Monthly Archives: November 2018

Presto Brandsäkerhet and Aptum have joined forces to become the leading player in fire safety in the Nordic region.

Adelis Equity

Presto Brandsäkerhet AB has acquired the fast-growing Aptum AB and is creating a Nordic market leader with revenue of more than SEK 700 million. Thanks to Presto’s market-leading position in fire risk management and Aptum’s innovative package solutions, the new group will become a comprehensive partner in strategic fire risk management. In connection with the transaction, Adelis Equity Partners will become the new majority owner.

Founded in 1959 by Gunnar Danielson and now under the direction of CEO Anders Danielson, Presto has developed into the largest player engaged in fire safety in the Nordic region. Presto is present in more than 50 locations in Scandinavia and supplies its services and products to more than 50,000 customers via its “Fire Risk Management” concept.

Aptum was founded in 2005 by Gustav Paringer and Gustav Nord and has become a market leader in fire-fighting solutions and fire safety in northern Sweden. Aptum offers innovative and comprehensive commitments within the fire-protection, training and fall protection sectors. Aptum will continue to operate as a subsidiary of Presto and maintain its strong local presence in northern Sweden.

“For almost 60 years, my vision has been that nobody should become injured and nothing damaged as a result of fires in workplaces. All along, Presto has challenged the industry and pushed the technology forward to create value and provide safety to our customers. Now we are once again transforming the industry and, together with Aptum, we are creating the leading global supplier of risk management for fire-fighting and safety in the Nordic region,” says Anders Danielson, CEO of Presto.

“Becoming part of this group opens up unique opportunities for both Aptum’s and Presto’s customers and employees. Thanks to Presto’s broad expertise in fire risk management and its large customer base, together we will be able to offer a comprehensive concept that will contribute to a safer work environment across the Nordic region,” says Gustav Paringer, CEO of Aptum.

To further strengthen the opportunities of the new group and promote continued growth, Adelis Equity Partners will become the principal owner of the Presto Group. Anders Danielson and the founders of Aptum will remain as the other large owners in the group.

“We have been monitoring both Presto and Aptum over a long time, and we are now proud to become owners of the Nordic region’s leading fire-safety company. We are looking forward to working with the management and to continue investments in future growth and new innovative solutions on behalf of all our customers,” says Erik Hallert at Adelis.

“Adelis has a thorough experience of investing together with successful entrepreneurs and well-managed family companies. By applying a long-term perspective and a shared view on the future, we will jointly develop Presto to become an even stronger player in Scandinavia,” reveals Jan Åkesson at Adelis.

The transaction is subject to competition approval and is expected to be completed in November-December 2018.

For further information:

Anders Danielson, CEO Presto Brandsäkerhet AB, +46 708 76 01 01

Gustav Paringer, CEO Aptum AB, +46 907 80 80 02

Adelis Equity Partners: Erik Hallert, erik.hallert@adelisequity.com, +46 709 36 80 41

About Presto Brandsäkerhet

Presto Brandsäkerhet AB is a comprehensive partner operating in the “Fire Risk Management” field, and it supplies extensive safety services and products related to fire-protection products including nationwide coverage. The company was founded in Katrineholm in 1959. Today it helps all types of companies and organizations to develop customised and efficient risk management related to fire-protection. With close to 60 years of industry experience and a close local presence with more than 300 employees, Presto today is a leading industry player. Presto has operations in Sweden, Norway and Finland. For more information, visit www.presto.se.

About Aptum

Aptum AB is a comprehensive supplier of accident prevention services with its headquarters in Umeå, but it operates throughout northern Sweden. Aptum is uniquely positioned thanks to its broad training portfolio and superior fall-protection solutions. Aptum has 80+ employees in nine different locations. For more information, visit www.aptum.se.

About Adelis Equity Partners

Adelis is an active partner in creating value at medium sized Nordic companies. Adelis was founded with the goal of building the leading middle market private equity firm in the Nordics. Since raising its first fund in 2013, Adelis has been one of the most active investors in the Nordic middle-market, acquiring 17 platform investments and making more than 40 add-on acquisitions. Adelis now manages approximately €1 billion in capital. For more information please visit www.adelisequity.com.

