king, as well as semi­con­duc­tor equip­ment and other state-of-the-art manu­fac­tu­ring industries. 

Indus­tria­liza­tion of a New Approach to Surface Finishing

Many high-quality metal compon­ents still require labor-inten­sive mecha­ni­cal poli­shing or conven­tio­nal elec­tro­che­mi­cal proces­ses that involve multi­ple produc­tion steps. Plasmotion’s goal is to replace these complex process chains with highly auto­ma­ted and repro­du­ci­ble finis­hing proces­ses that can be directly inte­gra­ted into indus­trial manu­fac­tu­ring. The unique combi­na­tion of plasma physics, elec­tro­che­mis­try, and fluid dyna­mics makes this possi­ble through unmat­ched geome­tric accuracy. 

The company’s port­fo­lio includes the dive.pro systems for dive-based plasma poli­shing, as well as the jet.pro systems for spot proces­sing, which are based on plasmotion’s JETPEP plat­form. Both systems operate enti­rely without the use of hazar­dous subs­tances and can ther­e­fore be easily inte­gra­ted into a CNC manu­fac­tu­ring environment—without the need for special floo­ring or protec­tive equipment. 

Vincent Step­pu­tat, co-foun­der and CEO of plas­mo­tion, said: “We never inten­ded to build labo­ra­tory equip­ment. Every plas­mo­tion machine is desi­gned from the very first sketch for high-quality manufacturing—as a stan­dard machine that a custo­mer quali­fies once and then deploys shift after shift on the produc­tion floor. Our dive.pro systems are alre­ady doing exactly that in our custo­mers’ manu­fac­tu­ring faci­li­ties. With Cotton­wood and the EIC Fund by our side, we will now bring JETPEP to the same level of indus­trial matu­rity and expand plas­mo­tion internationally.”

Patrick Claes­sen, a part­ner at Cotton­wood Tech­no­logy Fund, said: “plas­mo­tion is exactly the kind of indus­trial deep-tech company Cotton­wood likes to invest in: complex science trans­la­ted into a tech­no­logy that solves a very speci­fic manu­fac­tu­ring problem. Surface finis­hing may seem like a rela­tively simple step in manu­fac­tu­ring, but for high-precis­ion compon­ents, it can be one of the most labor-inten­sive, costly, and diffi­cult proces­ses to auto­mate. We see signi­fi­cant oppor­tu­ni­ties to scale this tech­no­logy globally.”

The new funding will be used to bring the jet.pro and jet.pro 3D systems into series produc­tion, expand the manu­fac­tu­ring of plasmotion’s stan­dard machi­nes and elec­tro­lytes, and grow sales and appli­ca­tion deve­lo­p­ment in Europe and inter­na­tio­nally. This funding comes at a time when Euro­pean indus­try is incre­asingly focu­sing on advan­ced manu­fac­tu­ring, auto­ma­tion, resource effi­ci­ency, and redu­cing depen­dence on labor-inten­sive produc­tion processes. 

About the Euro­pean Inno­va­tion Coun­cil (EIC) Fund

The Euro­pean Commission’s Euro­pean Inno­va­tion Coun­cil Fund is a deep-tech inves­tor that invests across all tech­no­logy sectors. The EIC Fund aims to bridge a criti­cal funding gap and support compa­nies in deve­lo­ping and commer­cia­li­zing disrup­tive tech­no­lo­gies. With its exten­sive network of inves­tors and stra­te­gic part­ners, it shares risk and enga­ges market players.

Munich – YPOG advi­sed Perso­nio on its acqui­si­tion of Circula, an expense manage­ment plat­form. The tran­sac­tion expands Personio’s offe­rings to include expense manage­ment and brings toge­ther HR, payroll, and expense proces­ses on a single platform. 

Perso­nio is a leading Euro­pean plat­form for human resour­ces manage­ment and payroll proces­sing for small and medium-sized busi­nesses. Foun­ded in Munich in 2015, the company serves more than 16,000 busi­nesses that coll­ec­tively employ 1.6 million people. Perso­nio has more than 1,500 employees at 6 loca­ti­ons across Europe.

Circula was foun­ded in Berlin in 2017 and offers a plat­form for expense manage­ment. It covers travel expen­ses, corpo­rate cards, accounts paya­ble, and employee bene­fits. More than 3,000 compa­nies and 250,000 users use Circula. 

The goal of the tran­sac­tion is to conso­li­date both compa­nies’ offe­rings in the areas of human resour­ces manage­ment, payroll, and expense manage­ment onto a single inte­gra­ted plat­form. This is inten­ded to create the first Euro­pean plat­form to combine these product offe­rings under a single provi­der. Both compa­nies plan to further deepen the inte­gra­tion of their data and busi­ness proces­ses. Finan­cial details were not disclosed. 

“Perso­nio is setting the pace for inno­va­tion in Germany. This tran­sac­tion demons­tra­tes that German tech­no­logy compa­nies are not only acqui­si­tion targets but also acqui­rers and conso­li­da­tors, and that exper­tise and value crea­tion remain in Germany and Europe. We thank the Perso­nio team for their contin­ued trust in yet another project of great stra­te­gic importance,” says Dr. Johan­nes Janning, part­ner at YPOG.

A YPOG team compri­sing members from all offices advi­sed Perso­nio on the nego­tia­tion of the tran­sac­tion docu­men­ta­tion, legal and tax due dili­gence, and the struc­tu­ring of the acqui­si­tion. YPOG had previously advi­sed Perso­nio in May 2026 on the acqui­si­tion of the recrui­ting AI startup aurio and in July 2025 on the restruc­tu­ring of its global employee stock owner­ship program. 

