Client: A leading Private Equity (PE) fund managing a portfolio of several major manufacturing and service companies.

Business Challenge: The Fund identified significant potential for data synergies across its portfolio companies (e.g., shared customer databases, market data). A prior attempt had been made to formalize this framework; however, due to time constraints and a lack of substantive oversight, the implemented processes and documentation were prepared in haste and contained critical gaps.

Consequently, the in-house legal departments and Data Protection Officers (DPOs) of the respective portfolio companies raised concerns regarding improperly structured data transfers and processing arrangements (data entrustment). Their primary concerns related to GDPR compliance risks and the absence of a clear liability framework. Our mandate was to effectively re-engineer the project and design the entire process from the ground up, based on an actual risk assessment rather than the flawed legacy documentation.

Our Role as a Partner

We were appointed by the Fund to take a leading role in the project and break the existing impasse.

Independent Auditor: We acted as an external, objective auditor. We deliberately distanced the project from the flawed legacy documentation, basing our work exclusively on the findings of our own audits. We mapped actual data flows and identified risks across all key portfolio companies. By operating independently of internal hierarchies, we secured the trust of the respective management boards.
Process Architect: We designed the entire legal and organizational architecture for intra-group data exchange from the ground up, including the drafting of the pivotal Data Sharing Agreement (DSA).
Group Coordinator: We assumed responsibility for coordinating the entire process between the management boards, IT departments, and in-house legal counsel. We organized and facilitated a series of workshops to navigate legal complexities and build a consensus among stakeholders.
Close Collaboration with IT: As part of the process, we verified existing documentation regarding vendor lists, active IT systems, and the specific risks associated with various IT tools.

The Result

We established a secure and fully GDPR-compliant data exchange ecosystem within the Group. This enabled the Fund and its portfolio companies to launch new data-driven business initiatives (e.g., cross-selling, joint market analysis), which directly translated into an increase in the overall portfolio value.

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