DPE closes EUR 708 million continuation fund for two leading European technology & digital transformation consultancies

Sep 28, 2022

Largest German GP-led secondary in history

DPE CF I investing into DPE portfolio companies Eraneos and valantic

Additional capital & time to unlock significant further growth potential via M&A

MUNICH, 28 September 2022 – DPE Deutsche Private Equity (“DPE”), the leading growth investor in the DACH region, is pleased to announce the successful close of DPE Continuation Fund I (“DPE CF I”) with a fund size of c. EUR 708 million. DPE CF I was formed to invest into Eraneos Group (“Eraneos”) and valantic Group (“valantic”) – two strongly performing investments acquired by funds managed by DPE (“DPE Fund III”) in 2017 and 2019, respectively – and to provide additional capital and time to continue their highly successful growth strategies that have been implemented since DPE’s initial investments in both companies.

Renown global investors support DPE’s continuation fund

DPE CF I has been capitalized by a consortium of leading global secondary investors, led by AlpInvest Partners and co-led by HarbourVest Partners and Pantheon Ventures, alongside several further new and existing investors. DPE is delighted to have secured backing from such a high-quality group of investors in this transaction, indicating the strong interest for high-quality assets during uncertain market times. Furthermore, DPE CF I has offered a highly attractive outcome to DPE Fund III investors, who had the option to crystallize stellar returns or continue to support the growth strategies of Eraneos and valantic by participating in DPE CF I.

DPE portfolio companies with impressive organic growth and M&A track record

Under DPE’s ownership and the leadership of their respective, impressive management teams, Eraneos and valantic continued their significant growth trajectories, establishing both companies as two of the DACH region’s leading technology & digital transformation consultancies. As such, Eraneos and valantic have increased their revenues by over 270% and 240%, respectively, under DPE’s ownership, while completing over 20 add-on acquisitions combined. DPE CF I will continue this successful investment strategy, deploying additional capital that has been raised in this transaction across a number of value-accretive add-on transactions and broader organic growth initiatives. Management teams of both firms stay significantly invested and are highly committed to continue to drive long-term success.

Continued investment to unlock further growth potential

Marc Thiery, Managing Partner at DPE, said: “We are delighted to have successfully raised DPE CF I and to finance the next chapter of value creation for Eraneos and valantic. We believe there is a significant opportunity for further growth at both companies, and we look forward to continuing our successful partnership with the outstanding management teams we have in place”.

Guido Prehn, Managing Director at DPE said: “We are very excited about the next stage of our ownership in Eraneos and valantic, and to continue to advise on their future expansion. Additionally, we are very happy to have generated such strong returns for DPE Fund III investors and are honored to have secured the backing of a first-class group of investors in the continuation fund”.

Next stage of successful development for Eraneos and valantic

Oliver Vaterlaus, CEO at Eraneos said: “We feel very proud of the success we have achieved to date in building Eraneos as a high-quality management and technology consulting firm. We owe this to the passion and commitment of our employees and to the fantastic partnership with DPE. The future will bring a wealth of opportunities, and our ambition to further grow this company is as big as ever. DPE’s and its investors’ strong commitment provides the ideal platform to continue our exciting journey”.

Dr. Holger von Daniels, CEO at valantic said: “We are very proud that we have managed to grow valantic into one of the DACH region’s leading digital consulting and software businesses. The additional capital and time provided by this transaction will allow us to continue our focused growth strategy on a European level as well as to further invest in our people, innovation initiatives and technologies in the coming years. We very much look forward to this next stage of our partnership with DPE, with all of valantic’s partners being highly committed to the company and me personally staying 100% invested”.

DPE was advised by PJT Park Hill (Financial Advisory), Pöllath + Partners (Structuring), Stephenson Harwood, Latham & Watkins, Walder Wyss, Arendt, Gleiss Lutz and Proskauer (Legal), Alvarez & Marsal (Financial Due Diligence) and Lincoln International (Fairness Opinion).