 

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Scanship delivers record-high performance in Q3 2018

Reiten

Scanship records their strongest results ever with third quarter 2018 revenues of NOK 80.1 million and EBITDA of NOK 10.7 million. Accumulated for the year revenues ended at NOK 226.6 million with EBITDA of NOK 27 million.

“We are very pleased with our performance, and it shows that our focus on improving our client’s environmental sustainability impact by delivering technology for cleaner oceans really pays off. We are delivering stronger on all fronts with higher revenues, improved margins and winning grounds both in cruise newbuilding, cruise retrofits and in aquaculture. We are in a good position to grow this business further” says Henrik Badin, CEO of Scanship Holding ASA.

See link with report:  https://newsweb.oslobors.no/message/462775

See video with presentation:  https://www.scanship.no/scanship-q3-2018/

 

 

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EagleClaw Midstream, Blackstone Energy Partners, and I Squared Capital Announce the Formation of a Leading Delaware Basin Midstream Partnership and the Concurrent Acquisitions of Caprock Midstream and Pinnacle Midstream by EagleClaw

Blackstone

Closing of the previously-announced acquisition of Caprock Midstream reinforces EagleClaw’s position as the largest pure-play, privately-held Delaware Basin midstream business with comprehensive, multi-stream service capabilities

Investment by I Squared Capital, a leading global infrastructure investor, will provide capital to further accelerate EagleClaw’s growt

The additional concurrent acquisition of Pinnacle Midstream from I Squared Capital further augments EagleClaw’s best-in-class service offering, adding high-quality dedicated acreage, customers, and complementary natural gas gathering, processing, and crude storage assets in close proximity to EagleClaw’s existing system

Pro forma for these investments, the EagleClaw system offers Delaware Basin producer customers unrivaled scale, reliability, and connectivity for residue gas, NGLs, and crude takeaway

Midland & Houston, TX, November 2, 2018 – EagleClaw Midstream (“EagleClaw” or the “Company”), funds managed by Blackstone Energy Partners (“Blackstone”), and I Squared Capital announced today that the parties have executed and concurrently closed binding agreements pursuant to which I Squared Capital has committed over $500 million of cash and contributed its Delaware Basin midstream portfolio company, Pinnacle Midstream, and become a partner in BCP Raptor Holdco, the parent company for EagleClaw.  In addition, the parties announced the closing of EagleClaw’s previously-announced acquisition of Caprock Midstream.  Proceeds from I Squared Capital’s investment, together with additional investments by Blackstone and EagleClaw’s management team, are being used to fund EagleClaw’s continued growth, including the expansion of EagleClaw’s system, the acquisition of Caprock Midstream, and the ongoing construction of the Permian Highway Pipeline.

The investment by I Squared Capital and the acquisitions of Caprock and Pinnacle further augment EagleClaw’s position as the leading privately-held midstream operator in the Permian’s Delaware Basin in west Texas.  Pro forma for these acquisitions, the Company operates nearly 1,000 miles of natural gas, natural gas liquids, crude, and water gathering pipelines; over 1.4 billion cubic feet per day of processing capacity (pro forma the completion of one plant currently in construction); and crude and water storage and disposal facilities.  In addition, EagleClaw now has nearly half a million acres in the core of the southern Delaware Basin under long-term dedication for midstream services.  EagleClaw is also a 50% partner with Kinder Morgan on the Permian Highway Pipeline, an approximately $2 billion pipeline project designed to transport up to 2.0Bcf/d of natural gas from the Permian Basin to the Katy, Texas area, with connections to the Gulf Coast and Mexico markets.  With the acquisition of Caprock Midstream and Pinnacle Midstream complete, the assets have been integrated into the EagleClaw system and now operate under the EagleClaw brand name.  Today’s announcement is the next step in the overall Delaware Basin midstream consolidation as EagleClaw continues to grow and diversify its business.

