Munich, Germany – Maguar Capital Partners, a German private equity fund focused on small-cap software investments in the DACH region, is pleased to announce a strategic partnership with TimeTac, a leading time-tracking software solutions provider based in Graz, Austria. The investment, which includes a substantial roll-over from existing shareholders, marks the second investment of Maguar Fund II.

Founded in 2009 by Bernd Pichlbauer, Michael Hermann and Thomas Puchleitner, TimeTac has established itself as a key player in the HR tech sector, particularly in the area of time tracking software. The company currently has 70 employees and serves a broad SME client base of more than 3,800 customers in the DACH region. The company offers a comprehensive cloud-native time and attendance software solution. Based on the company’s vision „Across the Globe We Help to Use Time in a Meaningful Way“, TimeTac improves transparency in organisations and enables teams around the world to find time for the things that really matter. Maguar’s investment will support the company’s continued organic and inorganic growth plans, leveraging its strong regional market position and innovative and easy-to-use software solutions.

Headquartered in Munich, Germany, Maguar Capital was founded in 2019 by Matthias Ick, Gunther Thies and Arno Poschik. Maguar focuses on investments in small and medium-sized B2B software companies in the DACH region. The Maguar team has strong entrepreneurial and extensive management experience in the technology industry, with more than 35 years of experience as software CEOs and more than 20 years of experience in the private equity industry. Recent investments in related areas such as HRworks, Effectory and Ingentis have helped to build a deep understanding of relevant and repeatable value creation themes.

Bernd Pichlbauer, Founder and CEO of TimeTac, said: „The partnership with Maguar Capital is a strategic step forward for us and will enable us to further accelerate our growth trajectory. Their deep understanding of the HR software landscape as well as their commitment to our vision assures me that we are on the right track to achieve our ambitious goals. This is especially relevant in light of the ongoing regulatory discussions around mandatory time tracking for basically all companies in Germany“.

Johannes Losbichler, Director at Maguar, added: „Our entire team is very excited to welcome TimeTac to the Maguar family and we are delighted to enter into a true partnership with the company’s founders as well as its talented team. TimeTac’s outstanding corporate culture, its product offering tailored towards the needs of its SME customer base and its focus on product-led growth – all of it is at the core of our investment philosophy. Together we will work to realise the company’s full potential and reach new heights“.

The transaction was advised by OC&C, Herbst Kinsky, Lupp + Partner, KPMG, wdp, Houlihan Lokey and Milbank. The shareholders of TimeTac were advised by Fieldfisher, PKF Corti & Partner and TimeTac’s advisory board member Christian Rosner. The acquisition was financed by Pictet Asset Management’s European Direct Lending strategy.

For more information, please contact:
Arno Poschik
Maguar Capital – Founding Partner
Mail: ap@maguar.com
Homepage: www.maguar.com

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As part of the agreed transaction, additional capital will be provided to unlock further growth potential through market penetration and M&A in the DACH region

MUNICH, 8 May, 2023 – Maguar Capital (“Maguar”), a leading B2B software investor in the DACH region, is pleased to announce that Maguar Capital GmbH & Co. KG („Maguar Fund 1“) has entered into an agreement to sell its portfolio company HRworks Holding GmbH („the Company“) to a newly established continuation vehicle, Maguar Continuation Fund I GmbH & Co. KG (“Maguar CF I”), managed by Maguar. The successor fund Maguar Capital II GmbH & Co. KG (“Maguar Fund 2”) as well as the management team of the Company intend to invest alongside Maguar CF I in the Company, with a total equity funding of more than €235 million planned for the transaction. Maguar CF I has been established to invest exclusively in the Company including its subsidiary HRworks GmbH („HRworks“), a rapidly growing human capital management (“HCM”) software provider focusing on SME customers, and to provide additional capital to continue supporting the highly successful growth strategy implemented since Maguar’s initial investment in the Company in 2020.

