Partners Group appoints Shunsuke Tanahashi as Head of Japan Office

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Partners Group appoints Shunsuke Tanahashi as Head of Japan office

Partners Group, the global private markets investment manager, has appointed Shunsuke Tanahashi as Head of its Japanese business. Shunsuke Tanahashi joined Partners Group in April 2017 as a Senior Vice President in its Tokyo office.

Shunsuke Tanahashi brings more than 20 years of industry experience to his role as Japan Head. Prior to joining Partners Group, he was CEO at Ark Totan Alternative, and also worked for Ant Capital, Goldman Sachs Asset Management Tokyo, Mitsubishi UFJ Trust Bank, and the Research Institute for Pensions and Policies on Aging (RIPPA). He holds an MBA from the University of Michigan and a bachelor’s degree from Tokyo University.

Shunsuke Tanahashi comments: “I am very excited to take on this new challenge, which comes at a momentous time in the Japanese market. Institutional investors in Japan are increasingly turning to private markets asset classes such as private equity and private infrastructure as an attractive source of returns in a low-growth environment. It is my belief that many of them will choose to work with a global investment manager capable of providing a comprehensive private markets solution and with industry-leading ESG credentials.”

Kevin Lu, Chairman of Asia, states: “With his substantial experience and an in-depth understanding of private markets, we believe Shunsuke Tanahashi is ideally positioned to lead our efforts in Japan. I look forward to working together with him in the future to build out our relationships with institutional investors and distribution partners in this important market.”

 

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Kevin Reeder apointed as new CEO of bm|t beteiligungsmanagement thüringen gmbh

BM-T

Kevin Reeder (39) was appointed as new Managing Director of bm|t beteiligungsmanagement thüringen gmbh as of September 1, 2017. A native American and a graduate in business administration with an MBA degree from Oxford, he has a diverse professional career in international investment management. After having worked in Denver and Zurich he worked as an investment manager at bm|t between 2013 and 2014 and  therefore knows Thuringia, the Thuringian companies and the startup scene in the region.

Kevin_Reeder_bmt

Kevin Reeder (39) is the new Managing Director of bm|t from September 1st.

“Investments in exciting start-ups and innovative SMEs remain a challenging task in Thuringia. With Kevin Reeder, we have found the right person to carry out this task and to further strengthen bm|t’s already strong position in the market, “commented Matthias Wierlacher, Chairman of Thüringer Aufbaubank and Chairman of the Supervisory Board of bm|t. Kevin Reeder says about his new job: “I am delighted to invest the capital entrusted to us profitably. We are thus financing innovations and economic growth in Thuringia.”

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HgCapital’s Mercury 1 Fund agrees sale of Sequel Business Solutions to Verisk Analytics

HgCapital

21 August 2017, London: HgCapital is pleased to announce that it has sold Sequel Business Solutions (‘Sequel’), a provider of software and services to the Lloyd’s of London and the broader insurance markets, to Verisk Analytics (Nasdaq: VRSK), a leading data analytics provider serving customers in property/casualty insurance, natural resources, and financial services. Headquartered in Jersey City, NJ USA, Verisk Analytics operates in 29 countries and is a member of Standard & Poor’s S&P 500® Index.

HgCapital partnered with the management of Sequel in July 2014 to support the acquisition from its founder. The deal represented the fourth investment for the Mercury 1 fund and resulted from HgCapital’s ongoing focus on the insurance software sector.

Led by CEO Mario Garcia and with HgCapital’s support, Sequel has transformed over this period. Its core Eclipse product set has been broadened to a full suite supporting all the complex risk activities of insurers and brokers, including risk aggregation, claims management and re-insurance; customer numbers have tripled; and Sequel’s business model has rapidly transitioned to recurring revenue. Over the past three years, the company has seen compound revenue growth of 14% per annum.

