Austria: Schoenherr advises Verdane fund on its partnership with Cropster

"We are grateful for the opportunity to have supported Verdane once again in an important transaction on the Austrian market" said partner Thomas Kulnigg, who led the Schoenherr team. "This transaction underscores our dedication to facilitating the growth of technology companies. Cropster's innovative software platform is revolutionising the coffee industry, and we are excited to contribute alongside Verdane to Cropster's journey towards enhancing quality, efficiency, and sustainability across the entire value chain."

"It was our great pleasure to support the client through the complexities of this transaction and to have played a role in their strategic growth partnership within the Austrian market," said attorney at law Niklas Kerschbaumer.

Verdane is a specialist growth investment firm that partners with tech-enabled and sustainable European businesses. It can invest as a minority or majority investor, either in single companies or through portfolios of companies, and looks to deploy inside two core growth themes: digitalisation and decarbonisation. Verdane funds hold over EUR 7.7bln in total commitments and have made over 400 investments in fast-growing businesses since 2003. Verdane's team of over 140 investment professionals and operating experts, based out of Berlin, Munich, Copenhagen, Helsinki, London, Oslo and Stockholm, is dedicated to being the preferred growth partner for tech-enabled and sustainable businesses in Europe. The firm is also a certified B Corporation, the most ambitious sustainability accreditation globally. It only backs businesses that pass its 2040 test, which indicates whether the company can thrive in a more sustainable future economy. Verdane is partly owned by the Verdane Foundation, which is focused on two areas: climate change and more equitable and inclusive local communities.

Founded in 2008, Cropster has developed a software platform for the coffee industry and was previously two-thirds owned by the founders. Cropster is aimed at the entire value chain in the coffee industry, i.e. producers, traders and processors. The platform offers several integrated tools as well as real-time data analysis to help customers "sustainably improve quality, consistency, efficiency and profitability". 

The Schoenherr team advising Verdane was led by Thomas Kulnigg (partner) and Niklas Kerschbaumer (attorney at law), and further consisted of Dina Mutevelic (associate), Alexander Pabst (attorney at law), Florian Terharen (associate), Clemens Rainer (partner), Yvonne Kraudinger (associate), Teresa Waidmann (partner), Hanna Elisabeth Kirschner (associate), Constantin Maras (associate), Marco Thorbauer (partner) and Stefan Egger (associate).

Schoenherr acted as counsel advising Verdane alongside McDermott Will & Emery (Munich), which consisted of Hanno Witt (partner), Nicole Kaps (associate) and Marion Dalvai-König (associate) and Latham & Watkins (Munich), which consisted of Stefan Süss (partner) and Johannes Lieb (associate).

Cropster was advised by attorney at law Robert Benedikt and M&A advisor Everstride (Bernhard Trösch and Xavier Panchard).