Renowned global investors support Maguar’s continuation fund

Maguar CF I has secured funding from a premier group of globally active institutional investors. The fund attracted high interest and demand, significantly above its capacity – a result of the outstanding performance of HRworks over the last years as well as its attractive future growth potential.

The transaction is subject to cartel approval and other customary conditions; when completed, it will mark the first successful exit of Maguar Fund 1, returning a significant portion of the fund’s drawn capital to its investors.

HRworks with remarkable organic growth trajectory

HRworks was Maguar’s first investment, back in 2020. Under Maguar’s ownership and the partly new management team, HRworks has experienced significant growth and is now recognized as one of the top three HCM software solutions for SMEs in the DACH region. Arno Poschik, Matthias Ick and Gunther Thies from Maguar commented: “We are delighted to continue our partnership with HRworks on its journey to become the leading HCM software provider for SMEs in the DACH region. This transaction would mark a milestone for Maguar in becoming the preferred partner for software companies in the DACH region. It is a great example of our commitment to generating exceptional returns for our investors while supporting the long-term success of the companies we partner with.” During Maguar’s ownership, HRworks‘ revenue and number of employees more than doubled.

Markus Schunk, CEO of HRworks, added: “We feel very happy with the exceptional success we have achieved to date in building HRworks towards the leading HCM software provider for SMEs in the DACH region. No doubt, the most important elements of that success are our outstanding team as well as our great corporate culture at HRworks which we are truly proud of. The strong commitment of Maguar and its investors provides the ideal platform to continue our exciting journey”.

Maguar intends to continue this successful investment strategy by providing additional capital for add-on transactions and a wider range of organic growth initiatives.

Asante Capital Group LLP (“Asante”) acted as exclusive placement firm to Maguar on the transaction. Macquarie and Berenberg are providing the acquisition financing. Clifford Chance, Dechert, Deloitte, Houlihan Lokey, KPMG, Lupp + Partner, Milbank, wdp are advising Maguar on this transaction.

About HRworks

HRworks, founded in 1998 by Thomas Holzer, is an integrated Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) HCM software provider primarily for small- and medium-sized businesses in Germany. The Company focuses on business-critical HR functions such as time management, travel expenses, personnel management, recruiting and corporate benefits. For over 20 years, HRworks has delivered uninterrupted profitable growth and currently serves over 2,500 customers. The Company runs a highly scalable technology platform and currently employs over 120 employees located in its four offices across Germany.

About Maguar Capital

Maguar Capital, based in Munich, Germany, was founded in 2019 by Arno Poschik, Gunther Thies and Matthias Ick. Maguar focuses on small and mid-cap B2B software investments in the DACH region. The Maguar team has a strong entrepreneurial background and long-term management experience in the tech industry, with more than 35 years of CEO software experience and more than 20 years of private equity experience.

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The Maguar 2022 ESG Report underlines the importance of sustainability for software companies.

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Software investor Maguar Capital has agreed to enter into a partnership with Effectory Holding B.V. (“Effectory”, “the Company”), a leading provider of continuous employee listening software, for an undisclosed amount. The investment is conducted through Maguar I Fund together with Co-Investors.

Effectory, founded by Arne Barends and Guido Heezen, offers a market-leading SaaS platform for continuous employee listening to over 1,000 customers in more than 110 countries. Bootstrapped since its foundation in 1996, the Company has achieved a consistent track record of consecutive growth. The Company provides an integrated approach to understanding the complete employee experience. Its SaaS offering comprises engagement surveys and feedback tools resulting in valuable insights and guidance to improve the overall employee experience. Advanced people analytics and proprietary benchmarking complement the offering, enabling SMBs and enterprise customers to improve employee retention and productivity. The Company is headquartered in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, with a subsidiary in Germany and employs over 200 people.

Maguar agreed to partner with and invest in Effectory jointly with the Company’s founders and current management, underpinning their strong commitment to further support the Company’s growth and drive its vision of delivering tangible value throughout the entire employee lifecycle.

