New York, Munich, December 16^th, 2025 | Drake Star was awarded Growth Equity Deal of the Year at the recent 7th Annual USA and Global M&A Atlas Awards by The Global M&A Network for advising GFOS on its Majority Recapitalization with The Riverside Company. The award further extends Drake Star’s leadership position in the HR Tech M&A space. The award ceremony took place at the Metropolitan Club, New York on December 9, 2025 and Ralf Philipp Hofmann, Managing Partner & Co-Founder at Drake Star, as well as Gregory Bedrosian, Managing Partner & CEO at Drake Star, attended the event.

Ralf Philipp Hofmann, Managing Partner & Co-Founder at Drake Star and deal team lead, said: "I’m honored to receive this award. It reflects not only the hard work of our team, but also the trust our clients place in us to navigate complex transactions and deliver exceptional outcomes. Big congratulations also to GFOS and Riverside for this outstanding deal – it is great to see the broader market recognition of its significance."

Gregory Bedrosian, Managing Partner & CEO at Drake Star, commented: "This award is a testament to the leadership, expertise, and integrity that define our M&A practice. We are proud to receive this award from The Global M&A Network. Congrats to everyone involved."

Founded in 1988 by Katharina Van Meenen-Röhrig's father, Burkhard Röhrig, GFOS offers an enterprise-grade cloud platform that enables end-to-end digitalization of workforce management processes. More than 3,000 top-tier customers across 30 countries rely on GFOS solutions to digitalize their workforce processes and manage ever increasing complexity. GFOS’ modular platform is complemented by GFOS.Smart Manufacturing, the advanced manufacturing execution system, providing a fully integrated and holistic MES environment. GFOS' blue chip customer base includes Sennheiser electronic GmbH & Co. KG, Transgourmet Deutschland GmbH & Co. KG, MANN + HUMMEL International GmbH & Co. KG, Schwan Cosmetics Germany GmbH & Co. KG, ARI Armaturen Albert Richter GmbH & Co. KG, Arthrex GmbH, Feller AG, IMS Gear SE & Co. KG and NOWEDA Apothekergenossenschaft e.G.

For more information on the transaction, read the full deal announcement.

For important disclosures about the awards, please head over to: globalmanetwork.com. 

About Drake Star 

Drake Star is an award-winning global tech investment bank that has completed over 500 transactions since 2003. The Drake Star global team of experienced professionals and senior advisors across offices in New York, Munich, London, Paris, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Berlin, and Dubai* focuses on mergers & acquisitions and corporate finance services worldwide in Software/SaaS, HR Tech, Digital Services, FinTech, Digital Media, Industrial Tech, Consumer & Retail Tech and Mobility & Sustainability.

Drake Star is the marketing name for the global investment bank Drake Star Partners Limited and its subsidiaries and affiliates. In the USA, all securities are transacted through Drake Star Securities LLC. In the USA, Drake Star Securities LLC is regulated by FINRA and is a member of SIPC. Drake Star UK Limited (FRN 942020) is an appointed representative of Razlin Ltd (FRN 730805), which is authorized and regulated by the FCA. © 2025 Drake Star Partners Limited.

*Partner Office