BC Partners to acquire PlusServer, market leader in the managed hosting segment in Germany

HAMBURG/COLOGNE – JULY 18, 2017 – Funds advised by BC Partners, a leading private equity firm, have reached an agreement to acquire PlusServer, the market leader in the managed hosting market in Germany, from its parent company GoDaddy (USA). The takeover is subject to approval by anti-trust authorities.

PlusServer offers managed hosting and cloud solutions for corporate clients. Supplementary services, for instance in the field of data security, serve to round off the product range. The extensive product portfolio is targeted at companies with critical dependency on the availability and performance of their IT infrastructure. PlusServer currently hosts over 4,000 corporate clients within its data centers. Due to the company’s wide client base and long-term service agreements, the business model of PlusServer is highly diversified and has limited exposure to economic cycles.

PlusServer was established in 2015 as a result of the merger of three existing hosting businesses, namely PlusServer, the managed hosting division of Host Europe Group and Telefonica Online Services. The company is headquartered in Cologne but has offices across Germany, guaranteeing its clients direct and personal contact. In 2016, the firm’s workforce of over 300 employees generated ca. €100 million in revenues.

"We see a great deal of potential at PlusServer for profitable growth in the coming years," said Stefan Zuschke, Managing Partner of BC Partners. In addition to plans to continue the robust organic growth, Zuschke commented that additional acquisitions were also being considered: "The market for managed hosting in Germany is highly fragmented, and PlusServer is an ideal platform for consolidating this market," said Zuschke, outlining the planned buy and build strategy. Zuschke added that managed public cloud services also had strong growth potential.

Thomas Strohe, the founder and CEO of PlusServer, said, "We are very pleased to join forces with BC Partners, an experienced investor that can support our growth and acquisition strategy. It has always been our primary goal to be an independent company under the stable roof of an investor that understands and fully supports our business."

Thomas Noglik, COO of PlusServer, added, "With BC Partners we have found an ideal partner that is very experienced in the German Mittelstand, the main customer target group for PlusServer. Together we will further strengthen our position as market leader in Germany and expedite our growth."

Thomas Strohe, Thomas Noglik and the wider management team will substantially reinvest and hold a large equity interest in the company.

BC Partners was advised by Raymond James and Arma Partners as M&A advisors. Ernst & Young provided financial and tax due diligence as well as structuring advice. Latham & Watkins were BC Partners’ legal advisors on the transaction and Intuitus conducted IT due diligence.

Further details on PlusServer are available at www.plusserver.com.

About BC Partners

BC Partners is a leading international private equity firm with €18bn billion of assets under management. Established in 1986, BC Partners has played an active role in developing the European buy-out market for nearly three decades. BC Partners executives operate as an integrated team through the firm's offices in Europe and North America, acquiring and developing businesses to create value in partnership with management. Since inception, BC Partners has completed 95 investments in companies with a total enterprise value of €118 billion and is currently investing its tenth private equity fund. For more information, please visit www.bcpartners.com.