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By Emma-Victoria Farr
FRANKFURT (Reuters) -U.S.-based private equity firm KKR has reached a deal with Frankfurt-listed Datagroup to buy the firm in an all-cash transaction that values it at about 450 million euros ($508 million), the IT services provider said on Tuesday.
Under the terms of the agreement - the latest in a flurry of acquisitions by the U.S. company - KKR will pay 54 euros for each Datagroup share held, representing a 33% premium on the company's last closing price of 40.75 euros.
Shares in Datagroup jumped around 31% on Wednesday on the news, with the stock at its highest since February 2024.
Datagroup will delist from the stock exchange once the purchase is settled, with closing expected in the third quarter of 2025, it said in a statement.
Company founder Max Schaber will retain joint control of Datagroup alongside KKR, the statement said, adding that the management and supervisory boards fully support KKR's offer, which is being made primarily through KKR's European Fund VI.
"This investment reflects our strong belief in the importance of digital infrastructure and in Datagroup's potential to lead the digitisation of German Mittelstand (mid-cap) companies and beyond," said Laura Schroeder, managing director at KKR.
KKR has completed a raft of recent deals despite tariff turmoil slowing the pace of dealmaking activity, announcing on Monday the acquisition of OSTTRA, a joint venture of S&P Global and CME Group in a $3.1 billion deal. Last week it also agreed to acquire E45-maker Karo Healthcare from Swedish private equity firm EQT .
Datagroup, which employs around 3,700 staff across Germany, projected in March that its annual revenue would increase to between 545 million euros and 565 million euros this year.
The deal between KKR and Datagroup was reported by Reuters on Tuesday and first reported by Bloomberg News.
ParkView Partners, Goldman Sachs and Hengeler Mueller advised KKR, while Lincoln International and Heuking advised Datagroup.
($1 = 0.8794 euros)
(Reporting by Emma-Victoria Farr in Frankfurt, Janaki Venugopalan and Rajveer Singh Pardesi in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta, Mohammed Safi Shamsi and Joe Bavier)
