Scheidt & Bachmann Acquires Majority Stake in evopark

The start-up evopark will become part of the Scheidt & Bachmann Group effective from 1 January 2018. “For Scheidt & Bachmann, the investment in evopark is a logical and consistent move towards becoming the leading provider of intelligent and digital parking management solutions and another step into the digital world, for the family-owned company," says Dr. Norbert Miller, CEO of Scheidt & Bachmann. With evopark, the Mönchengladbach-based system manufacturer can boost its competence in the field of digital mobility solutions. With the investment, evopark will be able to further strengthen its position as the German market leader for digital off-street parking.

Scheidt & Bachmann (S&B) has established itself as a specialist for car park and leisure facilities, petrol station management, fare management and signal technology, offering more than 145 years of experience in the mobility sector. Ever since evopark was founded in 2014, the two companies have been close partners. “Right from the start, we were enthusiastic about the agility and innovative power of evopark. Within just three years, the young company has managed to establish itself as an expert in digital parking services. We are looking forward to raising this partnership to a new level," emphasizes Martin Kammler, Managing Director Parking and access systems, Scheidt & Bachmann.

The long-established company will hold 75 percent of the shares in evopark as of January 01, 2018. The four founders of evopark will remain with the company as managing directors and shareholders with a 25 percent stake. “The core business of evopark will be B2B services and solutions for the digitization of off-street parking in Germany and Europe," explains Martin Kammler. According to Mr. Kammler, the investment will not change its positioning as an “open platform, independent from manufacturers”. “In the future, we will focus on solutions for car park operators, mobility service providers and automobile manufacturers. We also put particular emphasis on further expanding our cooperation with other system manufacturers," says Sven Lackinger, founder of evopark and head of Business Development. Hence, evopark will position itself as a B2B technology service provider for digital parking solutions. For the end customer, the “evopark” brand, will be replaced by a choice between digital parking products of several mobility providers, which will remain based on the evopark infrastructure.

Investor Porsche Digital and the current Business Angels invested in the company will sell their shares as part of the transaction. “We have recognized the potential of evopark at an early stage and accompanied the positive development of the start-up. Now it is time for the young company to proceed into the next phase. In Scheidt & Bachmann evopark has gained the right strategic partner to further scale their operations successfully and to roll out the parking service on an international level, as well," explains Thilo Koslowski, Managing Director of Porsche Digital GmbH. Porsche will continue its close cooperation with evopark in the future to offer its customers an even greater value in terms of parking. With the new Cayenne, the sports car manufacturer has introduced the first parking service integrated into the vehicle, powered by evopark.

Other car manufacturers are also currently working with evopark to integrate the parking system into the navigation systems of new car models. Car park operators benefit from a service provided by the evopark platform that enables them to easily manage their long-term parkers. These are only two of the developments that will offer even greater value to users and partners of the evopark services. Together with S&B and other mobility service providers, evopark is currently developing additional services to complement the core product in the medium term. Thus, the focus of the two companies will stay on expanding the digital car park network and on developing a cross-border mobility solution: "We want to grow further. Our vision is a network of digital parking spaces all across Europe", Sven Lackinger of evopark adds.

About Scheidt & Bachmann

The family-owned company with its headquarters in Moenchengladbach, Germany was founded in 1872 and is now managed in its fifth generation. In the four divisions Fare Collection systems, Signalling Systems, Petrol Station Systems and Parking and Leisure Centre Systems, Scheidt & Bachmann is setting worldwide standards. The Parking Systems division dominates the international car park market by nearly 22,000 installations; it is the system provider for more than 75 airports worldwide. Scheidt & Bachmann provides with its brand “entervo” integrated, modular general solutions consisting of up-to-date JAVA software and innovative equipment.

About evopark:

evopark was founded in 2014 with the ambition to define a new parking experience. Already since late 2014, the parking system is successfully in operation. Being first in the German market, evopark offers a fully integrated solution suitable for all common parking management systems. The company has gained more than 35,000 customers. Currently, the service is available in 28 German cities and 86 car parks. Numerous renowned companies rely on evopark solutions: e.g. the AXA insurance, several large car park operators and regional based car park operators such as the Stadtwerke Trier and the system manufacturers Scheidt & Bachmann, SKIDATA, bebarmatic and ICA.