Apleona acquired by Bain Capital

Structured as a sponsor-to-sponsor secondary buyout, the definitive transaction entered into by Bain Capital secures the acquisition of Apleona from the private equity firm PAI Partners. The transaction was executed by an investment consortium led by the buyer's European private equity division, chaired by partner Michael Siefke, enabling the target to maintain its governance autonomy under the continued executive leadership of chief executive officer Dr. Jochen Keysberg FRICS. The exit concludes an investment cycle initiated by the seller in 2020 following its previous buyout from EQT, during which the facility manager completed 14 strategic European add-on acquisitions, notably including the landmark merger with the Gegenbauer Group in 2023. At the close of this expansion cycle, the acquired operating platform generated an annual turnover of €4bn in 2024 and adjusted EBITDA of €250–500M. The strategic rationale focuses on deploying programmatic capital to accelerate European buy-and-build consolidation, scale technical services, and integrate artificial intelligence and predictive automation into commercial building management systems to advance industrial decarbonization initiatives. Transaction advisory mandates on the buy side were awarded to financial institutions UBS and Citi, with Kirkland & Ellis acting as legal counsel. The seller and the former owners of Gegenbauer were advised on legal matters by Noerr through a Berlin-based advisory team comprising partners Katrin Andrä, Tibor Fedke, and Christian Pleister, alongside tax partners Carsten Heinz and Andre Happel. Pre-transaction pitch and exploratory processes were historically facilitated by Bank of America, Deutsche Bank, and Hengeler Mueller.

It is worth noting that the fund EQT Partners took control of Apleona through an LBO in 2016.