Following this sale, the Mercury 1 Fund will have delivered combined returns of 3.0x of invested cost and a c. 44% gross IRR on all realised investments, including proceeds from the prior sales of Zitcom to Intelligent (announced in June 2017 for 3.3x and 141% gross IRR) and Relay Software to Applied Systems (announced in August 2016 for 2.1x cost and 39% gross IRR). The Mercury 1 Fund has now delivered in aggregate 83% of invested cost on all realised investments.

Sequel

Mario Garcia, CEO of Sequel, said: “I would like to thank HgCapital for being a great partner as we developed Sequel into the leading provider of software to the complex insurance market. They had a transformative impact on our business. We are thrilled to join Verisk, whose data and technology capabilities will allow us to continue to deliver first class service to our customers.”

Sebastien Briens, Partner at HgCapital, commented: “We are delighted that Sequel can continue to flourish with such a strong and capable partner. We are proud to have been associated with Mario and his team in driving the growth of Sequel in the past three years, and believe that the business is very well positioned to be successful within the property/casualty insurance markets.”

HgCapital and Sequel were advised by Quayle Munro, Linklaters and Deloitte.

 

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Standout Capital invests in Exsitec

Exsitec

Standout Capital acquires a majority stake in Exsitec, a leading provider of business system software to medium sized companies in Sweden. Standout Capital looks forward to support Exsitec’s continued commitment to provide high quality services to current and future customers and to fuel the continued growth and development of the company. Following the transaction Standout Capital holds 55% of the shares in Exsitec and former owners and management will retain a 45% ownership in the company.

Exsitec is a leading provider of business system software, including ERP, business intelligence and mobile solutions for medium-sized companies in Sweden. The Company’s customer base consists of over 500 companies across several industries and includes many renowned enterprises including Fonus, Linas Matkasse and Tele2 Business.

“We have grown from SEK 30 million to nearly SEK 130 million in sales over the past five years, and want to bring both financial muscle and expertise in expanding the company to the next level”, said Chairman Peter Viberg.

“Our business is about helping our clients in software selection, making sure they are successful in the implementations and taking responsibility for long term support and maintenance. In the coming years, we plan to add additional offers in our portfolio and expand geographically. Standout Capital’s focus on Nordic technology companies makes them a perfect partner for us, and they can bring expertise and resources to help us reach new markets faster. Standout Capital show a deep interest in understanding our customers, our business and our corporate culture, and have been easy to work with in this process”, says CEO Johan Kallblad.

 “Exsitec has displayed impressive growth supported by its strong niche expertise and its outstanding track record of successfully serving its customers. Standout ultimately invests in the digitisation of business and society, and Exsitec is a good example of a successful company with solid prospects for capitalizing on this trend and in a market niche where we are confident to add substantial value. We believe there are significant opportunities to continue growing and developing Exsitec further and we look forward to work with the competent and dedicated team of management and employees to fully realize the potential of the company”, says Standout Capital’s partner Klas Hillström.

Contacts and further information

Klas Hillström, Partner, Standout Capital, +46 70 508 77 12, klas.hillstrom@standoutcapital.com
Johan Kallblad, CEO, Exsitec, +46 706 65 99 09, johan.kallblad@exsitec.se

About Exsitec – Exsitec specializes in enterprise systems including ERP, business intelligence and mobile solutions. The company helps its customers choosing the right IT systems tailored to the customer’s business, making sure that everything works together and takes responsibility for the delivery and support. Exsitec has a nationwide delivery organization with 120 employees with combined expertise in IT and business management. They use leading systems like Visma Business, Visma.net, QlikView / Sense Effect Plan, Mobigo and MediusFlow. Exsitec is headquartered in Linköping and has regional offices in Stockholm, Gothenburg, Malmö, Örebro, Sundsvall and Söderhamn. www.exsitec.se

