Ventizz Takes Majority Stake in Thomas-Krenn

Ventizz Capital Fund IV L.P. has acquired a majority stake in the Bavarian Thomas-Krenn AG. The fund bought its stake from company founders Thomas Krenn and Max Wittenzellner and from BayBG, a Bavarian private equity company. Terms of the deal were not released. Thomas-Krenn was formed in 2002 and develops server technology and hosting services.

PRESS RELEASE
Ventizz Capital Fund IV L.P. has bought a majority stake in the Bavarian Thomas-Krenn.AG. The involvement of Ventizz and the additional capital it provides will support the continued growth of the company and its expansion into new markets. The shares have come from founders Thomas Krenn and Max Wittenzellner and from BayBG, a Bavarian private equity company for small and medium-sized businesses. Both founders and the management team will remain with the company.

Thomas-Krenn.AG, headquartered in Freyung near Passau, was founded in 2002 and has since then successfully specialised in the development and manufacturing of server technology and hosting services. The company’s ability to assemble and deliver customer-specific servers within 24 hours as well as its high-quality customer service resulted in strong double-digit growth. The company is amongst the leading suppliers of servers and hosting services in Europe.

“Thomas-Krenn.AG has earned itself a leading position in the market within the space of a few years and demand for the firm’s high quality servers and other services is unwavering,“ said Willi Mannheims, Managing Partner of Ventizz Capital Partners AG. “We share the management’s vision of taking the company to the top of the European market.”

Christoph Maier, CEO of Thomas-Krenn.AG is enthusiastic about the new opportunities made possible by the new strong financial partner’s involvement in the company: “With Ventizz, we have gained an experienced investor, specialised in growth strategy for medium-sized technology companies. Together we will push forward with the development and expansion of Thomas Krenn.AG.“

By taking over the Austrian Xortex eBusiness GmbH, Thomas-Krenn.AG has already seized its first opportunity subsequent to Ventizz coming on board. As a leading provider of online shops, marketing and hosting services, the company is an ideal addition to Thomas-Krenn.AG’s services portfolio, allowing a wide range of hardware, software and services to be offered to customers. The two companies have collaborated in the past on several online shops and hosting projects and are pleased to see this cooperation further strengthened. Both parties have agreed not to disclose specific details of the purchase price.

Company Profiles
About Ventizz Capital Partners
Ventizz Capital Partners was established in 2000 and has offices in St. Gallen, Zurich, Düsseldorf and Vienna. Ventizz Capital Partners is the exclusive advisor to the Ventizz Private Equity Funds, which provide growth capital and buyout financing for high tech companies in Western Europe. Four partners and a team of 15 additional professionals currently advise four funds with a total capital under management of EUR 675m. Ventizz Capital Fund IV L.P. is the largest of four so far established funds. The Fund was closed at the end of 2007 after only six months of fundraising, during which EUR 450m were raised, making it one of the biggest private equity funds in the segment of growth capital and mid-size tech buyouts in the German-speaking region.

Ventizz Funds have to date invested in 41 companies with a focus on the areas of renewable energy/clean tech, high-tech manufacturing industries, medical technology and information and communication technology. In addition to a variety of trade sales, Ventizz has so far floated four portfolio companies (ersol, SAF, PV Crystalox Solar and recently exceet) at European stock exchange markets.

About Thomas-Krenn.AG
Thomas-Krenn.AG, based in Freyung, is one of Europe’s largest manufacturers of servers. The company, which caters to small and medium-sized businesses, was founded in 2002. Apart from custom-configured servers and server accessories, Thomas-Krenn.AG offers HA-clusters and storage and system solutions as well as virtualisation technology, high availability solutions and project consulting. The products are made exclusively in Germany. In the past few years, Thomas-Krenn.AG has established a very good name for itself in the quality and premium hosting market and offers high availability and individual hosting and housing.

About Xortex eBusiness GmbH
XORTEX is a full-service internet agency with numerous international distinctions. The business has three areas of focus: eBusiness (web portals, online shops and intranets), eMarketing (search engines, campaigns and newsletters) and hosting (web and mail servers). Since its beginnings in 1999, over 250 projects have been successfully completed.

XORTEX customers include OÖ Ferngas AG, VKB-Bank, Engel Austria, Schwarzmüller Fahrzeugbau, Borealis (Linzer AgroTrade), Normstahl Europa, Biohort Gartengeräte, Ökofen Pelletsheizungen, Röchling Konzern (Leripa) as well as market leader, Heineken International.