Perso­nia Consul­tant: YPOG

Dr. Johan­nes Janning (Lead, Tran­sac­tions), Part­ner, Cologne
Jörg Schr­ade (Tax), Part­ner, Munich
Dr. Tim Walter (Tran­sac­tions), Senior Asso­ciate, Cologne
Janic Kaba Salce­das (Tran­sac­tions, Corpo­rate), Asso­ciate, Cologne
Nina Ahlert (Tran­sac­tions), Senior Asso­ciate, Cologne
Paul Haren­berg (Tran­sac­tions), Asso­ciate, Cologne
Dr. Jacob Schrei­ber (Tax), Senior Asso­ciate, Munich
Dr. Lutz Schrei­ber (IP/IT/Data Protec­tion), Part­ner, Hamburg
Matthias Kres­ser (Tran­sac­tions), Part­ner, Berlin
Dr. Miriam Peter (Tran­sac­tions, Corpo­rate), Asso­cia­ted Part­ner, Berlin
Dr. Florian Witt­ner (IP/IT/Data Protec­tion), Asso­ciate, Hamburg
Char­lotte Petrasch (IP/IT/Data Protec­tion), Asso­ciate, Berlin
Helena Dierckx (Tran­sac­tions, Corpo­rate), Asso­ciate, Berlin
Dr. Lea Ossmann-Magiera (IP/IT/Data Protec­tion), Asso­ciate, Berlin
Laura Franke (Tran­sac­tions), Senior Project Lawyer, Cologne

The inter­nal team was led by Malgosia Zietara-Miller (Gene­ral Coun­sel) and supported by Dr. Katrin Geiger (Head of Corpo­rate and Risk).

About YPOG

YPOG stands for You + Part­ners of Game­ch­an­gers. The leading law and tax advi­sory firm supports foun­ders, inves­tors, compa­nies, and funds in Germany and inter­na­tio­nally in brin­ging visio­nary ideas to life within the tech ecosys­tem and in dyna­mic future markets.
YPOG advi­ses on the struc­tu­ring of venture capi­tal and private equity funds, finan­cing rounds, and complex tran­sac­tions, as well as on regu­la­tory and tax issues rela­ted to digi­tal assets and finan­cial inno­va­tion. As a stra­te­gic part­ner, YPOG deve­lops prac­ti­cal solu­ti­ons of the highest legal quality. The firm combi­nes legal and tax exper­tise with legal tech, digi­tal work­flows, and AI-based systems to deli­ver effi­ci­ent and scalable advice. 

www.ypog.com

Frank­furt am Main — RMG Mess­tech­nik GmbH has been sold to Dresser Utility Solu­ti­ons GmbH. Dresser Utility Solu­ti­ons GmbH is a subsi­diary of the U.S.-based Dresser Utility Solu­ti­ons LLC. HEUKING provi­ded compre­hen­sive advi­sory services to RMG Mess­tech­nik GmbH in connec­tion with the sale. 

The closing of the tran­sac­tion is subject to the custo­mary regu­la­tory appr­ovals and other closing conditions.

RMG is a global provi­der of gas measu­re­ment tech­no­logy. Its product port­fo­lio includes ultra­so­nic and turbine gas meters, gas chro­ma­to­graphs, volume conver­ters, data loggers, commu­ni­ca­tion devices, and gas meter tech­no­logy. The company is head­quar­te­red in Butz­bach (Hesse). In addi­tion to its loca­ti­ons in Germany, RMG has bran­ches in the United States, India, China, Austria, and Dubai. 

With more than a century of expe­ri­ence in deve­lo­ping inno­va­tive solu­ti­ons, Dresser Utility Solu­ti­ons is an estab­lished market leader in safe and relia­ble infra­struc­ture tech­no­lo­gies that support utili­ties world­wide. Dresser’s port­fo­lio includes gas meter­ing tech­no­logy, digi­tal meters and soft­ware, pres­sure and flow control solu­ti­ons, and products for the repair of gas and water infra­struc­ture. Toge­ther, these solu­ti­ons cover the entire life­cy­cle of utility infrastructure—from meter­ing and control to repair and maintenance. 

Consul­tant, RMG Mess­tech­nik GmbH: HEUKING

Ulrich Weide­mann (Lead Coun­sel, Corpo­rate Law / M&A, Frank­furt), Frank Holl­stein (Corpo­rate Law / M&A, Frank­furt), Dr. Frede­rik Wiemer (Anti­trust Law, Hamburg), Klaus Weinand-Härer (Tax Law, Frank­furt), Thors­ten A. Wieland (Trade­mark, Design, and Copy­right Law, Frank­furt) , Patrick Schulz, LL.M. (Univer­sity of Cape Town), (Trade­mark, Design & Copy­right Law, Frank­furt), Dr. Philip Kemper­mann, LL.M. (IP, Media & Tech­no­logy, Düssel­dorf), Julian Rosen­feld (IP, Media & Tech­no­logy, Düsseldorf). 

Munich/Zurich — Ener­gy­Tech company Reverion has raised over USD 175 million in its Series B funding round. — The funding round was led by Kembara, a Euro­pean growth fund focu­sed on deep tech and climate tech­no­lo­gies, as the lead inves­tor. In addi­tion to exis­ting inves­tors, new parti­ci­pants include Alli­anz, KfW Capi­tal, Aurum Impact, and Carbon Equity. Exis­ting inves­tors Extan­tia, Energy Impact Part­ners, UVC Part­ners, the Euro­pean Inno­va­tion Coun­cil Fund (EIC Fund), alfa8, and Possi­ble Ventures have parti­ci­pa­ted again. 

Under the leader­ship of Munich-based part­ner Sebas­tian Frech, GÖRG provi­ded legal coun­sel to the Ener­gy­Tech company Reverion in connec­tion with its Series B finan­cing round tota­ling USD 175 million.

