Category Archives: News

Biotalys’ first biocontrol proves consistent with high efficacy in global fruit and vegetables field trials

GIMV

06/05/2020 – 09:30 | Portfolio

Ghent, BELGIUM – 6 May 2020 – Biotalys NV, a transformative food and crop protection company, today announced the results from more than 100 field trials with its first, breakthrough biofungicide, BioFun-1, which is on track to launch in the United States in 2022, followed by global market introductions. Developing a new generation of protein-based biocontrol solutions, Biotalys aims to help farmers protect yields and reduce food waste by both preventing crop loss and extending post-harvest protection with sustainable and safe products.

 

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A positive outlook for Eurazeo Growth in a more digital world

Eurazeo

Paris, May 6, 2020 – The Eurazeo Growth companies, which currently account for 12% of the Group’s net
asset value (more than € 700 million) are successfully weathering the crisis and most have seen the pace
pick up in their underlying markets.

Since France put in place its lockdown measures and after practices were adapted in record time, a
number of these companies have experienced a significant surge in business, as they offer a digital
alternative in industries that have been badly shaken by the current health crisis. Examples include
Doctolib, a website that enables thousands of health practitioners in France and Germany to continue
consulting patients, as well as ManoMano, Back Market and Vestiaire Collective, which have clocked up
a considerable rise in demand on their retail websites and double-digit year-on-year growth on average,
or Younited Credit, which alongside Bpifrance is distributing fully digital “Recovery Loans” to support SMEs
in France, thereby maintaining strong momentum in its B2B venture, Younited Business Solutions.

In a world undergoing wholesale changes that will need to further harness digital technology, the mediumterm outlook has improved for all Eurazeo Growth companies, in particular those facilitating the digital transformation, such as Adjust, Contentsquare and Payfit. With their strong cash position and as leaders in the market, these companies are well positioned to take advantage of the additional growth opportunities that arise.

This is demonstrated by the success of recent funding rounds, in which Eurazeo invested nearly €150
million and in particular, Back Market with Eurazeo Growth investing €35 million. The strong outlook is
also bolstered by the trust of the Group’s investor partners, which, despite uncertainty in the global market,
have confirmed their interest in the Eurazeo Growth III fund.

About Eurazeo
o Eurazeo is a leading global investment company, with a diversified portfolio of €18,8 billion in assets under
management, including €12,5 billion from third parties, invested in over 430 companies. With its considerable
private equity, venture capital, real estate, private debt and fund of funds expertise, Eurazeo accompanies
companies of all sizes, supporting their development through the commitment of its nearly 300 professionals
and by offering deep sector expertise, a gateway to global markets, and a responsible and stable foothold for
transformational growth. Its solid institutional and family shareholder base, robust financial structure free of
structural debt, and flexible investment horizon enable Eurazeo to support its companies over the long term.

o Eurazeo has offices in Paris, New York, Sao Paulo, Seoul, Shanghai, London, Luxembourg, Frankfurt, Berlin
and Madrid.
o Eurazeo is listed on Euronext Paris.
o ISIN: FR0000121121 – Bloomberg: RF FP – Reuters: EURA.PA

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The Carlyle Group Leads, Structures Debt Financing for Sterling Investment Partners’ Acquisition of AIMS Companies

Carlyle

NEW YORK – Global investment firm The Carlyle Group (NASDAQ: CG) today announced it led and structured the debt financing package to support Sterling Investment Partners’ recapitalization of AIMS Companies alongside AIMS’ founder and CEO, Chris Mihaletos. Carlyle’s middle market lending platform, Carlyle Direct Lending, acted as sole lead arranger and sole book runner on the financing.

With approximately $5 billion of assets under management, Carlyle Direct Lending is focused on making directly originated investments across the capital structure, including senior secured loans, unitranche loans and junior debt, primarily in private equity sponsor-backed companies. The team is comprised of more than 30 dedicated investment professionals in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Boston.

Miles Toben, Principal of Carlyle Direct Lending, said, “We are grateful for our long-standing relationship with Sterling and the opportunity to strengthen our partnership through the AIMS transaction. We look forward to supporting AIMS’ robust pipeline of new contract and M&A opportunities under Sterling’s ownership.”

Headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona, AIMS is a leading national provider of infrastructure inspection, maintenance and support services to the municipal, utility, industrial and energy end-markets. The company’s complementary services, including pipe inspection and cleaning, hydroexcavation and vacuum and hydroblast cleaning, are critical to its customers’ ability to maintain operational workflow and regulatory compliance. The company’s cross-trained workforce, expansive fleet of over 400 units, strategically-positioned 15 branch locations and company-wide culture of safety and performance have enabled AIMS to become a trusted partner to its customer base.

* * * * *

About The Carlyle Group
The Carlyle Group (NASDAQ: CG) is a global investment firm with deep industry expertise that deploys private capital across four business segments: Corporate Private Equity, Real Assets, Global Credit and Investment Solutions. With $217 billion of assets under management as of March 31, 2020, Carlyle’s purpose is to invest wisely and create value on behalf of its investors, portfolio companies and the communities in which we live and invest. The Carlyle Group employs more than 1,775 people in 32 offices across six continents. Further information is available at www.carlyle.com. Follow The Carlyle Group on Twitter @OneCarlyle.

