German identity verification startup IDnow has been acquired by New York-headquartered private equity firm, Corsair Capital, in an all-cash deal worth $295m (or €273m).
The deal — the biggest German fintech exit in recent years — is an encouraging sign for the the nation’s M&A market, which has been quiet since the highs of 2021 amid challenging economic conditions. According to a recent report from PwC, the number of deals fell 16% to 1,253 transactions, though the overall value of deals rose almost 10%.
Corsair, which previously acquired a minority stake of 43% in the startup in 2019, will now acquire 96% of the shares, a person close to the deal tells Sifted.
There will be a potential 20% earnout — additional payments made to the sellers based on the performance of the business sold — for the founders if future goals are met, the person said.
In 2024, the biggest tech exits were the €2.7bn acquisition of biotech company MorphoSys by Novartis — and the €1bn acquisition of Cardior Pharmaceuticals by Novo Nordisk, according to Dealroom data.
IDnow was founded in 2014 in Munich by Armin Berghaus, Sebastian Baerhold, Dennis von Ferenczy and Felix Haas. The latter is the founder of tech conference Bits&Pretzels and VC firm 10X founders and one of Germany’s most active angels.
Sifted understands that IDnow has been pushing for big growth in the last few years. In 2021, IDNow acquired German identity verification provider Trust Management AG and French equivalent ARIADNEXT, allowing it to expand into the French market and scoop up key customers. It has 900 customers worldwide.
Last year, the company made €79m in revenue and was profitable on an EBITDA basis, according to the company source.
Sifted approached Corsair Capital for comment.
Read the orginal article: https://sifted.eu/articles/idnow-295m-private-equity-deal/
