Press & news

• 2022: Sales in portfolio companies up 15 percent and number of employees increased by about seven percent
• 2023: One acquisition and one exit successfully completed in the first quarter
• Outlook: double-digit growth expected again in 2023

Munich, June 16, 2023 - EMERAM Capital Partners, one of the leading independent growth investors for medium-sized companies in the German-speaking region, was once again able to successfully close the 2022 financial year, despite the consequences caused by the Ukraine conflict, supply chain constraints as well as massively increased inflation and interest rates. The six portfolio companies, held by funds advised by EMERAM, increased their sales by over 15 percent in 2022. The number of employees in the portfolio companies increased by about seven percent in 2022.

Organic growth and follow-on acquisitions
In addition to strong organic growth, follow-on acquisitions also contributed to the success of the companies: For example, ]init[ AG für digitale Kommunikation, a portfolio company of EMERAM and Rivean Capital, expanded its international public sector business with the acquisition of Swiss-based Ironforge Consulting AG. Officium, a portfolio company sold in January 2023 and one of the leading independent metering and energy service providers for consumption-based metering and billing of water and heat for the housing industry, was founded in 2020 as a platform company and has since pursued a dynamic buy-and-build strategy. In total, seven acquisitions were realized with the support of EMERAM as business development partner, two of them in 2022.

The portfolio company diva-e, one of the leading digital service providers in Germany, also successfully continued its growth course in the past financial year 2022. With its comprehensive service portfolio for end-to-end digital commerce projects, the company again increased its revenue and earnings and won further major customers. The company also expanded into the USA. diva-e will continue to drive forward its internationalization strategy in the current year. Management expects sales to grow by 25 percent this year compared to the previous year. This would take diva-e past the 100 million Euro mark.

ESG (Environment - Social - Governance)
In 2022 EMERAM has also consistently driven forward its ESG management. Portfolio-wide ESG-related reporting for the portfolio companies was already introduced in 2016. In addition, the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment (UN PRI) were signed in December 2021. In 2022, important KPIs were further improved. For example, the proportion of female and diverse employees rose to 45 percent and the share of renewable energies in electricity consumption was increased to around 55 percent. Paper consumption was also reduced by a further six percent.

Strong deal pipeline
EMERAM's deal pipeline will remain very strong in 2023. This is due to the clear investment focus on fast-growing companies with an EBITDA of between five and 25 million Euros in the three sectors Technology/Software, Value-added Services and Non-Discretionary Consumer. This segment offers a lot of potential and attractive investment opportunities in the current market environment.

Double-digit growth expected in 2023
Due to the ongoing expansion course of the companies in the portfolio, EMERAM also expects double-digit percentage growth for the current year 2023 compared to the previous year. With the acquisition of Adler Smart Solutions, a full-service provider for the development and implementation of photovoltaic and charging infrastructure projects, the first transaction was already successfully completed in February 2023. The sale of Officium to Arcus Infrastructure Partners was also successfully executed in January 2023.

Conclusion
"The distortions caused by the Ukraine war, supply shortages, increased inflation and interest rates have posed challenges to the entire private equity industry over the past year. Nonetheless, our 2022 portfolio once again delivered outstanding annual results. All companies again achieved significant growth in sales and earnings. For 2023, we also expect a very positive development," explains Dr. Christian Näther, Managing Partner of EMERAM Capital Partners. "With our focus on growth companies in the Technology/Software, Value-added Services and Non-Discretionary Consumer sectors, we are clearly positioned and consistently support our portfolio companies as a business development partner in their strategic orientation and in increasing key KPIs. This approach has proven to be right and important, especially in the complex global situation of the last three years."

The growth-buy-out strategy for EMERAM Private Equity Fund I, with a volume of EUR 400 million, currently records a Multiple of Invested Capital (MoIC) of 4.1x and an Internal Rate of Return (IRR) of 35 percent. EMERAM management expects target figures of 4.8x MoIC and 35 percent IRR in 2024. EMERAM Private Equity Fund II has also got off to a good start and has already generated a gross return of 2.0x MoIC after just under a year since launch.