Maguar Capital Partners, based in Munich, Germany, was founded in 2019 by Arno Poschik, Gunther Thies and Matthias Ick. Maguar is a sector-specific tech investor supporting small and mid-cap B2B software companies. The Maguar team jointly has a solid entrepreneurial background, a more than 35 years CEO track record in the tech industry and over 15 years of private equity experience. Previous investments in HRworks, a Human Capital Management software provider and Ingentis, a Human Capital Analytics software developer, underpin Maguar’s significant footprint and deep industry expertise in the HR tech sector, providing a compelling value proposition to founders and management teams seeking to drive transformational growth.

Arne Barends and Guido Heezen, Co-Founders of Effectory, added: „Maguar is the ideal partner for us to further accelerate the strong growth realized by over 200 great Effectorians and our Leadership Team. As entrepreneurs at heart, Maguar and we share the same values: putting customers and employees first. Maguar’s expertise in the HR Tech Space will strengthen our product offering and their in-depth knowledge of our most important international growth markets is critical to our success. The partnership is also a unique opportunity for our people in Amsterdam and Munich to experience professional growth.”

Matthias Ick, Arno Poschik and Gunther Thies, Maguar’s founding partners, commented: “Our investment in Effectory fits very well to Maguar’s investment strategy and expertise; we consider HR tech as a highly attractive segment and have already gained experience in that space with our investments in HRworks and Ingentis, both offering HR-related software. We are excited to partner with Effectory, its founders and a strong management team to accelerate growth, especially in the DACH region.” Patrick Kitzmueller-Schuetz, Investment Manager at Maguar, added: “The Company has established itself as the quality leader in a highly attractive niche within HR tech, based on profound HR expertise and a best-in-class software platform. We believe Effectory is a unique opportunity, and we are confident to build on that foundation and drive the Company’s next growth chapter”.

AshGrove Capital provided the acquisition financing and a co-investment.

Hogan Lovells, KPMG, Houlihan Lokey and Milbank advised Maguar on this transaction. Raymond James, deBreij and Deloitte acted as advisors to Effectory.

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Ingentis, founded in 1997 by Thomas Eichinger, Michael Grimm, Jürgen Kreppner, and Wolfgang Schuller provides HR Tech and Workflow Management Software solutions to over 2,000 customers across more than 100 countries worldwide, from its headquarters in Nuremberg, Germany and its US subsidiary Ingentis Inc. located in Petaluma, CA. The Company’s flagship product “org.manager” is the leading org charting solution in the DACH region, supporting a highly loyal customer base in visualizing, analyzing, and structuring their organizations. In addition, Ingentis’ “orginio” product provides a simple-to-use org charting solution to SMEs, while its “Kanzlei Suite” is designed to digitalize and manage organizational and administrative workflows within auditing firms and tax consultant offices.

Maguar and its co-investors agreed to acquire a majority stake in Ingentis from its founders, who will remain in their management positions and maintain a significant minority position, underscoring their commitment to further support the Company’s growth and vision.

Maguar Capital Partners, based in Munich, Germany, was founded in 2019 by experienced technology growth investor Arno Poschik, Gunther Thies, Founder and former CEO of leading legal tech company STP, and media and technology investor and entrepreneur Matthias Ick. Maguar focuses on mid-cap B2B software investments in the DACH region. The Maguar team has a strong entrepreneurial background and long-term management experience in the tech industry, with more than 35 years of CEO software experience and more than 10 years of private equity experience.

Gunther Thies and Matthias Ick, Founding Partners of Maguar, commented: “We are very excited to partner with Ingentis and its founding team. The Company has positioned itself as a leader in a highly attractive space, based on high-quality software solutions and strong customer relationships. We are very confident to further build on that foundation to bring Ingentis to the next level.”

