Clifford Chance has advised Software AG, Darmstadt, and Main Incubator GmbH ("main incubator"), Frankfurt am Main, on the acquisition of a stake in Traxpay AG.

Traxpay offers an electronic procedure for financial transactions in the B2B sector which ensures secure payments and subsequent settlement in real time. Traxpay's customers include operators of B2B trading networks as well as digital market places and companies. Traxpay is privately held and operates branches in Mountain View, California, and Frankfurt am Main.

main incubator is the first incubator for FinTech startups in Germany, Austria and Switzerland with a major bank as its anchor investor. It was founded by Commerzbank in 2013 and supports startups in the finance technology sector in realising their business ideas and implementing the same on the market, by providing, for instance, venture capital, banking knowhow and access to Commerzbank customers.

Software AG provides technologies for big data, integration and business process management thus supporting enterprises to increase their efficiency, modernise systems and optimise processes. The company has more than 4,600 employees in 70 countries and generated a turnover of EUR 973 million in 2013.

The Clifford Chance team was led by partner Dr. Christof-Ulrich Goldschmidt (Corporate, Frankfurt) and comprised counsel Dr. Christian Vogel, associate Dr. Werner Brickwedde (both Corporate, Düsseldorf), partner Dr. Claudia Milbradt and counsel Dr. Wolfgang Schönig (both IP, Düsseldorf).

A team led by Dr. Christof-Ulrich Goldschmidt advised Software AG already on several previous transactions such as the strategic partnership with metaquark GmbH, which was formed last year, and on the acquisition of all shares in alfabet AG.