About Standout Capital – Standout Capital is a Stockholm-based private equity firm investing in growing Nordic tech companies. As an active owner, our mission is to partner with outstanding companies to help them grow and succeed. Standout Capital’s investment strategy is to support the digital transformation in business and society. The founders and investment team build on experience in entrepreneurship, investments and finance. The Standout Capital I fund is SEK 1 billion. www.standoutcapital.com

Standout Capital I AB benefits from the support of the European Union under the Equity Facility for Growth established under Regulation (EU) No 1287/2013 of the European Parliament and the Council establishing a Programme for the Competitiveness of Enterprises and small and medium enterprises (COSME) (2014-2020)

 

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Almi Invest invests in Studybee

Almi Invest

Almi Invest invests two million in Malmo Company StudyBee, a elevutvecklings- and assessment service for Google Classroom, which allows teachers to individualize and grade student assignments.

In the issue of a total of four million is also participating private investors, among others Djäkne startup Studio and football pros Pontus Jansson and Robin Olsen through his investment company PJ & PL Invest AB. The money will be used to launch in the UK.

Today’s school becomes increasingly digitized, but teachers are often referred to several different, often complex, systems for planning education, rate and follow up. It means that the teacher must devote much time on administration. This would StudyBee easier by offering a product that provides comprehensive assessment in handy Google Classroom.

With StudyBee teacher can easily perform all tasks related to teaching, feedback to the student, grades, and save and share information with the individual student.

– StudyBee release time for teachers and makes it easy to individualize instruction and follow the curriculum, says Jenny Strömberg, Investment Manager at Almi Invest. It becomes more and more obvious that the use of digital content in the classroom. Here StudyBee good opportunity to establish itself as a leading player.

The service launched in Sweden in autumn 2016 and has already managed to attract 170 schools with 20,000 students. Establishment in the UK took place in spring 2017 and the plan is also a presence in the US eventually. The launch is in partnership with Google’s Premium Partners, for example, British C-Learning.

– Thanks to this capital increase, we can now continue to process our markets in cooperation with Google’s partners, says StudyBees CEO Ian Rattigan. Our goal is to StudyBee will help to reduce teachers’ workload and help students achieve their potential.

 

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Evatic acquires WS Software

Viking Venture

Evatic AS, a leading software vendor within Service Management, have acquired WS Software AB in Sweden, the owner of the WinServ service management software product. Together Evatic and WinServ will have more than 800 customers in 30+ countries and be the leading European service management software supplier. WS Software has its main office in Stockholm.

“We are extremely happy to add WinServ to our product family” says Pål M. Rødseth, CEO of Evatic. “We have known Ronny, founder and CEO of WinServ, for years and we believe that the two organisations will be much stronger together when it comes to developing the service management software solutions for the future. This is our second acquisition in less than a year, following our acquisition of Tesseract in the UK in September last year, and it is in line with our strategy to become the leading player within this space”.

“I believe that WS Software is in the best hands going forward”, says Ronny Fransson, founder and CEO of WS Software. “We have known Evatic for many years, and we are confident that the WinServ solution will be in the best hands going forward. Being part of a larger software group will add strength to the product development that is needed to be a service management solution provider in the future”.

Evatic is a leading European service management software company with the head office in Trondheim, Norway and offices in the UK, Sweden, Germany, France, Holland and Singapore. With a global reach and more than 800 customers in 30+ countries providing customers with service management solutions under the Evatic, Tesseract and WinServ umbrella, Evatic offers a broad product suit for companies that need to make their services profitable.

Evatic is a private company owned by the founders and Viking Venture.

For further information, please contact: Pål M. Rødseth, Evatic CEO, +47 9069 7159

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Takeover Offer of Bain Capital and Cinven for STADA successful

Cinven

Takeover Offer of Bain Capital and Cinven for STADA successful

  • Minimum acceptance threshold reached
  • Final results to be published tonight

Frankfurt / Munich, 18 August 2017 – Nidda Healthcare Holding AG, a holding company controlled by funds advised by Bain Capital Private Equity, LP (“Bain Capital”) and by Cinven Partners LLP (“Cinven”), has acquired above 63 percent of all outstanding shares of STADA Arzneimittel AG (“STADA” or the “Company”) during the acceptance period which ended on 16 August 2017. Therefore the minimum acceptance threshold has been reached and all offer conditions have been fulfilled.

