Waterland Private Equity and the founders of German IT systems provider netgo, Patrick Kruse and Benedikt Kisner, are aiming to further accelerate the company’s natural growth. In doing so, the service portfolio of netgo is to be expanded via targeted acquisitions in the highly fragmented German market for IT systems providers, which offers various opportunities for consolidation. The two founders will retain a significant stake in the company and remain on board as managing directors.

netgo, originally founded by Benedikt Kisner and Patrick Kruse in 2007, started as a small IT systems provider in Borken, Germany, and has grown faster than the market average in recent years, both organically and through the successful acquisition of other IT systems providers. Today, the company has a staff of about 350 across 17 different locations, offering a broad range of consulting, products and services in the areas of hosting & storage, IT infrastructure, IT security, communication & messaging, and IoT & analytics along with customer-specific solutions. Together with its clients, netgo develops bespoke IT strategies, for which it relies on its extensive experience and expertise with regards to all operating models of IT – from on-premise to private and public cloud. With this broad range of offerings, netgo already serves as a one-stop shop for more than 3,000 clients throughout Germany and its portfolio of products is to be expanded even further over the coming years.

There are currently more than 1,000 IT systems providers in Germany, most of them focused on regional or local markets. The overall German market for IT services continues to grow rapidly, currently at an annual rate of more than 10 percent.
“The IT sector is very dynamic and constantly changing,” explains Benedikt Kisner, co-founder of netgo, “This means that successful IT systems providers must bring innovation and highly specialized expertise, while at the same time offering a broad range of services and products. Therefore, we are especially pleased to have Waterland as an ideal partner to support our continued growth in this market environment. Our aim is to be among the leading IT systems providers in Germany and to benefit from the changes currently taking place in the sector.”

Patrick Kruse, co-founder of netgo, explains the company’s growth strategy: “When it comes to acquisitions over the coming years, we will focus on expanding our geographical footprint and portfolio, so we can offer our clients an even broader range of solutions and services.”

“netgo is a real success story in the German IT systems market, with a unique company culture and a superb reputation,” says Dr. Carsten Rahlfs, Managing Partner at Waterland, “Moreover, with its experience in acquiring smaller IT systems providers, the company is in a particularly good position to drive consolidation in Germany’s fragmented IT systems market through a buy-and-build strategy. I am certain that the combined industry expertise of the netgo founders and Waterland’s know-how when it comes to building platforms will have significant advantages in the long run for netgo’s clients, business partners and employees.”

The transaction remains subject to approval by the German competition authorities.