BDO advised shareholders of GBTEC in the context of Main Capital Partners exit to Carlyle

BDO advised shareholders of GBTEC, a leading provider of business process management (BPM) software and GRC automation specialist, in the context of the sale of a majority stake to global investment firm Carlyle.
GBTEC’s founder Gregor Greinke will remain CEO and the largest private shareholder of GBTEC. Main Capital Partners to sell its majority stake in the company as part of the transaction.


A BDO team under the leadership of Matthias Meyer (M&A, Munich) and Thorsten Schumacher (BDO Legal, Dusseldorf) advised the founding shareholders Gregor Greinke and Marc-Oliver Stromberg as well as the extended GBTEC management team of GBTEC Software AG and affiliates (“GBTEC”) in the context of the sale of a majority stake of Main Capital Partners to Carlyle as M&A and Legal advisor. The deal was successfully closed on 22 December 2023.

GBTEC is a leading provider of SaaS software in the market segments of intelligent Business Process Management (iBPM), Digital Process Automation (DPA) and Process Governance, Risk and Compliance (GRC). The company is differentiated by its modern and user-friendly products, which are driven by no-code and low-code technologies, and its state-of-the-art product platform.

Carlyle will work with the GBTEC management team to further accelerate the company's international expansion and further develop its product portfolio, especially in the area of digital process automation. The company plans to make significant investments particularly in sales & marketing and artificial intelligence. Equity for the investment was provided by Carlyle Europe Technology Partners ("CETP") V, a €3 billion fund which invests in technology companies.

GBTEC’s founder and CEO Gregor Greinke will remain the largest private shareholder and CEO of GBTEC. As part of the transaction, co-founder Marc-Oliver Stromberg and the extended GBTEC management team are reinvesting and investing respectively for significant stakes in the company. Main Capital Partners, which has supported GBTEC as a specialised software investor since 2019, has sold its stake in GBTEC as part of the transaction. Main Capital Partners is a leading software investor with over €2.2 billion under management and an active portfolio of more than 40 software companies.

Gregor Greinke, founder and CEO of GBTEC, said: “It was a great pleasure to again work with the BDO team around Matthias Meyer and Thorsten Schumacher which has already advised us in 2019. As our trusted advisors we very much appreciate their collaborative work ethic and sound transaction advice. Their thorough yet pragmatic approach paired with their software industry expertise enabled us to get the deal done successfully.”

BDO’s deal advisory team composed of specialists from BDO’s Tech/Software M&A team and BDO Legal transaction advisory practice acted as M&A/financial and legal advisor on this deal.

BDO advisor team:

  • Matthias Meyer (BDO AG Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaft, M&A, Munich)
  • Thorsten Schumacher (BDO Legal Rechtsanwaltsgesellschaft mbH, Dusseldorf)
  • Dr. Marcel Fricke (BDO Legal Rechtsanwaltsgesellschaft mbH, Hamburg)
  • Miguel Pelayo (BDO Legal Spain, Barcelona)
  • Mariano Nunez Samper (BDO Legal Spain, Barcelona)