Latham & Watkins Advises Bregal Unternehmerkapital on the Acquisition of a Majority Stake in ACTICO and the Acquisition of Perfect Drive Sports Group

Latham & Watkins LLP represented funds advised by Bregal Unternehmerkapital (“BU”) on the acquisition of a majority stake in ACTICO, a leading, international provider of intelligent automation and digital decision-making software. With the transaction, the current ACTICO management team and existing shareholders will reinvest alongside Bregal.

ACTICO’s software-as-a-service (Saas) solutions are made available on premise as well as via cloud environments. In total, ACTICO has more than 50,000 users in over 25 countries, from SMEs to large Fortune-500 enterprises, and employs a staff of over 130.

Latham also represented funds advised by BU on the acquisition of a majority stake in Perfect Drive Sports Group ("PDSG"), Europe's leading e-commerce provider of golf apparel and equipment.

PDSG combines the brands All4Golf (“A4G”) based in Hanover, Germany, and Clubhouse Golf (“CHG”) based in Manchester, UK. A4G is now the largest distributor for golf equipment in the German-speaking market. CHG was founded in 2003 by PGA golf professional Paul Reeves. In addition to their online presence, A4G and CHG also operate high-volume retail shops in Hanover and Salford, UK, respectively.

BU is part of a family-owned business that has grown over several generations. The BU funds invest in mid-sized companies across a wide range of sectors in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Northern Italy with a focus on market leaders and “hidden champions” with strong management teams and outbreak potential. With patient capital, entrepreneurial expertise and a partnership approach, its team works closely with entrepreneurs to develop, internationalize and digitalize portfolio companies, and to help them generate sustainable value on a responsible basis.

Latham & Watkins represented BU on the ACTICO deal with a team led by Munich corporate partner Burc Hesse with partner Sebastian Pauls, associates Corinna Freudenmacher, Chris Freitag and Hamburg based associate Katarina Fröschle. Advice was also provided on real estate matters by partner Otto von Gruben and associate Jana Maué, on compliance matters by Hamburg associate Stefan Bartz, on tax matters by Ulf Kieker, and on employment matters by Kristina Steckermeier.

Latham & Watkins represented BU on the Perfect Drive Sports Group deal with a team led by Frankfurt corporate partner Oliver Felsenstein and counsel Christina Mann with partner Susanne Decker and associates Ku-Hyun Baek, Sophia Probst, as well as Munich associate Thomas Diekmann and London associate Angharad Simon. Advice was also provided on finance matters by Frankfurt partners Alexandra Hagelüken and Sibylle Münch with associates Kate Zhu and Philipp Seltzer, on corporate IP matters from London partner Deborah Kirk and Frankfurt partner Susan Kempe-Müller, on regulatory matters from London partner Nicola Higgs and associate Katy Sanders, on real estate matters from London associate Caroline Taylor and Hamburg associate Jana Maué, on tax matters from Munich partner Stefan Süß and Hamburg associate Verena Seevers, on employment matters from London associate Adam Ray and Munich associate Christian Strauß, on data privacy matters from Frankfurt associcates Wolf Böhm and Valentino Halim as well as London associate Claudia Sousa.