Livingstone advises MACH AG in Main Capital Partners’ majority stake in the company

Livingstone Partners has exclusively advised the founder and majority owner of MACH AG, Dr. Jan Müller-Ontjes and his family, on the matter of Main Capital Partners’ investment in MACH AG as a new majority investor and partner for the further growth of the Company.

A leading software provider in the German public sector, MACH AG has supported the digitalization of the public administration since its founding in 1985. The Company employs 400 employees across six locations and has doubled its workforce in the last four years. Over 100,000 end-users across federal and state authorities, municipalities, church administrations, educational and research institutions, and non-governmental organizations trust in the solutions and advice of MACH AG and benefit from the Company’s holistic approach towards software, consulting, and operation from one source.

In light of COVID-19, the necessity of further digitalization of public administration has once again become apparent. Mach AG’s  owner and management decided to position the Company more broadly on the capital side and bring on an investor well-versed in software.

Following an intensive selection process, Main Capital Partners, one of the leading growth investors in business software in Northwest Europe, was selected. Main Capital exclusively invests in software companies, thus bringing valuable industry experience and contacts from the technology sector. In the German-speaking countries alone, Main Capital currently holds nine investments in medium-sized software companies. The investment by Main Capital Partners will secure the independence of MACH AG, and the Müller-Ontjes family will continue to play a significant role in the development of the Company as a substantial shareholder.

Founder Dr. Jan Müller-Ontjes comments, “We have chosen an investor in Main Capital that will help us develop our existing client business and support us in developing new growth areas. We are looking forward to shaping this new exciting chapter and to the successful continuation of the corporate and growth history of MACH AG. We would also like to thank the Livingstone team of Michael Westhoven and Frederik Schreurs for their intensive and professional support during the transaction process.”

In addition, Rolf Sahre, CEO of MACH AG, sees lots of potential in the joint future of Main and MACH, “We expect to improve our performance and innovative strength to continue to further support the public administration in digitization as a strong and reliable partner. In cooperation with Main Capital Partners, we will be even more successful in the future by expanding our core business in the area of ERP software and consulting, taking advantage of current market opportunities, investing in new business areas such as Smart City, bringing new solutions to the market and making future topics such as artificial intelligence available to our customers.”

Michael Westhoven, Partner at Livingstone Düsseldorf, adds, “In order to master the challenges that lie ahead of us in Germany regarding the digitization of public administrations, we need not only the declared political and social will to do so but also efficient and financially strong German software companies that can provide optimal support with software solutions tailored to their specific needs. Therefore, we are very pleased that we have been able to contribute to this by expanding the capital and investor base of MACH AG, one of the leading German providers in this area.”