12 January 2021

ARTHOS advises Data Respons AS on its acquisition of frobese GmbH

Strengthening Data Respons’ position within software development and IT consulting for financial institutions
Data Respons AS has today closed the acquisition of 100% of the shares in frobese GmbH Informatikservices (“Frobese”), a German company and successful team of experts specialized in software engineering services for banks and insurance companies with 96 employees and headquartered in Hanover. Frobese focuses on IT consulting, project management and software development and is a leading niche provider having a strong record in large projects and IT architectural lifecycle, especially in core banking and other financial services institutions.

ARTHOS acted as exclusive financial adviser to Data Respons in this transaction. ARTHOS provided full buyside advisory services including company screening process based on pre-defined search criteria, analyzing potential strategic partners, and co-ordinating the subsequent M&A process including the due diligence and negotiations.

“It’s with great joy that we welcome Frobese to the Data Respons family. With this latest expansion we are adding more than 90 specialists on cutting edge software within banking and finance to our portfolio. More importantly we believe that this is an ideal merger of skill sets, culture and opportunities”, says Kenneth Ragnvaldsen, CEO of Data Respons.

Frobese consists of software experts with strong competence in the banking and insurance business and with long-term customer relationships.

“During Covid-19 the Data Respons business model has proven to be resilient as digitalisation continues to be the key to a competitive advantage. Frobese has also experienced a positive development through a challenging year, proving that this is a good match of business models and attractiveness”, comments Ragnvaldsen.

Frobese is based in Hanover, thus further increasing the Data Respons footprint in Germany, as Frobese joins four other Data Respons software engineering companies across Germany.
According to the European Commission, Germany leads the EU on 5G readiness but is lagging on digitalising public services and German companies have not made progress in the level of Integration of digital technologies [1]. With a group of software niche companies, including Frobese, Data Respons is increasingly well positioned to exploit the future need for digital services.

This has been the fifth successful acquisition in the past five years during which ARTHOS supported Data Respons with its expansion plans in Germany.

About Data Respons
Data Respons (1,400 employees and NOK 1.9bn revenue) is a leading technology company delivering R&D engineering services, software and hardware development, smarter embedded and IoT solutions to OEM companies, system integrators and vertical product suppliers in a range of market segments such as Transport & Automotive, Industrial Automation, Telecom & Media, Space, Defense & Security, Medtech, Energy & Maritime, and Finance & Public Sector. It has offices in Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, France and Taiwan. Since 2020 Data Respons is a subsidiary of AKKA Technologies SE (22k employees and EUR 1.8bn revenue), a globally operating engineering and technology consulting group based in Brussels, Belgium, and listed on the EURONEXT stock exchange.
www.datarespons.com

About Frobese
Founded in 1998, Frobese is a German specialist within IT consulting and software development for banks and insurance companies with 96 employees and headquartered in Hanover. Frobese has a special expertise in IT/strategy consulting, software development transformation of core financial business structures, business process management, organizational consulting, business field development, IT quality management, requirements management, procedures and models, software architectures, implementation, test management and testing.
www.frobese.de

About ARTHOS
ARTHOS is an independent M&A advisory firm and specialist for digital media, IT and high-tech industries based in Munich. Since 2003, ARTHOS services customers on the buy- and sell-side regarding the acquisition or disposal of companies and business units worldwide. The partners of ARTHOS so far have successfully closed over 150 M&A transactions. ARTHOS is member of the German Association for Mergers & Acquisitions e.V. (BM&A) and AICA – the global Alliance of International Corporate Advisors.

 

[1] https://ec.europa.eu/digital-single-market/en/scoreboard/germany