ARQIS advises Brainloop AG on the sale to Diligent Corporation
ARQIS advises Brainloop AG on the sale to Diligent Corporation
20. August 2018
ARQIS has advised on the sale of Brainloop AG (“Brainloop”), the leading supplier of virtual data room software used within enterprises for high-security collaboration on confidential documents, as in the case of Supervisory Board communication, to Diligent Corporation (“Diligent”).
Diligent is the leading provider of enterprise governance management solutions and secure board collaboration solutions. The purchase price has not been disclosed.
Headquartered in Munich, Brainloop will become Diligent’s continental European hub and will continue to be led by its current management team, including Chief Executive Officer Thomas Deutschmann and Chief Technology Officer Eike Schmidt. Founded in 2000, Brainloop today serves thousands of users on six continents, including a number of blue-chip European corporations. As part of Diligent, Brainloop will continue to operate as an independent company and serve its clients under the Brainloop brand. Diligent is the leader in Enterprise Governance Management and over 14,000 clients in more than 90 countries and on all seven continents rely on Diligent and its Governance Cloud offering for secure distribution of board materials, as well as secure messaging, integrated compliance, board evaluation and entity management.
For more than four years, ARQIS has been advising Brainloop on its corporate matters and on examining earlier M&A opportunities. “Since I have known the main shareholder of Brainloop AG for 25 years and we have also already listed his former company on the stock market, it was a special honor for us to advise the 30 Brainloop shareholders in this exit” says ARQIS Munich Partner Christoph von Einem. “With a very lean team without an investment bank, within only a few weeks we brought the deal from the first Letter of Intent to Signing and then to a successful Closing and thus ensured a successful company succession.”
“Data security and privacy have always been of utmost importance for Brainloop and its well-known clients in the DACH-region. This is why we are particularly pleased that we at ARQIS could make a substantial contribution for Brainloop to find a powerful new owner who also embodies these values.” emphasises Christoph von Einem. “In addition, we were able to apply our new tax law expertise for the first time in this deal”.
Advisor Brainloop:
ARQIS Rechtsanwälte: Prof. Dr. Christoph von Einem (lead; Corporate/M&A; Munich), Dr. Christof Schneider (stock corporation law; Düsseldorf), Marcus Nothhelfer (IP; Munich); Associates: Mauritz von Einem (Corporate/M&A und tax law), Elisabeth Falterer (Corporate/M&A), Dr. Philipp Maier (IP & Commercial), Dr. Markus Schwipper (employment law; all Munich), Malte Griepenbrug (stock corporation law; Düsseldorf)
Diligent Corporation was advised by Willkie Farr & Gallagher.