Press & News

August 05th 2020 - Press Release

EMERAM grows and invests

  • Portfolio company Matrix42 acquires US company FireScope
  • EMERAM strengthens team and examines further investments in German medium-sized companies
  • Strong 2019 financial year: total sales of portfolio companies up by around 17 percent, number of employees increased by seven percent

 

Munich, August 5, 2020 – EMERAM Capital Partners, one of the leading private equity firms for medium-sized companies in German-speaking countries, currently sees numerous investment opportunities. Recently, the portfolio company Matrix42 has acquired the US software specialist FireScope. Thus, EMERAM has already realized three follow-on acquisitions for its companies this year, since its foundation in 2012 a total of 19 follow-on acquisitions.


Matrix42 expands into the USA

With the acquisition of the software manufacturer FireScope, Matrix42, a specialist for Digital Workspace Management, is pursuing two strategic issues: the expansion of Matrix42 products towards secure, cloud-based work environments and the entry into the US market. FireScope, active in the North American market since 2006, has been a partner of Matrix42 since 2018 and counts several Fortune 500 companies such as Marriott Vacation Resorts, Sutter Health and Crown Media among its customers. The EMERAM Fund has invested in Matrix42 in November 2015 in the context of a management buy-out.


EMERAM strengthens team

With a view to the ongoing growth, the company has already increased its staff: In addition to Alexis Tran-Viet, who joined EMERAM as a new partner in April 2020, Dennis Gmeiner and Matthias Obermeyr have joined the circle of partners. Marzio Bondolfi was recruited as a further investment manager in June 2020. Furthermore, Theresia von Grafenstein was appointed as Human Resources Director for the first time. Further new recruitments are planned.


2019: Number of employees at portfolio companies grows by seven percent

In the 2019 fiscal year, EMERAM's portfolio companies achieved a strong performance: The cumulative sales of the seven companies increased by around 17 percent to EUR 541.1 million. Foreign sales amounted to about 54 percent. The number of employees at the portfolio companies increased by a total of seven percent to 3,692.

In 2019 EMERAM acquired a majority stake in ]init[ AG für digitale Kommunikation, a leading German provider of digital transformation services. At the same time, the stake in the Swiss 3D sensor and analytics company Xovis AG, acquired in 2016, was sold. In addition, the Munich-based investment company invested in three follow-up acquisitions. In 2019, a total of 230 possible deals were examined and six due diligence reviews were initiated. The existing fund EMERAM Private Equity Fund I was increased by EUR 50 million to EUR 400 million with a successful capital increase in April 2019. Together with further capital for follow-up acquisitions, EMERAM currently has around EUR 100 million available for further investments.

Dr. Christian Näther, founding partner of EMERAM, says: "We see our strategic orientation as a business development partner confirmed by the current follow-up acquisitions and the good development of our portfolio. We have already achieved a strong and profitable business development in 2019. Several companies recorded the best year in their history in terms of sales in 2019. In times of the COVID 19 pandemic, we are providing comprehensive support to our portfolio companies to help them take advantage of the opportunities that will arise in the medium term. We are currently reviewing both possible follow-on acquisitions for existing portfolio companies and new investments. EMERAM will continue to play an active role in the market".