Dwight Poler and Michael Siefke, Managing Directors at Bain Capital, said: “We are pleased that the required majority of STADA’s shareholders has decided to accept our very attractive second Takeover Offer. This confirms that the decision to relaunch the offer was in the best interest of the Company and its shareholders. We thank the STADA Management and Supervisory Boards as well as the Advisory Board for their strong level of support, which has been instrumental in reaching this goal.”

Supraj Rajagopalan and Bruno Schick, Partners at Cinven, said: “Following the successful closing of the transaction, we look forward to strengthening further STADA’s existing operations as well as growing the Company’s position as a global pharmaceutical business. Bain Capital and Cinven are committed to adding significant value to STADA including investment in organic growth and expansion through acquisitions. Building on STADA’s highly qualified employees, strong brands and market opportunities, we look forward to initiating the next phase of the Company’s development.”

Pursuant to section 16 of the German Securities Acquisition and Takeover Act (Wertpapiererwerbs- und Übernahmegesetz), shareholders who have not yet tendered their shares can accept the Offer during the two weeks mandatory additional acceptance period, which starts with the publication of the final results pursuant to section 23 para 1. sentence 1 no. 2 the German Securities Acquisition and Takeover Act (Wertpapiererwerbs- und Übernahmegesetz).

The offer document and all other information about the second Takeover Offer are available on the following website: www.niddahealthcare-angebot.de

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Standout Capital Invests in BCB Medical and the Future of Digital Healthcare

Bcb

Standout Capital invests in BCB Medical Oy, the Nordic market leader in gathering and analysing clinical data. The investment will support the continued growth of BCB Medical’s established business in the Finnish market as well as the international launch of the company’s software and clinical data products. Standout Capital and Tesi lead the investment round. Following the investment, Standout Capital becomes BCB Medical’s largest shareholder.

Technology in healthcare is advancing rapidly across all areas. BCB Medical develops quality register software for outcome based healthcare. As of today, more than 9 000 healthcare professionals at 200 clinics in Finland are using BCB Medical’s software on a daily basis. The objective is to establish best practice treatments and implement comparable monitoring in all of Finland’s hospital districts. With the investment, BCB Medical will double its staff in Finland over the next three years. At the same time, the company will expand the coverage of its software and quality registries from current 60 disease groups to 100, and start international expansion.

The digital model created in Finland for comparing treatment quality is well advanced on an international level. BCB Medical has over the years collected a structured clinical database of 1 million treatments with up to 3 000 data points in each of treatment – a highly valuable resource for healthcare professionals as well as medical researchers at universities and pharma companies. BCB Medical has received a lot of interest from outside Finland for quality registries and the clinical data, and is now actively looking to launch internationally.

Following the investment, Standout Capital becomes the largest shareholder in BCB Medical and will together with Tesi own the majority of the shares. Among other co-investors, the Stockholm-based Backstage Invest also participated in the financing round. Pre-investment shareholders will continue as minority shareholders of the company.

Standout Capital brings expertise in the growth and internationalisation of technology companies and Tesi has huge networks in both Finland and abroad. Thanks to Standout Capital and Tesi’s investment, we will have more resources to serve the Finnish healthcare market and invest in new services and international markets related to analysing and comparing clinical data. Our aim is to spread best practices in outcome based healthcare, which will improve the quality of treatments and achieve a better quality of life for patients,” says BCB Medical’s Managing Director, Petteri Viljanen.

We are impressed with BCB Medical’s success in working closely with the leading Finnish healthcare providers in developing software that ultimately benefits patients. BCB Medical is a great example of our strategy to partner with outstanding technology companies that are transforming their industries through digitalisation,” says BCB Medical’s new Chairman and Standout Capital’s Partner, Erik Wästlund.

