Düsseldorf, August 2021: I-ADVISE advised Odewald KMU II on the acquisition of a majority stake in the digitization expert ctrl QS GmbH Rollout Management for Digital Projects. Together with the founder, Mrs. Mirja Silverman, who will continue to lead the company as managing director, the company’s successful growth path is to be continued.

ctrl QS is a specialized service provider advising multinational corporations and brands on process, tool and change management in the context of digital projects and provides operational support. In its core market, ctrl QS already occupies a leading market position and, thanks to its extensive expertise, has many opportunities to expand the product range and continue to grow successfully both nationally and internationally. The company, based in Berlin, was founded in 2009 and today employs over 100 people.

Odewald KMU II fund invests in attractive target markets in German-speaking medium-sized companies. The industry focus is on profitable, fast-growing medium-sized companies in the areas of “German engineering”, intelligent services, health and IT / software.

Heiko Arnold, partner of Odewald KMU, explains: “The investment in ctrl QS expands our portfolio in the highly attractive and rapidly growing market of supporting companies and organizations in digital transformation.”

The I-ADVISE team, led by WP Frank Berg, supported Odewald KMU with financial due diligence and tax due diligence.

Düsseldorf, April 2020: I-ADVISE advises the Munich-based investor Ad_Astra on the successful takeover of the traditional soap manufacturer Kappus.

Ad_Astra acquires the operations of the insolvent Kappus Group at Heitersheim (“Hirtler Seifen”) and Riesa (“Kappus Riesa”) through European Soap Holding GmbH, Munich. Kappus, whose origins go back to 1848, is one of the leading European soap manufacturers and produces more than 130 million bars of soap and syndets p.a. With 150 employees at both locations, Kappus achieves sales of around € 40 million.

I-ADVISE advised Ad_Astra on the implementation of this M&A project providing financial due diligence support, preparing the business plan and in structuring of the acquisition in the form of an asset deal.

Düsseldorf, September 2020: We are delighted to welcome on board Julia Schall.

Perpetual base rate for valuation dates in September 2020 is 0.01% (not rounded, 3-month averaging, 1 % growth rate). – Non-binding indication as of today –

The base rate has been calculated based on yield curve data (Svensson method) as provided by Deutsche Bundesbank.
Upon your request we can calculate case-specific base rates for you, considering company-specific cash flows, growth rates and varying the period of averaging.

Düsseldorf, July 2020: I-ADVISE continues its growth in M&A-Advisory and complements its partner team with renowned German public accountant (Wirtschaftsprüfer) and German tax accountant (Steuerberater) Michael Ferdinand.

Michael is an expert for both German and international tax law, in particular in the fields of corporate and real estate taxes, M&A tax and tax structuring. He studied business administration at the University of Cologne specialising in tax laws and corporate finance. He is a German public accountant, certified tax advisor for international tax law (Fachberater für Internationales Steuerrecht) and already during his studies qualified as German tax accountant (Steuerberater). In his professional career he worked at Big4 and midcap accounting and advisory firms before joining I-ADVISE.

„We are happy to have Michael on board. He perfectly contributes to our advisory services strengthening our competencies in German and international tax law.” so Frank Sichau, one of the founding partners of I-ADVISE.

March 2020: I-ADVISE AG advised Erich Utsch AG, Siegen, in taking over shares in UK-based Hills Numberplates Ltd (“Hills”).

In the context of combining businesses, Erich Utsch AG together with two former shareholders assumed all shares in Hills. Hills is UK market leader in the supply of legal number plates and licence plate components. Its subsidiary FaabFabricauto is French market leader. Hills group has circa 300 employees and generates a turnover of more than € 50 million.

Subsequent to the business combination, Erich Utsch AG and Hills group are the world’s largest group in the license plate segment with a combined workforce of more than 1,000 employees servicing customers in more than 130 countries.

I-ADVISE assisted Erich Utsch AG in the execution of the financial due diligence of Hills and its French subsidiaries.

Erich Utsch AG is the global leader in the production of vehicle license plates as well as related technology and system solutions.

I-ADVISE is an accounting and advisory firm specialised in transaction and valuation services and is a member of an international alliance of independent advisory firms.

Düsseldorf, 21.1.2020: As part of the scholarship program ProTalent, I-ADVISE AG awards sponsorships to students at the Chair of International Accounting (IUR) at the Westfälischen Wilhelms-Universität Münster (WWU).

ProTalent is a scholarship program of WWU based on the German national scholarship program introduced by German government in 2011. The scholarship program of WWU is designed to support excellent students and to support education of young professionals. Frequent and regular contact and exchange of students with sponsors facilitate access to professional work experience.

Thanks to an improved financial independence sponsored students can focus on their studies and much better develop skills based on their talents.

Frank Berg, Partner of I-ADVISE AG, enthusiastically explains the commitment to the ProTalent scholarship program: „Sponsoring excellent performance and capabilities not only expresses our appreciation for talented and motivated students. We as a firm rate our role as sponsor as an excellent means to enter into exchange and discussion with tomorrow’s high performers. As a professional services firm we highly value quality and excellence not only in our work but also on the part of our employees. Participating in the scholarship program thus represents a consequent investment in the future success of our firm.“

Düsseldorf, November 2019: WILO USA LLC, a subsidiary of WILO SE, acquired the pump business of J-Line Pump Co. J-Line Pump Co. operated its pump business as American-Marsh Pumps. Wilo acquired the business via its newly founded subsidiary American-Marsh Pumps LLC in an asset deal. American-Marsh Pumps with 55 employees is headquartered in Collierville, Tennessee, USA.

“The acquisition of American-Marsh Pumps strengthens our strategic market position in the US, and expands the product portfolio for our customers in the Water Management, Industry and Building Services segments”, explains Oliver Hermes, President and CEO of Wilo Group. “This acquisition marks another important milestone in the execution of our growth strategy, following the successful acquisition and integration of the Cedarburg pump manufacturers Weil Pump & Scot Pump in 2017.”

WILO SE is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of pumps and pump systems for building services, the entire water management chain and industry. The company, whose sales reached more than 1.5 billion euros, has its eyes firmly fixed on the future and is heavily involved in research and development.

The team of I-ADVISE led by Frank Sichau provided services as financial advisor to WILO SE including business valuation services.

I-ADVISE is an audit and advisory firm specialising in transaction and valuation services and is a member of an international alliance of independent advisory firms.

The August issue of the I-ADVISE Spotlight “AUTOMOTIVE AFTERMARKET – CONSOLIDATION KEEPS ROLLING” comments on current developments and challenges in the industry and provides information on the M&A activity in the European car parts and tyre trade.

For access to the publication please click here.