Prior to the acquisition, Pinnacle was an independent midstream company providing natural gas gathering and processing and crude oil gathering services to producers in the Delaware Basin.  Pinnacle operates approximately 100 miles of natural gas and crude gathering pipeline, approximately 30,000 Bbls of crude storage facilities, and a 60 MMcf/d natural gas processing facility.  Pinnacle’s assets are located in close proximity to EagleClaw’s existing assets, providing a complementary asset footprint.  Pinnacle serves several highly active producers, who have committed approximately 35,000 acres for long-term dedication of midstream services.  The acquisition of Pinnacle by EagleClaw significantly benefits Pinnacle’s customers by enhancing flow assurance and reliability and providing additional flexibility for customers’ natural gas, crude, and NGL takeaway. Pinnacle is now a subsidiary of EagleClaw Midstream Ventures LLC.  All field personnel of Pinnacle are being offered opportunities to remain with the company.

“The acquisition of Pinnacle, coming on the heels of our recent announcements of the acquisition of Caprock and our partnership on the Permian Highway Pipeline, is another exciting chapter in the continued growth story of EagleClaw,” stated Bob Milam, CEO of EagleClaw. “This transaction expands our business in every aspect, from asset footprint to customer diversity, while remaining true to EagleClaw’s core mission of providing best-in-class midstream service to Delaware Basin producers.”

David Foley, CEO of Blackstone Energy Partners, added, “We are very pleased with the strong operating performance of EagleClaw since the closing of our acquisition in June 2017 and its rapid growth via existing customers as well as through strategic, accretive acquisitions such as Caprock and Pinnacle.  We are excited to welcome I Squared Capital to partner with us in this effort.  As one of the leading global infrastructure firms, with experience in the midstream sector and substantial financial resources, I Squared Capital is an ideal partner for Blackstone and management as together we enable EagleClaw’s continued evolution into a major, fully-integrated midstream player, delivering comprehensive value-added services to Delaware Basin producers.”

“We are excited to partner with Blackstone to invest in essential midstream infrastructure transporting critical resources from the Permian Basin,” commented Adil Rahmathulla, Partner at I Squared Capital. “We share EagleClaw management’s long-term strategic vision and are committed to supporting EagleClaw’s continued success and position as the largest pure-play privately-held Delaware Basin midstream business.  Pinnacle Midstream’s facilities complement the existing EagleClaw portfolio well and position it soundly for continued robust growth.”

Jefferies LLC acted as Blackstone and EagleClaw’s financial advisor in connection with the transactions.  Akin Gump acted as legal counsel on the acquisition of Caprock, and Vinson & Elkins acted as legal counsel on the acquisition of Pinnacle Midstream and partnership with I Squared Capital.  Goldman Sachs and Greenhill acted as financial advisors to I Squared Capital, and Sidley Austin acted as legal counsel.

About EagleClaw Midstream Ventures, LLC
Headquartered in Midland and with a core presence in Houston, EagleClaw is focused on rapid response to the midstream infrastructure requirements of Permian producers.  The Company provides comprehensive gathering, transportation, compression, processing and treating services necessary to bring natural gas, natural gas liquids, and crude oil to market.  EagleClaw is also partners with Targa on the Grand Prix Pipeline Project and with Kinder Morgan on the Permian Highway Pipeline Project.  EagleClaw has long term dedications for almost a half million acres from a broad number of successful and active producers in the Delaware Basin.  For more information, please visit www.eagleclawmidstream.com

About Blackstone Energy Partners
Blackstone Energy Partners is Blackstone’s energy-focused private equity business, with a successful record built on our industry expertise and partnerships with exceptional management teams.  Blackstone has invested or committed $16 billion of equity globally across a broad range of sectors within the energy industry.  Blackstone (NYSE: BX) is one of the world’s leading investment firms.  Our asset management businesses, with $457 billion in assets under management, include investment vehicles focused on private equity, real estate, public debt and equity, non-investment grade credit, real assets and secondary funds, all on a global basis.  Further information is available at www.blackstone.com.

