This video was made at GREIF VELOX in Lübeck, a BPE portfolio company that was acquired as part of an MBO in 2018.
Founded as a subsidiary of the private bankers Joh. Berenberg, Gossler & Co. – BERENBERG BANK – BPE started its operational activities in 1998.
In 2001, the company founders acquired a majority stake in BPE and completely took over the company from the long-standing minority partner, BERENBERG BANK, in 2009.
Philosophy
A s a specialist for Management Buy-outs/-ins, we have been turning managers into entrepreneurs since 1998 and strengthening, creating or securing the independence and innovational strength of German ”Mittelstand” companies.
The company philosophy is to provide more than just equity capital. The aim is to work towards optimising the portfolio company after the takeover by supporting the company’s operational management. This includes managerial coaching in order to realign operational and strategic objectives, and the identification and realisation of organic and inorganic growth potential in order to increase the sustainable value of the company.
BPE monitors and supports the respective companies with the help of an (expert) advisory board in order to identify their growth potential and to jointly realise it with the company’s management. However, BPE does not interfere in the day-to-day operations of the portfolio company.
Thus, the management of the portfolio company remains solely responsible for the implementation of the defined objectives, but has an aligned interest as a partner of BPE through its acquired participation in the company.
Differentiation
Based on the many years of experience as a private equity company in the German “Mittelstand” sector, the BPE strategy, which was originally developed in 1998, has remained mostly unchanged for more than 25 years.
BPE MBI-Initiative
A succession only becomes a problem if there is no suitable manager or management team that is available and can or wants to take over the operational responsibility from the outgoing owner. The managers identified by BPE’s MBI-Initiative have the goal of becoming entrepreneurially active and want to be hired specifically as MBI-Candidates.
Through the alliance of BPE with these MBI-Candidates, the shareholding (by BPE) and the operation (by the MBI-Candidate) succession can be resolved.