Brighten, a seasoned consulting firm with over 26 years in the national market, proudly discloses a significant strategic investment from Wolfsburg-based Schnellecke Group. Concurrently, Brighten solidifies its position by acquiring a leading digital product development and technology services company from Schnellecke. This acquisition will be seamlessly integrated into Brighten’s new German subsidiary, Brighten GmbH.
“Over the last nearly 10 years of close collaboration with Brighten, we have got to know the company as highly innovative and reliable. In combination with digitized solutions, which we have developed within the Schnellecke Group, we are confident to deliver Brighten an international platform to strongly expand its business in the future” says Nikolaus Külps, CEO Schnellecke Group.
To enhance collaboration and fortify the partnership between the two companies, the Portuguese consultant, André Coutinho, and Jorge Carvalho, Managing Directors and founders of Brighten, are pleased to welcome Karsten Keil, Vice President Group IT & Digitalization of Schnellecke Logistics, to Brighten’s board of directors. Leveraging his IT expertise, Keil, recognized as one of Germany’s top ten CIOs in 2021 and 2023 in the context of the “CIO of the Year”, will play a pivotal role in steering Brighten’s internationalization strategy.
“We are delighted to join forces with Brighten, as they share our values and focus on developing innovative, high-quality services that effectively respond to the challenges and needs of businesses in a world of rapid technological change” commented Karsten Keil.
André Coutinho, Founder and Managing Director of Brighten, says that “This is a milestone that we are very proud of. This partnership will allow Brighten to expand its mission of simplifying our clients’ business across broader geographies and to enhance our capacity to implement and develop the right solutions for the real challenges of the various industries we work with. We are committed to continuing to innovate and deliver value, ensuring that our clients thrive in today’s dynamic technological landscape.”
The partnership with the Schnellecke Group marks a crucial moment in the drive for internationalization of Brighten, which has long exported a large part of its services to Europe and aims for a sustained expansion to other geographies. “The presence in this market, through our subsidiary Brighten GmbH, allows us to offer services provided locally by our German employees in combination with the nearshore team, made up of consultants from the Portugal office, with competitive advantages and added value for our clients. This is the model that we want to adopt in the international expansion that we are planning, to Europe and, in the future, to other geographies”, reiterates Jorge Carvalho, Managing Director of Brighten.
Brighten is strengthening its physical presence in Germany by creating a 25-strong team, based on the region’s current contribution of 20% to total sales. The investment aims to extend successful partnerships from Portugal to the German market, particularly in the area of ERP solutions. The strategic partnership allows the strengths of both partners to be bundled and includes industry-independent IT consulting services with SAP and SAGE, individual software developments and digital services for logistics in a global market.
In this strategic move, “Abreu Advogados” provided legal advice in this M&A operation, facilitating its seamless formalization in both countries. This approach ensured transparency, speed, and fairness in defining the business structure, solidifying the success of the operation.
