18 Jul 2019
Investcorp Technology Partners, a leading European lower middle market technology investor, today announces that it has acquired a majority stake in Contentserv, a leading provider of Product Information Management (“PIM”) software, for an undisclosed consideration. The acquisition is the sixth deal from its $400m Fourth Technology Fund and the second acquisition of a software company in the DACH region within a year.
Swiss headquartered Contentserv was founded in 2012 and has grown to become a global market leader in PIM software, as recognized by its top-tier vendor rankings from both Gartner and Forrester. Contentserv’s PIM software suite allows customers to centrally store and manage detailed product-related information for distribution across multiple online and offline channels - thereby enabling companies to improve data quality and consistency and delivering a more compelling product experience (resulting in higher revenue conversion) to its end-customers in an increasingly complex ecommerce driven world.
Under the leadership of its two co-founders, Patricia Kastner (President) and Armin Dressler (CEO), Contentserv has undergone a rapid expansion phase (with a 2015-2018 revenue CAGR of 30%) and successfully expanded into Benelux, France, Japan/Asia-Pac and the US from its core DACH market. As part of this transaction, Investcorp is also investing capital into the company to further bolster its global expansion and product development efforts. Contentserv’s co-founders will remain meaningfully invested alongside Investcorp and will continue to lead the business going forward.
Commenting on the investment, Gilbert Kamieniecky, Managing Director and Head of Investcorp’s Technology Private Equity business, said; “Contentserv is a company that sits directly in our sweet spot; international, founder-owned and a market leader in a fast-growing segment. We look forward to working with the first-rate management team to build on the strong global footprint they have already established. We have already made eight add on acquisitions for the five portfolio companies in our latest fund and we look forward to exploring similar opportunities for Contentserv.”
Armin Dressler, CEO of Contentserv added; “Our partnership with Investcorp is a recognition of the expertise and global presence Contentserv has built since inception. Investcorp’s knowledge of the software space, international presence, and deep understanding of our business will help to accelerate the company’s future growth and pace of innovation. We are delighted to have found a partner in Investcorp and look forward to working with them.”
Gilbert Kamieniecky and Georg Knoflach will join Contentserv’s advisory board following the closing of the transaction.
Investcorp has established a market leading position of investing in lower mid-market technology companies with a specific focus on Software, Data / Analytics, Cyber Security and Fintech / Payments. Investcorp Technology Partners’ most recent investments include Ubisense, an enterprise software and sensor platform; softgarden, a Human Resources software provider; Calligo, a cloud solutions provider; Ageras, an online marketplace matching SMEs with professional service providers; and Impero, a provider of online student safety and classroom and network management software. Investcorp Technology Partners has raised over $1.5 billion in funding for lower middle market technology investments since 2001.
Closing of the transaction is subject to customary anti-trust clearance. Investcorp Technology Partners was advised by Accenture (Commercial), Code & Co (Technology), Deloitte (Financial/Tax), Proskauer and McDermott Will & Emery (Legal) and Stella EOC (M&A). Contentserv was advised by Dentons.