HIG Capital Agrees to Acquire Majority Stake in German Infrastructure Firm TERRAS
HIG Capital has signed a definitive agreement to acquire a majority stake in TERRAS Group, a German infrastructure engineering and construction services provider operating across the DACH region, the firm announced July 6. Financial terms were not disclosed.
TERRAS, founded in 2014 and headquartered in Montabaur, Germany, delivers civil infrastructure services across five end markets: mobility, energy, digital, water, and urban development. Its capabilities span regional civil engineering, specialty foundation engineering, rail construction, engineering services, and related resources including quarries, soil depots, and recycling operations. The company serves both public and private sector clients and operates through a regional cluster model that pairs local entrepreneurship with centralized procurement and governance.
Co-founders Dr. Dirk Sojka and Ralf Sojka will reinvest alongside HIG Capital, keeping the founding team actively committed to the next phase of the company’s growth. The transaction remains subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals. Morgan Lewis served as legal counsel to HIG Capital, with the team led by partner Florian Harder.
Why HIG Capital Is Betting on Germany’s Infrastructure Backlog
Germany’s civil infrastructure market carries decades of deferred investment across roads, rail, energy networks, and digital connectivity — a gap that is now drawing both public spending commitments and private capital. HIG Capital’s Middle Market Europe team sees TERRAS as a platform positioned directly in the path of that spending.
Rohin Jain, Managing Director at H.I.G. Middle Market Europe, described the combination of structural demand and TERRAS’s operating model as the core of the investment case. “Germany’s decades-long infrastructure investment backlog, coupled with the accelerating energy transition, provides an exceptional long-term growth opportunity for the Company,” Jain said. “We are proud to be their partner for the next chapter, and we look forward to supporting the team as it scales TERRAS into a business of true national and European significance.”
The Sojka co-founders put their own rationale plainly. “When we founded TERRAS, we had a clear vision to build a platform capable of delivering the full civil infrastructure value chain while preserving the entrepreneurial culture that makes regional specialists so successful,” they said. “H.I.G. has a deep understanding of our business and a proven track record of partnering with founder-led companies to support our next phase of growth.”
HIG Capital’s post-acquisition plan centers on two tracks: increasing cluster density within TERRAS’s existing German markets and selectively expanding into new geographies, while preserving the regional specialist model that has driven growth since the company’s founding.
TERRAS Deal Adds to HIG Capital’s European Activity Under CEO Brian Schwartz
TERRAS is among several European transactions HIG Capital has announced since Brian Schwartz became chief executive officer in April, the first time the firm’s top role changed hands since co-founders Sami Mnaymneh and Tony Tamer launched it in Miami in 1993. Mnaymneh, who directed the firm’s development from founding through its growth into a $75 billion platform, moved to executive chairman alongside Tamer. Both retained their investment committee seats.
Recent European activity includes the establishment of Highground Living, a €1 billion German residential platform built around existing Berlin assets and a newly acquired €450 million portfolio in Leipzig and Dresden, as well as financing provided to French operational marketing group Globe Groupe through H.I.G. WhiteHorse Europe. HIG Capital also completed the acquisition of Med Frigo by its Greek logistics portfolio company OB Streem in July.
HIG Capital was co-founded by Sami Mnaymneh, who serves as Founder and Executive Chairman, and Tony Tamer, who also serves as Founder and Executive Chairman. The firm operates across private equity, credit, real estate, and infrastructure from 18 offices in nine countries and has completed more than 400 investments since its 1993 founding.
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