The Berlin based private equity investors Odewald & Compagnie and capiton acquire a majority share in Walter Services, Germany’s second largest Business Process Outsourcing provider for customer care services. With a turnover of € 250 million Walter Services is particularly active in sales and marketing assistance, customer service and order processing. Furthermore, Walter Services positioned itself as a leading provider of customer-oriented business processes in the strongly growing market of outsourcing. The customers of Walter Services a.o. belong to the telecommunication and retail sector. The company has more than 8,500 employees at 19 locations in four countries.
Odewald & Compagnie and capiton acquire the majority of the company from Gilde Buy-Out Fund. Next to the CEO Dr. Ralf Kogeler with 26 %, other management-team members with 6 % and Gilde Buy-Out Fund will remain shareholder. The parties have agreed not to disclose the purchase price. The acquisition is expected to close in the third quarter 2008 subject to the approval by the relevant competition authorities.
Jens Odewald, founding partner of Odewald & Compagnie, declares:
“We see Walter Services as a company with brilliant growth perspectives in Germany and abroad. We see these in the diversification of the customer base as well as in the willingness of Walter Services´s customers to transfer more and more of their customer services to a professional service provider. Walter Services may well go public in a few years.”
Ralf Kogeler, CEO and significant shareholder, says:
“We see our growth perspectives particularly with customers in the financial services, utility, pharmacy and telecommunications sector. Owing to our vast market experience and to the unrivalled quality of our services our customers entrust us with major parts of their customer management.”
Odewald & Compagnie (www.ocie.de) is one of the leading, independent private equity companies for medium-sized companies in Germany, managing a capital of over € 1,0 billion. Founded 1997 and situated in Berlin, the company invests in established and strongly growing mid-sized companies. The portfolio of the acquired companies focuses on outsourcing services for companies of all industries. Institutional German and international investors as well as private investors belong the investors of the Odewald funds.
capiton (www.capiton.de) is an independent, owner-controlled private equity company managing a fund volume of approx. € 500 million. At present, capiton AG’s portfolio consists of 10 medium-sized companies. In its capacity as equity capital partner, capiton supports management buy-outs and growth financing at established, medium-sized companies. capiton´s investment focus is on service providers, on companies active in the processing industry and companies active in the healthcare sector.
The Gilde Buy-Out Fund is managed by Gilde Buy Out Partners (www.gilde.com), a leading private equity investor from the Netherlands, specialized in buy-out investments in Continental Europe. With offices in Utrecht, Paris and Zurich, Gilde manages a total fund volume exceeding € 1,5 billion and has invested in more than 200 companies since it was founded in 1982.
Contacts:
Walter Services: Sabine Zoller, ++ 49 (0) 72 43 55 14 80, sabine.zoller@walterservices.com
Odewald & Compagnie: Prof. Dr. Ernst-Moritz Lipp, ++ 49 (0) 30 20 17 23 54, em.lipp@ocie.de
capiton: Manuel Hertweck, ++ 49 (0) 30 31 59 45 48, hertweck@capiton.com
Gilde Buy Out Partners: Ralph Wyss, ++ 41 (0) 43 268 20 30
Ettlingen, Germany, 9 July 2008