MUNICH (dpa-AFX) - Human resources software specialist Atoss is getting a new major shareholder in the form of US financial investor General Atlantic. General Atlantic is buying around 20 percent of Atoss shares from AOB Invest, which is controlled by Atoss founder and CEO Andreas Obereder, Atoss Software announced in Munich on Thursday. The financial investor was also able to increase its stake somewhat. General Atlantic wants to support Atoss in its further internationalization and the expansion of its cloud business. On the stock exchange, however, the news was met with a slide in the share price.

The Atoss share lost more than ten percent in value shortly after the start of trading. Most recently, the stock was still down by a good six percent at 200.50 euros in the morning and thus remained the biggest loser in the SDax small cap index. Since the turn of the year, however, the share has gained around 45 percent in value and, looking at this period, is still one of the strongest stocks in the index.

According to the announcement, General Atlantic will pay a price for the Atoss shares that is 12.8 percent below the volume-weighted average price of the 180 trading days since September 30, 2022. The agreement is to be implemented on June 30. The two sides also agreed that during a four-year period they can only sell the majority of their shareholding with the consent of the other side.

In addition to the 20 percent stake, General Atlantic can acquire up to a further almost 5 percent of the shares, according to the information provided. Obereder's holding company would thus remain the largest shareholder in Atoss. Up to now, AOB Invest has held a good half of the shares.

According to the company, the Munich-based software provider has around 15,000 customers in more than 50 countries. Among German companies, the retailers Aldi Süd, Edeka and Douglas, as well as Deutsche Bahn and Lufthansa, use software from Atoss. The programs from the Munich-based company enable companies to digitally plan and optimize the deployment of their employees.

"The entry of one of the most successful growth equity investors in the world

offers Atoss a great opportunity to more actively leverage the enormous growth potential in our

market even more actively," said company founder Obereder. General Atlantic wants to support the Munich-based company in the further development and international marketing of its products, added Jorn Nikolay, who heads the financial investor's business in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Nikolay is to join Atoss' supervisory board after the investment, which will be expanded from three to four members for this purpose.

General Atlantic has reportedly been investing in fast-growing companies for more than four decades. To date, the company has provided growth capital and strategic support to more than 500 companies, it said.

As of the end of March, General Atlantic managed assets worth more than $75 billion (over 69 billion euros). For example, the financial investor is involved in the Deutsche Borse subsidiary Qontigo, the ProSiebenSat.1 spin-off ParshipMeet, the media company Buzzfeed and the long-distance bus provider Flixbus./stw/mis/knd/mis