Paragon Partners

Paragon Partners (Paragon for short) is a European private equity company based in Munich, Germany. It was founded in 2004 and is owner-managed. Paragon focuses on medium-sized companies with an established business model. Investors comprise institutional investors such as life insurance companies and pension funds.[1]

Paragon Partners GmbH
Typeprivate (GmbH)
Industryprivate equity
Founded2004 (2004)
Headquarters
Munich
,
Germany
Area served
Key people
  • Marco Attolini
  • Edin Hadzic
  • Krischan von Moeller
Number of employees
35 (2021)
Websiteparagon.de

History

In 2004, Paragon was founded by Edin Hadzic and Krischan von Moeller. Hadzic already had experience in the private equity industry through his partner position at Triton.[2] Von Moeller had worked for the Holtzbrinck Publishing Group and the Boston Consulting Group.[3] In 2010, Marco Attolini, who was previously also with Triton, joined the company as a third partner.[4]

After initial successful investments, Paragon Secondary Partners was founded to bundle different assets.[5] The investment fund was active until 2011.[6] In 2008, Paragon then finally launched the Paragon Fund I with a volume of around €200 million. In 2009, the company achieved greater awareness with the acquisition of Schülerhilfe, the German market leader for private tutoring.[7]

The Paragon Fund II, which was launched in 2014 with around €400 million in committed capital, sought to acquire the insolvent Weltbild Publishing Group to restructure it and keep it as a whole.[8][9][10] Due to differences over transaction details, Paragon had to improve its offer but failed to complete the acquisition.[11][12] In 2015, Paragon participated in a tight bidding round for the Balda Group but ultimately was not able to close the deal.[13][14]

In 2019, the company launched its fourth investment fund, the Paragon Fund III,[15] for which it raised almost €800 million.[16] This enabled, among other things, the acquisition of the industrial services provider Castolin Eutectic. The acquisition of Castolin Eutectic was one of the most significant private equity transactions in Germany during the COVID-19 pandemic.[17]

Investments

Paragon invests in medium-sized companies in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland for several years. Generally, Paragon acquires a majority stake and supports companies in their strategic and operational development to increase their enterprise value. It usually takes five to seven years before Paragon sells the company again.[18]

Since 2004, Paragon has invested in more than 30 companies. Currently, the portfolio includes about a dozen companies, including Pro Optik and the Weka Group.[19][20] Total investments have a combined workforce of 6,000 and sales of €1.3 billion.[21]

Corporate affairs

Paragon operates as a limited liability company (GmbH) under German law. Its object extends to the investment in other companies as well as consulting services in this field.[22] The Paragon Funds I, II, and III are structured as limited partnerships with limited liability (GmbH & Co. KG).[23][24][25]

Paragon's shareholders are the three partners Marco Attolini, Edin Hadzic, and Krischan von Moeller. They each hold one third of the shares and also form the company's management. Currently, around 35 people work for Paragon.[26]

Notes and references
  1. "Paragon Partners". Bloomberg. Retrieved April 13, 2021.
  2. "Edin Hadzic". Bloomberg. Retrieved April 13, 2021.
  3. "Krischan von Moeller". Bloomberg. Retrieved April 13, 2021.
  4. "Marco Attolini". Bloomberg. Retrieved April 21, 2021.
  5. "Paragon Secondary Partners, LP". Companies House. Retrieved April 13, 2021.
  6. "Vision Capital Acquires Portfolio of Three Companies From Paragon Secondary Partners". Private Equity Wire. June 10, 2011. Retrieved April 13, 2021.
  7. Schmidt, Marion (September 11, 2009). "Finanzinvestor kauft Schülerhilfe". Financial Times Deutschland (in German). p. 15.
  8. Willmer, Sabrina; Porter, Kiel (March 4, 2014). "Paragon Partners sammelt für Buyout-Fonds 400 Mio. Euro". Welt (in German). Retrieved April 13, 2021.
  9. "Finanzinvestor kauft Weltbild. Paragon kauft insolvente Kette ganz". Welt (in German). May 12, 2014. p. 9.
  10. Hofer, Joachim (May 13, 2014). "Das Weltbild von Paragon: Nach der geplanten Übernahme soll das angeschlagene Verlagshaus als Ganzes erhalten bleiben". Handelsblatt (in German). p. 16.
  11. "Weltbild-Gruppe: Paragon bessert Angebot nach". Spiegel (in German). July 10, 2014. Retrieved April 13, 2021.
  12. "Insolvenz: Droege wird neuer Investor für Weltbild". WirtschaftsWoche (in German). July 16, 2014. Retrieved April 13, 2021.
  13. Kullrich, Antje (October 21, 2015). "Paragon legt im Bieterkampf um Balda nach". Börsen-Zeitung (in German). p. 13. Retrieved April 27, 2021.
  14. Eich, Jacob (February 1, 2016). "Stevanato setzt sich bei M&A-Schlacht um Balda durch". Finance Magazin (in German). Retrieved April 21, 2021.
  15. "Paragon Partners With New Eur 780 Million Fund". Deal Advisors. July 25, 2019. Retrieved May 5, 2021.
  16. Habdank, Philipp (July 25, 2019). "Paragon schließt rekordgroßen Buy-out-Fonds". Finance Magazin (in German). Retrieved April 13, 2021.
  17. Ruhkamp, Christoph (April 23, 2020). "Messer verkauft Tochter an Finanzinvestor Paragon". Börsen-Zeitung (in German). p. 7.
  18. Obmann, Claudia; Jakobs, Hans-Jürgen (September 20, 2019). "Nichts für Kuscheltypen". Handelsblatt (in German). p. 50.
  19. Kolf, Florian (July 29, 2020). "Unternehmer des Tages: Micha Siebenhandl – Mit Tradition gegen die Großen". Handelsblatt (in German). p. 44.
  20. "Paragon Partners übernimmt Weka". Börsenblatt (in German). July 1, 2020. Retrieved April 13, 2021.
  21. "Zahlen & Fakten" (in German). Paragon Partners. Retrieved April 13, 2021.
  22. "Paragon Partners GmbH (AG München, HRB 154253)". Unternehmensregister (in German). Bundesanzeiger Verlag. Retrieved April 13, 2021.
  23. "The Paragon Partners Fund I GmbH & Co. KG (AG München, HRA 91633)". Unternehmensregister (in German). Bundesanzeiger Verlag. Retrieved April 13, 2021.
  24. "The Paragon Partners Fund II GmbH & Co. KG (AG München, HRA 102079)". Unternehmensregister (in German). Bundesanzeiger Verlag. Retrieved April 13, 2021.
  25. "The Paragon Partners Fund III GmbH & Co. KG (AG München, HRA 109236)". Unternehmensregister (in German). Bundesanzeiger Verlag. Retrieved April 13, 2021.
  26. "Team" (in German). Paragon Partners. Retrieved April 27, 2021.
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