J.F. Müller & Sohn

J.F. Müller & Sohn

The firm traces its origins to J.F. Müller's 1795 Hamburg trading house, originally focused on timber and maritime shipping. Sixth-generation family leader Raetke H. Müller chairs the Supervisory Board, while the Eckelmann family — close associates through Eurokai Group — has partnered on port logistics for decades. The family retains a historical shipping fleet alongside direct real-estate holdings that include its Klopstockstraße headquarters and the Cruise Center Hamburg-Altona. J.F. Müller & Sohn divides its permanent capital portfolio into 'Old Economy' and 'New Economy' verticals. Established industrial positions include majority stakes in Masterflex SE, a listed specialist in high-tech plastic hose and connector systems for automotive and medical-technology industries, and Silon s.r.o., a Czech producer of polyolefin-based performance compounds (per firm website). Digital and technology holdings span secure-cloud provider Drooms AG, keyless entry system KIWI.KI GmbH, and data-analytics firm Odoscope GmbH. The office also co-invests alongside strategic partners: the Schmidt family joined in the Masterflex position through investment vehicle SVB GmbH & Co. KG. Geographic deployment concentrates on German-speaking Europe and the Czech Republic. The three-person investment team operates under CEO Raphael Söhngen, who joined in 2022 after serving as a Managing Director at Intriva Capital. He previously held vice-president roles in European private credit at HPS Investment Partners and in European private equity at Fortress Investment Group, and began his career at Goldman Sachs' Archon Group (per firm website). Portfolio Manager Anna Lena Gruner arrived in 2020 from operational roles at HAPPYCAR and tigermedia, while Lucia Gihr has managed finance and operations since the mid-1990s. The firm has not publicly announced any separate co-investment club or external investor vehicle. The defining structural feature is its permanent-capital holding-company architecture: there are no fund lifecycles or external redemption pressures. The office acts as an indefinite-duration buyer — particularly relevant for its succession-driven industrial deals — while importing late-cycle institutional rigor through Söhngen's credit- and special-situations background. No formal philanthropic foundation is disclosed, though the family maintains affiliations with the American Academy in Berlin and the Axel Springer Stiftung.