Buyers and Builders
00:29:13 · Felix Jander
[00:29:13] S1: Yeah, it's tough. It was very tough. Because I mean we're in the midst of negotiations potentially it's a deal killer, right? If the founding team splits up like right in the middle of negotiating in SHA. I see that. Alex and I we communicated very transparently the reasons with all our shareholders. First we decided, then we wrote an email explaining it, and then the next day we called every shareholder or potential shareholder together and explained the situation and why I would stay, why he would drop out and at which terms. So we kind of didn't even negotiate. We just said, look, this is the terms. And then some of them like one or two said, oh, this is a little hot to me. I'm out. But most of them stayed. And so we filled up the funding with people that we had in our waiting list and so it was okay so to say. We're also lucky or it was the right timing in terms of fundraising. I don't know but maybe it was also the communication. Then Alex stayed for I think three more months to have like a smooth handover and Alex and I and Patrick we together got to know those candidates. So what was really important to me with those candidates is that it's a profile that complements me. Meaning what I'm good at is I can go out, can do sales, I can talk to someone, and I needed someone who is more rigid in terms of processes, who's more rigid when it comes to analytics, and so on, who's also more diligent than I am. That's in the end why we decided for Stefan because he had some previous M and A experience. He was at a later stage VC and he was a truly diligent analytic person but also a very good entrepreneur. So we actually didn't do interviews. Did just like one day working together. So we invited those three people and we said, look, let's sit down together for one day and work and then see how it goes. And in the evening we had a dinner with our girlfriends and wives. Yeah. So to also get a feeling for if that would like offer, if it would work on a personal level and and yeah, that's that's how it went. And then we decided for Stefan. I still remember that Patrick said, look, I mean, others are good as well, but Stefan's the only entrepreneur. And that's in the end why we
00:31:44 · Mikk, Felix Jander
[00:31:44] S0: Was there anything else which why the other candidates weren't a good fit or just the fact that Stefan had this entrepreneurial? [00:31:51] S1: Yeah, I mean, was the best entrepreneur and it turned out to be true. Yeah. And he still is. Yeah, obviously. [00:31:57] S0: Okay. So now where we are. We are you mentioned recently 15 companies, three fifty employees. [00:32:06] S1: There was roughly the point in 2024 when we started the process which ended up in selling some shares to Warburg Pincus. [00:32:16] S0: Was the... I've learned recently that great companies are bought not sold so I guess they reached out to you? [00:32:27] S1: Yes actually both. Yeah so fun story. We reached out to a company that was a company of the investment of Warburg's investment director's parents. And that's how we got to know Warburg Pincus already, I think in 2021 or 2022. And back then he he told us, ah, look, this is way too small for us. Very cool what you're doing, but not interesting for us. And then two years later we talked back and suddenly we were large enough for a potential deal. And then we also initiated a broader process. So yes it was sold in a way. So we had an investment bank. We spoke to many parties, but in the end it turned out to be Warburg Pincus, which we already had a relation to from back in the days. So both.
00:32:27 · Felix Jander, Mikk
[00:32:27] S1: Yes actually both. Yeah so fun story. We reached out to a company that was a company of the investment of Warburg's investment director's parents. And that's how we got to know Warburg Pincus already, I think in 2021 or 2022. And back then he he told us, ah, look, this is way too small for us. Very cool what you're doing, but not interesting for us. And then two years later we talked back and suddenly we were large enough for a potential deal. And then we also initiated a broader process. So yes it was sold in a way. So we had an investment bank. We spoke to many parties, but in the end it turned out to be Warburg Pincus, which we already had a relation to from back in the days. So both. [00:33:16] S0: Not too many people have this experience of selling to PE, rolling equity. What changed? Like it's 2026 now, you've been doing that together for two, two and a half years. How much can you share? Like how much has been changed when it comes to all things getting better?
00:33:31 · Felix Jander
[00:33:31] S1: It's a different scale and it's also a different level of professionalism, right? I told you back in the days we were like 20 people in the holding. That's still a very small team. Even though we were in total in the organization we were like three fifty to 400 people back in the days but it was still a little start up so to say yeah when it comes to the people and also the culture and the feeling and now together with Warburg it developed into a true corporate company in a very positive meaning yeah so It has clear processes, it has a central brand, it has a management structure that we started setting up back then but now you have like regional offices in place in every region and there's very clear P and L responsibilities and so on so forth. And that's just mentioning some examples which you can do across all dimensions. Also when it comes to operations there is Medigene, the software that we jointly developed further that we're now digitizing all processes in the subsidiaries so in the local offices with and yeah so so I think it's it's it was the right time to do it obviously every time when you do such a process in hindsight you think how we might have maybe we should have waited for six or twelve more months. Yeah? Then we could have done this in this acquisition and then done the process. Yeah? But in the end, I think it's good because you need to also leave some value creation for the next, and and Warburg needs to leave some value creation for the potential next investor. So it only is a success story when everyone has his own success story so to say. And I think so far it goes very well. As you mentioned earlier now it's a company with 1,100 employees. We're one of the market leaders in occupational health and related services in Germany. And that's pretty impressive when you think it's just five years ago that we started. Yeah.
00:35:23 · Mikk
[00:35:23] S0: What comes to mind if I say a word resources like before and after selling a BE firm? What changed when you when you feel going to the office, maybe reaching out to some banks or some people? And now you have those guys with you and previously it was just you and your smaller firm.
00:35:43 · Felix Jander
[00:35:43] S1: Sure, sure. I mean, just to put it into right perspective, right? I mean, was I was working together with Warburg for like nine more months, so to say. But then as of beginning twenty five, I'm only a board member, right? So as I'm not operational anymore. But back from the days that I was working personally with Warburg Pincus, I felt it was very inspiring. So I was sparring a lot with Dirk, Dirk Wessner. He's a former chairman of Compu Group or a CEO, sorry. And he's now the chairman of the Arsipa board. And he also was a member of the board of directors at Deutsche Telekom. So he's a senior very experienced guy. Which was new for me as an entrepreneur to work with someone like this very personal on a day to day basis so to say. I like to have the sparring and I think you make some bolder decisions when it comes to putting strings because you also need to because it's a different scale there's a lot more money at stake yeah so you need to be bold in your decisions. So we did larger acquisitions. We did some very bold move when it comes to going into that software play and enrolling out that software and automating processes and the likes. Yeah, so that's that's I think what changed for me that you that you work more professional, that you take some different decisions, that you spar with different people. But in the end, it's still the same people on the ground. The nurses and the doctors, those haven't changed much. And I think it's also important for the future of Arsipa that we keep that in mind. That we keep in mind, it's still a group of companies from its origin. A heritage from its origin. So there has been this one founder in Hillersheim who started that company twenty years back in time. Somewhat this still needs to be part of the DNA of Arsipa while it still is a good thing that it's becoming a corporate company. It's the right way we're going there and as long as we keep these two things in mind it's going perfectly well.