About I Squared Capital
I Squared Capital is an independent global infrastructure investment manager focusing on energy, utilities, telecommunications and transport in the Americas, Europe and Asia.  The firm has offices in Hong Kong, Houston, London, Miami, New Delhi, New York and Singapore.


CONTACTS

EagleClaw Midstream
Jamie Welch
(713) 621-7300
jwelch@eagleclawmidstream.com

Blackstone Media Relations
Paula Chirhart
(212) 583-5011
Paula.chirhart@blackstone.com

I Squared Capital
Andreas Moon
Managing Director and Head of Investor Relations
(212) 339-5339
andreas.moon@isquaredcapital.com

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Dispelix raises €12 million in Series A for the mass production ramp up of its next generation Augmented Reality (AR) see-through displays

Tesi

INVESTMENTS IN COMPANIES – 2.11.2018

Dispelix Ltd, the designer and manufacturer of its proprietary see-through displays for Augmented Reality, announces today the €12 million funding round from Lifeline Ventures, VTT Ventures, Finnish Industry Investment, 3M Ventures and an undisclosed investor. Earlier in 2016, Dispelix raised €1.7 million from Lifeline Ventures and VTT Ventures as a spin-out from VTT Technical Research Center of Finland.

“Our see-through display technology is now ready for the mass production ramp up. This is a remarkable milestone in product and process development. Unlike our competitors, we have chosen an approach based on using only one waveguide. Based on our ultra-thin display technology, it is possible to design AR glasses that are attractive in design and appeal to mainstream consumers”, comments Antti Sunnari, CEO and Co-Founder of Dispelix Ltd.

“Although the Dispelix see-through display is the thinnest on the market, we have not compromised the image quality: both eye-box and field-of-view are large, resolution is high and color balance is excellent. In addition, our technology platform enables mass customization of displays according to the individual needs of our customers”, comments Juuso Olkkonen, CTO and Co-Founder of Dispelix Ltd.

“Before Dispelix, Augmented Reality optics have been too bulky to wear, too costly to be embedded in consumer products and too difficult to manufacture in large volumes. Dispelix is the next generation that enables real growth in the industry”, comments Jyrki Saarinen, chairman of the board, professor and optics entrepreneur.

The Dispelix technology is currently being embedded into increasing number of customers’ products under development. The respective announcements are expected in 2019.

More information:
Antti Sunnari, CEO and Co-Founder
antti.sunnari@dispelix.com

Keith Bonnici, Investment Director, Tesi
keith.bonnici@tesi.fi
+358 40 179 9584

About Dispelix Ltd
Dispelix Ltd (http://www.dispelix.com) is the producer of high performance Augmented Reality see-through displays from high-end industrial applications to mass-market consumer products, thanks to manufacturing scalability and the resulting price points. The Augmented Reality technology by Dispelix is a result of five years of optics and manufacturing science and research at VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, further developed by Dispelix since 2015. More information: www.dispelix.com

About Lifeline Ventures
At Lifeline Ventures, we invest in strong founders in sectors we know by heart from our experience as entrepreneurs. Due to our background, we often start working with founders before they have launched their first product. Our goal is to be the first person the entrepreneur reaches out to in times of trouble and joy. So far, we have invested in category-leading companies such as Applifier (acquired by Unity 3D), Enevo, NonStop Games (acquired by King.com), Moves app (acquired by Facebook), Supercell (acquired by Tencent), Umbra 3D and ZenRobotics. More information: www.lifelineventures.com

About VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland and VTT Ventures
VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd is one of Europe’s leading research, development and innovation organisations. We help our customers and society to grow and renew through applied research. The business sector and society in general benefit most from VTT when we solve challenges requiring world-class know-how together, and convert them into business opportunities. 
VTT Ventures is the venture arm of VTT with 20 companies in its portfolio. It spins out and invests in the most promising VTT technologies with strong founders. More information: www.vttventures.fi

About Tesi
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 €1.2 billion and we have altogether 700 companies in portfolio. www.tesi.fi, www.dtg.tesi.fi and @TesiFII

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IK Investment Partners to support SCHEMA Group

ik-investment-partners

IK Investment Partners (“IK”) is pleased to announce that the IK Small Cap II Fund together with the founders has reached an agreement to acquire SCHEMA Group (“SCHEMA” or “the Company”), a leading developer and provider of software solutions for demanding product- and process-related content. Financial terms of the transaction are not disclosed, and the completion of the transaction is subject to regulatory approval.

