Dortmund/Munich, February 21st, 2022 – Ultramobile applications for government and enterprises – secured up to levels required for classified, restricted information – are set to bolster the growth trajectory of the IT group. Nicolaus von Rintelen has handed over Virtual AG entirely to Materna.
The Materna Group continues to pursue its growth strategy with a 100% takeover of Munich-based software company Virtual Solution AG effective from February 15th, 2022. With a staff of around 90 employees, Virtual Solution develops software to facilitate a secure ultramobile working environment on smart devices for the iOS and Android operating systems. Virtual Solution’s customers include hundreds of federal, state and municipal authorities, agencies and organizations with security functions (BOS) and companies or organizations providing critical infrastructure (KRITIS), which use the services approved by the Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) to communicate and work on ultramobile devices in compliance with the GDPR and security levels required for classified, restricted information. To date, this is the only cross-platform solution of its kind. Through the purchase and further development of Virtual Solution’s products, Materna is consolidating is position as the leading provider of IT solutions for the public sector. Virtual Solution will continue to operate as an independent company within the Materna Group. Sascha Wellershoff will remain CEO at Virtual Solution AG. Nicolaus von Rintelen and the other previous owners have transferred a 100% stake in the business to Materna.
Providing a secure mobile working environment is a key precondition for Germany’s digital sovereignty. At the same time, the threat posed by cyberattacks has increased significantly. In the public sector, applications such as specialized administrative procedures and electronic folders have to be available for use within a secure environment via ultramobile end devices. In this field, Materna is a well-established digital administration and cyber security partner for its extremely broad customer base.
“By taking over Virtual Solution, we have cemented our position as market leaders for the public administration sector. We see ourselves as a strategic partner for our customers including ministries, federal and state authorities and especially the BSI – with unique services and solutions provided from Germany for Germany,” explains Martin Wibbe, Materna Group CEO.
Nicolaus von Rintelen, investor and previously the principal stakeholder in Virtual Solution AG adds: “I’m handing over the company to the ideal candidate. Despite substantial interest from the market, we were set on a renowned German company acquiring Virtual Solution. Since 2014, quite aside from the investment, I’ve poured all my energy and passion into the company. Now the time has come for the company to take the next step in its growth. With a view to its future development, our company is in the very best hands with the Materna Group.”
Sascha Wellershoff says: “We’re very pleased that in Materna we’ve found a well-established German group of companies in which we can raise our potential and continue to develop our high-performance communication solutions. In this way, we can work together to more quickly achieve our mission to equip authorities and enterprises, throughout Germany and internationally, with a secure, ultramobile working environment.”
Dr. René Rüdinger, CFO at Materna, adds: “The Materna Group has a rock-solid, long-term oriented capital structure, which enables us to finance transactions of this magnitude with our own means and independently of the capital market. We’re glad to offer Virtual Solution the crucial stability of our robust group of companies, allowing the company to continue growing in the future.”
BSI-approved solution for secure mobile communication
The most notable solution in Virtual Solution’s product portfolio is SecurePIM, an application based on state-of-the-art container technology for iOS and Android devices. It provides employees with a secure mobile workspace and allows email, calendar, documents, specialized web-based administrative applications for authorities, instant messaging and video conferencing all to be integrated into the daily work, all securely within an app. One unique feature is that the solution can be used across platforms on both iOS and Android devices. The software is approved for confidential content and allows employees to use smartphones and tablets – a MacOS solution is also planned – to work in an encrypted and secure environment. Federal, state and municipal authorities, agencies and organizations with security functions (BOS) and companies or organizations providing critical infrastructure (KRITIS), can communicate and work remotely with SecurePIM on the security levels ‘’classified information, restricted for official use only (VS-NfD)” or “NATO RESTRICTED”. Smartphones and tablets are gaining in importance in the modern workplace. Virtual Solution anticipates that SecurePIM may well be deployed extensively throughout the German market in the future – at the same time, the international market is growing. German federal and state authorities can source the solution from the government’s electronic purchasing platform by way of an existing framework contract without having to undertake a tender procedure. Materna will continue to develop SecurePIM in accordance with market requirements and is aiming to make it the “standard solution for ultramobile workspaces”.
Materna’s role as digitalization pioneer in the Public Sector
Bringing digitalization solutions to public sector administration is amongst Moderna’s most lucrative fields of business, contributing about a third of the company’s turnover. For many years, Materna has filled the role of forward-thinking pioneer when it comes to digitalization in the public sector, supporting its customers in charting the course towards cutting-edge, lean administration in Germany. One of the forces currently shaping the administration of authorities, which Materna is intensively supporting, is the Onlinezugangsgesetz (Online Access Law), which is slated for the end of 2022 and has become a powerful driver for digitalization in public sector administration.
Group strategy: Mission 2025
The acquisition of Virtual Solution AG and the recent takeover of Traffgo Road GmbH are in line with Materna’s Mission 2025 strategy. By 2025, Materna is aiming to increase turnover in its core market of Germany, but also internationally with customers in Europe, the USA and Asia, to 700 million euros while increasing the workforce to 5,000 employees. Materna is well on track to achieve its goals: At the beginning of February, the company welcomed its 3,000th employee and the fiscal year 2021 was concluded with record figures.
About Materna
The Materna group implements sustainable IT and digitization projects for customers from corporations, medium-sized businesses and public authorities. With more than 3,000 employees worldwide, Materna generates sales of 355.1 million euros (2020). Know-how and competencies are bundled along nine focus areas. In the focus areas of Digital Administration, Enterprise Service Management and Passenger Journey, Materna has been a market leader for many years. With the focus areas SAP Transformation, Journey2Cloud™ and Cyber Security, Materna offers solutions for the currently most pressing challenges in almost all industries. In the focus areas of Digital Experience, Sustainability & Resilience and Data Economy, Materna offers solutions that enable customers to position themselves sustainably and generate added value in the long term.
About Virtual Solution
Virtual Solution is a software vendor specialized in mobile applications, headquartered in Munich and with a development location in Berlin. The company develops and markets the apps SecurePIM, SecureCOM and the security framework SERA for iOS and Android. SecurePIM makes encrypted and usable mobile work possible. Government authorities can communication on smartphones and tablets with information classified as “FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY – VS-NfD” and NATO RESTRICTED. For enterprise SecurePIM fulfills the provisions set forth in the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) for mobile devices and therefore prevents GDPR violations and loss of company data. Virtual Solution was founded in 1996 and has around 90 employees. All products by Virtual Solution bear the trust seal “IT Security made in Germany” issued by Germany’s IT Security Association (TeleTrust-IT-Bundesverbandes IT-Sicherheit). Virtual Solution AG has been part of the Materna Group since February 15th, 2022.
Further information
Materna Information & Communications SE
Corporate Communications
Christine Siepe
Voßkuhle 37, 44141 Dortmund
Phone: +49 231/55 99-1 68
Email: Christine.Siepe@Materna.de
http://www.materna.de