H&Z Management Consulting has roped in significant growth funding from EMZ Partners, with the ambition to accelerate its growth and evolve into a European champion in its key areas of expertise.
Founded in 1997 in Germany, H&Z Management Consulting today is a consulting firm with around 600 staff working from offices in multiple European countries.
The firm specialises in four lines of business – strategy, transformation, procurement, and sustainability – and operates a number of labels alongside its traditional consulting business, including Railsponsible (focused on the rail sector), Sustainx (sustainability), Transaction Engineers (mergers & acquisitions), and Aneon (procurement software).
On the back of strong growth (30% per annum growth over the past three years), H&Z Management Consulting’s management team has crafted a bold ambition to nestle itself among Germany’s five largest consultancies. With revenues of €95 million anticipated for the current financial year, the firm currently sits just outside the top 10, according to data from Lünendonk & Hossenfelder.
“We want to be in the top ten quickly,”
said Michael Santo, board member at H&Z Management Consulting,
“and our goal is to work our way up to the top five group by 2028.”
The firm aims to achieve this both through organic growth and selective acquisitions.
As a matter of comparison, Roland Berger is Germany’s largest consultancy, followed by Simon-Kucher. Q_Perior, Porsche Consulting and Horvath round off the top five. Firms which H&Z Management Consulting aims to overtake include the likes of d-fine, Detecon, Zeb, KPS, and goetzpartners.
The deal
Terms and conditions of the deal have not been disclosed, although German media report that EMZ Partners has acquired “about half” of the company’s stock, at a valuation of around €200 million.
The deal has been coupled with a major employee ownership transaction, which will see around 120 employees also become shareholders in H&Z Management Consulting following the completion of the transaction. About 50% of the employee shareholders are investing in the company for the first time.
Harald Enz, board members at H&Z Management Consulting said:
“This investment gives our ambitious growth targets a further strong boost. In addition to persistent organic growth, we are planning to make joint acquisitions to strengthen our core business, expand our expertise, and develop our regional presence in Central and Northern Europe.”
H&Z Management Consulting will continue to be led by its three-strong board (Michael Santo, Harald Enz, and Stefan Aichbauer) and entire management team.
Investor EMZ Partners is a private equity firm focused on mid-market companies, with its current assets under management worth more than €1 billion. EMZ typically closes investments of between €30 and €200 million.
Klaus Maurer, Senior Partner at EMZ Partners, stated:
“H&Z Management Consulting has impressed us from the outset with its impressive growth history and leading position in the market. We are delighted to be able to help shape the future development as shareholders and partners of the management team.”
Dealmakers
H&Z Management Consulting was advised on during the transaction by Lincoln International (M&A), Hogan Lovells (Legal), KPMG (Finance & Tax) and EY-Parthenon (Commercial). EMZ’s advisors were MCF Corporate Finance (M&A), Goetzpartners (Commercial), Latham & Watkins (Legal), RSM Ebner Stolz (Finance & Tax), Goodwin Procter (Legal) and Houlihan Lokey (Debt Advisory).
Sourced from: Consultancy EU