Contacts and further information

Erik Wästlund, Partner, Standout Capital, +46 70 755 79 69, erik.wastlund@standoutcapital.com
Petteri Viljanen, Managing Director, BCB Medical, +358 400 727 366, petteri.viljanen@bcbmedical.com

About BCB Medical – BCB Medical is the Nordic market leader in gathering and analysing clinical data in digital quality registers. The mission is to combine, analyse and illustrate clinical data gathered from various sources and present it in an understandable format so that current and future generations can live healthier lives. BCB medical’s vision is to revolutionise the way clinical data impacts people’s lives. BCB Medical employs 53 people and 2016 turnover was around EUR 4 million. The company’s head office is located in Turku, Finland, with offices in Espoo, Oulu and Tampere. www.bcbmedical.com

About Tesi – Tesi (Finnish Industry Investment Ltd) is a venture capital and private equity company investing in growth companies, both directly and via funds. Operating as an active minority owner, Tesi provides access to business expertise and international networks for implementing the company’s growth strategy. Tesi’s investments under management total close to EUR 1 billion. www.tesi.fi

About Standout Capital – Standout Capital is a Stockholm-based private equity firm investing in growing Nordic tech companies. As an active owner, our mission is to partner with outstanding companies to help them grow and succeed. Standout Capital’s investment strategy is to support the digital transformation in business and society. The founders and investment team build on experience in entrepreneurship, investments and finance. The Standout Capital I fund is SEK 1 billion. www.standoutcapital.com

Standout Capital I AB benefits from the support of the European Union under the Equity Facility for Growth established under Regulation (EU) No 1287/2013 of the European Parliament and the Council establishing a Programme for the Competitiveness of Enterprises and small and medium enterprises (COSME) (2014-2020)

 

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Investments in companies – 17.8.2017

BCB Medical, the Nordic market leader in gathering and analysing clinical data, has raised new capital from a group of high quality institutional investors led by Standout Capital and Tesi. The investors will support BCB Medical’s continued growth in the Finnish market and the launch of BCB’s quality register software and clinical data products internationally.

“Thanks to Standout Capital and Tesi’s investment, we will have more resources to serve the Finnish healthcare market and invest in new services and markets related to analysing and comparing clinical data. Our aim is to spread best practices in outcome-based healthcare, which will improve the quality of treatments and achieve a better quality of life for patients,” says BCB Medical’s Managing Director, Petteri Viljanen.

According to Viljanen, technology in healthcare is advancing at a fast pace across all specialist fields. That is why the continuous development of software requires resources and new expertise. BCB’s quality registers include among others diseases cancers, musculoskeletal diseases and heart diseases.

“With this investment, we will double our personnel from 50 to 100 employees in Finland over the next three years. At the same time, we will expand the coverage of our quality registries from the current 60 disease groups to 100, which can be considered an achievement even on an international scale,” Viljanen points out.

In November 2016, the procurement unit formed by Hospital District of Helsinki and Uusimaa (HUS) and KL-Kuntahankinnat chose BCB Medical as the technical supplier of the quality registries with a goal to harmonise treatment quality on a national level.

“As of today, more than 9 000 healthcare professionals in 200 clinics are using our software on a daily basis. The objective is to put in place comparable monitoring in all of Finland’s hospital districts,” says Viljanen.

Finnish model is well advanced

Viljanen stresses that the digital model created in Finland for comparing treatment quality is well advanced on an international level. The company has over the years collected a structured clinical database of 1 million treatments with up to 3 000 data points in each treatment – a highly valuable resource for healthcare professionals as well as medical and drug researchers at universities and pharma companies.

