Driving the digital transition: Deutsche Beteiligungs AG invests in UNITY AG, the leading management consultancy for innovation and transformation

Driving the digital transition: Deutsche Beteiligungs AG invests in UNITY AG, the leading management consultancy for innovation and transformation

• Ideal addition to DBAG’s portfolio
• UNITY AG focuses on issues critical to evolve clients’ business models
• Broad client base of DAX 40 companies and mid-sized enterprises, covering a wide range of industries and activities in Germany, Austria and Switzerland (“DACH” region) and international hubs
• Organic and strategic M&A transactions boost attractive growth opportunities

Frankfurt/Main, 6 August 2024. Deutsche Beteiligungs AG (“DBAG”) is investing in UNITY AG – Aktiengesellschaft für Unternehmensführung und Informationstechnologie (“UNITY AG”), a leading management consultancy that specialises in technology consulting and digital transformation processes. A fund advised by DBAG will acquire a controlling interest in UNITY AG. UNITY Innovation Alliance, the current sole shareholder owned by its founders and employees, will hold an almost equal interest in economic terms post-closing. With UNITY AG employees also investing directly into UNITY AG as part of the transaction, the structure will provide for a of strongly aligned shareholder group. The transaction, which still requires approval from antitrust authorities, is expected to close by the end of the third quarter of 2024. The parties have agreed not to disclose details of the sale.

Holistic consulting approach for sustainable success

UNITY AG is ranked number 14 on the list of most important management consultancies in Germany published by renowned Lünendonk® List in 2024. The company offers a comprehensive range of services to clients such as AIRBUS, GEA, Lufthansa Technik, Mercedes-Benz, Miele, and the University Hospital in Cologne. Almost 400 staff at 14 locations support UNITY AG’s clients in successfully mastering the challenges of digitalisation and sustainability and turning them into opportunities, generating revenue in excess of 72 million euros in 2023^[1]. Traditional, silo-based consulting approaches are not sufficient to tackle the complex challenges of digital transformation projects. Exactly this is where UNITY AG's consulting approach is different. The company leverages the experience it has gained over hundreds of successful projects for its clients, combined with the innovative power of continuously developing and fine-tuning competencies and consulting approaches. The strength of this strategy is evident in the company's growth momentum: over recent years. UNITY AG has grown at an average of 13 per cent per annum, significantly outperforming the overall market in Germany (which grew at approximately 7 per cent).

UNITY AG ideally complements DBAG’s existing portfolio

The investment decision capitalises on the fact that the market for digital transformation projects is largely resilient to macroeconomic effects. Demand for consultancy services is characterised by structural growth and therefore offers attractive development potential that can be leveraged further through strategic M&A.

As a management consultancy, UNITY AG integrates seamlessly into and will complement DBAG's portfolio in the IT services and software sector, which accounts for a roughly 17 per cent share of the total investment portfolio. This means the UNITY AG investment will also benefit from DBAG's sector expertise and network, including current and former investments such as Solvares, in-tech, Cloudflight, AOE, freiheit.com and akquinet.

“UNITY AG ideally complements our portfolio. We are excited by UNITY AG’s innovative and integrative approach to consulting that goes far beyond pure IT advisory services. UNITY AG is a partner to its clients throughout the entire value creation process, turning them into digital champions with the ability to tackle the demanding challenges of dealing with all things digital. Joining forces with the founders, Management Board members and partners of UNITY AG lays the foundation for the growth path we have set out for the company, which we will pursue together over the next few years”, said Jannick Hunecke, Member of the Board of Management of Deutsche Beteiligungs AG. 

Values and management systems to guarantee success

UNITY AG has organised its services across seven service units, including Cyber Security, IT Transformation and Sustainability. The services offered follow the guiding principles of “innovate”, “integrate”, “transform”, and “realise”, which constitute the foundation of the company’s consulting approach and safeguard successful project implementation.

UNITY AG’s management system plays a central role in the corporate strategy. It focuses the company’s actions on a specific target and provides direction along the way. UNITY AG is able to anticipate and identify dynamic technological developments at an early stage by continuously analysing emerging trends. The excellent quality of UNITY AG’s management system is regularly affirmed by external certifications, including the internationally recognised DIN EN ISO 9001:2015 and DIN EN ISO/IEC 27001:2017 for information security management systems.

Future-oriented consultancy for digital transformation

“We see great growth opportunities based on our core brand values of Innovation, Digitalisation and Transformation. These can be further leveraged through strategic add-on acquisitions, where DBAG's broad M&A experience will serve as a catalyst to accelerate our efforts. This is why we are very much looking forward to collaborating and having the opportunity to work together on our strategic evolution”, said Tomas Pfänder, founder and member of the Management Board of UNITY AG.

Christoph Plass, founder and member of the Management Board of UNITY AG went on to state: “We found the ideal investor in DBAG. Its proximity to SMEs and its sector expertise provides real added value for UNITY AG. Besides these technical factors, the cultural fit was also decisive for us. We not only share a common vision but also the same values.”

Dr-Ing. Frank Thielemann, long-term member of UNITY AG’s Management Board, added: “We have realised a highly successful organic growth story over recent years. The sector and client portfolio that we have built up provides an ideal foundation, not least for our organic growth over the coming years. Continuing along this path, combining it with the additional opportunities for acquisitions provided by our strong investor DBAG, will open up an even more ambitious growth trajectory.”

UNITY AG is committed to active transformation. In this respect, the corporate strategy is geared to leveraging all relevant economic and environmental factors in order to continuously raise client and employee satisfaction. This ambition is confirmed by various awards, including receiving its fifth “Best of Consulting” award from German WirtschaftsWoche magazine, the “Top Company” award from the employer evaluation portal kununu and the “Very good employer” award from the international research and consultancy institute Great Place to Work®. 
In addition, UNITY AG’s strong ESG commitment is demonstrated by numerous certifications and memberships such as the UN Global Compact, the German Sustainability Code, the EcoVadis® award and the ÖKOPROFIT® certification.

^[1] Preliminary figure.

 

Deutsche Beteiligungs AG (DBAG) has been listed since 1985 and is one of the most renowned private equity firms in Germany. As an investor and fund advisor, DBAG traditionally focuses on mid-market companies in Germany, Austria and Switzerland (the DACH region), and especially on well-positioned companies offering growth potential. DBAG’s sector focus is on manufacturers, industrial service providers and IndustryTech enterprises – businesses whose products facilitate automation, robotics and digitalisation – as well as on companies from the broadband/telecommunications, IT services, software and healthcare sectors. Since 2020, DBAG has been present on the Italian market, providing its services from its office in Milan. DBAG Group’s assets under management or advisory amount to approximately 2.6 billion euros. Within the scope of the strategic partnership with ELF Capital Group, DBAG is expanding its range of flexible financing solutions for mid-market companies to include private debt.
 

Deutsche Beteiligungs AG
Senior Manager, Investor Relations & Public Relations · Youssef Zauaghi
Untermainanlage 1 · 60329 Frankfurt/Main, Germany
Telephone +49 69 95787-363 · +49 175 7032271 (mobile)
E-mail: youssef.zauaghi@dbag.de