Management buyout at ppi Media – full steam ahead into the future

Manuel Scheyda Hauke Berndt von ppi Media vor dem HDW Kran

On January 1, 2019, managing directors Dr. Hauke Berndt and Manuel Scheyda together with the strategic investor Alexander Eck have taken over ppi Media GmbH as part of a management buyout.

January 2, 2019. With the management buyout, ppi Media is separating from the Eversfrank Group, which acquired the company from manroland AG in 2012, and will in future focus on its own core business. The software company with over 100 employees at its locations in Kiel, Hamburg and Chicago sells integrated software solutions. The solutions ranging from cross-media editorial systems to entire publishing workflows are distributed in more than 20 countries for customers who belong to the “who-is-who” of the international media industry.

The buyout enables ppi Media to focus its digital solutions on the challenges of the media industry. “We will invest even more specifically in products and markets that will strengthen and expand ppi Media’s position in the publishing industry in the long term,” says Managing Director Dr. Berndt.

“The decision to take the helm at ppi Media was an easy one. We are optimally positioned in a media environment characterized by innovation and change,” says Manuel Scheyda.

In addition to the two managing directors, who together hold most of the shares, the strategic investor and IT entrepreneur Alexander Eck will become a shareholder of ppi Media GmbH and will advise the management on strategic issues. “The team’s high level of competence, the excellent customer base and the cultural change a MBO can bring about opens up excellent opportunities for the future,” says Eck, explaining his commitment.

About Dr. Hauke Berndt

Dr. Hauke Berndt has worked for ppi Media since 2002. After working as a customer consultant and account manager for many customers in Germany and abroad, he moved to the new customer sales department in 2008, which he headed since 2012. In 2016, Hauke Berndt joined the management board and has been responsible for customer projects, sales and business innovation since then. He was in charge of the product development of ppi Media software for magazine production and corporate publishing and lastingly established the company in these markets.

About Manuel Scheyda

Manuel Scheyda has been with ppi Media for over 20 years. After starting his career at p.ink software engineering GmbH, he moved to ppi Media in 1997, where he was responsible, among other things, for setting up the support department. He later became head of product and innovation management. Since 2016, he has headed the Business Innovation division, which forms the basis for ppi Media’s dynamic businesses in the future.

About Alexander Eck

Alexander Eck advises technology-oriented companies on strategic issues and M&A transactions and is involved in various companies as a strategic partner. Already during his studies he founded his first company, eCONNEX AG, a market leader for CRM solutions, which was taken over in 2011 by a subsidiary of the US-American IT strategy consultant Accenture.