Stuttgart – German IT group Bechtle has acquired BT Stemmer GmbH, a specialist in networking solutions, unified communications, IT security and managed services. The Munich-based firm had been owned by British Telecom since 2008. The Cisco and NetApp partner will now trade under the Stemmer name as part of the Bechtle Group. The parties agreed not to disclose the purchase price. The transaction is currently awaiting approval from the competition authorities.

A CMS team headed by lead partner Dr Tobias Schneider advised Bechtle AG on all legal aspects of the deal. The company relies on the expertise of CMS on a regular basis. A recent example is the advice provided by an international team in the context of acquiring IT provider Inmac Wstore in France.

Bechtle AG operates around 70 IT system integrator businesses in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. With e-commerce companies in 14 countries, the group describes itself as one of Europe’s leading IT resellers. It is based in Neckarsulm and currently has around 9,000 employees. Bechtle is listed on the MDAX and generated sales of some EUR 3.6 billion in 2017.

Munich-based network specialist BT Stemmer employs 160 people. It has offices in Munich, Duisburg, Karlsruhe, Cologne, Siegen and Stuttgart. The company posted sales of around EUR 60 million in the last financial year. Its clients include SMEs, major corporations and public-sector bodies. The current managing directors, Henning Heimann and Oliver Herrmann, will retain their roles and responsibilities.
CMS Germany

Dr Tobias Schneider, Lead Partner
Christina Lung, Associate, both Corporate/M&A
Dr Gerald Gräfe, Partner, Commercial
Dr Harald Kahlenberg, Partner, Competition & EU
Dr. Martin Mohr, Counsel, Tax law