Berlin – While working at SMP, members of the YPOG team advised the shareholders of online learning platform sofatutor on the sale of their shares to a consortium of investors led by Emeram Capital Partners. Stephan Bayer and his team are thus changing the ownership structure in order to allow for strategic development of the sofatutor service with the new partners and further advancement of the ambitious growth plans. Comprehensive legal and tax advice was provided to sofatutor by a team led by partner Tim Schlösser. Benjamin Ullrich, who had already accompanied sofatutor in a previous financing round, was also part of SMP's team of advisors.
"As a digital learning platform, sofatutor was able to counteract the pandemic-related loss of teaching time and close knowledge gaps. However, this transaction impressively illustrates that sofatutor has also succeeded in demonstrating the future viability of its business model and the added value of digital learning spaces aside from a pandemic" says Tim Schlösser. "We are pleased to have been able to advise sofatutor's shareholders on this transaction after the financing round with the participation of Frog Capital" Benjamin Ullrich adds.
sofatutor
Founded 13 years ago by Stephan Bayer, sofatutor.com is now the most comprehensive online learning platform in the German-speaking world with over one million users, more than 11,000 learning videos and over 43,000 exercises. With its life mission to improve education, Bayer and its team of over 200 help students from elementary school to high school graduation - and has become a pioneer and backbone of educational digitization and homeschooling, especially in the Corona Year. The learning content is age-appropriate and based on the current curricula of the German states.
Emeram Capital Partners
Emeram is one of the leading investment companies for medium-sized companies in German-speaking countries. Funds advised by Emeram currently provide 400 million euros of capital for the development of companies. The portfolio includes companies from the consumer, technology/software and services sectors. For its companies, Emeram acts as a long-term business development partner, promoting the growth (organic and inorganic) of its investments on a sustainable basis. Together, the team has successfully closed more than 60 transactions and supported the development of portfolio companies by serving on more than 50 advisory and supervisory boards. Emeram was founded in 2012 as an independent partnership in Munich.
Advisors sofatutor:
Dr. Tim Schlösser (Lead, Corporate/ M&A), Partner
Dr. Benjamin Ullrich (Corporate/ M&A), Partner
Dr. Malte Bergmann (Tax), Partner
Matthias Kresser (Corporate/ Finanzierung), Senior Associate
Ann-Kristin Lochmann (Tax), Senior Associate
Konstantin Häfner (Corporate), Associate
Christiane Schnitzler (Corporate), Associate
Jonas Huth (Corporate), Associate
YPOG stands for You + Partners of Gamechangers. As a leading law and tax firm, YPOG supports founders, investors, companies and funds in Germany and internationally in bringing visionary ideas to life in the tech ecosystem and dynamic future markets.
YPOG advises on the structuring of venture capital and private equity funds, financing rounds and complex transactions, as well as on regulatory and tax matters relating to digital assets and financial innovation. As a strategic partner, YPOG develops practical solutions of the highest legal standard.
The firm combines legal and tax expertise with legal tech, digital workflows and AI-based systems to provide efficient and scalable advice.
YPOG and its professionals are regularly recognised by JUVE, Chambers and Partners, The Legal 500, Best Lawyers and Leaders League. More than 380 lawyers, tax advisers, tax specialists, one notary and business professionals work for YPOG across its offices in Berlin, Cologne, Hamburg and Munich.
Further information: www.ypog.law/en/ and www.linkedin.com/company/ypog