Founded in 1995 by Marcus Kesseler and Stefan Freisler, SCHEMA provides sophisticated component content management system (CCMS) software for creating modular documentation in technical content and other editing contexts and targets a broad range of different global industries such as engineering, pharmaceuticals and medical technology. CCMS solutions are required to efficiently master the high complexity when writing, managing, and publishing product-related content while at the same time ensuring process security. The software addresses the increasing global complexity created by tightening of regulations, digitalisation and globalisation trends as well as shorter product lifecycles. SCHEMA is an innovation leader and has set international industry standards regarding the range of features and standardisation of CCMS over the last 20 years. Its products enable customers to realise substantial cost and time savings and increase the content processes efficiency.

The acquisition of SCHEMA represents IK’s second investment in the DACH region for the newly established IK Small Cap II Fund. IK will work with the founders and SCHEMA’s management to accelerate the Company’s organic growth strategy in its existing and new markets and will continue to invest in its operations, product development, and sales activities.

Stefan Freisler, Founder of SCHEMA, said:
”We are very proud of the Company’s progress and the high loyalty of our customers. With IK we have found the right partner to further expand SCHEMA’s market position and embark on a new chapter.”

Marcus Kesseler, Founder of SCHEMA, commented:
”IK shares our vision for the future strategic roadmap and opportunities of SCHEMA. Their support and experience will be a true added value for our success and we look forward to working together with IK to continuously develop the Company and its product offering.”

Nils Pohlmann, Partner at IK Investment Partners and advisor to the IK Small Cap II Fund said:
“SCHEMA is an innovative niche market leader addressing global trends which will become fundamentally important to every company. Its impressive blue-chip and loyal client base demonstrates SCHEMA’s success in providing efficiency and cost benefits to its customers. We are excited to support the Company’s growth and expansion strategy going forward and to work closely with the founders and its strong management team.”

For further questions, please contact:

SCHEMA Group
Marcus Kesseler, Managing Director
Stefan Freisler, Managing Director
+49 911 586861 0

IK Investment Partners
Nils Pohlmann
Partner
Phone: +49 40 369 88 50

Mikaela Murekian
Director Communications & ESG
Phone: +44 77 87 573 566
mikaela.murekian@ikinvest.com

About SCHEMA Group
Founded by Marcus Kesseler and Stefan Freisler in 1995, the SCHEMA Group has been providing software solutions for complex documentation for more than 20 years. The Company is headquartered in Nuremberg, Germany. For more information, visit www.schema.de

About IK Investment Partners
IK Investment Partners (“IK”) is a Pan-European private equity firm focused on investments in the Nordics, DACH region, France, and Benelux. Since 1989, IK has raised more than €9.5 billion of capital and invested in over 120 European companies. IK funds support companies with strong underlying potential, partnering with management teams and investors to create robust, well-positioned businesses with excellent long-term prospects. For more information, visit www.ikinvest.com

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Genstar Capital Announces Acquisition of 2-10 Home Buyers Warranty

Strong Platform Combined with Genstar’s Resources and Insurance Industry Expertise to Drive Meaningful Growth

San Francisco, November 1, 2018 — Genstar Capital, a leading private equity firm focused on investments in targeted segments of the financial services, software, industrial technology, and healthcare industries, today announced the acquisition of 2-10 Home Buyers Warranty (2-10 HBW), a provider of home warranty products to homeowners and new home builders.

2-10 HBW offers two warranty products: Home Service Contracts and New Home Structural Warranties. The Home Service Contract (home warranty) covers the cost of repair or replacement on major home systems and appliances, sold to homeowners through a network of real estate partners at the point of transaction and a rapidly growing direct-to-consumer channel. The New Home Structural Warranty is an insurance-backed warranty and provides the homeowner 10 years of coverage for structural failures while transferring the home builder’s legal obligation to repair structural issues. With a national footprint, 2-10 HBW actively covers homes in 48 states across the United States, making the Company the #1 provider of new home structural warranties and #2 independent provider of home service contracts. 2-10 HBW headquarters are in Aurora, CO.

