Investment Thesis
Why structurally blocked substance is the opportunity.
Thesis →Distressed M&A
Distressed M&A advisor Germany. Principal capital, not a process.
We acquire DACH companies in StaRUG, Schutzschirm, Eigenverwaltung, or covenant-stressed perimeters. Equity from one balance sheet. Permanent capital. No fund clock. Operational turnaround delivered through platform operators, not interim consultants. Munich, Vienna, Baar.
Definition
What we mean by distressed M&A.
Distressed M&A captures the universe of acquisitions where the seller is constrained by capital structure, cash, covenant, or counsel rather than by valuation expectations. The signal events are familiar: covenant breach with lender consent required, payment default, StaRUG plan filing, Schutzschirm initiation, Eigenverwaltung order, or a sponsor that needs to write down a position before fund quarter-end.
We engage as a principal acquirer. The distressed M&A advisor on the sell side keeps their mandate; we are the counterparty. We bring certainty of funds, an unconditional equity ticket, and a written term sheet inside two weeks. Distressed acquisitions DACH-wide are within our perimeter when the underlying business has substance worth integrating.
Market Context
Why it matters in DACH today.
The German StaRUG took effect on 1 January 2021 as the domestic transposition of EU Directive 2019/1023. It permits a debtor to restructure with court oversight and binding effect on dissenting creditors, but without insolvency. Five years in, StaRUG has become the dominant pre-insolvency restructuring framework in the Mittelstand. Filings have grown each year. Austria followed with its ReO regime; Switzerland operates the Sanierungsverfahren.
Higher refinancing costs, the unwinding of pandemic-era state guarantees, and energy-cost recalibration continue to push viable operating businesses into capital-structure stress. The result is a steady flow of pre-insolvency mandates where the operating asset is sound but the holding-company balance sheet is not. Lenders prefer transfer to a solvent acquirer over realisation through insolvency. We are that acquirer.
We work alongside restructuring counsel and Chief Restructuring Officers without replacing them.
Solvency is a balance-sheet condition.
Substance is an operating one.
Engagement
How we engage.
We deploy permanent capital. There is no fund-life clock and no LP redemption window. The capital is committed from our own balance sheet, which means certainty of funds in writing within 72 hours and no syndication risk. For lenders, restructuring counsel, and CROs this matters: the bid does not collapse late in the process.
The acquisition follows our four-phase process. Phase one is a preliminary review against our exclusion list, completed inside seven days. Phase two is structured analysis (commercial, legal, tax, environmental) compressed to the seller's clock. Phase three is term sheet and exclusivity. Phase four is signing and closing, sequenced around merger control and the EU FDI Screening Regulation 2019/452 where notifiable.
Post-closing, the asset enters our platform and the operational turnaround begins. We do not exit on a fund clock. See methodology and acquisition and process for full mechanics.
Boundary
What we are not.
We are not a distressed credit fund: we acquire equity control, we do not buy debt for the trade. We are not a turnaround consultancy: we do not bill hours and we do not accept interim CEO mandates. We are not a special-servicer for lenders. We are not an asset stripper, which is why we have not run a wind-down disguised as an acquisition. We do not engage in fee-only advisory work, and we do not co-invest into deals led by other sponsors. If your matter requires a distressed-debt buyer or a pure restructuring advisor, we will say so on the first call and refer you on.
Track Record
Substance over slogans.
Fourteen platform investments. Nine exits realised. Several were distressed M&A processes at acquisition: covenant-stressed groups, lender-driven sales, and one StaRUG-perimeter carve-out. Named portfolio companies include Quarero Robotics, Karyali Group, Knowingo, Datatronics, and OpenSpring. All operate today; none was wound down.
The pattern is consistent. We acquire distressed equity perimeters, recapitalise where necessary, install or retain operating leadership, and integrate the asset into our existing platform. Multi-year holds are the rule. The two distressed acquisitions DACH-wide that we have already exited returned capital to a strategic acquirer at multiples that reflected operational repair, not financial engineering. For more on our hold philosophy see profile and portfolio.
Submit a situation
If the perimeter is distressed, send it. We respond in writing within 72 hours.
Confidential. No retainers. We work alongside existing restructuring counsel and CROs. NDA on request before data exchange.
Methodology
How we underwrite stressed perimeters.
Methodology →Platform Logic
Why post-closing integration matters more than entry multiple.
Platform →