CORVEL advised Visma on an investment in pathway solutions gmbh ("pathway solutions").
pathway solutions was founded in 2018 in Hamburg by Ludwig Eisenblätter and Marco Feelisch. The company offers a user-friendly cloud solution for eCommerce- and SaaS-companies that automatically matches transactions and invoices with payments and then exports them to the preferred accounting system.
pathway solutions creates value for entrepreneurs by automating their mission-critical processes and strengthening their financial control. pathway solutions is already positioned as a leading solution for Shopify and Stripe accounting automation in Germany, which is the biggest market for eCommerce in Europe.
Visma aims at learning more about applying local tax rules to the global eCommerce market, with tax advisers as important partners for Visma’s software now having closer ties to German tax advisors through this investment.
pathway solutions marks Visma's third investment in Germany, following the acquisition of H&H (ERP solutions for municipalities) and BuchhaltungsButler (cloud accounting) in 2023; all of which have been advised by CORVEL.
Visma is Europe’s leading provider of mission-critical cloud software with revenue of € 2.4 billion in 2023, more than 15,000 employees and 1.9 million customers across Europe and Latin America. Visma was founded in Oslo, Norway in 1996.
Advisors Visma
CORVEL (Hamburg): Dr. Felix Brammer (lead), Tobias Brandenburg (all corporate)
Hamburg, 3 September 2024
CORVEL advised Serrala Group GmbH ("Serrala") on the acquisition of Payference Inc.
Payference, a US-based fintech company in the field of accounts receivable automation, uses cloud-based, AI-driven technologies to provide its customers with real-time liquidity visibility and receivables optimization through its Payference IQ Technology™.
Serrala looks back on almost 40 years of success and is considered a pioneer in the field of financial automation. The company currently serves more than 2,500 customers around the world (including more than 100 of the companies included in the S&P500). Serrala is supported by its majority shareholder Hg Capital, a leading investor in European and transatlantic software and services companies.
The acquisition of Payference is an important milestone for Serrala's growth in the accounting sector and complements the comprehensive Alevate Finance Automation Cloud solution portfolio including Alevate AP and Alevate Payments.
Advisors Serrala
CORVEL (Hamburg): Dr. Felix Brammer (lead), Tobias Brandenburg (all corporate)
Hamburg, 14 August 2024
Leusden, The Netherlands - HVEG Fashion Group (“HVEG”), a leading company in the fashion industry, has acquired Sassa Mode Group (“Sassa”) as part of its growth strategy. HVEG thereby strengthens the company's position in the market for women's underwear and lingerie.
Following the acquisition, the combined turnover will amount to around 160 million euros in 2024, with Sassa Mode continuing to expand as an independent business unit. This means that Sassa Mode will retain its own European market approach.
Sassa Mode was founded in 1989 and employs around 80 people. Based in Bad Urach, Baden-Württemberg, the company specializes in the development, sourcing and distribution of women's underwear and lingerie. Sassa is known for its high quality combined with a favorable price level.
HVEG is a group of internationally active fashion companies specializing in the development, sourcing and distribution of private label fashion for women, men, children, babies, eyewear and accessories. In addition, HVEG is involved in various brand activities, such as MAGIC Bodyfashion, Bamboo Basics, Brams Paris, Maison de Paris and Five2One Eyewear. With employees in the Netherlands, Germany and supporting offices in Bangladesh, China and Hong Kong, HVEG develops affordable and sustainable fashion.
Advisors HVEG
CORVEL (Hamburg): Dr. Felix Brammer (lead; Corporate), Dr. Dirk Brockmeier (Real Estate), Tobias Brandenburg (Corporate)
SCHRAMM MEYER KUHNKE (Hamburg): Dr. Matthias Lodemann, Jana Reimers (all Labor Law)
Hamburg, 25 July 2024
CORVEL advised the Berlin-based green energy company AUXOLAR GmbH ("AUXOLAR") on a capital round in which Berliner Volksbank eG participated with equity capital in the millions.
