Paragon invests in the further growth of Sovendus

In the past five years, since Bregal Unternehmerkapital invested in the company at the end of 2015, Sovendus has significantly grown its business and doubled its partner network to more than 1,200 online stores. With a presence in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Spain, Poland, Italy, England, and Sweden, Sovendus is the leading European provider of checkout page-based online marketing. With the help of its closed shop network, Sovendus brings additional reach and new customers to its partners and has generated more than five million transactions in 2020.

With the support of its new majority owner Paragon Partners, Sovendus plans to accelerate growth in Germany and other European countries over the next years, as well as invest in the development of its existing products to further improve relevance and reach. As the clear market leader, Sovendus benefits from continued growth in eCommerce, its strong partner base, as well as the increasing relevance of customized, data-driven lead generation tools.

Dr. Krischan von Moeller, Managing Partner of Paragon: “We are deeply impressed how Oliver Stoll and Michael Kofluk established Sovendus as a relevant performance channel with directly measurable success for its partner merchants. Sovendus’ tools are an intuitive win-win for shops and end customers.” Christian Bettinger, Principal at Paragon, adds: “We are looking forward to an exciting journey with the Sovendus team led by Dr. Frank Sambeth and Axel Friedrich with the clear ambition to continuously strengthen the attractiveness of the Sovendus network and to increase its reach.”

Dr. Frank Sambeth and Axel Friedrich, CEO and CFO of Sovendus: “We are convinced that – together with our dedicated team – we will be able to successfully develop the Sovendus network and products for the benefit of our partners and look forward to continuing our growth story with Paragon.”
Michael Kofluk: “I am looking forward to working with Paragon and their impulse to shape Sovendus’ next growth phase.”
Sovendus and its shareholders were advised throughout the transaction by Robert W. Baird (M&A) and Paul Hastings (Legal) and with regards to the reinvestment by Poellath + Partners (Legal) and Parklane Capital (Commercial). Paragon was advised by Lupp + Partner (Legal).

About Sovendus
Sovendus is the leading provider of tools for checkout-based online marketing in Europe with over 1,200 partners. The core product Sovendus SALES connects shops via Sovendus’ closed voucher network, generating reach, new customers, and transactions. Sovendus SELECT enables its partners to generate incremental revenues through the marketing of special offers on their checkout page. The generation of high-quality newsletter subscribers and email marketing on Sovendus’ distribution list complement the product portfolio. Sovendus was founded in 2008 in Karlsruhe and today employs around 120 people. Further details can be found on the company website: www.sovendus.com

About Bregal Unternehmerkapital
Bregal Unternehmerkapital (“BU”) is part of a family-owned business that has grown over several generations. The BU funds invest in mid-sized companies across a wide range of sectors in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Northern Italy with a focus on market leaders and “hidden champions” with strong management teams and outbreak potential. With patient capital, entrepreneurial expertise and a partnership approach, our team works closely with entrepreneurs to develop, internationalize and digitalize portfolio companies, and to help them generate sustainable value on a responsible basis.
As part of its comprehensive commitment to ESG, BU also supports existing portfolio companies with loans at attractive terms to finance sustainability investments provided by Bregal’s dedicated €40 million Sustainable Development Fund and, over the last year, with grants for charitable projects to contribute to portfolio companies’ pandemic responses provided by Bregal’s €3 million COVID-19 relief fund.
For more information, please visit www.bregal.de.

About Paragon
Paragon is one of the leading independent private equity firms in Europe with more than €1.2 billion of equity under management. Paragon works closely with portfolio companies to achieve sustainable growth and operational excellence. The investment portfolio covers various industries and currently comprises 14 companies. Paragon was founded in 2004 and is based in Munich, Germany. For further information please refer to www.paragon.de.