DORDA, led by Christian Ritschka
(Partner, M&A), together with Kirkland & Ellis, advised the
Boston-based growth equity fund Guidepost as lead investor in the
acquisition of an interest in Austrian tractive GmbH. With a total
investment of $35 million, this is one of the largest investment rounds
in the Austrian startup market in the last months.
Tractive was founded in 2012 in Austria with the goal of preventing
pets from getting lost. The company specializes in the development of
GPS trackers for cats and dogs. The investment will be used to expand
the existing market leadership in Europe and for further market
development. This highlights tractive's course towards the US, which is
envisaged to develop into the company's largest single market in the
course of 2021.
Christian Ritschka comments: "We are pleased to have supported
Guidepost on such a significant investment in an Austrian start-up, thus
allowing tractive to continue their successful journey."
Guidepost Growth Equity is a leading growth equity firm that partners
with growth-stage technology companies providing innovative solutions
in large, dynamic markets – including tech-enabled services,
infrastructure software and services, and application software and data
services.
The DORDA team led by Christian Ritschka was further composed of Mike
Schaunig (Associate, M&A), Bernhard Rieder (Partner, Corporate),
Tibor Varga (Partner, Banking & Finance), Nino Tlapak (Partner
IP/IT, Data Protection), Bernhard Heinzl (Attorney, IP/IT), Elisabeth
König (Associate, Telecom), Lisa Kulmer (Associate, Employment), Günther
Posch (Associate, Employment), Michael Hardt (Associate, IP/IT, Data
Protection), and Anneliese Keinrath (Associate, Banking & Finance).
The Kirkland & Ellis team (Lead Counsel) was led by Christian A.
Atwood (Partner, M&A, Boston) with support from the Munich team,
Mark Aschenbrenner (Partner, M&A) and Samuel Frommelt (Associate,
M&A).