Founded in 2018, AUXOLAR is a leading provider of turnkey commercial photovoltaic systems. The company serves the German market with innovative solar products for trade, industry, the housing sector and the social economy. The systems are planned, installed, handed over ready to use and maintained on request for specific buildings.
The strategic partnership with Berliner Volksbank aims to significantly expand and accelerate the availability of AUXOLAR's range of services in the area of commercial photovoltaic systems on the one hand, and to make this range easily accessible to interested commercial and real estate customers of Berliner Volksbank in line with their needs on the other.
The new capital contributed to AUXOLAR by Berliner Volksbank is to be supplemented by further financing instruments, so that a total of more than six million euros will be available to take the steps necessary for expansion: on the one hand by increasing staff at several locations, on the other hand by digitalization.
Berliner Volksbank eG was founded in 1946. With around 225,000 members and a balance sheet total of EUR 18 billion in 2023, it is one of the largest regional cooperative banks in Germany.
CORVEL advised AUXOLAR on all legal matters.
Advisors AUXOLAR
CORVEL (Hamburg): Dr. Felix Brammer (lead), Tobias Brandenburg (all corporate)
Advisors Berliner Volksbank
PXR (Berlin): Christian Juan Ebert, Inga Brill (all corporate)
Hamburg, 25 June 2024
CORVEL advised Arcadea on the acquisition of ZEDAS GmbH ("Zedas").
Arcadea is a private equity fund based in Toronto, Canada, which invests worldwide in high-growth software companies with a long-term commitment with its portfolio companies.
Zedas was founded in 1990 and is today one of the leading providers of software solutions for logistics management of rail freight transportation and for the asset management of rolling stock and rail infrastructure. In the European rail market, Zedas stands out for its unrivaled customer and product offering with high reliability as only enterprise grade solution with long-term perspective.
The partnership with Zedas reinforces Arcadea's position as a global leader in the railway software industry. Wolfgang Jahn, founder and managing director of Zedas, will remain with the company after the transaction and will continue to expand Zedas' customer base, products and service quality together with Arcadea.
Advisors Arcadea
CORVEL (Hamburg): Dr. Felix Brammer (lead), Tobias Brandenburg (all corporate)
SCHRAMM MEYER KUHNKE (Hamburg): Dr. Michael Kuhnke, Jana Reimers (all employment law)
Neuwerk (Hamburg): Dr. Jonas Welge (intellectual property), Daniel Schuppmann, LL.M. (data protection)
ROCAN (Düsseldorf): Dr. Timo Angerbauer (investment control)
Hamburg, 17 May 2024
CORVEL has advised Haspa Beteiligungsgesellschaft für den Mittelstand mbH (Haspa BGM) on the acquisition of a minority stake in cyber-Wear Heidelberg GmbH (cyber-Wear).
Cyber-Wear is a leading full-service provider of promotional items and merchandising in Europe. The company was founded in 1994 by Roman Weiß and Steven Baumgärtner and has consequently grown ever since.
In order to continue cyber-Wear's successful corporate history and drive the company's growth, the two founders have decided to bring Haspa BGM on board, a strong and reliable partner who will actively support the company and assist in its further growth and consistent strategic expansion. The two founders will retain a majority stake in cyber-Wear.
Advisor Haspa BGM
CORVEL (Hamburg): Dr. Dirk Brockmeier (lead); Dr. Felix Brammer; Tobias Brandenburg (all Corporate)
SCHRAMM MEYER KUHNKE: Dr. Nils Schramm; Catharina Scharrer (all Employment Law)
Hamburg, 11 December 2023
CORVEL advised Visma on the acquisition of H&H Datenverarbeitungs- und Beratungsgesellschaft mbH ("H&H").
Visma was founded in Oslo, Norway in 1996. The Visma Group consists of 170 companies in Europe and Latin America and is Europe’s number one provider of mission-critical cloud software to SMEs and the public sector.
H&H is a leading software provider to municipalities in Germany founded in 1991. The main product proDoppik is used by more than 800 public administrations and offers a comprehensive commercial ERP solution for areas ranging from accounting, invoicing, budget preparation and tax collection to fixed asset and financial asset management.
