04.09.2024

Luther supports private equity investor Oakley Capital in the merger of Webcentral with World Host Group

In 2023, private equity investor Oakley had already invested in the digital service provider Webcentral, which is successful in its core markets in Australia and New Zealand. The merger of Webcentral with the internationally active World Host Group (WHG), which was accompanied by Luther, has now created an international hosting provider that offers services such as domains, hosting and e-mail from a single source in 181 countries.

The World Host Group was founded in 2023 with the aim of creating a scalable and internationally active hosting company. As part of its growth, World Host Group built its own infrastructure and developed software that is independent of location or network. This has created teams around the world that provide a 24-hour service for their customers.

Oakley re-invested in this project alongside successful hosting entrepreneurs Jochen Berger and Tom Strohe, with the aim of working with partners to increase market share in the growing global hosting market.

Luther advised Oakley on the buyer side of the transaction in connection with the legal structuring, the drafting of the purchase agreement and other transaction-related issues as well as the legal due diligence.

Team Luther Germany: Dr. Gregor Wecker, (Partner, M&A Köln), Philipp Dietz, LL.M., (Partner, M&A Köln) (both project management), Falco Rohberg, LL.M. (Senior Associate, M&A Köln), Leon C. Schmitter, LL.M. (Associate, M&A Köln), Dr. Marc Peters, LL.M. oec. (Counsel, M&A Köln); Nicole Fröhlich (Partner, Tax Frankfurt); Felix Schill, LL.M. (Counsel, Tax Frankfurt), Esma Koc-Agca (Tax Frankfurt), Sebastian Neidinger (Tax Frankfurt), Dr. Sebastian Felix Janka, LL.M. (Partner, ACR München), Melina Rohrbach (ACR München), Alexandra Riester (Associate, ACR München).

Team Luther Luxemburg: Robert Goerend (Partner, M&A), Yann Spiegelhalter (Counsel, M&A), Pierre-Emmanuel Kouadio-Tiacoh (Associate, M&A), Dr. Daniel Krauspenhaar (Partner, Capital Markets & Banking), Stefanie Samosny (Managing Associate, Capital Markets & Banking).

About Oakley Capital
Oakley Capital is a pan-European private equity investment firm founded in 2002. Oakley partners with outstanding mid-market companies in the core sectors of technology, consumer and education.

About Webcentral and the World Host Group
The combined company of Webcentral and WHG operates in 181 countries and is a one-stop shop for domain, hosting and email services.