Main strengthens position in the banking software market with the acquisition of pdv and van den Berg

Main Capital Partners (“Main”) announces the platform acquisition of pdv Financial Software GmbH (pdv), a German market leader in capital markets software. pdv and Main also announce the acquisition of van den Berg GmbH and van den Berg Service AG, a leading provider of payment processing solutions in Germany who is also expanding to the DACH region and other European countries. The collaboration of the two companies marks a milestone in building a sizable group in the banking software market. Together with the management of both pdv and van den Berg, Main will support the group with their growth plans and with a selective buy-and-build strategy.

pdv, headquartered in Hamburg, Germany, is a German market leader for capital markets software and provides end-to-end solutions for the entire trading process chain. The solution covers all major asset classes and financial instruments for both the buy and sell aspect, as well as institutional and retail trading. These aspects are deeply woven into client operations. Reasons for Main’s investment are, amongst others, the cross-selling potential of pdv within the broader banking software group, the attractive financial profile with consistent double-digit growth and strong profitability, and the strong customer base.

Reinhard Wienke, founder and CEO of pdv, explains: “We are excited and looking forward to continuing the journey of building a leading group in the banking and capital markets software segment together with an experienced partner such as Main. Through our collaboration, we are able to achieve our strategic goals faster and provide more value to our customers by expanding our product and services offering. We see a very strong fit between us and van den Berg and are excited about our plans for the common future.”

Headquartered in Herzogenrath, van den Berg provides its payments solutions to around 100 clients, most of which are primarily active in the banking segment. The company’s product offering includes Payment Processing and Management (PPM). The offering is an all-encompassing solution for receiving, converting, verifying, correcting, matching and redirecting all payment transactions. In addition to this, van den Berg also offers further features for SEPA Card Clearing for processing card payments and also offers an Instant Payments Gateway. For over 35 years of establishing itself as a partner for banks and 15 years of offering a payments-as-a-service solution, van den Berg has built strong relations with its clients. Thus, they have been able to maintain a long-standing and highly satisfied client base with low churn.

Hans-Rainer van den Berg, founder of van den Berg, explains: “For us it was essential to find the right partner for the company succession and the continuing of our success story. We are convinced that we have found the right partner in Main. Together, we will use the opportunities that the market offers us.”

Christian Fink, CEO of van den Berg, adds: “By joining forces, we combine the expert knowledge of two leading companies in the software market. This milestone in the cooperation ensures that we are excellently positioned to meet growing demand  of banks and financial service institutions in the future, and we are looking forward to building up the group together with pdv and Main. ”

Gaining a stronger foothold in the banking software market

pdv and van den Berg are highly complementary to each other, which makes the combination a good strategic fit. As such, there is a strong synergy potential through cross- and upsell within a broader banking software group. Additionally, pdv and van den Berg add very loyal customer bases to the group with customers such as the Commerzbank AG, the Baader Bank AG and the Hamburger Sparkasse, which offer synergies and cross-selling potentials. Furthermore, the combination will expand the already prominent presence of both companies within the banking software market.

Together with management of both pdv and van den Berg, Main will continue building up the banking software platform around the pillars of trading, payment, and complementary banking solutions with a highly recurring revenue profile.

Sven van Berg Henegouwen, Managing Partner at Main, states: “pdv offers a modern, unique and market-leading software solution with a strong financial profile with solid profitability and a high recurring revenue share. Additionally, pdv has a highly satisfied and loyal customer base. These factors are extremely complementary with van den Berg and there is a high synergy level within the more broader banking software group, which we are planning to build together with pdv and van den Berg. With a positive outlook on the future, we look forward to this new partnership of building a leading player in the software banking market.”