Transaction marks already the fourth realization achieved by LEA’s EUR 200 million B2B tech fund focusing on software companies in the DACH region
 

Karlsruhe, April 12, 2022 – German technology investor LEA Partners (“LEA”) and Danish IT investor VIA equity (“VIA”) announced today an agreement to sell the majority shareholding in SEMA, the leading European CAD/CAM software suite in timber construction and prefabrication, to Bregal Unternehmerkapital. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Founded in 1984, SEMA offers solutions that cover the full range of activities around timber and stairs construction for carpentries and prefabrication firms. The software suite provides one uniform easy-to-use program surface with applications that comprise all relevant fields from 2D/3D CAD planning and design to photorealistic visualization to calculation and tender preparation as well as production plans and working drawings. With significant market share in Germany, Austria, France, Italy and Switzerland, SEMA maintains a remarkable active customer base of more than 10,500 carpentries and prefab house manufacturers.

VIA and LEA acquired a controlling stake in SEMA back in 2019 to support the company in its mission to expand the market leadership position and achieve operational excellence. Under the new ownership SEMA has experienced tremendous top and bottom-line growth, building upon its best-in-class products and great customer relationships. As part of the investment strategy SEMA established a strong 2nd level management, invested in its technology platform, acquired an ERP/CRM software provider and executed various pricing and product bundling initiatives.

Alexander Neuss, CEO of SEMA:
“Our partnership with VIA and LEA has truly helped us to unlock our full potential during the past three years. Their extensive experience in the software market combined with deep commercial expertise was a perfect strategic fit and enabled us to accelerate our growth and continue to provide best-in-class service and innovations to our customers. I am extremely grateful for the partnership and now look forward to continue on our growth trajectory and expand into additional international markets.”

Christian Roth, Managing Partner at LEA Partners:
“We are immensely proud to have played a part in SEMA’s growth story over the recent years. During our partnership SEMA has done an outstanding job in evolving the company to a true vertical software champion. It has been greatly gratifying for our team to help Alexander and the management to drive strategy and growth in that time and we are sure that their dedication and drive will allow them to accomplish great successes in the future. We wish SEMA all the best for the next chapter of its journey.”

VIA and LEA were advised on this transaction by Houlihan Lokey, Noerr and Milbank.