Reverion builds highly effi­ci­ent fuel cell power plants that gene­rate elec­tri­city from gas, enable flexi­ble energy storage through rever­si­bi­lity, and can operate with nega­tive CO₂ emis­si­ons. With the capi­tal raised, Reverion plans to further scale up indus­trial mass produc­tion and estab­lish a new produc­tion faci­lity in Germany with an annual manu­fac­tu­ring capa­city of 250 mega­watts and up to 800 jobs. 

With the successful Series B funding round, Reverion is taking the next step in its evolu­tion from a deep-tech startup to an inter­na­tio­nally scaling tech­no­logy company. The funding is inten­ded, in parti­cu­lar, to enable large-scale indus­trial produc­tion and the expan­sion into new markets. Demand for the tech­no­logy is growing, parti­cu­larly from energy-inten­sive indus­tries and data centers. 

Reverion, a spin-off of the Tech­ni­cal Univer­sity of Munich (TUM), has lever­a­ged deca­des of rese­arch and deve­lo­p­ment in the field of solid-oxide elec­tro­che­mi­cal cell tech­no­logy to deve­lop a highly effi­ci­ent and rever­si­ble gas-to-elec­tri­city system that is modu­lar, controll­able, and captures its own CO₂. The company’s products can be opera­ted with various types of gas (natu­ral gas, biogas, synthe­sis gas, hydro­gen) to gene­rate elec­tri­city with unpre­ce­den­ted effi­ci­ency and, in the reverse process, produce e‑methane—a feature that is unique worldwide. 

“For DeepT­ech compa­nies, the scaling phase is when it beco­mes clear whether tech­no­lo­gi­cal excel­lence will trans­late into an indus­tri­ally successful busi­ness model. Reverion’s Series B finan­cing is an important next step in this regard,” said Sebas­tian Frech, a part­ner at Görg.

The GÖRG team advi­ses the spin-off from the Tech­ni­cal Univer­sity of Munich not only on finan­cing matters but also on various contrac­tual and opera­tio­nal issues—particularly with regard to supplier and custo­mer contracts.

Reverion GmbH Consul­tants: GÖRG Part­ner­ship of Attor­neys mbB

Sebas­tian Frech (Lead, Part­ner, Venture Capi­tal / M&A, Munich)
Max Zeis­ler (Senior Asso­ciate, Venture Capi­tal / M&A, Munich)
Judith Burg­graf, LL.M. (Asso­ciate, Venture Capi­tal / M&A, Munich)
Moritz von Limburg, LL.M. (UCT) (Asso­ciate Part­ner, Venture Capi­tal / M&A, Munich)
Dr. Adal­bert Rödding, LL.M. (Part­ner, Tax Law, Cologne)
Dr. Karl-Georg Küsters, LL.M. (Coun­sel, Tax Law, Cologne)
Mete­han Uzun­çak­mak, LL.M. (Asso­ciate Part­ner, Anti­trust Law / Invest­ment Control, Cologne) 

About KEMBARA

Kembara provi­des capi­tal to help scale Euro­pe’s leading deep-tech compa­nies. Kembara part­ners with estab­lished science and engi­nee­ring compa­nies on the verge of a breakth­rough, leads growth rounds, and supports the deve­lo­p­ment of global market leaders. — www.KEMBARA.vc

About GOERG

GÖRG is one of Germany’s leading inde­pen­dent busi­ness law firms. — With over 370 profes­sio­nals in the fields of legal, tax, and audi­ting services across its five offices in Berlin, Frank­furt am Main, Hamburg, Colo­gne, and Munich, we advise promi­nent dome­stic and inter­na­tio­nal corpo­ra­ti­ons, medium-sized compa­nies, finan­cial inves­tors, and publicly traded corpo­ra­ti­ons across all sectors of the economy and the public sector. — www.goerg.de

London/Munich – AURELIUS, a global private equity inves­tor known for its opera­tio­nal approach, has reached an agree­ment to acquire Hain Inter­na­tio­nal, the U.K. and Euro­pean busi­ness unit of Hain Celes­tial Group (NASDAQ: HAIN).

Hain Inter­na­tio­nal is a leading Euro­pean plat­form in the healthy and “better-for-you” food and beverage cate­go­ries and has a port­fo­lio of market-leading brands as well as exten­sive private-label capa­bi­li­ties. The company opera­tes in six core cate­go­ries: Baby & Kids (Ella’s Kitchen), spreads & jellies (Hartley’s, Sun-Pat, Robertson’s, Frank Cooper’s, and Rose’s), soups (New Covent Garden Soup Co., York­shire Proven­der, and Cully & Sully), plant-based bever­a­ges (Joya, Natumi, and Lima), meat alter­na­ti­ves (Linda McCart­ney), and desserts. With seven produc­tion faci­li­ties in the United King­dom, Germany, and Austria, Hain Inter­na­tio­nal supplies leading food retail­ers, discoun­ters, food­ser­vice opera­tors, and B2B custo­mers in the United King­dom, Ireland, and conti­nen­tal Europe. The company employs appro­xi­m­ately 1,500 people and gene­ra­tes annual reve­nue of about €600 million. 

The acqui­si­tion of Hain Inter­na­tio­nal will create an inde­pen­dent Euro­pean food and beverage busi­ness with leading brands and produc­tion capa­bi­li­ties across various cate­go­ries. With the support of AURELIUS Water­Rise, the company’s opera­tio­nal advi­sory team, Hain Inter­na­tio­nal will expand its leading market posi­ti­ons, drive product inno­va­tion, broa­den its private-label part­ner­ships, and opti­mize opera­tio­nal effi­ci­ency across its entire produc­tion base and supply chain. 

“Follo­wing the acqui­si­ti­ons of Xylem Inc. and Grain­ger Inc. last year, Hain Inter­na­tio­nal is our most recent Euro­pean carve-out from a U.S.-listed conglo­me­rate. “I am proud of our teams, who have made our mid-market plat­form the prefer­red part­ner for trans­at­lan­tic carve-outs,” says Tris­tan Nagler, part­ner at AURELIUS and head of the London office. “We are very plea­sed to become the owners of Hain International’s well-known brands and look forward to working with the team.” 

