Norton Rose Fulbright has advised private equity financier VR Equitypartner GmbH on the acquisition of a minority interest in the IT service provider n3k Informatik GmbH (n3k). The acquisition was carried out as leveraged buyout including a partial re-investment by the founders. N3k management continues to hold a majority stake.

VR Equitypartner is one of the leading private equity financiers in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The company supports medium-sized family companies in solving strategic financing issues on a target-driven basis. VR Equitypartner's portfolio currently comprises around 100 investments with a value of EUR 500 million.

n3k Informatik is a Heilbronn-based IT service provider which specialises in network management solutions for companies and organisations with more than 1,000 employees. N3k’s clients include over 200 companies, including 50 per cent of the DAX-30 companies. Within the last 15 years n3k has achieved continuous and profitable growth.

The Norton Rose Fulbright team was led by Partner Holger Scheer and comprised senior associate Christoph Breithaupt, associate Julia Rosigkeit (private equity, Frankfurt), Of Counsel Christoph Ritzer, associate Sven Jacobs (IT/IP, Frankfurt), of counsel Frank Bayer (tax, Munich), partner Maxim Kleine, of counsel Tim Schaper (antitrust, Hamburg), partner Nadine Bourgeois (banking and finance, Frankfurt), partner Frank Weberndörfer and associate Wiebke Mattern (employment, Hamburg).

This was the first transaction on which Norton Rose Fulbright’s Frankfurt team has advised VR Equitypartner.