FRANKFURT, April 3, 2017 - Advent International (“Advent”) and Bain Capital Private Equity (“Bain Capital”) have signed an agreement to acquire Ratepay GmbH, the German online payment services arm of the Otto Group, for an undisclosed sum. It is planned that Ratepay will be integrated with Concardis, the Eschborn-based payment service provider acquired by Advent and Bain Capital in January 2017, representing the first step of a buy and build strategy. The closing of the acquisition of Concardis is still pending. Ratepay will retain its brand and will be managed as an independent company within the Concardis Group.
The invoice payment specialist Ratepay, founded in Berlin in 2009, provides processing payment methods for online shops. These include open invoices, instalments, direct debit, pre-payment and managing all back-office processes on behalf of the merchants, such as risk checks on purchasers and debtor management.
Christophe Jacobs van Merlen, a Managing Director at Bain Capital Private Equity, said, "We have been following the German payment service market very closely for many years. Ratepay is unquestionably one of the best companies in its market segment. With this acquisition, we are broadening our product portfolio at Concardis and at the same time gaining additional important commercial expertise that we plan to exploit for further development."
Jeff Paduch, a Managing Director at Advent International, added, "We see a major opportunity to create a first-class payment service provider in the retail sector. The acquisition of Ratepay is a step forward in our buy-and-build strategy to grow Concardis into a payment champion in the DACH region."
Going forward a close cooperation between Concardis and Otto Group is planned, especially with regards to further developing innovative payment solutions for e-commerce. Alexander Birken, Chief Executive Officer of Otto Group, said, “Concardis is one of the leading payment service providers in Europe and has vast experience in the retail business. Even more, the company has the necessary size to be successful in the payments market. These are the attributes we want to profit from, in order to be able to offer an even better service to our clients.”
Paying on receipt of an invoice is a very popular payment option in online sales in the DACH region. According to a study by the EHI retail institute, in 2016 a good 29 per cent of all e-commerce turnover was paid via invoices. A further 19.3 per cent of turnover is paid by direct debit. It is planned that the Ratepay product range will be integrated into Concardis’ payment portfolio for e-commerce to start creating genuine added value for its customers.
The purchase of Ratepay is subject to approval by the supervisory authorities.
About Advent International
Founded in 1984, Advent International Corporation (“Advent”) is one of the largest and most experienced global private equity investors. The firm has invested in more than 320 private equity transactions in 40 countries, and as of September 30, 2016, had €37 billion in assets under management.
Advent International GmbH was established in Germany in 1991, and provides investment advice to Advent through its Frankfurt-based advisory team. Advent is one of the leading private equity investors in Germany and has been investing in European companies since 1990. Advent International GmbH has advised on investments of more than €3.1 billion in 30 companies. The team focuses on five core sectors: business and financial services; healthcare; industrial and chemicals; retail, consumer and leisure; and technology, media and telecom.
Over the last ten years, investments have included Addiko Bank (formerly Hypo Group Alpe Adria), which operates a banking network in southeast Europe; allnex, the No. 1 global producer of industrial coating resins; Douglas Holding, Europe’s leading beauty retailer; GFKL, a provider of receivables management services in Germany; Median Kliniken, an independent rehabilitation care provider in Germany; Casa Reha, a German private nursing home group; Takko, a German value fashion retailer; and Oxea, the leading producer of oxo-alcohols and derivatives.
After more than 30 years dedicated to international investing, Advent remains committed to partnering with management teams to deliver sustained revenue and earnings growth for its portfolio companies. With 3 management teams, investment advisors, operating partners and other stakeholders, Advent creates a shared vision for the future of our portfolio companies and works collectively to realise the potential we see.
For more information, visit www.adventinternational.com.
About Bain Capital Private Equity
Bain Capital Private Equity has partnered closely with management teams to provide the strategic resources that build great companies and help them thrive since our founding in 1984. Our global team of approximately 220 investment professionals creates value for our portfolio companies through our global platform and depth of expertise in key vertical industries including consumer/retail, financial and business services, healthcare, industrials, and technology, media and telecommunications.
Bain Capital Private Equity has a highly experienced team based in its Munich office that has been investing in Germany for 13 years. Investments have included Concardis, the leading German payments group; Wittur, the leading global manufacturer of components for the elevator industry; FTE, the supplier of clutch actuation components for the automotive industry; Trinseo, a diversified manufacturer of rubber and plastics; Brenntag, the largest global distributor of specialty chemicals; ProSieben, the leading TV broadcaster; and Jack Wolfskin, the outdoor equipment, clothing and footware company.
In addition to private equity, Bain Capital invests across asset classes including credit, public equity and venture capital, and leverages the firm’s shared platform to capture opportunities in strategic areas of focus.
For more information, visit www.baincapitalprivateequity.com.
About Otto Group
Founded in Germany in 1949, today the Otto Group is a globally operating retail and services group with around 49,750 employees. The Group includes 123 major companies and is present in over 30 countries in Europe, North and South America and Asia. Its business activities are grouped into three segments: Multichannel Retail, Financial Services and Service. In the 2016/17 financial year (to 28 February), according to preliminary calculation the Otto Group generated turnover of 12.5 billion euros. It is one of the world’s largest online retailer. E-commerce, catalogue sales and over-the-counter retail form the three pillars of the Otto Group’s Multichannel Retail strategy. Its worldwide corporate activities, numerous strategic partnerships and joint ventures provide the Otto Group with excellent opportunities to transfer know-how and leverage areas of synergy potential. Group companies operate largely independently, guaranteeing flexibility, customer proximity and optimum target-group appeal in their respective national markets.
For more information, visit www.ottogroup.com.
About Concardis
Concardis is one of Europe's leading payment service providers. With over 30 years' experience in payment processing, the company offers intelligent solutions to meet the extensive requirements for a modern cashless payment process: ability to accept payments made with all major credit and debit cards, including card terminals and contactless payment processes for face-to-face retailers, innovative solutions for e-commerce and m-commerce, as well as support in the form of customer management. When it comes to high-performance payment solutions, Concardis is the provider of choice for some 110,000 customers at 210,000 locations using more than 470,000 connected terminals.
For more information, visit www.concardis.com.
About Ratepay
Ratepay provides payment solutions with a full payment guarantee in the DACH region. Products offered by RatePAY include invoicing, instalment payments with real-time online approval, direct debit and pre-payment. Ratepay GmbH, headquartered in Berlin, was founded in December 2009 and has more than 100 employees.
For more information visit www.ratepay.com.
