DPE sells expertum to Belgian ASAP HR Group

• Started as a “greenfield investment” in 2010 – today, one of the leading German recruiting platforms
• Growth through buy & build strategy to €90 million of sales
• From supplier of temporary labour to provider of comprehensive HR-solutions

Munich, September 21, 2018. DPE Deutsche Private Equity (DPE) has sold expertum GmbH (expertum) to Belgium-based ASAP HR Group N.V. (ASAP). With around 180 internal and 1,700 external employees across 43 branches and annual revenues of €90 million, expertum ranks among Germany’s leading recruitment services providers with a focus on customers at the heart of German industry.

DPE and expertum – development of a full service HR partner for German industry

Even high-profile industrial corporates in Germany are confronted by the increasingly complex challenge of winning and retaining qualified personnel – an ideal environment for specialised HR services providers. Against this backdrop, DPE invested in expertum in 2010 to support the creation of a leading provider of recruiting services focused on the German industry. By broadening the portfolio of services substantially beyond the provision of temporary labour, the management team has successfully developed expertum into a full service provider for HR-solutions over the years, thereby increasingly integrating itself into customers’ processes.

CEO Jörg Stehr: “ASAP is the ideal growth platform for expertum”

Today, expertum not only provides temporary labour, but also supports its customers with a comprehensive HR-service offering and competent personnel consulting services. The company generates a turnover of €90 million (2018e) and employs a workforce of around 180 internal and 1,700 external employees in 43 branches across Germany. “With the support of DPE, we have grown strongly in recent years, both organically as well as through four strategic acquisitions. We continue to see significant potential for further growth in the market that we will capitalise on together with our new partner ASAP. With its broad-based HR expertise and a very similar corporate culture, ASAP is exactly the right platform for us,” says Jörg Stehr, expertum’s Chief Executive Officer. “In ASAP, we are delighted to have found the ideal partner for expertum’s next growth stage,” adds DPE Director Nils Bennemann.

Brand and management team to be retained – revenues to increase by 40% through to 2022

Belgian HR services provider ASAP sees the acquisition as an excellent opportunity to enter one of the most attractive staffing markets in Europe. “We aim to internationalise our business and are on the lookout for strong partners who share our vision. expertum is a perfect addition to our group,” explains ASAP’s CEO Ruben Peumans. The management team will remain unchanged and will continue to lead the company’s development in Germany. The company will also continue to operate under the expertum brand. “The team has done excellent work in recent years. Now we are looking forward to jointly developing solutions that address the challenges our customers face. The competition for experts in the industry and other sectors is set to become even fiercer, which makes us confident that we will be able to increase expertum’s revenues by 40% through to 2022,” Ruben Peumans states.

The transaction was signed and closed on September 21.