The international legal practice Osborne Clarke has advised the two managing directors and their holding company as shareholders of VOCANTO GmbH, a leading e-learning platform for vocational education, on the sale to Bertelsmann Investments.
VOCANTO offers innovative e-learning solutions for commercial and technical vocational training professions. The platform combines practical learning with modern technology and supports companies in attracting, training and retaining future professionals.
The company has now been acquired by Bertelsmann Investments (BI) and integrated into the portfolio company EMBRACE, which is part of the Bertelsmann Next division. Bertelsmann Next focuses on future topics such as Digital Health, Pharma Tech, Mobile Ad Tech, and HR Tech. In recent years, BI has significantly expanded EMBRACE through the acquisitions of the German HR solutions provider Milch & Zucker and Studyflix, the largest career platform for students in the German-speaking region.
Stephan Hansen and Johannes Schulte, Co-CEOs of VOCANTO: “We are passionate fans and advocates of dual vocational training. We are convinced that we can give even more strength and assertiveness to this passion within the EMBRACE family.”
The Osborne Clarke team advising the VOCANTO shareholder, led by Dr Björn Hürten, included Julian Baldus, Efthimios Detsikas, Charlotte Raszawitz, Anne Müller, Dr Patrick Stadtbäumer (all Corporate / M&A), Florian Merkle, Tim Florian Metzmeier, Patrick Seiler (all Tax), Konstantin Ewald (IT), Dr Sebastian Hack, Marco Aatz, Manuel Schuster (all Antitrust), Thomas Schnabel, Maria Bibik, Sarah Gräfer (all Real Estate) and Marc-Philipp Lücke (Disputes & Risk).
The co-shareholder was legally advised by Ferdinand von Wrede (Mazars), the buyer was legally advised by Denise Abel (Bertelsmann – Legal Department) and Andreas von Oppen (Greenfort).
Corporate communications and press contacts
Connect with one of our experts
