Investcorp to sell software vendor Contentserv for $229m

Trade Arabia

25-02-2025

Investcorp, a leading global alternative investment firm, has announced that it has reached an agreement with US-based Centric Software for the sale of its majority stake in Contentserv, a leading provider of AI-fueled Product Information Management (PIM) and Product Experience Management (PXM) solutions.
A Silicon Valley–based software company headquartered in California, the Centric Software is a subsidiary of French multinational software group Dassault Systèmes.
Headquartered in Germany, Contentserv enables fast-moving consumer goods and other companies to create and manage product content intuitively and effectively by means of AI to optimize consumer experiences across all digital sales channels.
With Contentserv solutions, retailers, brands and manufacturers are able to execute strategies such as more or simply better product offers, regions and sales channels for increased product sell-through.
Contentserv users have reported ROI such as a 30% reduction in time to market, 70% faster catalogue creation, 75% more accurate product information and increased sales channel coverage in more languages.
Since Investcorp's acquisition in 2019, the company has grown its recurring revenues approximately sixfold and today serves over 1,600 customers in 90 countries globally.
In 2023, Contentserv completed the strategic add-on acquisition of Shoppingfeed in France, which significantly bolstered its European presence and expanded its product capabilities into the complementary feed management category, which has been very well received throughout its customer base.
Yusef Al Yusef, Global Head of Distribution, Investcorp, said it has extensive experience in supporting technology businesses in Europe and across other key markets.
"Contentserv is a dynamic business which has seen robust growth, becoming a leader of AI-fueled PIM and PXM solutions and we look forward to seeing their progress in the future. In the technology sector, we continue to see substantial opportunities to support promising companies in accelerating their growth," he noted.
Georg Knoflach, Managing Director, Investcorp, said: "Our investment in Contentserv builds on a tradition of supporting fast-growing technology businesses in the DACH region, to accelerate growth, internationalize and expand into new product categories, both organically as well as through M&A."
"Over the last five years Contentserv has grown rapidly and developed a market leading product offering, and we are delighted to see it well prepared for its next chapter with Centric Software," he added.
Contentserv CEO Michael Kugler said: "Investcorp has been a wonderful partner for our growth over the last five years, helping us to continue our international expansion, to where we now stand as a global company."
"Thanks to their support, we feel like we are in a stronger position as we join Centric Software, to double down on our product strategy and continue to the next, exciting chapter of Contentserv," he stated.
Bahrain-based Investcorp is a global investment manager specializing in alternative investments across four asset classes: private equity, real assets, Credit (CLOs, Broadly Syndicated Loans & Structured Credit, and Middle-Market Direct Lending), and Liquid Strategies (Absolute Return Investments and Insurance Asset Management).
It has a long history of investing in and supporting technology-enabled businesses, with notable investments including VEDA, NetRom Software, Zift Solutions and HWG Sababa.
The sale of Contentserv follows previous successful exits in other DACH headquartered software companies, including Avira (sold to NortonLifelock) and Softgarden (sold to Grupa Pracuj).