SchneiderGolling Group broadens its business scope with acquisition

Livingstone’s Business Services sector team has advised SchneiderGolling & Cie, Assekuranzmakler AG on the acquisition of assona GmbH, the leading broker of warranty extensions and protection plans for consumer electronic products from listed German investor Heliad Equity Partners GmbH & Co. KGaA. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Berlin-based assona is an established provider of specialty annex insurances for mobile devices, electronic products, as well as for kitchens, watches and bicycles. Since its foundation in 2003, the consumer company has become a market leading provider in Germany and Austria, especially for accident and breakdown cover for mobile devices.

Düsseldorf-headquartered SchneiderGolling has a services portfolio that covers four major segments: Insurance Brokerage, Asset Management, e-Commerce and Additional Services. The Insurance Brokerage division includes individual insurance programs for commercial and industrial customers, risk protection for wealthy private clients, individual and occupational retirement provision and speciality insurances (e.g. for real estate, yachts and art). The acquisition of assona neatly complements SchneiderGolling’s portfolio and opens growth opportunities in an interesting adjacent market.

Vendor Heliad invests primarily in established companies in growth markets that benefit from long-term trends such as demographic change, outsourcing and efficiency, and sustainability. In 2007, Heliad acquired Jamba Services GmbH and, after changing the company name to assona GmbH in 2008, has developed the Company into a highly successful niche insurance broker.

David Zimmer, CEO of Heliad, commented: “In close collaboration with the management, Heliad has accompanied assona actively in its transition into a successful and independent insurance broker with new product offerings, distribution channels and customer groups. It is now the right time for a strategic owner to take assona forward. We would like to thank the assona management for their effective partnership with us and wish the company continued success in the future.”

Thomas Funk, CEO of assona added: “Together with Heliad, we have successfully implemented a strategic repositioning of assona. Today, more than 1.6 million customers rely on the coverage provided by our products. This progress demonstrates the success of private equity investors – in this case, Heliad – in financing the strategic development of growing companies. SchneiderGolling is the right partner to foster our development in the future.”

“Livingstone Partners supported us in this transaction with enthusiasm and professionalism and made an essential contribution to our success,” agreed Ralf Schneider and Franz Rudolf Golling, Managing Directors of SchneiderGolling. “Through the acquisition of assona, we are expanding our service offering into an interesting new area. With our existing network and business contacts, we will be able to support the further expansion of assona’s product range and overall activity.”

Dr. Ralf Nowak, Managing Director at Livingstone Düsseldorf, added: “We were pleased to accompany SchneiderGolling throughout this strategically very interesting transaction. We believe that the transaction is a true ‘win-win’ scenario to all parties.”

This was the seventh successful transaction of Livingstone’s Business Services sector team in the last 12 months.