For Visma, the acquisition of H&H marks one of a total of 42 acquisitions in 2022.
Advisors Visma
CORVEL (Hamburg): Dr. Felix Brammer (lead), Dr. Philipp Jacobi, Tobias Brandenburg (all corporate)
EmLab (Hamburg): Dr. Katrin Stamer, Patrick Wendler (all employment law)
Neuwerk (Hamburg): Dr. Jonas Welge (intellectual property), Thomas Repka (data protection)
ROCAN (Düsseldorf): Dr. Timo Angerbauer (investment control)
Hamburg, 12 January 2023
CORVEL advised Visma on the acquisition of BuchhaltungsButler GmbH ("BuchhaltungsButler").
Visma was founded in Oslo, Norway in 1996. The Visma Group consists of 170 companies in Europe and Latin America and is Europe’s number one provider of mission-critical cloud software to SMEs and the public sector.
BuchhaltungsButler is a SaaS company which was founded in 2015. BuchhaltungsButler has developed a financial management software with a focus on accounting automation, whose main clientele are small businesses.
For Visma, the acquisition of BuchhaltungsButler marks one of a total of 42 acquisitions in 2022 and the first ever in Germany.
Advisors Visma
CORVEL (Hamburg): Dr. Felix Brammer (lead), Tobias Brandenburg (all corporate)
EmLab (Hamburg): Dr. Katrin Stamer, Patrick Wendler (all employment law)
Neuwerk (Hamburg): Dr. Jonas Welge (intellectual property), Daniel Schuppmann, LL.M. (data protection)
Hamburg, 12 January 2023
CORVEL advised List General Contractor GmbH in connection with the acquisition of Cohrs Werkstätten GmbH.
Cohrs Werkstätten GmbH is a fifth-generation family-run carpentry company and, like List General Contractor GmbH, an interior outiftter of luxury yachts and residences. The company's headquarters are in Bad Fallingbostel in northern Germany.
Advisors List General Contractor GmbH
CORVEL Rechtsanwälte (Hamburg): Dr. Dirk Brockmeier (Corporate), Tobias Brandenburg (Corporate)
Hamburg, 6 October 2022
CORVEL advised Clean Logistics SE on the acquisition of all shares in GINAF Trucks Nederland B.V.
GINAF, a Dutch OEM, is active in the conversion and production of heavy trucks for various activities such as construction, road cleaning, garbage disposal as well as agriculture and mining. In addition, GINAF develops and produces electric zero emission trucks.
Advisors Clean Logistics SE
CORVEL Rechtsanwälte (Hamburg): Dr. Dirk Brockmeier (Corporate, lead)
BJTK (Amsterdam): Quirijn Biesheuvel, Boyd Postema (both Corporate)
Hamburg, 25 July 2022
CORVEL advised Clean Logistics SE on a framework agreement for the delivery of 5,000 hydrogen trucks
Clean Logistics SE has entered into a framework agreement with GP JOULE group on the delivery of 5,000 hydrogen electric heavy trucks. The delivery of the vehicles is envisaged for the period from 2023 to 2027. Clean Logistics plans with revenues from this transaction in the lower single-digit billion euro range.
Advisors Clean Logistics SE
CORVEL Rechtsanwälte (Hamburg): Dr. Dirk Brockmeier (Corporate, lead), Dr Jan Backhaus (Contract law)
Hamburg, 8 August 2022
CORVEL advised the founders of ORBIT Ventures GmbH on the merger with Etribes Group GmbH.
ORBIT was founded in 2016 and is today one of the most renowned addresses in the field of venture building in the digital sector. The team around Sven Külper, Johann Völkers, Christian Egli and Dr. Daniel Welberts has already supported numerous companies in the development of innovative business models and digital ventures since its foundation.
In the course of the merger, ORBIT will become an independent part of the Etribes group, thus creating a joint broad range of services along the digital value chain with simultaneous domain excellence. The aim is to jointly enable existing and new digital business customers to achieve sustainable success with digital business models.
