Original-Research: Deutsche Beteiligungs AG (Von Nuways AG)

Original-Research: Deutsche Beteiligungs AG - from NuWays AG
29.09.2025 / 09:00 CET/CEST
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Classification of NuWays AG to Deutsche Beteiligungs AG

Successful exit despite challenging markets

DBAG announced the disposal of its investment in duagon, a provider of embedded hardware and software solutions for safety-critical rail applications. The stake held by DBAG Fund VII and DBAG (co-investment) was sold to Knorr-Bremse AG, the global market leader in braking systems and rail technology. Completion is subject to regulatory approval. The Enterprise Value of duagon excluding potential performance based earn-outs stands at € 500m, or roughly 18x EV/op. EBIT. While concrete financials were not published, we estimate the MOIC to be around 3x.

duagon was acquired by DBAG Fund VII in 2017 and has since developed into a leading platform in embedded rail electronics, benefiting from strong secular trends including digitalisation, automation, and predictive maintenance in the rail sector. DBAG supported growth through a buy-and-build strategy, integrating MEN Mikro Elektronik (2018), OEM Technology Solutions (2019), and TechOnRails (2020), broadening its product scope and international reach. Sales grew from roughly € 20m in 2017 to an expected € 175m in FY25e.

The duagon disposal confirms DBAG's strong positioning in the European mid-market and its ability to realise value from IndustryTech assets despite a slow exit environment. We view the transaction as strategically and operationally positive, reinforcing DBAG's reputation as a disciplined value creator and supporting visibility on NAV development. In fact, we expect the mid-points of the NAV and NAV per share guidance (€ 625-665m and € 35-38) to be well in reach. Based on our calculations, DBAG should be able to record a € 25-35m gain from realizing its co-investment. Hitting the upper ends of the guidance should require one additional successful exit until the end of the year, in our view.

Shares remain attractively valued, supported by shareholder friendly capital allocation (dividends and share buybacks on top of ongoing investments alongside its funds). We confirm our BUY rating with an unchanged € 39 PT based on SOTP (DCF for Fund Services + discount to our NAV per share estimate at year-end).

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