Frank­furt am Main/Munich — The space company “The Explo­ra­tion Company” secu­res $450 million for a reusable space capsule — backed by Besse­mer, Atomico, EQT, and Balder­ton. WEIL advi­sed Balder­ton Capi­tal (Balder­ton), one of Europe’s leading venture capi­tal inves­tors, on the Series C funding round for The Explo­ra­tion Company GmbH (TEC). The finan­cing is subject to the usual regu­la­tory approvals.

Hélène Huby foun­ded TEC in Munich in July 2021 toge­ther with a group of engi­neers who had alre­ady gained expe­ri­ence working on Euro­pean projects such as the Orion Service Module and the ISS resup­ply vehicle ATV at Airbus and Aria­ne­Group. Since then, the company has grown to more than 550 employees in Germany, France, Italy, the United States, and the United Arab Emirates. 

The Explo­ra­tion Company (TEC) is now a German-French space company that deve­lops a compre­hen­sive range of space trans­por­ta­tion solu­ti­ons, inclu­ding reusable space capsu­les and high-perfor­mance rocket engi­nes. The new funding is inten­ded, in parti­cu­lar, to further advance the deve­lo­p­ment of the reusable Nyx space capsule, which is desi­gned to dock with the Inter­na­tio­nal Space Station (ISS) and return safely to Earth. In addi­tion, the deve­lo­p­ment of the reusable, high-perfor­mance Storm rocket engine is to be accelerated. 

At $450 million, this funding round was the largest Series C finan­cing for a Euro­pean space company. The funding round was co-led by Besse­mer Venture Part­ners, Atomico, and the Scaleup Europe Fund, mana­ged by EQT, and supported by exis­ting share­hol­ders such as Balder­ton, Plural, Cherry Ventures, and Red River West. Balder­ton had alre­ady parti­ci­pa­ted as the lead inves­tor in the previous funding round in 2024 and thus remains one of the company’s key investors. 

With this advi­sory enga­ge­ment, WEIL conti­nues to expand its exper­tise in the field of venture capi­tal and reaf­firms its posi­tion in the rapidly growing aero­space sector.

Balder­ton Consul­tant: WEIL

The tran­sac­tion team was led by Private Equity Part­ner Manuel-Peter Fringer (Munich) and included Part­ner Niklas Brüg­ge­mann (Regu­la­tory, Munich) as well as asso­cia­tes Manuel Schmutz­ler, Hannah Bisch­off (both Private Equity, Munich), and Lucas Valio Otto­witz (Regu­la­tory Affairs, Munich). — www.weil.com
About WEIL

Weil, Gotshal & Manges is an inter­na­tio­nal law firm with more than 1,200 attor­neys. WEIL has offices in New York, Austin, Boston, Brussels, Dallas, Frank­furt, Hong Kong, Hous­ton, Los Ange­les, London, Miami, Munich, Paris, San Fran­cisco, Washing­ton, D.C., and Sili­con Valley. In Germany, the U.S.-based firm is repre­sen­ted by two offices in Frank­furt and Munich. Here, the firm focu­ses on provi­ding specia­li­zed coun­sel to natio­nal and inter­na­tio­nal clients in cross-border private equity and M&A tran­sac­tions, high-profile liti­ga­tion matters, complex restruc­tu­rings and finan­cings, as well as tax planning.

Frank­furt am Main – Milbank LLP advi­sed LEA Venture­part­ner GmbH & Co. geschlos­sene Invest­ment­kom­man­dit­ge­sell­schaft (“LEA”) on the merger of Aleph Alpha GmbH (“Aleph Alpha”) and Cohere Inc. (“Cohere”). The new company will operate under the name Cohere, with head­quar­ters in Toronto and Berlin, ther­eby crea­ting the first trans­at­lan­tic sove­reign AI solution. 

V14 is advi­sing Burda Prin­ci­pal Invest­ments on the merger of Aleph Alpha and Coher. V14 has previously advi­sed Burda Prin­ci­pal Invest­ments on Aleph Alpha’s Series B finan­cing round and on subse­quent addi­tio­nal equity invest­ments in Aleph Alpha. 

The merger brings toge­ther two leading provi­ders of enter­prise AI and lays the foun­da­tion for meeting the growing demand for secure, compli­ant, and sove­reign AI solu­ti­ons. Aleph Alpha has estab­lished a strong market posi­tion by provi­ding trust­wor­thy AI solu­ti­ons for busi­nesses and public-sector orga­niza­ti­ons. Cohere comple­ments these capa­bi­li­ties with its enter­prise-focu­sed AI plat­form and the Command model family, which enables orga­niza­ti­ons to deploy advan­ced AI within their own infra­struc­ture while main­tai­ning control over their data. 

As an entre­pre­neu­rial equity part­ner, LEA supports foun­ders and manage­ment teams at various stages of deve­lo­p­ment in their growth and in achie­ving a leading market posi­tion. Since 2002, LEA has successfully supported more than 140 tech­no­logy compa­nies. — The parties have agreed not to disc­lose the finan­cial terms of the tran­sac­tion. The closing of the tran­sac­tion is still subject to the neces­sary regu­la­tory approvals. 

LEA Consul­tant: MILBANK 

Led by Dr. Michael Bern­hardt (Corporate/M&A, Frankfurt);
Asso­cia­tes Stef­fen Post and Maxi­mi­lian Huber (both Corporate/M&A, Frankfurt).

