EQS-News: EV Digital Invest AG makes strategic acquisition of digital wealth management company wevest to expand product offering

Press release

EV Digital Invest AG makes strategic acquisition of digital wealth management company wevest to expand product offering

• Significant expansion of service and product offering with acquisition of wevest and new brand strategy
• Implementation of the "Digital Invest Assets" brand for investments in additional asset classes
• Acquisition offers significant synergy effects, opens up further growth potential and makes EV Digital Invest AG less dependent on developments in the real estate market

Berlin, June 08, 2023. EV Digital Invest AG (ISIN: DE000A3DD6W5, hereinafter company or Engel & Völkers Digital Invest), operator of the online real estate investment platform Engel & Völkers Digital Invest, announced that it has entered into a purchase agreement to acquire one hundred percent of Berlin-based wevest Vermögensverwaltung AG ("wevest"). wevest is an independent and award-winning digital wealth management company. It holds licenses from the German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) for investment brokerage, investment advisory, placement, and financial portfolio management pursuant to § 15 of the Investment Firm Act (Wertpapierinstitutsgesetz, "WpIG") and is therefore subject to BaFin supervision. The acquisition will enable Engel & Völkers Digital Invest to expand its digital product and service offering and increase the integration of the value chain. The move is part of the growth strategy announced at the time of the IPO and also offers investors the opportunity to make financial investments outside the real estate asset class. This acquisition will make the company's business model even more scalable. In addition, the dependency on the real estate market will be reduced.

Marc Laubenheimer, Co-CEO of EV Digital Invest AG: "We are pleased to welcome the wevest team. With the step to the stock exchange last year, we have significantly strengthened our capital base. As announced, we have now also invested this capital in inorganic growth in an attractive market segment. The acquisition of wevest opens up further growth potential for us. The wevest team has many years of experience in the market. With the competencies and licenses of the multi-award-winning digital wealth management company wevest, we will significantly expand our product range and service offering. Hence, we will be able to offer investors the entire range of self-directed individual investments starting from 100 EUR up to completely customized discretionary wealth management. We look forward to leveraging the synergies between our companies and growing together."

Founded in 2017, wevest Vermögensverwaltung AG was awarded the highest rating (5 out of 5 stars) as "Top Wealth Manager" by the renowned magazine Capital. The company offers its clients customized ETF investments, individual wealth management and easy and secure access to crypto assets. At the end of 2022 wevest managed client assets of approximately 64 mEUR (AuM). The total wealth of its clients is over 200 mEUR.

Björn Siegismund, CEO of wevest Vermögensverwaltung AG: "Joining the EV Digital Invest AG enables the use of considerable synergy effects and will prove to be very advantageous, especially for the customers of both companies. We see strong growth prospects in the servicing of high-net-worth private clients. The joint platform of Engel & Völkers Digital Invest and wevest will clearly stand out from the competition thanks to the unique combination of high expertise in the various asset classes, state-of-the-art technology and professional investment strategies. Jointly, we are creating a digital alternative to the classic private bank."

The purchase price is in the low single-digit million range. It will be settled by issuing new shares in EV Digital Invest AG from authorized capital and a cash component using the funds from the IPO in 2022.

The acquisition is subject to the BaFin's owner control procedure. Closing is expected 2024 at the latest.

Acquisition enables new products and services
The BaFin license of wevest enables Engel & Völkers Digital Invest to expand its product portfolio, in particular by introducing tokenized bonds. Through these new financial instruments, Engel & Völkers Digital Invest will be able to implement real estate projects with a volume of up to 8 million euro in the future. In addition, the cooperation between the two companies brings considerable synergy effects. This allows the existing infrastructure of both companies to be shared and benefit from complementary customer offerings. This results in cross-selling opportunities and new chances for steady growth. The unique positioning of both companies is created by combining digital wealth management as well as digital real estate investments using blockchain technology. This allows the company to offer its clients an innovative and advanced solution that is unique in the market to date.

New brand "Digital Invest Assets" for products not related to real estate
Tobias Barten, Co-CEO of EV Digital Invest AG: "We are also pleased to intensify our longstanding successful partnership with Engel & Völkers Marken GmbH & Co KG. We have agreed to be able to use the "Engel & Völkers" brand in the acquired wevest in the future. This will enable us to offer further attractive real estate investment products under this renowned brand. In addition, we will position ourselves on the market under the "Digital Invest Assets" brand in the future. This is to be the central image for investment products not related to real estate. This multi-brand strategy gives us greater flexibility in the provision of financial products with and without real estate reference and thus opens up scope for further product expansion."

EV Digital Invest AG has had a trademark license agreement with Engel & Völkers Marken GmbH & Co. KG (E&V) since 2020. The trademark license entitles the company to use the "Engel & Völkers" brand in the field of digital real estate investments. In May 2023, E&V agreed to extend the license agreement in order to be able to use the "Engel & Völkers" brand also in a subsidiary. Accordingly, products with a real estate reference will in principle also be offered under the Engel & Völkers Digital Invest brand in the future. Products without real estate reference will be sold under the brand Digital Invest Assets. The company is thus pushing ahead with its strategy of offering customers other digital investment services in addition to digital real estate investments.

About EV Digital Invest AG
EV Digital Invest AG, license partner of Engel & Völkers Marken GmbH & Co. KG, offers private investors the opportunity to participate as a co-investor in selected real estate projects via the fast-growing digital investment platform for real estate Engel & Völkers Digital Invest. As a quality-leading platform in the field of digital real estate investment and financing, and as part of Engel & Völkers global network of licensed partners, it enjoys exceptionally high brand recognition.

With many years of industry expertise, extensive due diligence and high quality standards, a financing volume of more than EUR 200 million has been achieved to date. A loyal and well-capitalized investor base with currently more than 14,000 users enables project financing within short financing periods. The market share is to be significantly expanded with a sustainable and quality-focused business strategy.

Further information: www.ev-digitalinvest.de

ENGEL&VÖLKERS DIGITAL INVEST
EV Digital Invest AG
Licensed partner of Engel & Völkers Marken GmbH & Co. KG
Joachimsthaler Str. 12
10719 Berlin
www.ev-digitalinvest.de

Contact:
Kirchhoff Consult, Jan Hutterer
Borselstraße 20, 22765 Hamburg
Phone: +49 40 60 91 86 65
E-mail: ev-digitalinvest@kirchhoff.de

About wevest Vermögensverwaltung AG
wevest is a BaFin-regulated independent wealth manager that provides its clients with simple and cost-effective access to proven ETF investment solutions. In addition, high net worth private clients benefit from individual securities strategies with personal advice from an experienced team of experts. In recent years, wevest's services have regularly received independent awards. 

Contact:
wevest Vermögensverwaltung AG
Joachimsthaler Str. 30, 10719 Berlin
Phone: +49 (0)30 364 28 57 54
www.wevest.de