Waterland invests in Horn & Company

Harriet Matthews
13 October 2021

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Waterland Private Equity has invested in Germany-based consultancy Horn & Company, establishing a growth and consolidation platform for mid-sized consultancy businesses.

Waterland and Horn & Company have entered into a 50:50 partnership, according to a statement. The buyout has seen the GP acquire a 50% stake in the company.

The company's current partners will remain in their roles and will continue to lead the firm's operational consulting business.

Waterland intends to support Horn & Company's continued organic growth and to develop the company's presence in the DACH region, as well as its expansion to neighbouring European countries. This is expected to see the expansion of the company's offering in digital transformation, asset-based consulting and data analytics.

Waterland held a final close for Waterland Private Equity Fund VIII in December 2020 on EUR 2.5bn. The fund makes equity investments of EUR 10m-200m, targeting mid-market European businesses and supporting them with buy-and-build market consolidation strategies.

Including Horn & Company, the fund has made five platform investments, according to Unquote Data. Horn & Company is the fund's second platform investment in Germany following its acquisition of software developer Gesellschaft für Organisation und Datenverarbeitung (GOD) in April 2021.

Company
Founded in 2009, Horn & Company is a management consultancy for medium-sized businesses that provides strategy, digitalisation and revenue-growth advice for financial services, as well as industrial and trading companies.

According to its latest publicly available accounts, Horn & Company posted revenues of EUR 22.7m in 2019, versus EUR 19.9m in 2018. The company has six offices in Germany and Austria, with its headquarters in Düsseldorf.

People
Waterland Private Equity – Gregor Hengst (partner).
Horn & Company – Alexander Bethke-Jaenicke, Christian Horn (managing partners).

Advisers
Equity – Codex Partners (commercial due diligence); Deloitte (financial due diligence, tax); Hengeler Müller (legal); Ashurst (legal); Clearwater International (debt advisory).