About Milbank

Milbank LLP is a leading inter­na­tio­nal law firm foun­ded in New York City in 1866. Today, Milbank has 1,100 attor­neys and 11 offices in Europe, the U.S., Latin America, and Asia, repre­sen­ting the world’s most important finan­cial and busi­ness centers. Milbank’s global advi­sory services focus on finance, tran­sac­tions, and liti­ga­tion. The first Euro­pean office was opened in London in 1979, follo­wed by Frank­furt am Main in 2001 and Munich in 2004. Through close colla­bo­ra­tion between the German offices and attor­neys at other Milbank offices—particularly in London and New York—who specia­lize in finance, corpo­rate, anti­trust, and tax law, Milbank Germany offers its clients inte­gra­ted legal coun­sel in these core areas in accordance with German, English, and U.S. law at the highest level. — www.milbank.com

Düssel­dorf – Main Capi­tal Part­ners (“Main”) announ­ces its part­ner­ship with qbees GmbH (“qbees”), a specia­li­zed German provi­der of busi­ness-criti­cal mana­ged services and soft­ware solu­ti­ons for the finan­cial services indus­try. Through qbees, Main is inves­t­ing in a highly attrac­tive and dyna­mi­cally growing market charac­te­ri­zed by strong struc­tu­ral growth drivers, sustainable recur­ring reve­nue models, and incre­asing demand for the opera­tion and outsour­cing of regu­la­ted and busi­ness-criti­cal IT infrastructure. 

qbees was foun­ded in 2020 and is head­quar­te­red in Ohlstadt, Germany. The company is a specia­li­zed provi­der of mana­ged services and soft­ware solu­ti­ons for the finan­cial services indus­try. It supports banks, stock exch­an­ges, and fintech compa­nies in opera­ting busi­ness-criti­cal IT systems and, through its combi­na­tion of mana­ged appli­ca­tion services, infra­struc­ture services, soft­ware deve­lo­p­ment, and tech­no­logy consul­ting, occu­p­ies a unique posi­tion at the inter­sec­tion of finan­cial services and finan­cial IT. Thanks to its compre­hen­sive exper­tise in regu­la­ted finan­cial market envi­ron­ments, the company ensu­res the secure, regu­la­tory-compli­ant, and highly resi­li­ent opera­tion of busi­ness-criti­cal IT infrastructures. 

qbees’ exten­sive exper­tise in the finan­cial services sector, its long-stan­ding custo­mer rela­ti­onships, and its estab­lished market posi­tion in highly regu­la­ted finan­cial market envi­ron­ments create a strong foun­da­tion for the next phase of growth. As a trus­ted tech­no­logy part­ner, qbees supports banks, stock exch­an­ges, and fintech compa­nies in opera­ting busi­ness-criti­cal IT infra­struc­tures and appli­ca­ti­ons. Main will support qbees and its expe­ri­en­ced manage­ment team during the next phase of growth, contri­bu­ting its exten­sive exper­tise in scaling soft­ware and IT services companies. 

Toge­ther with Main, the company plans to further drive its growth through addi­tio­nal invest­ments in product inno­va­tion, expan­sion into new markets, and a targe­ted inter­na­tio­nal buy-and-build strategy.

Sven van Berge Henegou­wen, Mana­ging Part­ner and Head of DACH at Main, said: “We have closely follo­wed qbees’ deve­lo­p­ment and are impres­sed by the company’s unique posi­tio­ning, its highly specia­li­zed service port­fo­lio, and its proven track record in deli­ve­ring busi­ness-criti­cal solu­ti­ons to clients in regu­la­ted envi­ron­ments. We are convin­ced that qbees is excep­tio­nally well-posi­tio­ned to capi­ta­lize on the growing demand for secure IT opera­ti­ons services in the finan­cial sector. We view the company as an excel­lent addi­tion to our port­fo­lio and look forward to working with the manage­ment team to support the next phase of growth.”

Michael Spind­ler, CEO of qbees, added: “At qbees, we combine an engineer’s mind­set with a deep under­stan­ding of the finan­cial indus­try. Our clients trust us to take respon­si­bi­lity for the IT systems on which their busi­nesses depend. This requi­res tech­ni­cal exper­tise, prac­ti­cal solu­ti­ons, and close colla­bo­ra­tion. With Main Capi­tal Part­ners, we aim to build on this foun­da­tion, invest in our team, and further deve­lop our services. Main brings the expe­ri­ence and network to support us on this jour­ney. Our goal is to grow while remai­ning true to what makes qbees qbees: tech­ni­cal curio­sity, a prac­ti­cal approach, and part­ner­ships built on trust.”

About qbees GmbH

qbees, head­quar­te­red in Ohlstadt, Germany, is a specia­li­zed provi­der of IT and mana­ged services focu­sed on the finan­cial sector. The company serves banks, stock exch­an­ges, fintechs, and other regu­la­ted orga­niza­ti­ons, combi­ning compre­hen­sive finan­cial indus­try exper­tise with a holi­stic mana­ged services offe­ring to support secure, compli­ant, and highly resi­li­ent IT infra­struc­tures. qbees plays a crucial role in ensu­ring the relia­ble opera­tion of business-critical
systems. — https://qbees.io/

About Main Capi­tal Partners

Main Capi­tal Part­ners is a soft­ware inves­tor that mana­ges private equity funds in the Bene­lux count­ries, the DACH region, the Nordics, France, the United King­dom, and North America, with appro­xi­m­ately 12.0 billion EUR in assets under manage­ment. Main has more than 20 years of expe­ri­ence in streng­thening soft­ware compa­nies and works closely with the manage­ment teams of its port­fo­lio compa­nies as a stra­te­gic part­ner to drive profi­ta­ble growth and build leading soft­ware groups. Main employs appro­xi­m­ately 105 people in offices in The Hague, Düssel­dorf, Stock­holm, Antwerp, Paris, London, and a branch office in Boston. Main’s active port­fo­lio compri­ses more than 55 soft­ware compa­nies with a combi­ned work­force of over 15,000 employees. — www.main.nl

Vienna (Austria)/Hamburg — Wiener Börse AG is acqui­ring an 80% stake in North Data GmbH. North Data aggre­ga­tes publicly available corpo­rate infor­ma­tion from nume­rous regis­tries and sources and pres­ents it in a digi­tal, struc­tu­red, and user-friendly format. RSM Ebner Stolz advi­sed Wiener Börse AG on the tran­sac­tion by conduc­ting finan­cial and tax due diligence. 