Advisors ORBIT Ventures GmbH
CORVEL (Hamburg): Dr. Felix Brammer (lead); Dr. Philipp Jacobi; Tobias Brandenburg (all Corporate)
Advisors Etribes Group GmbH
honert hamburg PartG mbB (Hamburg): Dr. Jan-Christian Heins (lead); Dr. Franziska Strobel (all Corporate)
Hamburg, 7 July 2022
CORVEL advised Brighter AI Technologies GmbH on the Series A financing round with Armilar Venture Partners as lead investor.
Brighter AI is a deep tech startup founded in 2017 by Marian Gläser and Patrick Kern as a spin-off of the German Tier-1 supplier HELLA in Berlin. Brighter AI offers anonymization solutions for public cameras based on the self-developed "Deep Natural Anonymization". Through this process, personal characteristics such as faces are anonymized, but the camera data is preserved for analytics and machine learning approaches. Brighter AI was named "Europe's Hottest AI Startup" by Nvidia and won "The Spark - The German Digital Award" by Handelsblatt & McKinsey.
Existing investors eCapital and Giesecke+Devrient Ventures also participated in the capital round.
Armilar Venture Partners is Portugal's leading VC fund and currently manages around 300 million Euro.
Advisors Brighter AI Technologies GmbH
CORVEL (Hamburg): Dr. Felix Brammer (Corporate)
Hamburg, 5 July 2022
CORVEL advised Unzer GmbH ("Unzer") on the acquisition of around 65% of the shares in Tillhub GmbH ("Tillhub").
Berlin-based start-up Tillhub specializes in innovative cloud checkout systems and offers retailers digital payment methods via an all-in-one iPad checkout system. This combines traditional checkout functions with digital business and management functions, marketing tools and sales analytics. Well-known customers of Tillhub are Klier, Mister Spex and Fleurop.
Due to the complete acquisition of Tillhub, Unzer expands its expertise in PoS (Point of Sale) and drives its growth and path towards merging e-commerce and brick-and-mortar retail into a true unified commerce solution.
For over 70,000 merchants, Unzer is one of the leading payment companies in Europe for international payments and offers its own solutions such as invoice and installment purchase, direct debit, online transfer or prepayment as well as on well-known providers of credit cards or wallet solutions. Through numerous acquisitions in recent years, Unzer is one of the fastest growing fintech companies in Europe. Since 2020, the investor KKR has been the majority shareholder of Unzer.
CORVEL already advised Unzer when it joined Tillhub in 2020.
Advisors Unzer
CORVEL Partnerschaft von Rechtsanwälten mbB (Hamburg): Dr. Felix Brammer (Corporate, lead), Tobias Brandenburg (Corporate)
CORVEL is a law firm that specializes in corporate transactions. We advise internationally operating companies, family offices and financial investors in the areas of M&A, Corporate law, Financing, Private Equity, Venture Capital and Dispute Resolution.
Hamburg, 14 April 2022
CORVEL advised AIR HAMBURG on its sale to Dubai-based Vista Global Holding ("Vista").
AIR HAMBURG (incorporated in 2006) is the largest provider of private jets in Europe with worldwide business charter operations and comprehensive services. Continuous growth in recent years has enabled the company to operate more than 18,800 flights with 44 aircrafts in 2021 alone. The Air Hamburg Group provides for more than 650 employees. This includes a maintenance operation at Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden Airport, which will also be taken over by Vista.
After completion of the transaction the total fleet at Vista will grow to more than 240 aircrafts. Overall, the transaction will increase Vista's flying hours worldwide by around 30 per cent and it will achieve a market share of around 15 per cent in the global charter market. AIR HAMBURG complements Vista's growth and service offering throughout Europe and the Middle East.
The transaction is expected to be completed in the first half of 2022.
Advisors AIR HAMBURG
CORVEL (Hamburg): Dr. Felix Brammer (lead), Dr. Philipp Jacobi, Tobias Brandenburg (all Corporate)
ROCAN (Düsseldorf): Dr. Timo Angerbauer (Cartel Law, Investment Control)
Hamburg, 21 February 2022
CORVEL advised ARCADIA on the sale of its investment stake in Liberty Fashion Holding GmbH ("Liberty").
