Clearwater International advises the shareholders of Socialwave on its sale to beaconsmind

Clearwater International has advised the shareholders of Socialwave GmbH (Socialwave), a leading German location-based marketing (LBM) and Wi-Fi hotspot service provider, on the sale of 100% of the share capital to beaconsmind AG (beaconsmind), a leading Swiss B2B point of sale solution provider. The transaction is expected to close at the end of April.

Founded by Mario Schilling and Felix Schönfelder in 2013, Socialwave is headquartered in Munich, Germany. The company is a fully automated, LBM service provider, offering guest Wi-Fi with additional online (Bluetooth) and offline (NFC, QR-codes) technologies. In 2016, Socialwave received funding from venture capital firms and business angels led by deal captain, Christian Legros. Three years later, the company joined forces with MeinHotspot, founded by Maximilian Pohl who subsequently became a shareholder in Socialwave. Since then, the company has been on an exciting growth trajectory and demonstrated significant expansion potential in various verticals, both domestically and abroad, as evidenced by the first acquisition in Austria.

Today, with over 12,000 touchpoints, Socialwave is the market leader in the German-speaking region. The company provides clients with Plug & Play Wi-Fi hotspot services with various marketing suites to enable review collections, fully automated marketing campaigns, recommendation marketing, and customer analytics. Socialwave has a highly attractive, diversified blue-chip customer base including clients such as Pizza Hut, Clever Fit, Hotel Rothof, Caritas, BMW, Medic-Center Nuremberg, and Volksbanken Raiffeisenbanken.

Founded in 2015, in Switzerland, beaconsmind is a pioneer in the field of LBM software for retail chains. By fitting stores with bluetooth beacons that precisely locate and identify customers, and by integrating its software suite, the company opens a brand-new channel for retailers to interact with their customers. Thanks to this solution, retailers can converge digital and physical shopping, and address the convenience gaps of each. Beaconsmind is listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange with XETRA trading and on Euronext in Paris.

Socialwave’s huge growth potential across a variety of verticals at national and international level, is strongly promoted by the merger. Through this acquisition, beaconsmind will also strengthen its Wi-Fi hotspot vertical and increase its reach significantly, whilst unlocking immense sales and cost synergies. The founders of Socialwave will become shareholders of beaconsmind and Felix Schönfelder, founder and CFO, will continue to serve as Managing Director at Socialwave.

„We were very satisfied with the highly professional handling by the team at Clearwater International. The team’s commitment to gaining a deep understanding of our business and opportunities has been key to establishing a trusting dialogue with interested, potential buyers. We are very excited to join beaconsmind in its new vertical, unlocking enormous growth opportunities within this global platform. I am particularly thankful to be a part of the beaconsmind journey, going ahead as the Managing Director of Socialwave and driving growth within the Wi-Fi hotspot vertical, together with the team at beaconsmind.“ – Felix Schönfelder, Founder and CFO, Socialwave
 
„We are delighted to have advised the shareholders of Socialwave on the sale and congratulate them on this successful transaction. The partnership with beaconsmind will enable Socialwave to further grow in a highly attractive market segment.“ – Axel Oltmann, Managing Partner, Clearwater International

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