AUCTUS Completes Exit of the TERRAS Group to H.I.G. Capital – From First Investment to Germany’s Leading Infrastructure Network

AUCTUS has successfully signed the sale of its majority stake in the TERRAS Group to H.I.G. Capital (“H.I.G.”), one of the world’s leading alternative investment firms. Signing took place on July 2, 2026, and closing of the transaction remains subject to clearance from the relevant antitrust authorities. Founders Dr. Dirk Sojka and Ralf Sojka, together with the wider management team, are reinvesting as part of the transaction and will remain closely tied to TERRAS under its new ownership structure.

Headquartered in Montabaur, the TERRAS Group is today the leading group-independent network of mid-sized infrastructure companies in Germany. TERRAS brings together specialists in services, regional infrastructure construction, special foundation engineering, rail, and resources, covering every stage from planning and execution through to disposal. Customers in mobility, energy, digitalization, water, and urbanization benefit from a model of regional clusters that combines entrepreneurial independence with central governance, pooled procurement, and group-wide best-practice sharing.

AUCTUS Capital Partners is the leading private equity firm for the European Mittelstand, with a focus on buy-and-build strategies. AUCTUS’s sector concepts have created more market leaders than any other fund in Europe. Its investment approach is designed to consolidate fragmented industries by bringing together specialized, often family-owned businesses in a targeted way, forming platforms that are competitive well beyond their home regions. Central to this approach is the full preservation of each business’s entrepreneurial independence and regional identity. Industries marked by unresolved succession issues, high fragmentation, and structural growth potential are of particular interest.

TERRAS is one of the strategy’s benchmark investments: as an investor, AUCTUS actively shaped the network’s development from the initial investment through to exit, working closely with the management team on the key value drivers – from the group-wide steering logic and the co-branding strategy to systematic succession planning. TERRAS’s development follows the AUCTUS playbook for fragmented Mittelstand industries to the letter: consolidation without cannibalization through a carefully mapped value chain, visible market differentiation through co-branding rather than absorbing strong local brands, and the consistent preservation of entrepreneurial DNA and long-standing customer relationships. TERRAS shows how this approach – already tested and refined multiple times – can be applied to another fragmented sector shaped by succession issues and structural growth potential.

AUCTUS became majority shareholder in late 2020, entering via the WWB Group as an anchor company, and has since consistently grown the TERRAS Group through a buy-and-build strategy. Together with TERRAS, AUCTUS completed more than 25 add-on acquisitions over roughly five and a half years. The group has grown into a nationwide network of close to 30 subsidiaries with more than 1,800 employees. With total revenue of around €500 million and a presence across every region of Germany, TERRAS is one of the most defining consolidation stories in the German infrastructure and civil engineering sector.

The starting point was an industry under considerable structural pressure: unresolved business successions, a shortage of skilled labor, and a noticeable lag in digitalization coincided with growing investment needs driven by the energy and mobility transition. Germany’s civil engineering market is considered structurally stable and is growing at around 5% p.a., underpinned by a substantial backlog of public-sector investment. AUCTUS used this starting position to bring together specialized, often family-run mid-sized companies into a powerful group without diluting their entrepreneurial character.

At the heart of the strategy was a carefully designed alignment along the value chain: TERRAS companies were deliberately combined to capture synergies without their businesses cannibalizing one another. Shared procurement, pooled servicing of larger customers, and group-wide shared resources such as recycling sites and landfills allow the network to compete far more effectively against large construction groups. Dedicated working groups further pool expertise across the individual companies and drive knowledge transfer between locations.

TERRAS positions itself through a deliberate co-branding strategy that combines the agility and regional identity of the Mittelstand with the strength of a nationwide group. At the same time, preserving entrepreneurial DNA remains central: established management teams, local leadership, and customer trust built up over years remain fully intact.

• Building the platform starting from the WWB Group as the anchor investment in 2020
• More than 25 add-on acquisitions over five and a half years, creating a nationwide network of close to 30 subsidiaries with a complementary range of services
• More than 1,800 employees and around €500 million in group revenue
• Establishing a co-branding strategy to strengthen market position while preserving strong local brands
• Securing numerous business successions in a market with high succession needs
• A shared service offering, pooled procurement, and shared use of resources (including recycling and landfill sites) across the group

The TERRAS exit is a prime example of the AUCTUS approach to buy-and-build:

• Consolidating a fragmented market without losing entrepreneurial identity
• Securing succession as a growth lever in a sector shaped by succession issues
• Creating value through operational professionalization, central steering, and targeted acquisitions
• Building a brand that visibly combines Mittelstand character with the strength of a group
• Handing over to the right partner for the group’s next phase of growth

TERRAS shows how mid-sized specialists in a structurally growing yet fragmented market can develop into a platform of national, and prospectively European, significance.