Doubledigit and Carl merge

The M&A companies are bringing together their digital platforms and expertise. Together, the companies now want to increase their own sales through "mass & class".

M&A firms Doubledigit and Carl (formerly: Carl Finance) are merging, according to a report from Finance Forward reveals. Startup Carl was founded in 2016 with the goal of establishing an online marketplace for business succession. Doubledigit launched in 2018. Although the company is younger, it apparently brings a larger transaction volume to the deal. Of a combined €900 million in volume advised, Doubledigit accounts for about €600 million, according to the report.

M&A advisory is typically compensated in the form of contingency fees in the low single-digit percentage range. Both startups have a similar target group in this regard; they are looking for buyers for companies in the German Mittelstand.

Doubledigit and Carl now want to grow together in this market. Doubledigit serves customers "earlier, more intensively and with higher quality," says founder Daniel Schenk in an interview with Finance Forward. Carl, on the other hand, delivers "the mass" via the visible brand, proven online marketing and, according to its own information, more than 4,000 vendor inquiries annually.

Both brands are expected to remain. Formally, however, Carl will become a subsidiary of Doubledigit. Shareholders in the startup, such as Berlin-based Project A, will receive shares in the parent company. Nothing is known about sums and valuations of the deal. Carl founder Kurosch Daniel Habibi emphasizes that both companies are already profitable and the deal was made for tactical reasons. Habibi and co-founder Pascal Stichler will move to the advisory board after a transition phase, while Daniel Schenk will take over operations.