ARCADIA has sold its stake to the investor Peter Wolf, who already held a minority stake.
Liberty has been active since 1976 as a stationary textile retailer for women's clothing from its headquarters in Lübbecke, North Rhine-Westphalia. With its products in the upper mid-price segment, the fashion chain serves the target group of women between 40 and 55 years of age with a focus on casual fashion. With its more than 500 employees in around 114 own shops as well as the online store, it currently exclusively serves the German market.
After the transaction, Liberty's business model is to be further developed into an omni-channel player with the further expansion of the online business, but also of the stationary trade.
Advisors ARCADIA Beteiligungen
CORVEL (Hamburg): Dr. Felix Brammer (lead), Dr. Philipp Jacobi, Tobias Brandenburg (alle Corporate)
Hamburg, 21 February 2022
CORVEL advised the founders of Opheo Solutions GmbH on the sale to Solvares Group.
Opheo Solutions GmbH is a leading provider of innovative software solutions for truck dispatching and transport management and has been active in the market for more than 20 years with 50 employees. The eponymous standard software OPHEO automates truck dispatching and relieves employees of all calculations. Using AI-based route optimization and smart forecasting algorithms, transport logisticians can reduce time spent and kilometers and better utilize transport resources. OPHEO combines the areas of route planning, route optimization, telematics and ETA forecasting in a modern workplace environment for dispatchers and drivers - a digital transport control center.
The Solvares Group is the European market leader for optimization along the entire value chain - from sales to field service and transport logistics to service based on SaaS-based solutions. The focus is on intelligent resource optimization and AI-based software. With 264 employees at 8 locations in 4 countries, the group offers companies from a wide range of industries smart and innovative tools as well as expertise in logistics, route planning and service optimization that has grown over 60 years. The lead investor of the Solvares Group is Deutsche Beteiligungs AG.
Previously, the Hamburg-based company Opheo Solutions was part of initions GmbH for 20 years. Following the sale of the OPHEO business, the company is now focusing entirely on its business intelligence services. In a parallel transaction, initions was sold to Mindcurv.
Advisors Founders Opheo Solutions GmbH
CORVEL (Hamburg): Dr. Felix Brammer (Corporate, lead); Tobias Brandenburg (Corporate)
Hamburg, 16 December 2021
CORVEL advised the founders of initions GmbH on the sale to Mindcurv GmbH.
initions GmbH implements projects in the field of analytical data processing and is an integration partner of leading providers such as Microsoft, Snowflake and Databricks. Over the past 20 years, the 65-strong team has implemented solutions in a wide range of industries in the upper mid-market and corporate groups. The portfolio ranges from traditional data warehouse and business intelligence approaches to big data, IoT, data lake and self-service BI solutions to cloud data platforms and artificial intelligence methods.
Mindcurv GmbH is active in the field of commerce platforms and cloud infrastructures and develops digital solutions for processes and user experiences. The company was founded in 2011, has its headquarters in Essen and 10 different German and other international locations, employing a total of 520 people.
With the acquisition of initions, Mindcurv continues to grow in cloud, commerce and data and intends to expand its services to cover the entire digital customer journey using modern technologies, cloud infrastructures and processes.
In a parallel transaction, initions carved out its OPHEO business unit and sold it to the Solvares Group with its lead investor Deutsche Beteiligungs AG.
Advisors Founders initions GmbH
CORVEL (Hamburg): Dr. Felix Brammer (Corporate, lead);
Tobias Brandenburg (Corporate)
Hamburg, 16 December 2021
CORVEL has advised Kamera Express Groep BV (Kamera Express) on the acquisition of FOTO-GREGOR GmbH (Foto-Gregor).
Kamera Express, Capelle aan den IJssel (Netherlands), is Europe's largest photo and video specialist and the leading provider in Belgium and the Netherlands. The company employs over 450 people and offers a portfolio of more than 42,000 products. Kamera Express is active both online and offline and was already represented in Germany with branches in Frankfurt and Hannover before the acquisition of Foto-Gregor.
