Investment strategy

We invest private equity in promising companies with a proven and scalable business model. Development opportunities can result, for example, from strengthening strategic positioning - for example, through a broader product range or through regional expansion. Often, development strategies also include add-on acquisitions that accelerate business change or drive consolidation in an industry.

We value entrepreneurial management that is able to implement the agreed goals. Companies that fit into our investment spectrum are often characterised by a leading position in a (possibly small) market, high innovative strength and future-proof products. Their business models are designed to benefit from the relevant structural trends in the respective sectors.

Such companies exist in large numbers in the German Mittelstand. Deutsche Beteiligungs AG has always been at home as an investor in mechanical and plant engineering, the automotive supply industry, industrial service providers and manufacturers of industrial components, which have long included industry tech companies. For some years now, it has also been increasingly possible to find companies with mature and attractive business models that meet our investment criteria in new growth sectors such as broadband telecommunications, the software industry and the healthcare sector. In addition, the founders of such companies have become more open to financial investors in recent years.

Regionally, we focus on companies with their registered office or business focus in the German-speaking region ("DACH region"); we make investments outside this region, for example in northern Italy, exclusively in sectors in which we have many years of investment experience. 

Our focus is on investments in companies with an enterprise value of between 50 and 250 million euros, i.e. companies at the upper end of the mid-market segment. However, the structure of the DBAG funds also allows us to structure investments with an enterprise value of up to 400 million euros.

Investment occasions

Private equity from DBAG and its funds is invested in a variety of situations:

  • Succession planning in a family business or withdrawal of the company's founders
  • Spin-off of a marginal business from a group of companies
  • Divestment from the portfolio of another financial investor
  • Capital requirements in connection with corporate growth

The first three of these types of financing usually result in a majority equity investment. Growth financing, on the other hand, is structured as a minority interest or by providing equity-like funds. There is often a return participation by the sellers.

Proposition

Realizing independence, exploiting value enhancement potential under their own responsibility - Deutsche Beteiligungs AG offers this opportunity to board members, managing directors and other experienced managers. With our experience, we are reliable partners for a management buy-out (MBO), the purchase of a company together with its management. This also applies to management buy-ins (MBIs), situations in which a company is acquired by an external management with the support of a financial investor.

In both cases, an MBO and an MBI, entrepreneurial concepts for the further development of the companies are required. In addition to equity capital, Deutsche Beteiligungs AG contributes the experience gained from more than 450 transactions in the mid-market. Over the decades, we have also built up an extensive, close-knit network of industry experts. Our investment partners benefit from this when members of our investment team or one of these experts serve on the supervisory or advisory board.

Board members and managing directors, and sometimes other executives, invest in an MBO or MBI themselves from their own funds. In this way, they benefit directly from a positive development of the company, but also share the risks.

Companies change - business units fall out of focus after a change in strategy, others develop from the core business into a peripheral area of the company. Often, the spin-off of this business unit and the sale of the subsidiaries that are no longer in focus is a suitable solution.

Short decision-making processes, high capital strength and many years of experience make us a reliable partner for corporate sellers in such situations. Our large investment team can mobilize sufficient resources to implement such a transaction quickly. Our leading market position, the transparency resulting from our stock exchange listing and our long-standing market presence make us a trusted and valued buyer and new shareholder for employees and customers alike.

Germany is the land of family businesses. There is a comparable structure in the other German-speaking countries and also in Italy. A successor from the family is not always available when there is a change in the shareholder structure or at the top of the company. Or company founders see a financially strong financial investor as the best partner for the further development of their company, which preserves its independence.

We know and share the value system that characterizes SMEs. This is precisely why DBAG and the DBAG funds it advises regularly finance the transfer of a family business into new hands, for example through a management buyout. With a return investment, founders and family shareholders initially remain involved, thus continuing to benefit from a positive development and ensuring continuity.

The development of new products, entry into new markets or the acquisition of another company to complement the product portfolio or geographical presence require capital. Deutsche Beteiligungs AG provides such growth financing - either through a direct investment or through quasi-equity funds. We have been active in the German mid-market for more than 50 years and, from our numerous investments in family-owned companies, we are familiar with the requirements of the financing structure of a growing mid-market company. We can also draw on our extensive network of industry experts for growth financing.