IK buys Conet from HIG

IK intends to support the company with its ongoing growth plans in the DACH region.

The GP is deploying equity via IK IX. The fund held a final close in May 2020 on EUR 2.85bn and has now made six deals, including Conet, according to Unquote Data. The fund targets companies with enterprise values of EUR 100m-500m, generally investing equity tickets of EUR 50-150m.

Unquote sister publication Mergermarket reported in June 2021 that HIG was preparing Conet for a sale in H2 2021. The company was expected to be marketed based on forward-looking EBITDA of EUR 25m.

First-round bids were expected in the second week of September 2021, Mergermarket reported, with the sale concluding after a bid was made by IK at 15x EBITDA, corresponding to an enterprise value of EUR 375m. Sources told Mergermarket that IK's bid was EUR 40m higher than those submitted by other bidders in the process.

HIG acquired a majority stake in Conet in 2017. The company posted revenues of EUR 137m and EBITDA of EUR 6.64m at the time, with 400 employees, according to Unquote Data. HIG deployed equity via HIG Europe Capital Partners II, which held a final close in July 2013 on EUR 825m. The vehicle makes equity investments of EUR 20m-40m. Further investments from the fund include the sale of cybersecurity company Infinigate to Bridgepoint in March 2021.

Under HIG's ownership, Conet made four add-ons, including German IT services Procon IT in 2019 and ACT IT Holding in 2018.

Company
Founded in 1987, Conet provides IT infrastructure and communications services for private and public sector clients, specialising in digitalisation and SAP consulting. The company offers services in critical control room communications, customer collaboration, enterprise content management, and business process management. Conet is headquartered in Hennef and employs 1,100 staff in 13 locations in Germany, Austria and Croatia.

The company posted EBITDA of EUR 18.2m and revenues of EUR 148.3m in the financial year to 31 March 2020, according to its latest publicly available financial statement. The company expects to post EBITDA of EUR 19.8m and EUR 170.5m in revenues for the following year to 31 March 2021.

People
IK Partners – Mirko Jablonsky (partner).
Conet – Anke Höfer (CEO).
HIG Capital – Holger Kleingarn, Christian Kraul-von Renner (managing directors).

Advisers
Equity – Raymond James (corporate finance).

• Tweet  
• Facebook  
• LinkedIn  
• Google plus  
• Send to  

• Topics
• Buyouts
• Exits
• DACH
• Technology
• Secondary buyout
• Germany
• HIG Capital
• IK Investment Partners