Ryan Clark, President and Managing Director at Genstar said, “2-10 HBW has built a great competitive position in its core markets and we are very excited to invest in growing this business whose products are highly valued in the marketplace by builders, consumers, real estate professionals and contractors. We are excited to enable the management team with growth capital to invest in new marketing channels and explore strategic acquisitions that will broaden the company’s distribution footprint.”

Scott Cromie, Chief Executive Officer of 2-10 HBW, said, “We look forward to our partnership with Genstar whose professionals have extensive experience in the insurance sector. Our strong industry platform combined with the full support and resources of our new partners will enable us to activate quickly a number of levers to help drive growth. We are unified in our strategy that will allow us to add real estate and builder partners, expand into new geographies with targeted acquisitions, and enter the direct-to-consumer market which represents a new and rapidly growing channel.”

About 2-10 Home Buyers Warranty

For over 38 years, 2-10 Home Buyers Warranty has been a market leader in helping people protect one of life’s biggest investments with new construction structural warranties and systems and appliances coverage for new and existing homes. Founded and based in Colorado, 2-10 Home Buyers Warranty has covered over 5.8 million homes and partners with thousands of the nation’s finest real estate professionals, home builders and service contractors to help home buyers, sellers and owners to mitigate risk, save money and have protection from the unexpected. For more information, visit www.2-10.com.

About Genstar Capital

Genstar Capital (www.gencap.com) is a leading private equity firm that has been actively investing in high quality companies for 30 years.  Based in San Francisco, Genstar works in partnership with its management teams and its network of strategic advisors to transform its portfolio companies into industry-leading businesses. Genstar currently has approximately $10 billion of assets under management and targets investments focused on targeted segments of the financial services, software, industrial technology, and healthcare industries.

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MEDIA INQUIRIES:

Contact: Chris Tofalli
Chris Tofalli Public Relations
914-834-4334

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Workable raises $50M to automate recruiting

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Zouk Capital
BOSTON – NOVEMBER 2018

Workable, the world’s most popular recruiting automation platform for SMBs, raised an additional $50 million of growth financing. The round was led by London-based private equity firm Zouk Capital with participation from previous investors 83North, Balderton, Notion and TriplePoint.

The six-year-old software company has been growing at a dramatic pace. More than 20,000 companies have used Workable to source and evaluate 50 million job candidates in 100 countries around the world.

Several million SMBs do 70% of the hiring in the world. The old tech stack of separate point solutions for sourcing, evaluation and workflow isn’t serving them well. Workable packs everything a modern recruiting operation needs into a single tool: recruitment marketing, passive candidate sourcing, interview scheduling, candidate assessment and workflow automation.

Workable has developed AI technology that draws upon hundreds of millions of human decisions to recommend candidate matches and programmatically advertise to individual candidates alongside a network of 180 partners including LinkedIn, Indeed, Facebook, and Google. It is now rolling out new technology to automate the screening and evaluation process, such as candidate self-scheduling, resume enrichment, machine-powered screening and more than 30 integrated evaluation and video interviewing tools.

Most of the effort that goes into recruiting today gets consumed by administrative tasks, sifting through data, email outreach, interview scheduling or conducting assessments. Workable wants to automate the tasks that computers are better at and free up recruiters’ time to focus on the substance: talking to qualified job candidates and working with hiring managers to build great teams.

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Graphite Capital supports nGAGE’s acquisition of Henlow Recruitment Group

Graphite

Graphite Capital’s portfolio company nGAGE has acquired Henlow Recruitment Group, a rapidly growing QuantTech recruitment business operating in the UK, Europe and the Middle East. nGAGE’s fast-growing international operations and highly automated central service centre provide a strong platform to drive future growth in Henlow’s existing markets and increase penetration in the US market.

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