HAMBURG – October 12, 2018 – H.I.G. Capital, LLC (“H.I.G.”), a leading global private equity investment firm with over €24 billion of equity capital under management, is pleased to announce that its portfolio company, CONET Technologies Holding GmbH (“CONET”), a leading IT consulting and software development company, has agreed to acquire Babiel GmbH (“Babiel” or the “Company”).
Founded in 1991 by Georg, Harald and Dr. Rainer Babiel, the Company is a trusted partner to many blue-chip industrial and public customers, offering a range of consulting, managed services and implementation solutions in the fields of online communication and B2B eCommerce. The merger will further strengthen CONET’s resources in its core markets and enables both companies to expand their solutions portfolio within the large and growing IT services market. The management team, headed by the three founders, will remain in place and contribute to the continued success of the Company.
“Combining CONET’s broad customer base and leading solutions portfolio with Babiel’s expertise in online communication and eCommerce makes this an exciting and synergetic combination for our customers,” said Anke Höfer, CEO of CONET. “The three founders have built a highly reputable and innovative company in a fast-growing segment over the past 25 years. We are looking forward to this significant next step in our growth plan.”
Dr. Rainer Babiel, co-founder and Managing Director of Babiel commented, “We look forward to the strategic combination of CONET and Babiel, which will offer considerable benefits for our employees and customers, by joining a market-leading IT consulting group. The combined company will offer a comprehensive portfolio of innovative solutions for our customers and we look forward to cooperating with Ms. Höfer and her team.”
Dr. Holger Kleingarn, Managing Director at H.I.G. Capital, added, “Babiel is a perfect fit to CONET, and the transaction underlines our strong commitment to further grow the Company both organically as well as inorganically. We have been very impressed with Babiel’s management team and look forward to working together. One year after joining forces with ACT Group, this is the second important acquisition milestone following our strategy to strengthen and expand CONET’s position as a leading IT solutions provider in the DACH region.”
About CONET
CONET has been a trusted IT partner for SAP, infrastructure, communications and software since 1987. According to the latest survey by leading German IT publication Channelpartner, CONET is ranked #2 among medium-sized German IT systems and consulting companies. Customers from industry and commerce, the public, as well as defense and security sectors alike value CONET‘s commitment to quality. CONET product solutions for Critical Control Room Communications, Customer Collaboration, Enterprise Content Management and Business Process Management are in use worldwide. CONET currently employs more than 600 businesses and IT specialists at eight locations throughout Germany and Austria. For more information, please refer to the CONET website at www.conet.de.
About Babiel
Babiel is a leading IT services firm specializing in online communication and B2B eCommerce. The company advises, develops, implements and coordinates the creation of websites, online portals, apps, online shops and social media solutions. Babiel has been active in the digital marketplace for over 25 years and possesses a broad range of experience, which has been recognized by numerous awards such as the reddot design award and several awards from the Mobile World Summit. Babiel today employs 100 experts and is headquartered in Düsseldorf. For more information, please refer to the Babiel website at www.babiel.com.
About H.I.G. Capital
H.I.G. is a leading global private equity and alternative assets investment firm with over €24 billion of equity capital under management.* Based in Miami, and with offices in New York, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Atlanta in the U.S., as well as international affiliate offices in London, Hamburg, Madrid, Milan, Paris, Bogotá, Mexico City, Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, H.I.G. specializes in providing both debt and equity capital to small and mid-sized companies, utilizing a flexible and operationally focused / value-added approach:
- H.I.G.’s equity funds invest in management buyouts, recapitalizations and corporate carve-outs of both profitable as well as underperforming manufacturing and service businesses.
- H.I.G.’s debt funds invest in senior, unitranche and junior debt financing to companies across the size spectrum, both on a primary (direct origination) basis, as well as in the secondary markets. H.I.G. is also a leading CLO manager, through its WhiteHorse family of vehicles, and manages a publicly traded BDC, WhiteHorse Finance.
- H.I.G.’s real estate funds invest in value-added properties, which can benefit from improved asset management practices.
Since its founding in 1993, H.I.G. has invested in and managed more than 300 companies worldwide. The firm’s current portfolio includes more than 100 companies with combined sales in excess of €28 billion. For more information, please refer to the H.I.G. website at www.higcapital.com.
