The billionaire owner of the German technology investment firm Rocket Internet is poised to receive a €260 million annual dividend after consolidating control over one of Europe’s top venture capital groups.
Oliver Samwer’s Global Founders, the vehicle through which his family controls Berlin-based Rocket Internet, is set to receive the huge payout this year, according to Financial Times’ calculations based on company filings.
Shareholders at Rocket’s upcoming annual general meeting on Thursday are set to approve an issue of an overall €315 million dividend, a more than six-fold increase over the previous year. As Samwer has increased his majority ownership over Rocket in recent times, his Global Founders vehicle is due to receive €260 million.
The hefty payment for Samwer is another signal of how he has shifted the business away from its roots as one of Europe’s most prolific start-up financiers towards a more conservative investment house focused on generating profits.
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Due to concern over the broader tech downturn, Rocket has recently slashed staff at its venture funds, closed a start-up fund and urged certain nascent companies to reduce spending.
Even while cutting back on tech investing, the company has secured steady profits from other deal-making, such as providing debt financing to companies such as Revolut and amassing a large public stock portfolio in groups like Amazon and Alibaba. “The general theme is to get as much liquidity out,” said one person familiar with the company. “It’s really driven by how much cash they thought they could distribute at this point.”
Rocket’s expanded dividend comes after Samwer increased his control when the company bought out the roughly 20 per cent stake held by activist investor Elliott Management in a deal that closed over the past year. The FT previously reported that he also bought out the holdings of his brother Alexander. This has left Samwer’s vehicle Global Founders with about 83 per cent ownership of Rocket Internet.
Samwer did not respond to requests for comment. Founded about 16 years ago by Samwer and his brothers Marc and Alexander, Rocket Internet became one of the most prolific investors in European technology companies. The firm generated immense profits for its owners by providing early backing to start-ups such as HelloFresh and Delivery Hero, which eventually went on to hold initial public offerings at multibillion-euro valuations.
After its share price halved during six years as a public company, the firm made plans to delist in 2020. The take-private process was contentious, after Rocket offered to buy shares below their trading price and Elliott amassed a blocking stake.
Eventually, Rocket succeeded but had to pay almost double its initial offer and included a special deal for Elliott. Rocket Internet posted revenues of €18 million and other operating income of about €468 million, according to a 2022 annual report.
In a sign of the difficult times for technology investors, Rocket Internet had to write down the value of its financial assets and marketable securities by more than €452 million, the report said. The company still had about €211 million of cash. Samwer controls Rocket Internet through a network of companies.
The Rocket Internet-owner Global Founders GmbH is owned by another company called Zerena, which is jointly owned by the Oliver Samwer Family Foundation and the Aramid Foundation, according to German filings. Zerena counts Marc Samwer as a member of its management, according to a 2021 filing. – Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2023
