General Atlantic has moved its German operation from Düsseldorf to Munich, it said in a statement. The office will be led by principal Jörn Nikolay.
The Düsseldorf office, which will now be shut, opened in 2000 to support portfolio companies in the region. A spokesperson told Private Equity International: “As General Atlantic continues its operation in Europe it feels Munich is a more suitable location as it is a larger business hub and has a strong entrepreneurial eco-system.”
John Bernstein, a managing director of General Atlantic and head of its European business, said in a statement: “Munich’s standing as a major hub for growth businesses in Germany, with many excellent universities in an economically vibrant region, makes it a smart location from which to support our current German and European investment program.”
Last month, General Atlantic joined forces with German multimedia company Axel Springer to acquire German Internet company allesklar.com. The deal was done by Axel Springer Digital Classifieds, a €1.25 billion joint venture between General Atlantic and Axel Springer which was established in March 2012.
GA’s other recent European investments include: FNZ, an Edinburgh-based provider of technology and administration services, Klarna, a pan-European ecommerce payment platform based in Sweden and Studio Moderna, a direct-to-consumer market services company in Central and Eastern Europe.
Jörn Nikolay commented in the statement: “In spite of challenging economic conditions in Europe we continue to find excellent growth companies in Germany and across Europe with which GA can invest and partner to achieve their global growth objectives. We feel that our long term investment horizon coupled with our experience as a minority investor resonates especially well in Germany.”
General Atlantic currently has €14 billion in capital under management. The firm invests globally about €1.5 billion annually in growth equity capital in the range of €40 million to €400 million.
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