Houlihan Lokey Advises Cegid

Houlihan Lokey is pleased to announce that Cegid, a European leader in cloud management solutions for finance, human resources, accountancy, retail, and entrepreneurship, has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire sevdesk, a leading provider of next-generation pre-accounting, accounting, e-invoicing, and online tax declaration software solutions for businesses in the DACH region.

Cegid helps companies of all sizes accelerate their digital business transformation locally and worldwide. The company combines a forward-thinking and pragmatic approach with a strong capacity to innovate, in-depth expertise in new technologies, and an understanding of regulations and compliance. Cegid has 500,000 customers and 4,400 employees and sells its solutions in 130 countries. As of December 31, 2023, Cegid reported revenues of €852 million.

Founded in 2013 and headquartered in Offenburg, Germany, sevdesk provides next-generation integrated business management software applications to more than 130,000 micro and SMB customers. To date, sevdesk’s cloud-native solutions have supported more than €85 billion of invoiced transactions, uniquely supporting its customers in their digital transformation journey ahead of the mandatory e-invoicing reforms starting in 2025. Today, 230 employees work for sevdesk’s customers across the company’s headquarters, its office in Berlin, and in hybrid models.

Joining forces with sevdesk marks a major milestone in Cegid’s continued international growth by expanding its offering in German-speaking Europe. The acquisition provides Cegid with a unique growth opportunity in the largest European software sector. Building on its strong positions in France and Iberia, Cegid thereby continues its strategy to build one of the pan-European leaders in business management software. As part of the transaction, sevdesk’s Co-Founders Marco Reinbold and Fabian Silberer will significantly reinvest into the combined entity to support its future value creation. Mr. Reinbold will continue to head sevdesk as CEO and will assume enlarged responsibilities as General Manager DACH of Cegid.

The transaction is expected to close in Q1 2025, subject to the approval of the relevant regulatory authorities and to the information and consultation processes of the relevant employee representation bodies, in accordance with applicable laws.

Houlihan Lokey served as financial buyside advisor to Cegid.

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