IK Partners backs gift and rewards platform Wishcard

• Wishcard provides multi-brand vouchers for personal gifting and for businesses
• The company operates across Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Italy
• The deal enables the founding and broader management teams to regain a majority stake in the company after its partnership with Oakley Capital

IK Partners announced on Thursday that it has bought a minority stake in gift and rewards platform Wishcard. The investment was made via IK Partnership Fund II as part of a consortium with EMZ Partners and Oakley Capital. The deal enables the founder and broader management teams to regain a majority stake in the business after its partnership with Oakley Capital.

Wishcard is headquartered in Brilon, Germany. It provides multi-brand vouchers for personal gifting and for businesses. It operates across Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Italy. Wishcard distributes its goods through various sales channels including a network of more than 110,000 retail outlets and its own e-commerce platform. The company also sells directly to its B2B customer base.

“With the help of Oakley Capital, the management team has successfully established Wishcard as the leading provider of personal and business gift cards in the DACH region,” said Detlef Dinsel, managing partner at IK and advisor to the IK Partnership Fund II. “We expect the market to continue to grow at an attractive rate and look forward to working with our co-investors and new CEO Andreas Betzer to develop the company’s international footprint with a sustainable product offering.”

IK Partners is a London-based private equity firm focused on mid-market companies across the business services, healthcare, consumer and industrials sectors in the Benelux, DACH, France, Nordics and the UK. It was established in 1989. The deal follows IK’s minority investment in software provider Remazing.