Watson, Farley & Williams has advised global private equity firm The Riverside Company (“Riverside”) on their acquisition of Mercareon GmbH (“Mercareon”) by the portfolio company Transporeon GmbH (“Transporeon”).

Riverside has added Mercareon to its Transporeon platform. Both companies are based in Ulm, Germany, and specialize in web-based centralized transport-management software.

Transporeon is the European market leader for software-as-a-service (SaaS) solutions for the FTL logistics industry. Mercareon enjoys a strong competitive position and exceptional customer loyalty. The two companies share a similar corporate culture and understanding of one another, which will further facilitate a smooth partnership. Riverside will help Mercareon increase its penetration of existing markets, expand into new geographies and industries, and continue to develop new products.

WFW advised Riverside on both the corporate and the financing aspects of the acquisition.

Berenberg Bank and Bayern LB provided the financing for this transaction. Existing acquisition funding has been increased for this particular acquisition. Riverside was also advised by Roland Berger Strategy Consultants, Deloitte and KPMG.

The WFW team was led by partner Dr. Simon Preisenberger (Corporate, Munich). He was supported by partners Dr. Stefan Kilgus (Project & Structured Finance, Hamburg) and Anne Kleffmann (Employment, Munich) and associates Hi-Zin Pak, Marcel Nurk, Dr. Silke Pütz (all Corporate, Munich), Dr. Christine Bader (Regulatory, Hamburg), Dr. Wichard von Hoff, Dr. Alexander Nefzger (both Project & Structured Finance, Hamburg) and Philip Groth (Employment, Munich).