Hampleton Partners advises akquinet enterprise solutions GmbH on its acquisition by Pathlock backed by Vertica Capital Partners

HAMBURG and NEW YORK, 18 May 2022. Hampleton Partners, the international M&A and corporate finance advisory firm for technology companies, has advised akquinet enterprise solutions GmbH, a leading provider of SAP cybersecurity & access governance software, on its acquisition by Pathlock backed by New York-based Vertica Capital Partners, a growth-oriented private equity investor with a focus on the software sector.

Akquinet's SAST SOLUTIONS software suite, consulting experts and managed services provide all-round protection for classic SAP systems as well as S/4HANA. The SAST software suite is a holistic software solution for real-time monitoring of SAP systems and provides protection against compliance violations, data loss and cybersecurity attacks. SAST SOLUTIONS targets national SMEs as well as international blue-chip customers across a wide range of industries.

The acquisition is backed by Vertica Capital Partners, an experienced software investor with an existing cybersecurity portfolio, will create an international player in the field of application security software.

Bodo Kahl, managing director of akquinet enterprise solutions GmbH, said: "With its many years of experience and sector expertise, Hampleton acted as a trusted and competent partner at our side from the very start. It was particularly important for us to select a partner who understood the aspects of cybersecurity and the value of SAST SOLUTIONS to actively support us in the process with Vertica Capital Partners. In working with Hampleton, we found Vertica Capital Partners to be the ideal partner for the future of akquinet enterprise solutions GmbH."

Axel Brill, Director at Hampleton, commented, "We are delighted to have worked with akquinet enterprise solutions GmbH to shape the continuation of its successful business model. Vertica Capital Partners' acquisition will empower the SAST product portfolio to enter extremely interesting markets beyond the DACH region."

This transaction represents Hampleton's fourth German deal in the past two quarters, following Shopware’s US$100 million growth capital raise from Carlyle and Paypal; the sale of Apostera to HARMAN International; and the sale of Loop54 to FACT-Finder backed by GENUI.

The engagement was led by Axel Brill and Henrik Jeberg.

Hampleton Partners is at the forefront of international mergers and acquisitions and corporate finance advisory for companies with technology at their core. Hampleton’s experienced deal makers have built, bought and sold over 100 fast-growing tech businesses and provide hands-on expertise and unrivalled advice to tech entrepreneurs and companies which are looking to accelerate growth and maximize value. 

With offices in London, Frankfurt, Stockholm and San Francisco, Hampleton offers a global perspective with sector expertise in: Artificial Intelligence, Autotech, Cybersecurity, Digital Commerce, Enterprise Software, Fintech, Healthtech, HR Tech, Insurtech and IT & Business Services.  

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