Foto-Gregor was founded in Cologne in 1974. In addition to Foto-Gregor, the company is also known for its subsidiaries and brand names Foto Wiesenhavern and Foto Haas. The Foto-Gregor Group operates 8 stores in Germany with around 100 employees.
With the acquisition of Foto-Gregor, Kamera Express expands its store network to 34 stores in Europe and now has near nationwide coverage in Germany.
Advisors Kamera Express
CORVEL: Dr. Philipp Jacobi, Dr. Felix Brammer, Tobias Brandenburg (all Corporate/M&A)
SCHRAMM MEYER KUHNKE: Dr. Matthias Lodemann (Employment Law)
BLOMSTEIN: Dr. Max Klasse, Marie-Luise Heuer (Antitrust Law)
Hamburg, 14 October 2021
CORVEL has advised Vendis Capital III on the acquisition of a majority stake in BlueBrixx and Model Car World.
Vendis Capital III is a EUR 300 million private equity fund launched in 2019 and specializes in the consumer goods sector.
BlueBrixx is a direct-to-consumer brand founded in 2017 by Klaus Kiunke. BlueBrixx offers a portfolio of more than 5,000 products in the area of building blocks and building block sets, which is primarily aimed at the adult community. In addition to its own brand, BlueBrixx offers a unique range of third-party building block sets.
BlueBrixx's products are mainly sold via its own e-commerce platform. Additionally, the company's own brand stores located in Germany support its omnichannel strategy. Through innovative product ideas and direct contact with customers via social networks and media, BlueBrixx has built a strong fan base within a very short time.
Model Car World is a leading provider of model cars in Europe. Founded in 2001, the company offers a product range of over 8,000 models.
Founder and CEO Klaus Kiunke will continue to hold a minority stake as part of the transaction and will continue to drive the companies' growth and development together with Vendis Capital.
Advisors Vendis Capital
CORVEL: Dr. Philipp Jacobi, Dr. Felix Brammer, Tobias Brandenburg (all Corporate/M&A)
SCHRAMM MEYER KUHNKE: Dr. Matthias Lodemann (Employment Law)
JENTZSCH IT: Dr. Jana Jentzsch (Data Protection Law)
BLOMSTEIN: Dr. Max Klasse, Philipp Trube (Antitrust Law)
Graf von Westphalen: Dr. Dominic Köstner, Patrick Heid, Yingci Geng, Zheng Ye (PRC-Law)
Hamburg, 12 October 2021
CORVEL advised the founder Kai Teute on the merger of DIT Deutsche Immobilien & IT Marketing GmbH (DIT) with Immomio GmbH. Kai Teute participates as a shareholder in the newly formed Immomio venture and becomes a member of the advisory board.
DIT was founded in 2015 by Kai Teute as part of the Equity Seven group of companies and offers mobile applications for the housing industry, such as the tenant app or a reporting tool for analysing the real estate portfolio. In addition, DIT provides comprehensive consulting services in the area of digital property management. DIT serves clients across Europe with a volume of over 650,000 flats.
The current merger with Immomio GmbH will create Germany's largest proptech in residential housing business with more than 1.4 million rental units under management. DIT will continue to operate on the market as a wholly owned subsidiary of Immomio GmbH under the management of Kai Teute and under its own brand.
Immomio offers a digital end-to-end solution for the letting process: From marketing, to prospect management, to the digital rental contract, Immomio offers an end-to-end digital workflow. Immomio customers manage around 800,000 residential units.
At the same time, W&W brandpool GmbH joined Immomio with additional growth capital.
The goal of the merger of the two software companies is to create an interface through which tenants will be able to conduct all communication with the landlord digitally in the future - from the flat search to the conclusion of the tenancy agreement to moving out.
