ECM buys driving school support service Academy

Harriet Matthews
01 April 2021

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ECM Equity Capital Management has acquired a majority stake in driving school Academy Holding, which comprises three business units.

Board members Matthias and David Wimpff will take a minority stake in the business as part of the deal.

The GP intends to work with the company's management team to support the company's future growth, which is expected to benefit from growth trends in the driving school market.

ECM is deploying equity via German Equity Partners V, which held a final close in June 2018 on €325m and makes equity investments of €10-40m, targeting DACH-based businesses with enterprise values of €20-80m.

Prior to Academy, ECM announced its investment in telematics software business YellowFox in February 2021, in a deal that valued the company at around €60m.

Company
Headquartered in Ludwigsburg and with additional operations in Frankfurt, Academy provides support services for driving schools, ranging from instructor training to invoicing and marketing, as well as a driving school franchising system. The company has three business units, including Datapart Factoring, which was founded in 1994 and generates revenues of €170m. Its DVPi unit provides driving instructor training services.

People
ECM Equity Capital Management – Florian Thelenberg (partner); Axel Eichmeyer (managing partner); Max Thielemann (investment director); Benedikt Müller (investment manager).

Advisers
Equity – Milbank (legal); Codex Partners (commercial due diligence); Ebner Stolz (financial due diligence, tax); Code & Co (technology due diligence); Ashurst (legal); Willis Towers Watson (insurance due diligence).
Vendor – Beisse & Rath (legal); UBS (M&A); Doberenz (commercial due diligence); Dr Vaih & Partner (tax); Starke Legal (legal).