As the region’s leading infra­struc­ture provi­der, Wiener Börse AG opens the door to global markets. It brings toge­ther the Vienna and Prague stock exch­an­ges. Listed compa­nies bene­fit from maxi­mum liqui­dity, while inves­tors enjoy fast and cost-effec­tive trading thanks to its posi­tion as market leader. The Vienna Stock Exch­ange coll­ects and distri­bu­tes price data and calcu­la­tes the key indi­ces for a dozen markets in the region. Thanks to its unique exper­tise, the natio­nal stock exch­an­ges in Buda­pest, Ljubljana, and Zagreb also rely on the Vienna Stock Exchange’s IT services. In addi­tion, it holds stakes in other energy exch­an­ges and clea­ring houses in the region, and now also in the company search engine North Data GmbH. 

North Data, head­quar­te­red in Hamburg, opera­tes a digi­tal plat­form for corpo­rate infor­ma­tion. The company aggre­ga­tes publicly available data from nume­rous natio­nal and inter­na­tio­nal sources, struc­tures it, and makes connec­tions between compa­nies and indi­vi­du­als trans­pa­rent. Its offe­rings are aimed, among others, at users in the fields of compli­ance, risk manage­ment, sales, and data-driven services. The busi­ness model includes freely acces­si­ble content, subscrip­tion-based premium offe­rings, and data services provi­ded through inter­faces and data exports, among other means. North Data provi­des infor­ma­tion on compa­nies from 26 Euro­pean count­ries and combi­nes broad digi­tal reach with a scalable, data-driven busi­ness model. 

Wiener Börse AG is acqui­ring an 80% stake in North Data. With this tran­sac­tion, Wiener Börse aims to expand its exis­ting range of infor­ma­tion and data services and create addi­tio­nal trans­pa­rency in unlis­ted markets. Foun­der and CEO Frank Felix Deba­tin will retain a stake in the company and will conti­nue to support its future development. 

Advi­sors to Wiener Börse AG: RSM Ebner Stolz

Bektan Güler (Project Mana­ger, Tran­sac­tion Advi­sory Services), Tobias Papen­thin, Gustav Anton Stint­zing (all Finan­cial Due Dili­gence), Tobias Bake­berg (Part­ner, M&A Tax), Daniel Hach­mann (both Tax Due Diligence)

About RSM Ebner Stolz

RSM Ebner Stolz is one of the largest inde­pen­dent mid-sized audi­ting and consul­ting firms in Germany. The company ranks among the top ten in the indus­try and poss­es­ses broad exper­tise in audi­ting, tax, legal, and manage­ment consul­ting. With this multi­di­sci­pli­nary consul­ting approach and over 2,900 employees across 15 loca­ti­ons, RSM Ebner Stolz—as one of the market leaders serving small and medium-sized businesses—advises natio­nal and inter­na­tio­nal indus­trial, commer­cial, and service compa­nies across all industries. 

As a member of RSM Inter­na­tio­nal, RSM Ebner Stolz offers its clients high-quality audit and consul­ting services in 120 count­ries world­wide through more than 500 offices.

Heil­bronn – HyIm­pulse Tech­no­lo­gies GmbH (“HyIm­pulse”), a leading Euro­pean launch services company that deve­lops and provi­des subor­bi­tal and orbi­tal launch capa­bi­li­ties based on proprie­tary propul­sion tech­no­logy, announ­ced a Series A exten­sion of its Series A finan­cing tota­ling more than 50 million euros in equity. This mile­stone reflects the strong confi­dence of new and exis­ting inter­na­tio­nal inves­tors in the company’s tech­no­logy, commer­cial progress, and long-term vision of streng­thening Europe’s sove­reign access to space. 

The round was co-led by JOIN Capi­tal and Ace Capi­tal Part­ners, with parti­ci­pa­tion from new inves­tors, inclu­ding North Ventures, BW-Capi­tal, and Bayern Kapi­tal, as well as the German Aero­space Center (DLR), supple­men­ted by contin­ued support from exis­ting share­hol­ders, inclu­ding Campus Foun­ders Ventures. This brings the company’s total equity and public funding to more than 125 million euros. 

The funding will acce­le­rate the deve­lo­p­ment and commer­cia­liza­tion of HyImpulse’s port­fo­lio of launch services, inclu­ding the second SR75 launch from the Saxa­Vord Space­port by the end of 2026 and the maiden flight of the SL1 launch vehicle, as well as expan­ding produc­tion capa­city and scaling up commer­cial opera­ti­ons across Europe and beyond. It will also streng­then the company’s posi­tion in key growth markets, inclu­ding custo­mi­zed and respon­sive satel­lite launch services, space mobi­lity, and subor­bi­tal rese­arch and defense applications. 

Dr. Chris­tian Schmie­rer, co-foun­der and CEO of HyIm­pulse: “This finan­cing reflects our inves­tors’ confi­dence in our team, our tech­no­logy, and our busi­ness vision. Europe needs inde­pen­dent, flexi­ble, and econo­mic­ally sustainable launch capa­bi­li­ties. Our proprie­tary hybrid propul­sion tech­no­logy, along with our subor­bi­tal and orbi­tal services, enable us to meet the growing demand in the commer­cial, insti­tu­tio­nal, and defense markets.”

“Europe needs not only more rockets, but also a launch cost struc­ture that actually works,” said Jan Borg­städt, foun­ding part­ner of JOIN Capi­tal. “HyIm­pulse has deve­lo­ped a funda­men­tally leaner rocket archi­tec­ture: about half the number of compon­ents, a cost reduc­tion to half per kilo­gram, and signi­fi­cantly lower capi­tal requi­re­ments to reach orbit. The company has alre­ady proven the tech­no­logy in flight. That’s why we parti­ci­pa­ted in this funding round.” 