Advisors Kai Teute / Equity Seven Group of companies
CORVEL (Hamburg): Dr. Felix Brammer (Corporate, lead); Tobias Brandenburg (Corporate)
Hamburg, 6 September 2021
CORVEL has advised Haspa Beteiligungsgesellschaft für den Mittelstand mbH (Haspa BGM) on the acquisition of a majority stake in HANSA Maschinenbau Vertriebs- und Fertigungs GmbH (HANSA). HANSA is a manufacturer of special vehicles with a technologically leading market position and a turnover of around 30 million euros. HANSA designs and manufactures multipurpose equipment carriers in the "heavy duty" segment (e.g. for lawn care, leaf removal, street cleaning, winter services) and cemetery excavators. The company has a strong customer base in both product groups, especially in the municipal sector.
Advisor Haspa BGM
CORVEL (Hamburg): Dr. Dirk Brockmeier (Corporate, lead); Tobias Brandenburg (Corporate)
Hamburg, 3 September 2021
CORVEL provided legal advice to PWM Holding GmbH on the sale of its stake in Paaschburg & Wunderlich GmbH. The purchaser is the Belgian company Bihr NV.
Paaschburg & Wunderlich GmbH, based in Glinde, is a whole-saler of parts and accessories for motorbikes, ATVs and quads. Haspa Beteiligungsgesellschaft für den Mittelstand mbH (Haspa BGM) held a significant stake in Paaschburg & Wunderlich GmbH until the sale.
Advisor PWM Holding GmbH
CORVEL (Hamburg): Dr. Dirk Brockmeier (Corporate, lead); Dr. Felix Brammer (Corporate)
Hamburg, 7 June 2021
CORVEL has advised ALSO Holding AG ("ALSO"), listed on the Swiss stock exchange SIX, on a further acquisition.
On 28. April 2021, ALSO signed a purchase agreement regarding PIN Computers doo, a leading IT provider with operations in Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia-Herzegovina. This is part of the ALSO’s growth strategy in the region. PIN Computers, founded in 1995, offers IT equipment, mobile devices, and consumer electronics to its large customer base.
ALSO Holding AG is a leading European full-range provider for the ICT industry with a presence in 24 European countries and sales of EUR 11.9 bn. (2020) and over 4,000 employees across Europe. Main shareholder is Droege Group, Düsseldorf, Germany.
CORVEL has acted as lead advisor for ALSO in the transaction.
Advisors ALSO Holding AG
CORVEL (Hamburg): Dr. Philipp Jacobi (lead), Tobias Brandenburg
Wolf Theiss (Belgrade): Nataša Lalovic Marić, Aleksandar Ristic (Serbian Law)
Wolf Theiss (Vienna): Guenter Bauer (Antitrust)
Hamburg, 30 April 2021
CORVEL advised Yptokey GmbH on the investment by IBB Ventures and Totara Investment Club in a capital round.
YPTOKEY offers a software solution for digital access based on decentralized technology. In future, users will be able to use their smartphone to gain access to buildings or authorize themselves to use objects or services. The YPTOKEY technology enables flexible access authorizations and digital access control based on blockchain technologies. YPTOKEY follows the strategy of using decentralized and self-controlling identities as digital keys to open doors. The company was spun off from the international automotive supplier HELLA in 2018.
Advisors Yptokey GmbH
CORVEL Rechtsanwälte PartG mbB (Hamburg): Dr. Felix Brammer
Hamburg, 18 February 2021
CORVEL has provided legal advice to Unzer Group GmbH ("Unzer") on the acquisition of the leading technical network operator Lavego AG from Munich.
Lavego is a network operator for electronic-cash and is a BaFin-approved payment institution. In addition to the settlement of payment transactions, Lavego also processes transactions from technically demanding niche markets such as gas stations and unattended terminals in vending machines. With its own development team, Lavego creates the software used to process transactions itself. Currently, Lavego is preparing for the approval for the nexo standard. The seller and founder, Florian Gohlke, will re-invest in Unzer as part of the transaction.
For Unzer, Lavego and its team are a platform that enables them to onboard terminals faster and expand more easily into other European countries.
The transaction is subject to regulatory approvals and is expected to conclude in the second quarter of 2021.
