AUCTUS Report
Review of the year 2023
Dear friends and business partners of AUCTUS,
We hope you were able to relax over the holidays and have had a good start to the new year!
We look back on the past year with great satisfaction and look forward to the next 12 months. For us, 2023 was another successful year in which we once again achieved strong performance and defied the recession despite a wide range of challenges.
Expansion of our market leadership to European level
AUCTUS has been the clear market leader for over a decade as the most active investment company for German-speaking SMEs. As our European investment activities are now already on a par with those in German-speaking countries, we now have the clear goal of becoming the market leader in Europe. With the help of our strong 10-strong Italian team, we have been able to further consolidate our awareness and presence in the European SME sector and will also take this strategy into the markets of other European countries in order to be able to operate more extensively.
2 great exits
We ended the year with two very successful exits from Dataciders and Zontal.
Dataciders is another prime example of our core expertise in buy-and-build. The group was formed from QuinScape GmbH, which has developed into one of the leading providers of data & analytics services in Germany through acquisitions following the entry of AUCTUS in 2019. Sales have quadrupled since AUCTUS joined the company.
ZONTAL is an innovative platform provider for digital transformation and integrated biopharmaceutical-technical 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. Turnover 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 of which lays the foundation for exciting industry concepts. This means that we currently have 50 active platform investments. Both new sectors and in-depth insights into familiar segments have inspired us and helped us to discover further potential for which we can use our existing expertise. Here are two highlights:
Déco is a leading designer and manufacturer of environmentally friendly composite and wood surfaces for exterior and interior use. The company has grown by 40% p.a. since 2012 and plans to expand internationally with the support of AUCTUS.
Comesvil is a leading Italian service provider for signaling and telecommunications systems in rail transport. Over the years, Comesvil has managed to expand internationally and establish a strong presence in other countries, particularly in Northern Europe and the Middle East.
We have also launched new platforms in construction and specialty logistics and will be able to leverage our extensive experience in these sectors across Europe.
33 Acquisitions
Despite the recession and the restraint in the M&A markets, we achieved an above-average rate of 33 acquisitions and thus strengthened our sector concepts in growth.
9 Awards
In 2023, we once again won a large number of top awards.
10 new team members
In the past 12 months, we have set a new record in recruiting. From well over 1000 applications, we were able to take on 10 new colleagues as permanent employees in our team and introduce 18 highly qualified interns and working students to PE.
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 pleased to welcome 3 new colleagues: Claudia Woelke, Eda Keller and Marion Brunnbauer. In addition, our portfolio managers can now rely on a new sparring partner in Dr. Daniel Hohmann.
And with Piotr Panasiewicz, we are starting our market entry in Poland.
We look forward to an exciting 2024
We are confident that we can ring in the new year with great investments and exits, some of which are already in the final stages.
Our team is stronger than ever before and together with our companies we will create new market leaders.
We wish you a successful year and look forward to working with you!
Your AUCTUS team
Informazioni su Auctus
Con oltre 400 investimenti negli ultimi 23 anni, AUCTUS è la società di investimento più attiva per le PMI europee. I nostri investimenti si concentrano su partecipazioni di maggioranza in aziende con un fatturato annuo compreso tra 10 e 150 milioni di euro.
AUCTUS è sinonimo di crescita organica sostenibile, ma anche di crescita inorganica attraverso le acquisizioni. Raggiungiamo questo obiettivo grazie a una partnership di fiducia con i dirigenti delle nostre aziende. Siamo specializzati nella creazione di gruppi di aziende di medie dimensioni di successo: creiamo leader di mercato. Gli oltre 35 esperti di investimenti di AUCTUS gestiscono attualmente 50 piattaforme di investimento in diversi settori economici. L'insieme delle partecipazioni della piattaforma, con un totale di oltre 200 singole aziende, genera un fatturato annuo di 3 miliardi di euro. >Le vendite e gli utili sono cresciuti del 10% all'anno per anni.
Il nostro lavoro di successo viene regolarmente premiato con prestigiosi riconoscimenti e classifiche internazionali.
