Germany Carlyle Group Tender

Global alternative asset manager The Carlyle Group announced it has acquired a majority stake in SERgroup GmbH SER a European Enterprise Content Management solutions ECM software company based in Bonn Germany. Underlining their commitment to continuity 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.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. Carlyles investment will support SERs management team as it implements its growth plans.Dr. Thorsten Dippel Managing Director at Carlyle Europe Technology Partners CETP said We look forward to working with the SER management team which has emphasized a culture of customer focus and innovation. With significant knowledge of the software sector Carlyles Europe Technology Partners team will use its experience alongside Carlyles global network to further drive SERs growth.Michael Wand Managing Director and Co-Head of CETP said SER is a great fit for CETP given the experience and expertise of the team in mid-market software. Carlyle will seek to support SER with succession planning select internationalization and product innovation.Kurt-Werner Sikora spokesman for SERs management board said Carlyle will be an excellent partner for the continued development of SER and the new management appointments represent the next step in our succession planning. Carlyles success in the software sector means the team will bring relevant expertise to the company.Equity for the investment comes from CETP III a 657 million pan-European growth fund focused on technology companies launched in 2015. The CETP team has extensive experience in the management of technology companies both globally as well as in German-speaking countries.Previous investments by CETP funds include PI Personal Informatik AG a provider of integrated HR software solutions Exocad a developer of CADCAM software for the dental industry vwd a provider of market data and innovative applications for banks and investment advisors kcs.net one of the largest independent Microsoft Dynamics partners in the DACH market and UC4 a software provider in the area of data center and process automation.Since 2002 Carlyles European technology funds have invested 1.4 billion in small and medium-sized businesses and supported their growth plans.