Houlihan Lokey Advises TKD Group
Houlihan Lokey is pleased to announce that TKD Group (TKD), a full-service mobile device lifecycle management platform, has sold a majority stake in its business to funds advised by Deutsche Private Equity GmbH (DPE).
Headquartered in Langenfeld, Germany, TKD is a leading player within circular tech in Europe. The company employs more than 100 people and offers an easy-to-use, fully integrated, and sustainability-promoting full-service device lifecycle management platform to corporate customers. TKD offers solutions in contract and hardware management, including device rental, provision, registration, repair, and maintenance, as well as customer support throughout the entire device lifecycle. This helps companies reduce the workload for their IT and administrative departments and ensures that circular economy and device longevity remain at the core. By using their own software-as-a-service platform, TKD.360, customers’ employees can order end devices themselves—including mobile phones—and can manage and flexibly replace them with the latest models after a fixed term. The successful expansion of TKD’s business in recent years has led to the acquisition of major customers in Germany and internationally.
DPE is an independent investment company that focuses on medium-sized companies in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, supporting with growth ambitions as an investor and sparring partner. Over the past 15 years, DPE has become one of the largest growth investors in the DACH region and currently manages total assets of more than €3 billion. DPE’s investment strategy focuses on digitalisation/software, healthcare, industrial technology, B2B services, energy, and environmental technology.
TKD's management team says: “In recent years, we have succeeded in building a customer-centric offering in close collaboration with our management team. With DPE, we have a strong partner at our side who not only recognises but also values the potential of our collaborations with key players in the device-as-a-service market. In addition, DPE will make a significant contribution to promoting our technological development and thus drive the expansion of our platform.”
Andreas Schmid, Partner at DPE, explains: “We are very impressed by TKD’s solution- and customer-centred applications, which have been continuously improved over the years to best support customers with their administrative and IT challenges. We look forward to working together with Oliver and Ulrich and the management of TKD.”
Houlihan Lokey served as the exclusive financial sellside advisor to the management and shareholders of TKD, supporting all aspects of the transaction, including preparing marketing materials, structuring and managing a competitive deal process, coordinating due diligence, and negotiating key deal terms. This represents another successful transaction for Houlihan Lokey in the circular economy and device-as-a-service space.
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