Personal & Informatik AG (P&I) has been a pioneer since its start in 1968. Wiesbaden-born developer Egbert Becker was an IBM systems specialist who built the first-ever payroll software program put out by his company, DOS (Data Organization Service GmbH). Over the next two decades, DOS continued to make more mainframe product offerings until Becker saw the potential in personal computing.
Personal & Informatik AG (P&I) was founded in 1993 and, alongside what had been rebranded as Becker Software, began developing products that could be run on personal computers. True to its trailblazing spirit, P&I became the first tech firm to offer an HR business solution for Windows, and an entire new world of possibilities opened up.
The Carlyle Group acquired Becker’s business after he retired in 2004, which was subsequently sold to funds controlled by HgCapital in 2013. Permira then bought a controlling interest in P&I three years later, while HgCapital maintained its minority position within the company. In December 2019, HgCapital decided to buy back its majority stake in P&I, with Permira staying on as a significant minority investor.
While HgCapital did not disclose its financial investment, P&I has an estimated enterprise value of $2.2 billion. The acquisition was made via the Hg Saturn 1 Fund, which was raised to purchase stakes in software companies valued at more than $1.3 billion. Hg has a strong track record in the tech industry, and this most recent purchase represents the sixth company procured with an HR software focus – along with Visma, IRIS, Access Group, Citation Group, and Allocate Software. Altogether, these companies are valued at approximately $15.6 billion within Hg's broader portfolio of 33 software and services firms.
Today, P&I is a global provider of cloud-based HR solutions that serves organizations of all sizes with simple, scalable services that allow users to manage their businesses effectively. Becker's legacy remains alive in the firm's ongoing commitment to research and development, partnerships with other software providers, and dedication to employee training with its P&I Academy. With more than 15,000 end customers – the German-based corporation supports customers ranging from small shops to large enterprise and public organizations.
“Human resource management today is about more than just ensuring that employees’ wages are paid on time,” says P&I CEO Vasilios Triadis. “It is about getting the best out of what is for most companies their single greatest cost factor. Our system is designed to carry out the various day-to-day requirements of human resource management while making it possible to crosslink and draw interdisciplinary conclusions to create strategic added value.”
In an interview, Triadis speaks about his vision for the future of P&I. He believes his company will continue to do what they do best – redefine themselves, their products, and the industry itself.
