Neubeuern/Karlsruhe — ORCA Software GmbH (“ORCA”), based in Neubeuern and a leading software company in the construction industry, is undergoing a change of ownership. The founder and sole shareholder of ORCA Software GmbH and its sister company ORCA-online GmbH, Heinz Nießen, has sold all of his shares indirectly to funds managed by LEA Partners (“LEA”) for reasons of age.
Heinz Nießen, founder and sole shareholder of ORCA Software GmbH and ORCA-online GmbH, is selling all his shares for reasons of age. Together with the LEA portfolio companies PROJEKT PRO and SOFTTECH, ORCA will significantly advance the market leadership in the DACH region for commercial construction software and accelerate the digitalization of the construction industry. The total of 15,000 customers will benefit in future from the unique expertise of over 250 employees to further increase their economic and planning success
“In LEA, we have found a strong, reliable partner to lead the ORCA Group into the future. Of course, it’s difficult when you hand over your life’s work to new hands,” says Heinz Nießen, who will also be stepping down as Managing Director, “but the LEA team is the perfect fit, both personally and professionally, to give ORCA the right impetus to continue the impressive growth trajectory of recent years with the entire team.”
LEA plans to continue the company at the Neubeuern site with the existing management team. The purchase agreement, the terms of which the parties have agreed not to disclose, is to be completed by the end of August at the latest.
The remaining Managing Director, Manfred Scholz, adds: “We are delighted for our entire team and our customers that LEA has a long-term approach to establishing ORCA even more strongly as a premium brand in the construction software sector and to continuously improve our portfolio of products and services.”
Together with the existing LEA portfolio companies in the construction software sector, PROJEKT PRO (project management and controlling software) and SOFTTECH (AVA and visualization software), ORCA will be able to drive forward the expansion of its market leadership in the DACH region for commercial construction software and accelerate digitalization. In future, the companies will be able to combine their expertise in commercial solutions and visualization software to make the construction industry more efficient and innovative. In future, customers will benefit from the unique expertise of over 250 employees to further increase their economic and planning success.
Nils Berger, LEA Partners: “The digitalization of the construction industry is one of the most exciting and biggest tasks that LEA Partners has been passionate about for years. With over 30 years of experience as a market leader in the AVA sector, ORCA is another important building block in achieving this goal of an absolute market leader. By working together with PROJEKT PRO and SOFTTECH, we can expand and optimize our software product offering for the customer groups. We are delighted to be able to accompany the ORCA team on their future path as a sparring partner and investor.”
About ORCA Software GmbH
Founded in 1990, ORCA Software GmbH is a leading software company in the construction industry. Over 110 employees work at the Neubeuern site near Rosenheim. The ORCA AVA and AUSSCHREIBEN.DE product brands primarily support architects, engineers, specialist planners and product manufacturers with intuitive tools that offer optimum data quality and planning reliability. As a well-connected partner, ORCA actively promotes the topics of BIM, digitalization and sustainability in the construction industry. Further information can be found at www.orca-software.com.
About LEA Partners
LEA Partners, as an entrepreneurial equity partner, supports founders and management teams at different stages of development in their growth and achievement of a leading market position. With a 30+ team in Karlsruhe, one of Europe’s largest technology clusters, LEA has managed investments in more than 70 technology companies since 2002. More at www.leapartners.de