Privacy Policy

(This English translation is provided for convenience only and is not legally binding. Only the German-language version is authoritative.)

We are committed to respecting the privacy of our website visitors and business partners. The protection and security of personal data are our highest priority.

Messer Investment Holding GmbH, represented by its managing directors, Messer-Platz 1, 65812 Bad Soden am Taunus, Germany (phone +49 6196 77 60-0, e-mail: info@messerinvestment.com; hereinafter “we” or “us”) therefore strictly complies with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the German Federal Data Protection Act (BDSG) and the German Telecommunications Digital Services Data Protection Act (TDDDG). As the controller within the meaning of Art. 4 no. 7 GDPR, we inform you below about how we handle your personal data, i.e. which personal data we collect and for what purpose it is processed.

What is personal data?

The GDPR defines the term “personal data” as all information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person. This includes, for example, your name, your telephone number or your date of birth.

Hosting on Vercel and server logs

This website is hosted by Vercel Inc., 440 N Barranca Ave #4133, Covina, CA 91723, USA (“Vercel”). Vercel serves the website through a globally distributed network of servers and, on our behalf, processes the data that is technically generated when the site is accessed.

In general, you do not need to provide any personal data in order to use our website. Whenever the website is visited, however, so-called server log files are recorded automatically. The data stored in these log files includes:

  • the IP address of the requesting device
  • the page from which the file was requested (referrer URL)
  • the date and time of the server request
  • browser type and settings
  • operating system
  • the page you visited (file name and URL)
  • the amount of data transferred
  • access status (file transmitted etc.)

Accessing this data on your device is strictly necessary for the provision of the website pursuant to Section 25 (2) no. 2 TDDDG. We collect and process this data in order to deliver the website securely and reliably, on the basis of Art. 6 (1) sentence 1 lit. f) GDPR. Our legitimate interest is the provision, stability and security of our website. This data is not merged with other data sources; the log data is stored only for a short period and then deleted. We reserve the right to review this data retrospectively if we become aware of specific indications of unlawful use.

We have concluded a data processing agreement with Vercel pursuant to Art. 28 GDPR. As Vercel is based in the USA and data may also be processed on servers outside the European Union, the transfer is safeguarded by the standard contractual clauses adopted by the European Commission (Art. 46 (2) lit. c) GDPR), which form part of this agreement. Vercel Inc. is also certified under the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework (Art. 45 (1) GDPR). Further information can be found in Vercel’s privacy policy: https://vercel.com/legal/privacy-policy

No cookies, no analytics

This website does not set cookies and does not store any information on your device. We do not use any analytics, tracking or advertising tools and do not embed third-party content such as web fonts, videos, maps or social media plug-ins. All parts of the website are delivered by our hosting provider; no connection to any other provider is established when you visit the site.

Contact and enquiries

We only collect or process personal data if you provide it to us voluntarily, e.g. in an enquiry by e-mail or telephone. In that case, the information from your enquiry, including the contact details you provide, is stored and used by us for the purpose for which it was transmitted, e.g. to process your enquiry and in case of follow-up questions. The legal basis for this storage and use is Art. 6 (1) sentence 1 lit. b) GDPR insofar as your enquiry is aimed at entering into or performing a contractual relationship with us. Otherwise, this storage and use takes place on the basis of Art. 6 (1) sentence 1 lit. f) GDPR, our legitimate interest being the careful handling of your request.

Business relationships

If you are in a business relationship with us, if we use your services or you use ours, we collect, store and use your personal data only to the extent necessary for the performance of the contract or for the exercise of our role as a shareholder. The legal basis for the associated data processing is Art. 6 (1) sentence 1 lit. b) GDPR. This may also require us to pass your data on to service providers we use to perform the contract, e.g. tax advisers, legal advisers or IT service providers. Such transfers are likewise based on Art. 6 (1) sentence 1 lit. b) GDPR.

In all cases in which data processing as described above serves the performance of a contract, the provision of your personal data is required for the conclusion of the contract (cf. Art. 13 (2) lit. e) GDPR). Without your personal data, we are unable to perform the contract.

Data processing in the job application process

The personal data you provide to us as part of a job application (usually contact details, a cover letter and supporting documents such as certificates, collectively “application data”) is stored and used solely for the purpose of handling the application. It will not be passed on to third parties outside Messer Investment Holding GmbH without your separate consent. Only the persons involved in the application process have access to your data; they are bound to data secrecy and treat your application confidentially.

