S-UBG acquires stake in EdTech company LD DIDACTIC as part of a management buy-out

S-UBG AG, a leading regional investment company for medium-sized companies in North Rhine-Westphalia, has acquired 100 percent of the shares of the LD DIDACTIC Group (LD) together with its managing director Martin Petzl in a management buy-out (MBO) from the European alternative investments group AURELIUS based in Munich.

The LD DIDACTIC Group, based in Hürth near Cologne, was founded in 1850 by Ernst Leybold and acquired by AURELIUS in 2009. It develops, produces, and distributes teaching systems as well as educational technology (EdTech) for science and technical education. Under the brands ELWE, Feedback and LEYBOLD, the group serves schools, vocational schools, and universities such as RWTH Aachen, ETH Zurich, the universities of Oxford and Cambridge, Stanford, Harvard, and CERN.

“I am pleased to have found a reliable regional partner in S-UBG, who supports us in further expanding our portfolio as well as our sales and placing new products on the market,” says Martin Petzl, who has managed the company since 2020 and was the lead initiator of the MBO.

 “LD makes a valuable contribution to society worldwide through numerous solutions for modern, digital education,” said Dr. Ansgar Schleicher, CEO of S-UBG. “We are convinced that Martin Petzl and his team will continue to drive LD’s success in the years to come.”

Livingstone supported LD as well as the seller AURELIUS in the transaction as exclusive M&A advisor. The transaction is the result of a structured sales process conducted by Livingstone.