Unzer is a fast-growing, innovative and modular platform for international payments, offering its customers of all sizes and industries data-driven, secure and custom-fit solutions online, mobile or at the point of sale. The modules cover the entire spectrum of payment management: from the processing of different payment types, to automated analyses of customer behavior and needs, to holistic risk management.
Unzer was founded in 2003 as heidelpay. Today, more than 600 employees work for Unzer across Europe. KKR has been the majority shareholder of Unzer since 2020.
Advisors Unzer
CORVEL LLP (Hamburg): Dr. Felix Brammer (Corporate, lead), Dr. Dirk Brockmeier (Stock Corporation Law), Associates: Thomas Sievers (Corporate, IT), Marc Großmann (Corporate, Due Diligence)
Hamburg, 11 December 2020
CORVEL advised Dryad Networks GmbH ("Dryad") on a Financing Round.
The start-up company Dryad is developing a large-scale IoT network mesh network for ultra-early detection of forest fires. The new system enables public and private forest owners to monitor, analyze and protect even the largest and most remote forest areas around the world. Through a network of sensors, forest fires can be detected in less than 60 minutes, even in the most remote areas.
The investors STIHL Digital, the corporate venture branch of the STIHL Group, the German energy company LEAG, the impact investor ISAR AG and the venture capital branch of ILB, Brandenburg Kapital, have granted Dryad start-up financing of EUR 1.8 million in the framework of the capital round.
CORVEL provided comprehensive legal advice to Dryad on the financing round.
Advisors Dryad Group GmbH
CORVEL LLP (Hamburg): Dr. Felix Brammer (Corporate)
Hamburg, 23 November 2020
CORVEL advised Unzer POS GmbH ("Unzer") on the acquisition of the PoS terminal business of Wirecard.
Two weeks after the opening of insolvency proceedings on the assets of Wirecard Retail Services GmbH ("WDRS"), Unzer took over the business operations and employees at Aschhei from the insolvency administrator (law firm JAFFÉ). Unzer is further expanding its market share in the PoS and terminal business in Germany.
WDRS is a service provider for sales and commercial support of customers with their payment processing around the point of sale (PoS). The approximately 20 employees at Aschheim currently support over 3,600 customers, primarily in the retail sector in Germany, to whom WDRS has leased a total of almost 7,000 card terminals for processing card payments at the PoS. WDRS had to file for insolvency following the insolvency of Wirecard AG.
By taking over the business operations of WDRS, Unzer is continuing its course of growth as a platform for international payment transactions. Unzer was founded in 2003 as heidelpay. With over 600 employees, Unzer offers its customers solutions for the entire spectrum of payment management: From the processing of various payment methods, to automated analyses of customer behaviour and needs, to holistic risk management. In 2019, the company processed a transaction volume of more than Euro 7 billion for over 30,000 customers via its platform.
Advisors Unzer
CORVEL LLP (Hamburg): Dr. Felix Brammer (Corporate), Dr. Dirk Brockmeier (Insolvency Law), Associate: Marc Großmann (Corporate)
EmLabLegal (Hamburg): Dr. Katrin Stamer (Labour Law)
Hamburg, 21 October 2020
CORVEL advised heidelpay Group GmbH on its investment in Tillhub GmbH.
Tillhub offers retailers digital payment methods via an all-in-one iPad cash register system. Well-known customers of Tillhub are Klier Hair Group GmbH and Fleurop AG. Heidelpay is thus expanding its expertise in the field of PoS (Point of Sale) and is continuing to drive its growth and omnichannel approach. The parties have agreed not to disclose the extent of the investment.
Heidelpay is one of the fastest-growing German tech companies for international payment transactions and offers its own solutions such as invoice and installment purchase, direct debit, online bank transfer or prepayment as well as credit card or wallet solutions from well-known providers. Since 2020 the investor KKR is the majority shareholder of heidelpay.
CORVEL has advised the heidelpay comprehensively in the investment.
Advisors heidelpay
CORVEL LLP (Hamburg): Dr. Felix Brammer; Associate: Thomas Sievers
Hamburg, 3 July 2020