Brockhaus Capital Management acquires IHSE Group

Oberteuringen / Frankfurt a. M., 18 December 2019 – Brockhaus Capital Management AG (“BCM”) a technology group focused on majority investments in highly profitable and -growing technology and innovation leaders, has acquired a 100% stake in IHSE Group (“IHSE”) for an enterprise value of around € 135 million. IHSE is a global technology leader for high-performance IT infrastructure components for latency and loss-free, as well as ultra-secure transmission of “mission critical” data. Following the acquisition of sensorics specialist Palas in late 2018, this represents another important milestone for BCM towards its envisaged IPO.

Based in Oberteuringen near Lake Constance, IHSE Group has been developing and selling cutting-edge IT infrastructure solutions within the KVM market (keyboard, video, mouse) for 35 years. Through KVM technology, computer signals can be transmitted, transformed and bidirectionally extended, enabling latency and loss-free, as well as ultra-secure separation of workstations from their corresponding servers. As a cross-sectional technology, IHSE products are used in a wide range of end-markets, especially those, where cyber-attacks can have serious consequences (such as air traffic control, broadcasting, healthcare, industry, transport or banking). As such, IHSE benefits from numerous global megatrends (including autonomous driving or industry 4.0) as well as the corresponding increase in “mission critical” and highly sensitive data transmission. The group employs more than 110 employees at sites in Germany, the US and Singapore.

The previous shareholders Brockhaus Private Equity III and EL-Invest mandated Lincoln International to run a competitive, structured sell-side process. Within this auction, BCM managed to prevail as a bidder and acquired IHSE-Group for an enterprise value of around € 135 million. IHSE’s managing directors, Dr. Enno Littmann (CEO) and Michael Spatny (CSO), will continue to lead the group and, together with other key employees of the firm, have significantly reinvested as part of this transaction.

“As an integral part of BCM Group, IHSE is now ideally positioned to explore and harness the continued growth potential inherent in new regions and further areas of application”, comments IHSE CEO Dr. Littmann. “This will be feasible not least because BCM as a technology group in form of a stock corporation is set to support us for the long term and, in contrast to conventional financial investors, has no pre-determined investment horizon”, says Littmann. “Furthermore, BCM’s team can draw upon 20 years’ worth of experience in identifying and developing strongly growing technology companies and therefore is the ideal partner with regard to the further growth phases that lie ahead of IHSE”, adds Littmann.

“The successful acquisition of IHSE Group is another milestone for us and the management’s decision to significantly reinvest fully confirms us in our strategy”, explains BCM CEO Marco Brockhaus. “Our long-term investment strategy coupled with our strict focus on highly profitable and -growing technology leaders, such as IHSE-Group, makes us stand out in Germany as a pioneer whose merits are being recognized and appreciated by investors as well as entrepreneurs. This paves the way for us, not only towards further acquisitions, but also towards our envisaged IPO”, adds Brockhaus.

About BCM
BCM AG (www.bcm-ag.com) is a technology group focused on long-term majority investments in highly profitable and growing technology and innovation leaders in B2B markets. Within this segment, the team around BCM can draw upon a successful track record that spans 20 years. As a technology group in the form of a stock corporation, BCM is able to support its portfolio companies over the long term without any pre-determined investment horizons, while offering investors the opportunity to participate on a sustainable and long-term basis in the group’s development.

About IHSE Group
IHSE Group (www.ihse.de) is a global technology leader for high-performance IT infrastructure components for latency and loss-free, as well as ultra-secure transmission of “mission critical” data. Based in Oberteuringen near Lake Constance, IHSE has been developing and manufacturing switches for computers and consoles as well extenders for loss-free transmission of computer signals for 35 years. As a cross-sectional technology, IHSE products are used in a variety of end-markets characterized by “mission critical” data transmission, enabling the firm to benefit from increasing connectivity and digitalization. The group employs more than 110 employees at sites in Germany, the US and Singapore.

About Brockhaus Private Equity
Brockhaus Private Equity (www.brockhaus-pe.com) was founded in 2000 in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. As an independent growth investor specializing in buyouts and expansion financings, Brockhaus Private Equity focuses on innovation and technology leaders in the German speaking regions, respectively managing and advising funds with a total volume of more than € 285 million. The funds make equity and equity-related investments in the range of € 5 million to € 25 million per transaction.

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