Tübin­gen - SHS Gesell­schaft für Betei­li­gungs­ma­nage­ment has recei­ved capi­tal commit­ments of more than EUR 90 million for its now fifth fund at the so-called “first closing”. The Tübin­gen-based medi­cal tech­no­logy inves­tor has thus reached almost two-thirds of its target of 150 million euros faster than expected.

The fifth gene­ra­tion of SHS funds also targets the life scien­ces and medi­cal tech­no­logy sectors and thus the globally growing health­care market with inno­va­tive and strong compa­nies, espe­ci­ally in Germany and Switz­er­land. 12–15 enga­ge­ments are plan­ned. With the “first closing”, fund compa­nies complete an initial capi­tal coll­ec­tion phase — usually when half of the total target volume has been reached. With the formal comple­tion of this first phase, the capi­tal coll­ec­ted can alre­ady be inves­ted in compa­nies. Inves­tors can still parti­ci­pate in SHS V until the “final closing”. Around half of the inves­tors in SHS V had alre­ady parti­ci­pa­ted in the Tübin­gen-based company’s prede­ces­sor funds.

SHS attri­bu­tes the strong demand from insti­tu­tio­nal inves­tors and family offices to its posi­tio­ning as a sector specia­list. “We would like to thank the inves­tors for their trust. For 25 years on the market, we have focu­sed on invest­ments in compa­nies from the medi­cal tech­no­logy and diagno­stics sectors. We have built up a great deal of indus­try expe­ri­ence and trust, and also have the neces­sary intui­tion for feasi­ble inno­va­tions. Our port­fo­lio compa­nies can build on an estab­lished network of indus­try experts, health insu­r­ers and medi­cal opinion leaders. In addi­tion, we support the compa­nies’ value deve­lo­p­ment with inter­na­tio­na­liza­tion know-how as well as exper­tise in reim­bur­se­ment and regu­la­tory issues and in initia­ting stra­te­gic part­ner­ships,” says Huber­tus Leon­hardt, SHS part­ner and mana­ging direc­tor respon­si­ble for fundraising.

Focus on expan­sion finan­cing and corpo­rate successions
Mini­mally inva­sive surgi­cal proce­du­res, robo­tics-supported forms of therapy and digi­tal solu­ti­ons for the health­care sector are seen as parti­cu­larly inno­va­tive and fast-growing fields in Tübin­gen. Indus­trial exper­tise, the avai­la­bi­lity of well-trai­ned engi­neers, and above all the close links between the univer­sity and rese­arch land­scape and indus­try have crea­ted a good climate in the indus­try in Germany and Switzerland.

“We alre­ady see a large number of fast-growing health­care compa­nies, both young and estab­lished, in which our fifth fund could invest. Tigh­ter regu­la­tion and high pres­sure to inno­vate and inter­na­tio­na­lize are leading to incre­asing demand for capi­tal in the sector. The incre­asing comple­xity of the health­care market is driving concen­tra­tion proces­ses. In addi­tion, some compa­nies are strugg­ling to ensure a successful hando­ver to the next gene­ra­tion. As an expe­ri­en­ced part­ner, we can provide compa­nies with targe­ted and compe­tent support here,” says Leonhardt.

Accor­ding to SHS, the maxi­mum invest­ment amount of the fifth fund per invest­ment is 30 million euros. Toge­ther with coope­ra­tion part­ners, equity tran­sac­tions of up to EUR 60 million can be carried out. Majo­rity and mino­rity share­hol­dings are possi­ble. The focus is on expan­sion and inno­va­tion finan­cing, succes­sion situa­tions and share­hol­der chan­ges. SHS is expan­ding its previous coun­try focus on Germany, Austria and Switz­er­land to include Scan­di­na­via and the Bene­lux count­ries. SHS had contri­bu­ted capi­tal, many years of exper­tise, market know­ledge and its network to the Fonds IV invest­ments — such as EIT, a 3D prin­ting specia­list for the ortho­pe­dics sector, the Austrian robo­tics company Tyro­mo­tion, which is active in the reha­bi­li­ta­tion sector, and the Swiss manu­fac­tu­rer of cardio­logy products SIS Medical.

With invest­ments from the SHS III fund, for exam­ple, the Bochum-based company phenox, which specia­li­zes in tech­no­lo­gies for the treat­ment of neuro­vas­cu­lar dise­a­ses, was successfully deve­lo­ped. SHS recently announ­ced the sale of its SHS III invest­ment AMW, a Warn­gau-based specia­list in drug deli­very systems, to an inter­na­tio­nal strategist.

About SHS Gesell­schaft für Betei­li­gungs­ma­nage­ment mbH
Tübin­gen-based SHS Gesell­schaft für Betei­li­gungs­ma­nage­ment invests in medi­cal tech­no­logy and life science compa­nies with a focus on expan­sion finan­cing, share­hol­der chan­ges and succes­sion situa­tions. In doing so, SHS enters into both mino­rity and majo­rity share­hol­dings. As an expe­ri­en­ced indus­try inves­tor, SHS, which was foun­ded in 1993, supports the growth of its port­fo­lio compa­nies through a network of colla­bo­ra­ti­ons, for exam­ple in the intro­duc­tion of new products, regu­la­tory issues or entry into addi­tio­nal markets.

German and inter­na­tio­nal inves­tors in SHS funds include the Euro­pean Invest­ment Fund, profes­sio­nal pension funds, pension funds, funds of funds, family offices, entre­pre­neurs and the SHS manage­ment team. The equity invest­ment of the AIFM-regis­tered company is up to 30 million euros. Tran­sac­tions in the mid double-digit million range can be imple­men­ted toge­ther with a network of co-inves­tors. Mana­ging part­ners at SHS are Rein­hilde Spat­scheck, Dr. Bern­hard Schirm­ers, Huber­tus Leon­hardt and Uwe Steinbacher.