Verdane expands its presence in Germany with Partner appointment, and opens second office in Munich

Verdane, the European specialist growth investor, is expanding its presence in Germany with a second office location and a strategic senior appointment. Dominik Schwarz joins Verdane as a Partner, bringing extensive expertise in private equity and the software sector. Verdane has also announced the opening of its Munich office, in addition to its existing Berlin location.

Verdane has announced the hire of Dominik Schwarz as a Partner, bolstering the investment firm’s expertise, network and senior presence in the DACH region. Dominik joins Verdane from EMH Partners, where he served as Partner and specialised in growth investments in software, healthcare and technology companies including Brainlab, Cleverbridge and Native Instruments. Before joining EMH, Dominik was a Director at the private equity company Chequers Capital, where he focused on the German mid-market segment, including leading the acquisition of Metabo and the Deutsche Fachpflege Group. Dominik started his career at Barclays Capital in Leveraged Finance and Financial Sponsor Coverage.

Dominik’s appointment reflects Verdane’s continued growth in the DACH region and follows the opening of Verdane’s second office in Germany earlier this year. Verdane’s team in the new Munich location includes Sebastian Wintgens, who joined as Principal in January 2023, bringing over fourteen years of experience in corporate transactions, M&A and growth strategy in the software space. Sebastian joined Verdane from his role covering TMT in the DACH region for private equity investor Equistone. Prior to Equistone, Sebastian was a Managing Director within Raymond James’ European Tech & Services practice focusing on B2B software. The Munich-based team also includes Christina Schrettle, who joined in 2022 from investment firm Oakley Capital, and Judith Kottutz, who joined Verdane in January 2023 from private equity firm Five Arrows. Verdane’s offices in Berlin and Munich now comprise 23 team members.

Verdane has eleven current investments in Germany, including Hornetsecurity Group, a leading European cybersecurity software company, and Momox, Europe’s largest re-commerce platform. Verdane’s most recent investment in the region is in Fashion Cloud, Europe’s largest B2B Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solution for the fashion wholesale industry.

Verdane’s portfolio companies benefit from the support of Elevate, Verdane’s in-house team of over 30 operational experts. The success of Verdane’s investment strategy and value creation approach was recently validated by the Dow Jones MidMarket Buyout Performance Ranking. In the global 2022 ranking published by the HEC Paris Business School and Dow Jones, Verdane is listed as the number one European private equity firm based on performance.

Dominik Schwarz, Partner at Verdane, said: “I would like to thank the entire Verdane team for the trust they have placed in me. Together with the excellent team, I look forward to leading the firm into a new phase of growth in Germany and the DACH region. With two German locations on the ground, we have our finger on the pulse of the local tech ecosystem. This allows us to provide even better support to our portfolio companies on their growth path in the future and to quickly identify and take advantage of new opportunities in the German market.”

Bjarne Lie, Managing Partner at Verdane, said: “We’re delighted to welcome Dominik and the Munich team to Verdane. Our goal is to be the preferred growth partner to ambitious European companies, and we see great opportunities in the DACH region. These strategic hires not only deepen Verdane’s overall capabilities, but create a strong local presence that enables us to be an even better partner to the best growth companies in the region. Dominik’s extensive private equity expertise, long track record in the software sector and valuable network will also significantly strengthen our senior presence locally, enabling us to capitalize on the excellent investment opportunities we see in Germany and the DACH region.”