News
Annual Report 2023
Dear friends and business partners of AUCTUS,
We hope you enjoyed a good rest over the holidays and had a positive start into the new year!
We are very happy with the last year and are looking forward to the next 12 months. For us, 2023 was another successful year despite a variety of challenges and we were once again able to achieve another strong performance and defy the recession.
Expanding our market leadership in Europe
AUCTUS has been the clear market leader for over a decade as the most active PE firm for German-speaking SMEs. As our European investment activities are already equal to those in German-speaking countries, we now have the clear goal of becoming the market leader in Europe. With the help of our strong team of 10 Italian professionals, we have been able to further strengthen our reputation and presence in the European SME market and will also roll out this strategy to other European markets with the aim of achieving greater coverage.
2 great exits
We ended the year with 2 very positive exits from Dataciders and Zontal.
Dataciders is another successful example of our core expertise in buy-and-build. The group emerged from QuinScape GmbH, which developed into one of the leading providers of data & analytics in Germany through add-on acquisitions following its investment by AUCTUS in 2019. The turnover has increased by a factor of four since AUCTUS invested into the company.
ZONTAL is an innovative platform provider for digital transformation and integrated biopharmaceutical data solutions in the analytical laboratory sector. AUCTUS joined the Osthus Group in 2019 and was able to create the Zontal Group as a spin-off. The revenue has tripled since AUCTUS joined the company.
5 new platforms
In 2023, we were also able to expand our portfolio with 5 new platforms, each laying the foundation for exciting industry concepts. Thus, we now have 50 active platform investments. We have been inspired by new sectors as well as in-depth insights into familiar segments, helping us to discover further potential that we can leverage our existing expertise in. Here are two highlights:
Déco is a leading designer and manufacturer of eco-friendly composite and wood surfaces for exterior and interior use. The company has grown by 40% p.a. since 2012 and intends to expand internationally with the support of AUCTUS.
Comesvil is a leading Italian service provider for rail signaling and telecommunications systems. Over the years, Comesvil has succeeded in expanding internationally and established a strong presence in other countries, particularly in Northern Europe and the Middle East.
We have also entered new platforms in construction and special logistics and will be able to use our deep experience in these sectors throughout Europe.
33 add-ons
Despite the recession and subdued M&A markets, we achieved an above-average rate of 33 add-on acquisitions and thus strengthened our platform companies in terms of growth.
9 awards
In 2023, we once again won a large number of top awards.
10 new team members
Over the past 12 months, we have set a new record in recruiting. From well over 1000 applications, we were able to recruit 10 new colleagues as permanent employees and introduce 18 highly qualified interns and working students to the PE business.
Our Deal Team has been strengthened by Luca Schiek, Federico Belluschi, Marco De Franco, Francesco Valli and Felix Kantelhardt. Our Finance & Operations team is also delighted to have gained 3 new colleagues in Claudia Woelke, Eda Keller and Marion Brunnbauer. In addition, our Portfolio Managements can now rely on Dr. Daniel Hohmann as a new Sparrings Partner.
And with Piotr Panasiewicz we are starting our market entry in Poland.
We are looking forward to an exciting 2024
We are confident that we can start the new year with great investments and exits, some of which we are already in the final phases of.
Our team is stronger than ever and, together with our companies, we will continue to create new market leaders.
We wish you a successful year and look forward to working with you!
Your AUCTUS team
About AUCTUS
AUCTUS is the most active investment company for small- and medium-sized companies in Europe with more than 415 investments in the past 23 years. The focus of our investments is on majority holdings in companies with annual sales of between EUR 10 million and EUR 150 million. AUCTUS stands for sustainable organic and also inorganic growth by acquisitions. We achieve this in a trustful partnership together with the management of our companies. We are specialized in building successful medium-sized company groups – We create market leaders. The more than 35 experienced AUCTUS investment experts currently manage around 50 platform investments from various sectors of the economy. The sum of the platform investments with a total of more than 200 individual companies achieves annual sales of € 3 billion. Sales and results have been growing at >10% per year for years. Our successful work is regularly rewarded with prestigious awards and top international rankings.