Watson Farley & Williams (“WFW”) advised funds managed by Alpina Capital Partners LLP (‘’Alpina Partners’’) on the acquisition of a majority interest in Objective International NV (“Objective”), a well-established specialist in the process and discrete manufacturing execution system (“MES”) and warehouse management system (“WMS”) sector. Objective is a new addition to Germanedge, Alpina Partners’ buy-and-build strategy in the MES space.
Objective was founded in 1996 and developed into a leading provider of shop floor and warehouse floor IT solutions. Objective’s software solution combines a comprehensive MES & WMS software for the process and discrete manufacturing industry. Customers include leading mid-sized to global food and beverage companies as well as metal processing and machine assembly companies. So called ‘industry vertical solutions’ support best practices in different specific industry sectors such as dairy, industrial bakery, fresh and frozen fruit and vegetables, plastics processing, electronics, and original equipment manufacturer. Objective has approx. 80 employees, primarily operating out of its headquarters in Wichelen, Belgium, and Eindhoven, Netherlands.
Alpina Partners is an owner-managed, independent technology investment firm with approximately €300m in assets under management. The firm focusses on small and mid-sized businesses in Europe with strong technical USPs. Alpina Partners supports entrepreneurs and management teams to implement its growth strategies and is supported by the European Union through its “Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Programme” (CIP).
The WFW Munich Corporate team advising Alpina Partners was led by Partner Dr Dirk Janssen. He was supported by Partner Dr Simon Preisenberger, Senior Associate Marian Peter Wieczorke and Associate Silvia Rava. The Belgian law firm ASTREA acted as local counsel.