Shimon Tsent­si­per of ACE Capi­tal Part­ners explai­ned: “We were very impres­sed by how Dr. Chris­tian Schmierer’s team achie­ved key mile­sto­nes with limi­ted resour­ces. Today’s space launch market is suffe­ring from signi­fi­cant excess demand, parti­cu­larly for afforda­ble, purpose-built launches—and HyIm­pulse offers a ground­brea­king solu­tion to this bott­len­eck. We are proud to join the inves­tor group and support the company as it beco­mes the market leader in this segment.”

Estab­li­shing Europe’s Inde­pen­dent Access to Space and Subor­bi­tal Hyper­so­nic Capa­bi­li­ties Access to space is beco­ming incre­asingly important for Europe’s econo­mic compe­ti­ti­ve­ness, tech­no­lo­gi­cal sove­reig­nty, and secu­rity. HyImpulse’s proprie­tary hybrid propul­sion tech­no­logy combi­nes non-explo­sive paraf­fin fuel with liquid oxygen, offe­ring a safe, cost-effec­tive, and scalable alter­na­tive to conven­tio­nal kero­sene-based systems. The lower system comple­xity and redu­ced number of compon­ents enable safer, more respon­sive launch opera­ti­ons and compe­ti­tive launch econo­mics, support­ing afforda­ble and sove­reign access to space. HyIm­pulse alre­ady opera­tes a commer­cial subor­bi­tal plat­form, the SR75 subor­bi­tal launch vehicle. 

Follo­wing its first flight campaign at the Koonibba Test Range in South Austra­lia in 2024, the company is prepa­ring for its next SR75 launch from the Saxa­Vord Space­port in Scot­land. HyImpulse’s SR75 and the broa­der goals of the subor­bi­tal road­map aim for launch capa­bi­li­ties of up to Mach 15 and ranges of up to 10,000 kilo­me­ters, ther­eby addres­sing growing demand from governments. 

Commer­cial Momen­tum in a Growing Market

The global market for commer­cial launch services is projec­ted to reach a volume of $32 billion by 2035, with further growth oppor­tu­ni­ties in subor­bi­tal launch services and flexi­ble launch solu­ti­ons. HyIm­pulse is bene­fiting from the growing demand for inde­pen­dent launch capa­bi­li­ties and has an order back­log of more than 350 million euros for its subor­bi­tal and orbi­tal programs. The funding will further acce­le­rate the company’s commer­cial expan­sion and tech­no­lo­gi­cal deve­lo­p­ment. — HyIm­pulse is ente­ring its next phase of growth with an order back­log of more than 350 million euros and a growing inter­na­tio­nal custo­mer base. 

About HyIm­pulse Tech­no­lo­gies GmbH

HyIm­pulse Tech­no­lo­gies GmbH is a leading German manu­fac­tu­rer and systems provi­der of commer­cial rockets for subor­bi­tal and orbi­tal launch services. Its small-satel­lite launch vehic­les, featuring a unique hybrid rocket propul­sion system based on oxygen and paraf­fin, set new stan­dards in the commer­cial space sector. With over 100 employees at its loca­ti­ons in Neuen­stadt, Otto­brunn, and Glas­gow, HyIm­pulse deve­lops rockets to deli­ver commer­cial payloads effi­ci­ently, sustain­ably, and relia­bly into low Earth orbit and beyond. — www.hyimpulse.de

Frank­furt and Los Ange­les — Gibson Dunn advi­sed WndrCo on its co-invest­ment in HYROX along­side L Catter­ton in connec­tion with Infront’s acqui­si­tion of a majo­rity stake in HYROX in part­ner­ship with HYROX’s founders.

HYROX World GmbH, head­quar­te­red in Hamburg, opera­tes a global ecosys­tem of compe­ti­ti­ons, trai­ning, and coaching cente­red around HYROX’s signa­ture fitness race format—eight one-kilo­me­ter runs alter­na­ting with eight func­tional trai­ning stati­ons. HYROX was foun­ded in 2017 by Chris­tian Toetzke, a long­time indus­try expert in the inter­na­tio­nal cycling and triath­lon scene, and Moritz Fürste, a three-time Olym­pic meda­list and world cham­pion in field hockey, and has evol­ved into a global pheno­me­non with athle­tes parti­ci­pa­ting in more than 30 countries. 

WndrCo, foun­ded in 2016 by Sujay Jaswa and Jeffrey Katzen­berg, is a U.S.-based holding company and multi-stage tech­no­logy invest­ment firm whose goal is to rethink the way people live and work. WndrCo invests in the areas of the Future of Work, consu­mer tech­no­logy, cyber­se­cu­rity, and deve­lo­per infrastructure. 

Gibson Dunn’s private equity team, led jointly by part­ners Dr. Dirk Ober­bracht (Frank­furt), Sarah Graham (Los Ange­les), and Ari Lanin (Century City), included asso­cia­tes Andreas Rief, Fabiana Ober­meier, Simon Stöhl­ker, and Tilmann Warweg (all in Frank­furt), as well as Blaine Roth (Los Ange­les) and Matt Stau­gaard (Orange County). Part­ner Attila Borsos and Asso­ciate Marcus Seete (both in Brussels) advi­sed on anti­trust matters. Part­ner Sebas­tian Schoon (Frank­furt) advi­sed on finan­cing, and Part­ner Dora Arash (Los Ange­les) advi­sed on tax matters. 