The collection and processing of data in the application process is carried out in accordance with Art. 88 GDPR in conjunction with Art. 6 (1) lit. b) GDPR and Section 26 (3) BDSG. If we continue to store your personal data after the application process has ended, this is done pursuant to Art. 6 (1) sentence 1 lit. a) GDPR on the basis of your voluntary consent, which we obtain separately. Otherwise, your application data is deleted no later than six months after the end of the application process, unless legitimate reasons on our part prevent deletion.

No automated decision-making

We do not engage in automated decision-making, including profiling, within the meaning of Art. 22 (1) and (4) GDPR.

Transfer of data to third parties

Your personal data is not passed on to third parties without your express consent unless this is necessary for the performance of a contract. Accordingly, your data is only transferred to third parties on the basis of your consent pursuant to Art. 6 (1) sentence 1 lit. a) GDPR or for the purpose of performing a contract pursuant to Art. 6 (1) sentence 1 lit. b) GDPR. Data is transferred to government institutions and authorities entitled to receive it only within the scope of statutory disclosure obligations or where we are required to disclose it by a court order. In that case, the transfer of your data is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation to which we are subject pursuant to Art. 6 (1) sentence 1 lit. c) GDPR.

Where external service providers – such as our hosting provider Vercel – come into contact with your personal data, we have ensured through legal, technical and organisational measures and regular checks that they comply with data protection law.

General retention period and deletion

We store your personal data for as long as is necessary to fulfil the intended purpose (e.g. performance of a contract, answering your enquiry) or as long as legitimate reasons within the meaning of Art. 17 (3) GDPR, such as statutory retention periods, require storage. As long as statutory retention obligations, such as those under tax and commercial law, prevent the deletion of your personal data, we restrict the processing of your data; thereafter, your data is deleted in accordance with the statutory provisions.
Applicant data is deleted no later than six months after the end of the application process, unless you have given us your consent to longer storage or legitimate reasons on our part, such as the defence of legal claims, prevent deletion.

Security of your data

We have taken appropriate technical and organisational precautions to prevent the loss, misuse or unauthorised alteration of your personal data. The connection to this website is encrypted throughout (TLS/HTTPS). Personal data you provide to us is stored on access-protected systems. Please note that data transmission over the internet is not completely secure in itself and that we cannot guarantee the security of data transmitted over the internet.

Your rights as a data subject

You may at any time, free of charge and without giving reasons, obtain confirmation or information about the data we hold about you (Art. 15 GDPR). You also have the right to rectification of inaccurate data (Art. 16 GDPR), and, where applicable, to erasure of your personal data if there are no legitimate reasons preventing erasure (Art. 17 (3) GDPR), or to restriction of processing (Art. 18 GDPR). Where the legal basis for processing is Art. 6 (1) sentence 1 lit. f) GDPR (legitimate interests), you have the right under Art. 21 GDPR to object at any time to the processing of your personal data on grounds relating to your particular situation, or where the objection is directed against processing for direct marketing purposes. In the latter case you have a general right to object, which we will implement without you having to state grounds relating to your particular situation (Art. 21 (2) GDPR). If you object on grounds relating to your particular situation, we will no longer process your personal data unless we can demonstrate compelling legitimate grounds for the processing which override your interests, rights and freedoms, or the processing serves the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims (Art. 21 (1) GDPR).

You may also at any time withdraw any consent you have given us to the collection and processing of data, without giving reasons and with effect for the future.
If you provide data relating to yourself and we process this data on the basis of your consent or for the performance of a contract, you may request to receive this data from us in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format, or to have it transmitted to another controller where technically feasible (right to data portability).

You also have the right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority if you believe that our processing of your data infringes the law.

To exercise the rights listed above, please contact us at the contact address given above or send an e-mail to us or to our data protection officer.

Our data protection officer

We have appointed internal data protection coordinators in our company and engaged an external data protection officer. They implement organisational and technical measures and thereby ensure that your personal data is well protected. For any questions about data protection, please contact the data protection officer of Messer Investment Holding GmbH at datenschutz@messerinvestment.com.

For enquiries by post, please use the postal address given in the introduction above.

Our website may contain links to other providers to which this privacy policy does not extend. It does not cover third-party content and websites to which our website merely links, in particular the websites of our portfolio companies. Your personal data is processed on those websites by the respective operator, without us having any influence over that processing. Information on how your personal data is handled and protected on those websites can be found in the respective provider’s privacy policy.

Changes to this privacy policy

We are free to amend this privacy policy within the limits of the applicable legal provisions and to publish an updated version on our website where this is appropriate, e.g. due to new technical developments or changes in case law or in our business operations. We therefore recommend that you review this page from time to time to make sure you are familiar with our current privacy policy.

Last updated: September 2026