Investcorp acquires Softgarden from Cipio et al.

Nicole Tovstiga
03 September 2018

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Investcorp Technology Partners has acquired Berlin-based Softgarden, a human resources software provider, from a consortium of vendors including Cipio Partners.

The deal is the fourth deal from the Investcorp Technology Partners IV fund.

As part of the deal, the firm will invest further capital into Softgarden to enable expansion in the company's core markets of Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

Investcorp has acquired the business from a shareholder group including Cipio, Brandenburg Kapital, Neuhaus Partners and the company's founders Stefan Schüffler and Dominik Faber.

Germany represents a core market for Investcorp, with the firm having made three investments in the country this year. In April, it announced the acquisition of Stuttgart-based Bürocampus Wangen, and in May it announced that it had established a platform to enter the German dental sector via its investments in dental surgery centre Privatzahnarztklinik Schloss Schellenstein and licensed hospital Acura Kliniken.

Previous funding
Cipio and Alexander Brühl first invested in Softgarden in 2014.

Cipio was then joined by Neuhaus in a fresh round of funding for the German software developer the following year. The two backers structured a €3m injection of capital into the deal, which was aimed at boosting the company's growth rate.

Company
Headquartered in Berlin and established in 2005, Softgarden is a human resources software provider. The company's application enables companies to streamline and manage their recruitment process in an automated and data-privacy-compliant manner. In addition to this, Softgarden manages a jobs marketplace with around 65,000 candidate profiles, as well as a tool allowing for the automated posting of job adverts on 300 job boards.

People
Investcorp Technology Partners – Gilbert Kamieniecky (managing director).
Softgarden – Mathias Heese (CEO).

Advisers
Equity – Covington (legal); Deloitte (tax); PwC (corporate finance); Code & Co (IT due diligence).
Vendor – Stella EOC (corporate finance); CMS (legal).