Thomas Eichinger and Michael Grimm, Co-Founders of Ingentis, added: “We are very happy to partner with the Maguar team, a partnership that will help us to further expand our global footprint and add value to the way we serve our customers.” Jürgen Kreppner and Wolfgang Schuller concluded: “The decision to partner with Maguar has been a very deliberate one. Maguar’s in-depth software expertise and their entrepreneurial approach make them the perfect partner for us at Ingentis.”

Ingentis was advised by Drake Star Partners, P+P Pöllath + Partners and Deloitte on this transaction.

Maguar was advised by Code & Co, Deloitte, Lupp + Partner, Milbank and Roland Berger on this transaction. EMZ Partners acted as financing partner and co-investor to Maguar and the founders.

Contacts

Arno Poschik, Founding Partner Maguar, ap@maguar.com, www.maguar.com.

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NAVAX, founded in 1995 by Oliver Krizek, is a leading Software and IT Services Provider that supports customers across the DACH region in optimizing and digitalizing their processes through solutions from the Microsoft Dynamics software suite and individual software solutions, for example “HENRI”, a proprietary software targeted at the Financial Services and leasing industries. NAVAX serves a highly loyal customer base with over 250 FTE in 8 offices across Austria and Germany through SaaS solutions, consulting, and implementation services. The Company is the leading Microsoft Dynamics partner in Austria and is a certified Microsoft Gold Partner across multiple categories.

Maguar enters into a partnership with NAVAX and Oliver Krizek, its founder, who will continue to serve as NAVAX CEO with the commitment to further support the company’s growth and vision.

Maguar Capital Partners, based in Munich, Germany, has been founded 2019 by Arno Poschik, Gunther Thies and Matthias Ick. It focuses on B2B software investments in the small cap segment with EBITDA normally in the range of EUR 1-6m located in the DACH region. Maguar differentiates itself by its entrepreneurial background and long-term management experience in the tech industry. The team has more than 35 years CEO software experience and more than 10 years of private equity experience.

Oliver Krizek, founder and CEO of NAVAX, highlighted: “The idea of partnering with Maguar has felt naturally right from the start of our joint conversations. The in-depth expertise of the Maguar team in the tech and software space and the trustful relationship we’ve built, makes me highly confident, that we’ll be able to jointly deliver on our growth plans.”

Gunther Thies, Founding Partner of Maguar, said: “We are very excited to enter into this partnership with Oliver Krizek and the NAVAX team. We have been deeply impressed by its continued history of success, its ability to innovate, and its customer orientation. We are very confident that we’ll be able to support NAVAX in reaching the next growth stage and further strengthening its financial profile.”

Arno Poschik, Founding Partner of Maguar, added: “We are very happy to back a well-run company and a strong and entrepreneurial founder, Oliver Krizek, in a true partnership. We strongly believe in the future revenue potential of NAVAX and the NAVAX team’s ability to maintain delivering value-adding and superior tech solutions to its customers.”

Matthias Ick, the third Founding Partner of Maguar, concluded: “Our investment in NAVAX is a testament to our investment strategy to partner with founders of high growth software and tech companies in the DACH region. We are looking forward to further strengthening NAVAX growth, driven by its exceptional customer satisfaction in a highly dynamic market and further expanding its reach beyond Austria.”

Maguar was advised by Code & Co, Deloitte, DLA Piper, goetzpartners, Lupp + Partner and Milbank on this transaction. The financing has been provided by Kartesia.

Contacts:
Arno Poschik, Founding Partner Maguar, ap@maguar.com, www.maguar.com

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Despite challenging market conditions, the Maguar 1 fund attracted significantly more demand than it could accept, and was oversubscribed with commitments from leading European and US-based institutional investors, such as Aberdeen Standard Investments, Adams Street, Commonfund, Bregal, Golding or the European Investment Fund (EIF), various family offices as well as a significant GP team commitment.

