Haufe Group SE, the leading B2B provider of integrated business and workplace solutions, plans to sell its Umantis talent management to the Swiss software company Abacus Research AG. A corresponding preliminary contract has been signed. The talent management solution, an essential part of the Haufe-umantis portfolio, is to be integrated into the software architecture of Abacus Research AG and expanded especially for mid-sized companies.
With the sale of its talent management business and thus also its subsidiary Haufe-umantis AG including umantis Deutschland GmbH, Haufe Group SE is sharpening its portfolio and adapting it to changing market conditions. The market segment to which the talent management business belongs has been characterised by steadily growing momentum in recent years, and is now essentially shaped by large corporations, specialised tech players and financially strong start-ups that also offer talent management solutions as part of comprehensive software suites and ERP suites. Concurrently, the talent management solution, originally planned as a software-based extension of the portfolio, did not achieve the expected synergies with the core business within Haufe Group SE. Negotiations between the two companies are well advanced. A preliminary contract was signed at the beginning of April and the sale is scheduled to be completed by the middle of the year. With this development, Abacus Research AG aims to also expand in the German and Austrian markets.
Haufe Group SE has been successful for several decades with its corporate service solutions in the HR segment. As a leading B2B provider of corporate services, the company is pursuing a consistent course of growth and will also further expand its extensive portfolio in the HR segment, both in the area of Content, Learning and Development and in terms of specific software solutions. Company turnover grew by 16% to 436 million euros in the last business year alone.
Birte Hackenjos, CEO of Haufe Group SE: “Abacus is our preferred partner”
The Swiss ERP software company Abacus Research AG prevailed over other interested parties as a strategic investor for various reasons, but also because Abacus Research AG specifically wants to expand the German as well as the Austrian market in the long term with the acquisition of Umantis Talent Management. Abacus Research AG is able to integrate the software solution of the classic talent management business efficiently into its existing portfolio, thus also offering Umantis customers a future-oriented solution. The decisive factor for the sale to Abacus Research AG was also the corporate culture of the owner-managed company, which is very similar to the corporate culture of Haufe Group SE. Birte Hackenjos, CEO of Haufe Group SE, attaches particular importance to this point: “It was important for us to find a buyer that not only has the necessary technical and customer-related prerequisites, but also promotes a culture that suits those employees who will switch to a new employer in the course of the sale. In the discussions it therefore quickly became clear that Abacus Research AG was our partner of choice.”
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