UNICEPTA starts next growth phase with new majority shareholder

UNICEPTA enters the next phase of its growth with a new strong partner: Paragon Partners, a Munich-based investment company, is the new majority shareholder in one of the world's most innovative media intelligence companies.

“With absolute customer orientation and a genuine love of innovation, we have become the market leader in Germany and a very strong international supplier. We intend to consistently continue along this path. We are delighted to have gained a prestigious partner in Paragon Partners who shares our vision and strategy”, said Georg Stahl, managing partner of UNICEPTA.

“The market for media intelligence is entering another exciting phase because of the increasing digitization and internationalization. We see very good opportunities for us to make our customers more attractive and better offers, especially under these circumstances. This requires further investment. At the same time, we want to remain independent and act entrepreneurially. This is why the management team continues to have a direct stake in the company and steers strategy and business," said Claas Sandrock, Managing Partner of UNICEPTA.

“In recent years, UNICEPTA has greatly expanded and digitalized its range of products and services, thereby continuously increasing customer benefits. This is documented by the satisfied and very loyal customers from the DAX and medium-sized companies. With Paragon's investment, UNICEPTA will work to make its media monitoring and analysis services even more relevant to strategic communications”, said Mario Sabljo, Principal at Paragon. 

“Decision-makers in business, politics and public institutions need reliable information about their perception in media and social networks. We invest in the successful work of UNICEPTA, so that it can win further customers in Germany and internationally. We look forward to working with the management team in a spirit of trust," said Dr. Krischan von Moeller, Founding Partner of Paragon.

Paragon will take the place of the previous group of shareholders around Ippen Media Group and Hartmut Ostrowski, the former CEO of Bertelsmann SE. Georg Stahl: "It has always been a very constructive and open-minded colaboration, which has also been demonstrated by the smooth transition to Paragon. We want to thank our former investors for the very good cooperation." The transaction was advised on legal matters by Pöllath + Partners and William Blair acted as M&A advisor.

UNICEPTA has grown at an annual rate of 18 percent in sales over the last ten years, is the market leader for media intelligence in Germany and the fastest growing full-service provider in Europe. In the 2016/17 financial year, sales amounted to around 32 million euros. UNICEPTA offers media monitoring, analytics & insights and consulting services. The company works for around 300 clients, including two-thirds of the DAX companies and numerous other multinationals. UNICEPTA is also one of the leading providers of so-called newsroom solutions for corporate communications in Germany.