Founded by the software entrepreneurs Gunther Thies and Matthias Ick, as well as the private equity investor Arno Poschik, Maguar exclusively invests in small cap software companies in the DACH region. It focuses on supporting profitable, growing, and founder-run businesses, by leveraging the Maguar team’s own long-term experience as CEOs, founders and investors in the sector.

Maguar has already successfully completed two high-quality investments, which are the cornerstones of the Fund: in September 2020, Maguar acquired HRworks, a growing SME-focussed HR software business based in Freiburg. In addition, Maguar, jointly with another PE firm, recently completed an investment into STP Informationstechnologie, a leading German legal tech business based in Karlsruhe.

“We are very grateful for the trust of this distinct group of high-profile investors backing Maguar’s first-time fund“, said Matthias Ick. Gunther Thies added: “As we raised the fund, it was gratifying to see that our model works – a very clear and software-focussed investment strategy paired with a complementary team structure based on our common passion for technology. This is clearly differentiating and adds substantial credibility when it comes to partnering with founders and management teams.” Arno Poschik concluded: “Maguar’s acquisition of HRworks helped to attract interest of LPs and proved that we deliver on what we promise: investing in high-quality small cap software companies and supporting them to reach the next level of growth and performance. Our goal is to become the leading software investor in the small cap segment in the DACH region”.

Marc Nicolson, Head of Primary Investments Aberdeen Standard Investments commented: “From our first conversations, we could see that the Maguar team had a unique proposition, combining their core expertise as software entrepreneurs and investors.  We view Maguar as one of the most exciting emerging managers in Europe and are delighted to have backed them in both their first transaction in HRworks and a phenomenal first fund raising for Maguar I”.

Clifford Chance Deutschland PmbB, Munich served as legal counsel and RDT Dr. Dautel acted as tax advisor for Maguar.

About Maguar

Maguar Capital Partners, based in Munich, Germany, has been founded 2019 by Arno Poschik, Gunther Thies and Matthias Ick. It focuses on B2B software investments in the small cap segment with EBITDA normally in the range of EUR 1-6m located in the DACH region. Maguar differentiates itself by its entrepreneurial background and long-term management experience in the tech industry. The team has more than 35 years CEO software experience and more than 10 years of private equity experience.

For further information, please contact:
Arno Poschik, Founding Partner Maguar, ap@maguar.com, www.maguar.com

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Founded in 1993 by Gunther Thies and Ralph Suikat, STP is a leading one-stop shop solution provider, empowering the digitisation of insolvency and legal practitioners. It provides a fully integrated legal tech platform comprising workflow automation, ERP software, specialist technical outsourcing and data businesses. STP’s solutions are deeply embedded in the insolvency ecosystem and commercial law segment, with a dedicated full-suite offering. The business employs around 200 people, serving over 1,800 customers with critical software and services for their daily workflow.

Maguar is a German private equity manager exclusively focusing on small cap software investments in the DACH region. Founded in 2019 by Arno Poschik, Gunther Thies and Matthias Ick, Maguar specialises in partnering with high-quality B2B software companies and supports them in realising their growth potential. Maguar differentiates itself by in-depth software expertise and its entrepreneurial approach. Both Gunther Thies and Matthias Ick are established, long-term successful software and tech founders as well as CEOs.

Gunther Thies, founder of STP and partner at Maguar commented: “Today, STP is in a great position, owed to the hard work of our team, our brilliant employees and strategic partners. Together with Hg we have significantly professionalised the business, overseen a number of accretive acquisitions and driven strategic growth across the business. I remain highly committed to the business and look forward to investing further into our product suite and unparalleled customer experience together with our partner Bregal.” Arno Poschik, partner at Maguar, added: “STP is a high-quality software provider with a great positioning in the attractive legal tech niche. We are more than happy to have the chance to partner with STP as well as Bregal and contribute to the future growth of the company.” Matthias Ick, Maguar’s third partner, concluded: “STP’s business model fits perfectly to our investment strategy. The legal tech industry currently undergoes a tremendous shift to digitalisation, with STP being one of the pioneers in the DACH region; and considering that Gunther Thies founded STP and has been running it for more than 25 years as CEO, we are convinced that we will have a significant contribution to the future development of STP over the coming years.”

