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Investors solving family-business successions
and helping companies thrive
Success through Succession
At Valerna, we provide succession solutions for family-owned businesses to help them grow faster, perform better, and reinforce the legacy of the current shareholder
We enable family business owners to monetise their interests, pass on their life’s work to a new generation of managers, and resolve any conflicts of interest among existing shareholders
We become a valued partner to companies that unlocks accelerated growth, augments their capabilities, and develops the talent within the firm to ensure the sustainability of its success
We invest to create lasting value by building great companies: we are a hands-on company builder that helps accelerate growth and unlocks operational potential
Partnering with us
For the next generation
Our unique, seller-focused approach spans across succession solutions for family-owned businesses
Unlike trade buyers, who prioritize cost synergies and short-term exits, or private equity firms that emphasize financial engineering and impose rigid deal structures, we provide flexible, tailored solutions and swift decision-making, and with the decision-makers always at the table
We are hands-on company builders
with a focus on growth
For peace of mind
In most cases, we expect to manage the CEO transition without becoming operators ourselves – but since every situation is different, we remain flexible in our approach
We also look to develop the senior management team from within the organisation, and our investment provides significant support, opportunity, and potential rewards for the broader team
For the best outcome
Our focused and flexible approach ensures professional, transparent, and creative win-win-focused negotiations. This enables sellers to separate from the business confidently while aligning with their specific needs
Our operational focus on single deals and our deep expertise enables us to seamlessly and smoothly work through management transitions from owner-operators and through transition agreements with corporate parents
What we look for
Attractive markets
We invest sectors that demonstrate promising long-term prospects and enjoy favourable market conditions. These sectors include business services, IT services, software, industrial technologies, and manufacturing businesses
Leveraging our extensive expertise and track record in these industries, we aim to enhance the growth trajectory of portfolio companies and unlock sustainable value
Strong businesses
We focus on businesses that provide products or services that customers require in good and bad times and that produce stable revenue streams from a well-diversified customer base
Businesses that excite us have long-standing relationships and a strong reputation among their customers, and instilling employee pride.
Often niche leaders, they excel through defendable advantages such as superior products, innovation, know-how, or cost-efficiency
We consider businesses from
€10m in annual revenues
Financial resilience
Financially, we prioritize control investments in companies with a consistent history of cash generation, favourable working capital dynamics that support accelerated growth, and a sustainable, well-invested cost structure (including accounting for owner-operator remuneration at replacement cost)
We avoid businesses with key-person risk, heavy capex needs, volatile historical performance, or earnings reliant on one-off effects, as well as single or multi-site leisure or retail ventures, franchisees, or fragmented sub-scale operations
About Us
We bring more than thirty years of experience investing
in and operating businesses in the European mid-market
Managing Partner
Markus Zejermann
Markus has been an investor in mid-market European Private Equity for over ten years. In this period, he has acquired, supported, and exited several businesses across Germany, Benelux, Spain, France, and UK. He has invested in excess of €400m in capital that created market-leading returns for investors.
In parallel, Markus has delivered in more than 10 years in board-level roles driving strategy delivery, team and capability building, and often the professionalization of the finance function. A key part of his role across boards was the recruiting of top management teams, including CEOs and CFOs.
Markus also brings the managers' perspective, having been an operating partner with The Gores Group and a management consultant with Bain & Company for the better part of a decade before focusing on deal-making. His expertise from that period encompasses corporate strategy, go-to-market performance, growth, and cost efficiency.
Managing Partner
Mirco Iwan
Mirco has spent more than 15 years in executive leadership roles, actively managing direct investments for private equity funds, family offices, and high-net-worth individuals across Germany, Spain, Italy, the Middle East, Northern Africa, and the US. In this time, he has built comprehensive M&A expertise and hands-on operating experience, guiding SMEs through acquisitions, integrations, and growth initiatives.
In parallel, Mirco has focused on operational value creation, steering special situations such as carve-outs, buy-and-build strategies, turnarounds, and exit processes. His leadership background includes multiple CEO mandates in industries ranging from chemicals and transportation to retail and FMCG.
Mirco also brings an academic perspective as a visiting lecturer in Corporate Strategy at ESADE Business School, and he is a Certified Turnaround Professional (CTP).
Our track record in the European Mid-market
>€400m
of capital successfully invested
>35 years
of experience investing in
and operating businesses
>10
businesses operationally and strategically improved
as C-level executives and shareholders
>10
transactions closed
as shareholders
Our Investment Reach
We have extensive experience of investing and operating across key European geographies, multiple sectors, and in expanding businesses internationally
We are particularly well-placed to help European companies deliver on their global ambitions and provide the experience needed to navigate cross-border expansion