Global alternative asset manager The Carlyle Group (NASDAQ: CG) today announced it has acquired a majority stake in SERgroup GmbH (SER), a European Enterprise Content Management solutions (ECM) software company based in Bonn, Germany. Underlining their commitment to continuity, the selling shareholders will retain a significant minority stake in SER. Further details were not disclosed. The transaction has been approved by the relevant antitrust authorities.
Founded in 1984 and headquartered in Bonn, Germany, SER is committed to innovation, highly customizable and scalable solutions, and excellent client service. SER began as a provider of electronic archiving and has grown into a supplier of state-of-the-art ECM solutions to companies throughout Europe. Carlyle’s investment will support SER’s management team as it implements its growth plans.
Dr. Thorsten Dippel, Managing Director at Carlyle Europe Technology Partners (CETP), said: “We look forward to working with the SER management team, which has emphasized a culture of customer focus and innovation. With significant knowledge of the software sector, Carlyle’s Europe Technology Partners team will use its experience alongside Carlyle‘s global network to further drive SER‘s growth.“
Michael Wand, Managing Director and Co-Head of CETP, said: “SER is a great fit for CETP, given the experience and expertise of the team in mid-market software. Carlyle will seek to support SER with succession planning, select internationalization and product innovation.“
Kurt-Werner Sikora, spokesman for SER‘s management board, said: “Carlyle will be an excellent partner for the continued development of SER, and the new management appointments represent the next step in our succession planning. Carlyle’s success in the software sector means the team will bring relevant expertise to the company.“
Equity for the investment comes from CETP III, a €657 million pan-European growth fund focused on technology companies, launched in 2015. The CETP team has extensive experience in the management of technology companies, both globally, as well as in German-speaking countries.
Previous investments by CETP funds include: P&I Personal & Informatik AG, a provider of integrated HR software solutions; Exocad, a developer of CAD/CAM software for the dental industry; vwd, a provider of market data and innovative applications for banks and investment advisors; kcs.net, one of the largest independent Microsoft Dynamics partners in the DACH market; and UC4, a software provider in the area of data center and process automation.
Since 2002, Carlyle‘s European technology funds have invested €1.4 billion in small and medium-sized businesses and supported their growth plans.
The Carlyle Group (NASDAQ: CG) is a global alternative asset manager with $212 billion of assets under management across 339 investment vehicles as of September 30, 2018. Carlyle’s purpose is to invest wisely and create value on behalf of its investors, many of whom are public pensions. Carlyle invests across four segments – Corporate Private Equity, Real Assets, Global Credit and Investment Solutions – in Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, the Middle East, North America and South America. Carlyle has expertise in various industries, including: aerospace, defense & government services, consumer & retail, energy, financial services, healthcare, industrial, real estate, technology & business services, telecommunications & media and transportation. The Carlyle Group employs more than 1,625 people in 31 offices across six continents.
SERgroup
SER is the largest European ECM provider in terms of turnover, gross profit, operating result and number of employees measured by recent results. This makes SER one of the top 5 “software-only” ECM providers worldwide. ECM excellence by SER – means vision, inspiration, experience and expertise of a team of over 550 employees. More than 2,000 reference clients and 1 million users daily work with Enterprise Content Management from SER. For almost 35 years, SER has been supporting medium-sized companies, corporations, administrations and organizations across all industries with powerful ECM software and professional services from a single source. Leading international IT analysts confirm that Doxis4 is amongst the leading ECM applications in terms of both technology and applications globally. With its homogenous platform for ECM and BPM (Business Process Management), Doxis4 seamlessly combines content and processes, linking people with information, synchronizing business processes and linking knowledge-based collaboration between companies, their suppliers and customers.