“We have received a lot of enquiries from other countries concerning the quality registries and the clinical data. We are actively looking for the right commercial partners, especially from the Nordic countries, to launch our services internationally. We could follow the footsteps of the Finnish gaming industry in becoming a global phenomenon in our field, the digitalisation of medical information. Our goal is that, in three years’ time, more than 30 per cent of the company’s turnover should be international,” Viljanen says.

Investors prove strong backers for growth and internationalisation

“We are very pleased to have these experienced investors join our team. Standout Capital brings world-class expertise in the growth and internationalisation of technology companies and Tesi, as a significant Finnish anchor owner, its huge networks in both Finland and abroad,” says Viljanen.

“We are impressed with BCB Medical’s success in working closely with the leading Finnish healthcare providers like HUS in developing software that ultimately benefits patients. BCB Medical is a great example of our strategy to partner with outstanding technology companies that are transforming their industries through digitalisation,” says BCB’s new Chairman and Standout Capital’s Partner, Erik Wästlund.

“We want to contribute to strengthening Finland’s key position as a world-leading country in utilising medical information. BCB Medical has long been developing its know-how and products in Finland, and is now ready to take the next step towards the global healthcare ICT market,” says Director Heli Alhroos from Tesi.

Following the investment, Standout Capital became the largest shareholder of BCB Medical and together with Tesi, the majority shareholders. Stockholm based Backstage Invest is also participating in the financing round. Old shareholders will continue as minority shareholders of the company.

For further information:
Petteri Viljanen, Managing Director, BCB Medical, tel. +358 400 727 366, petteri.viljanen@bcbmedical.com
Erik Wästlund, Partner, Standout Capital, tel+ 46 70 755 79 69, erik.wastlund@standoutcapital.com
Heli Ahlroos, Director, Finnish Industry Investment Ltd, tel. +358 40 077 2833, heli.ahlroos@tesi.fi

 

BCB Medical is the Nordic market leader in gathering and analysing clinical data. Our mission is to combine, analyse and illustrate clinical data gathered from various sources and present it in an understandable format so that current and future generations can live healthier lives. Our vision is to revolutionise the way clinical data impacts people’s lives. Our turnover amounts to around EUR 4 million, and we employ 53 people. The company’s head office is located in Turku, Finland, and we also have offices in Espoo, Oulu and Tampere. www.bcbmedical.com

Standout Capital is a Stockholm based private equity firm investing in growing tech companies. We have a personal approach and entrepreneurial know-how. The founders and investment team build on personal experience in entrepreneurship, investments and finance. As an active owner, we are personally highly engaged in our firm and the companies we partner with. Our mission is to support outstanding companies to grow and succeed. Standout Capital invests in Nordic growth companies and the digital transformation in business and society. www.standoutcapital.com

Tesi (Finnish Industry Investment Ltd) is a venture capital and private equity company that accelerates companies’ success stories by investing in them directly and via funds. Tesi always invests together with other investors, providing them with access to high quality deal flow in Finland. Our investments under management total 1 billion euros and we have altogether 723 companies in portfolio. www.tesi.fi

 

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Jessica Häggström new Head of Human Resources and member of Investor AB’s Extended Management Group

Investor
2017-08-17 09:58

In September, Jessica Häggström will succeed David Lindquist as Head of Human Resources at Investor. Jessica Häggström has since 1998 worked at Ericsson in various roles within Human Resources, such as Talent Management, Compensation and Benefits. In her new role she will be a member of Investor’s Extended Management Group which, in addition to the members of the Management Group of Investor, includes the two Co-heads of Patricia Industries and now also the Head of Human Resources.

Accordingly, Investor’s Extended Management Group consists of the following members with respective responsibilities:

Johan Forssell – President and CEO
Helena Saxon – CFO
Daniel Nodhäll – Listed Core Investments
Petra Hedengran – General Counsel, Corporate governance, investments in EQT funds
Stefan Stern – Communication, Public Affairs and Sustainability
Christian Cederholm – Patricia Industries Nordics
Noah Walley – Patricia Industries North America
Jessica Häggström – Human Resources

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