HgCapital to benefit from sale of German legal tech firm STP

HgCapital Trust said on Monday that Hg has agreed the sale of STP, a provider of legal technology solutions in the Austria, Germany and Switzerland (DACH) area, to Bregal Unternehmerkapital, part of a multi-generational family-owned business that specialises in majority and minority holdings in the region.

The FTSE 250 company said the terms of the transaction were not disclosed, and added that it remained subject to customary antitrust approvals, with closing expected later in the year.

Founded in 1993 and based in Karlsruhe, Germany, STP was described by Hg as a “leading one-stop shop solution provider”, providing an integrated legal technology platform comprising workflow automation, ERP software, specialist technical outsourcing and data businesses.

It said STP's solutions were “deeply embedded” in the insolvency ecosystem and commercial law segment, with a full-suite offering.

The business employs around 200 people, serving more than 1,800 customers with “critical” software and services for their daily workflow.

Hg first invested in STP in 2016, together with founder Gunther Thies, and since then had worked with the STP team and helped strengthen its position in legal tech in the DACH region.

“STP has significantly benefited from Hg's support over the last four years, leveraging the knowledge they have in the software and legal tech space, whilst also benefiting from valuable best-practice sharing that is promoted across Hg's network and over 30 tech portfolio businesses,” said chief executive officer Uwe Richter.

“We are very excited about our new partnership with Bregal Unternehmerkapital and together plan an acceleration of new product and service introductions to help our customers drive efficiency at the workplace.”

Stefan Margolis, partner at Hg, said the company was “happy” to have supported STP and helped to strengthen its position as legal technology provider.

“It has been a real privilege to work with Gunther, Uwe, Frank, Harald and the team.

“We are delighted to leave the business in such capable hands for future growth.”

At 0945 GMT, shares in HgCapital Trust were up 0.58% at 298.72p.