Contacts
Arno Poschik, Partner Maguar, ap@maguar.com, www.maguar.com.

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HRworks, founded in 1999 by Thomas Holzer, is an integrated Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) HR software provider primarily for small and medium-sized companiesin Germany. The company focuses on business-critical HR functions such as time management, travel expenses, personnel management, recruiting and corporate benefits. For over 20 years, HRworks has delivered uninterrupted profitable growth and is currently serving 210,000 users and over 1,700 customers. The company is running a highly scalable technology platform and currently employs 60 FTE located in its offices in Berlin, Frankfurt and Freiburg im Breisgau. According CEPRES, the leading digital investment platform for private capital markets, HRworks continuously outperforms the relevant performance benchmarks.

Maguar is a German private equity manager exclusively focusing on small cap software investments in the DACH region. Founded in 2019 by Arno Poschik, Gunther Thies and Matthias Ick, Maguar specialises in partnering with founder-owned b2b software companies with approx.1-6m EBITDA and supports them in realising their growth potential. Maguar differentiates itself by in-depth software expertise and its entrepreneurial approach. Both Gunther Thies and Matthias Ick are established, long-term successful software and tech founders as well as CEOs.

Arno Poschik, Founding Partner of Maguar, said: “HRworks is a high-quality software company which we have been following for more than a year now. We are quite impressed by its performance and the differentiated positioning of HRworks in the German SME market. We are extremely excited about supporting the company and helping it become a champion of the German HR tech space. The HRworks acquisition marks a major milestone for Maguar on its path to become the leading private equity tech investor in the small cap space in the DACH region.”

Thomas Holzer, founder and CEO of HRworks, added: “I naturally connected with Maguar’s in-depth software expertise as well as the team’s entrepreneurial approach and efficient execution. Finding an adequate successor is a complex and challenging task for a founder. I found it very inspiring to have Gunther Thies’ exit of STP as a blueprint for what I am trying to achieve. I am convinced that HRworks is in good hands and the Maguar team will successfully support HRworks to reach its next level of growth over the coming years.”

Gunther Thies, Founding Partner of Maguar commented: “HRworks is a fantastic business. I see a lot of similarities between HRworks and STP; both companies are highly successful niche players with very strong market positioning and growth potential. I am proud that we were ableto win the trust of Thomas Holzer to partner with us and his conviction that we will help delivering on the company’s growth plans. This is a clear evidence of Maguar’s differentiated positioning as a preferred partner for software founders.”

Matthias Ick, the third Founding Partner of Maguar, concluded: “HRworks fits perfectly with our sweet-spot investment criteria, which are built around high-quality b2b software businesses with recurring revenue models and significant growth potential. We strongly believe in HRworks’ further sustainable revenue growth based on leveraging value drivers we are well familiar with.”

Maguar has chosen a selected group of institutional investors, amongst them, Aberdeen Standard Investments, EMZ, Golding and LFPE, who are coinvesting alongside the Maguar I Fund. Aberdeen Standard Investments acted as lead co-investor with Mark Nicolson, its Head of Primary Investments, commenting: “We see Maguar as one of the most exciting emerging managers in Europe with the quality of the HRworks transaction showcasing their core strengths as software entrepreneurs and investors”.

The acquisition financing is provided by Joh. Berenberg, Gossler & Co. KG.

Maguar was advised by Clifford Chance, Deloitte, Lupp & Partner as well as wdp on this transaction. Carlsquare acted as sell-side advisor for Thomas Holzer.

The transaction is subject to customary regulatory approvals and is expected to close in September 2020.

Contacts Arno Poschik, Founding Partner Maguar, ap@maguar.com, www.maguar.com

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