About Gibson Dunn

Gibson Dunn is one of the leading inter­na­tio­nal law firms and is ranked among the world’s top firms in indus­try surveys and by leading publi­ca­ti­ons. With more than 2,200 attor­neys in 23 offices, the firm has a global presence in all major econo­mic regi­ons. Gibson Dunn’s offices are loca­ted in Abu Dhabi, Brussels, Century City, Dallas, Denver, Dubai, Frank­furt, Hong Kong, Hous­ton, London, Los Ange­les, Madrid, Munich, New York, Orange County, Palo Alto, Paris, Beijing, Riyadh, San Fran­cisco, Singa­pore, Washing­ton, D.C., and Zurich. —

Munich, London, Boston – PSG Equity (“PSG”), a leading growth equity firm, has announ­ced the closing of its third Euro­pean fund, PSG Europe III (“PSGE III” or “the Fund”), with total commit­ted capi­tal of over 4.4 billion euros. PSG specia­li­zes in part­ne­ring with soft­ware and tech­no­logy-based service compa­nies to drive trans­for­ma­tive growth. The fund has thus reached its hard cap and recei­ved strong support from its exis­ting and new investors.
PSGE III surpas­ses its prede­ces­sor fund, which closed defi­ni­tively in Octo­ber 2023 at €2.6 billion. Subscri­bers to the Europe-focu­sed fund included, among others, govern­ment pension funds, sove­reign wealth funds, insu­rance compa­nies, family offices, and high-net-worth individuals. 

With PSGE III, PSG is conti­nuing its stra­tegy of selec­tively forming part­ner­ships with ambi­tious Euro­pean soft­ware and tech­no­logy compa­nies and support­ing them as they grow into pan-Euro­pean indus­try leaders with a global reach. The fund targets compa­nies that use AI to rede­fine enter­prise soft­ware, as well as the next gene­ra­tion of AI-native compa­nies. PSG’s most recent invest­ments in Europe include Mistral AI, Bright­Ana­ly­tics, Aikido Secu­rity, Quali­ty­Hos­ting, Emotion Mobi­lity, Nami­rial, and Glass­wall, among others. 

Accor­ding to PSG, Europe is on the cusp of a new phase of soft­ware innovation—driven by the incre­asing adop­tion of AI, growing demand for trus­ted Euro­pean tech­no­logy provi­ders, and a focus on digi­tal sove­reig­nty. PSG is convin­ced that these struc­tu­ral trends present signi­fi­cant oppor­tu­ni­ties for soft­ware provi­ders that combine deep indus­try exper­tise with Europe-focu­sed infra­struc­ture and proprie­tary data capa­bi­li­ties, while also bene­fiting from the substan­tial momen­tum of AI. 

PSG has been active in the Euro­pean market with its own team since 2019; that team now consists of 83 employees. The team includes inves­tors and func­tional soft­ware and tech­no­logy experts who work closely with the manage­ment teams of the port­fo­lio compa­nies. The team is head­quar­te­red in London and has an addi­tio­nal office in Paris. 

To date, PSG has made 43 plat­form invest­ments in Europe, comple­ted 12 (partial) exits, and closed 98 add-on acqui­si­ti­ons, with loca­ti­ons in 24 Euro­pean cities. These include the most recent exits from Sellsy, Signa­tu­rit, N2F, Artur’in, Hornet­secu­rity, and Mapal. 

Peter Wilde, Chair­man of PSG, commen­ted: “We are very plea­sed with the broad support that PSGE III has recei­ved from both exis­ting and new inves­tors world­wide. This result unders­cores the strength of PSG’s global plat­form and confirms our consis­tent and sustainable approach to value crea­tion. In doing so, we support high-growth soft­ware compa­nies with the capi­tal and opera­tio­nal resour­ces neces­sary to build endu­ring indus­try leaders.”

Mark Hastings, Chief Execu­tive Offi­cer at PSG, says: “This is an exci­ting time to be working with leading soft­ware scale-ups in Europe. We see that AI is signi­fi­cantly expan­ding oppor­tu­ni­ties in the enter­prise soft­ware sector, foste­ring the next gene­ra­tion of indus­try leaders, and at the same time acce­le­ra­ting the pace of inno­va­tion among estab­lished soft­ware plat­forms. We are very much looking forward to conti­nuing to support AI-native compa­nies that have a clear tech­no­lo­gi­cal and compe­ti­tive advan­tage. At the same time, we want to help provi­ders of busi­ness-criti­cal core systems and infra­struc­ture use AI to improve exis­ting products, acce­le­rate inno­va­tion, and drive their growth.”

Dany Rammal, Mana­ging Direc­tor and Head of Europe at PSG, adds: “The closing of PSGE III marks an important mile­stone for PSG Equity and reflects our confi­dence in the momen­tum of the Euro­pean soft­ware and tech­no­logy market. We are seeing outstan­ding soft­ware and AI compa­nies emerge at an ever-faster pace in Europe. Our plat­form enables us to iden­tify what we believe are Europe’s best compa­nies and to form part­ner­ships with their foun­ders and manage­ment teams to shape them into pan-Euro­pean market leaders with global reach. As digi­tal sove­reig­nty beco­mes incre­asingly important to custo­mers, we see a major oppor­tu­nity for Europe to produce a multi­tude of inter­na­tio­nally compe­ti­tive soft­ware champions.”

About PSG

PSG Equity is a growth equity firm that helps soft­ware and tech­no­logy-enab­led service compa­nies successfully navi­gate trans­for­ma­tive growth phases, capi­ta­lize on stra­te­gic oppor­tu­ni­ties, and build high-performing teams. With a total of more than 170 plat­form invest­ments and over 550 add-on acqui­si­ti­ons, PSG Equity brings exten­sive invest­ment expe­ri­ence, deep soft­ware and tech­no­logy exper­tise, and a clear commit­ment to part­ne­ring with manage­ment teams. PSG Equity was foun­ded in 2014 and has offices in Boston, London, and Paris. For more infor­ma­tion about PSG Equity, visit www.psgequity.com.