Carlyle acquires majority stake in SERgroup

Carlyle, global alternative asset manager and the leading international PE investor, acquired a majority stake in SERgroup, Europe’s largest European Enterprise Content Management solutions (ECM) software provider.

Underlining their commitment to continuity, the four founders i.e. the selling shareholders will retain a significant minority stake in SER. Further details were not disclosed. The transaction has been approved by the relevant antitrust authorities.

The act legal Germany transaction team consisted of Dr. Sven Tischendorf, MBA (managing partner), Dr. Matthias Müller, MBA (partner), Dr. Fabian Brocke, LL.M. (partner), Dr. Florian Wäßle, LL.M. (partner) and Dr. Fabian Laugwitz, MBA, LL.M. (partner). Excluding antitrust law, the act legal Germany partners advised Carlyle in all issues of the acquisition. act legal Germany has a long-standing client relationship with Carlyle.

The SERgroup GmbH (www.ser.de): Founded in 1984 and headquartered in Bonn, Germany, SER is committed to innovation, highly customizable and scalable solutions, and excellent client service. SER began as a provider of electronic archiving and has grown into a supplier of state-of-the-art ECM solutions to companies throughout Europe. Today, more than 550 employees work for SERgroup. The company is present in 22 international locations.

The Carlyle Group (www.carlyle.com): Founded in 1987 in Washington, DC, Carlyle has grown into one of the world’s largest and most successful investment firms, with more than 1,650 professionals operating in 31 offices in North America, South America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia and Australia. Since 2002, Carlyle‘s European technology funds have invested €1.4 billion in small and medium-sized businesses and supported their growth plans. Today, the Carlyle Group is a global investment firm with $216 billion of assets under management across 343 investment vehicles.