Carlyle Global Credit is the credit investment arm of The Carlyle Group with approximately $49 billion of assets under management. The group’s investment strategies span the credit spectrum: liquid credit, illiquid credit and real assets credit. Since 1999, Carlyle Global Credit has provided creative solutions for borrowers and delivered attractive risk-adjusted returns for investors by drawing on the deep credit expertise and disciplined underwriting capabilities of our over 150 investment professionals and by leveraging the resources and industry expertise of Carlyle’s global network.

About Sterling Investment Partners
Sterling Investment Partners is a private equity firm that has been investing in and building middle-market companies for over 29 years with a highly-experienced, cohesive team of senior investment professionals. Sterling acquires businesses that the firm believes have strong, sustainable competitive advantages and significant opportunities for value creation. Over its history, Sterling has completed over 170 transactions, representing $17.5 billion in transaction value. Key industries Sterling focuses on include value-added distribution and business services.

Media contact:
Brittany Berliner
+1 (212) 813-4839
brittany.berliner@carlyle.com

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Verso Capital acquires and accelerates spin-offs with a new €100 million fund

Tesi

INVESTMENTS IN FUNDS – 4.5.2020

The new €100 million fund acquires businesses that have strong growth potential but are not living up to their full potential in the current ownership.

Verso Capital is a growth stage buyout investor with a special focus on carve-out situations. The new €100 million sector agnostic fund acquires businesses that have €5-50 million revenues but suffer from growth or profitability bottlenecks. Typical cases are carve-outs from larger corporations and rearrangements of joint ventures, but the fund also invests in existing growth companies to help drive accelerated growth through M&A transactions. With offices in Helsinki and Munich, Verso Capital invests across Europe with a focus on the Nordic, DACH and North-European markets.

“The shift in the world economy forces companies to focus on their core activities. Verso has a quick and efficient process to carve out businesses that are not able to grow to their full potential in the current ownership,” says Anssi Kariola, Managing Partner, Verso Capital. “We build new growth companies from non-core businesses working in close co-operation with the current operative management.”

The first investors in Verso Fund III are KRR III, Tesi, pension funds Ilmarinen, Varma and Elo, as well as Nokia, Valeado AB and Etrisk Oy with a total investment commitment of €66 million. The target size for the fund is €100 million and fundraising will continue until the end of 2020.

Unique investment focus: turning non-core businesses into new growth companies

Verso Fund III acquires businesses that can grow faster as new independent companies. The Verso team has extensive transaction expertise and own methodology to speed up and simplify the carve-out process while reducing carve-out costs. The Verso team then actively supports these new growth companies to achieve international success.

Acquisition and investment targets can include non-core businesses inside larger companies, rearrangement of joint ventures, or any business that is unable to live up to its full potential in the current ownership. For example, businesses, that were transferred to a new owner as part of a larger M&A transaction but do not fully fit the buyer’s strategy, may have a better chance of success as independent companies.

“Not all businesses can be optimally developed inside large organisations. We create new international growth companies by focusing on the needs of the business as an independent company,” says Anssi Kariola, Managing Partner, Verso Capital. ”Our team has experience from more than 100 carve-out transactions, making us an efficient and reliable partner in all possible transaction situations.”

Verso Capital

Verso Capital is a growth stage buyout investor that specializes in carve-out situations. We acquire and invest in European B2B companies and businesses that have good growth potential and revenues up to €50m, but currently are suffering from growth bottlenecks. Our team has experience from over 100 carveout and M&A transactions – we have the necessary know-how and methodology to execute even complicated transactions quickly and efficiently. We are typically a majority investor and spend a considerable amount of our time working together with the management in order to solve growth and profitability bottlenecks. We manage three funds with a total of €126 million in assets under management. Our offices are in Helsinki and Munich.

Contact for more information:
Anssi Kariola

Managing Partner
Verso Capital Oy
+358 50 589 0520
anssi.kariola@versocapital.com

www.versocapital.com

 

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Argon & Co welcomes Ardian

Ardian

Paris, May 4th 2020. Argon & Co, the global management consultancy that specializes in operations strategy and transformation, is delighted to announce it has chosen to partner with Ardian, world-leading private investment house, to support its development and growth.

Argon & Co has over 270 consultants worldwide in 7 offices. Its expertise spans the supply chain, procurement, finance and shared services, working together with clients to transform their businesses and generate real change. Its consultants apply a combination of deep technical expertise, operational experience and broad business knowledge to deliver lasting results.

In a globalized economy with increasingly complex business processes, where the digital revolution favours a highly sophisticated use of data, and where environmental concerns encourage companies to re-think their operations, Argon & Co is ideally positioned to meet the challenges of its clients. The current health crisis and the operational challenges of the post-crisis period make these issues ever more critical for companies who need a specialized player to help them with high value-added consulting projects.

With Ardian’s acquisition of a minority stake, Argon & Co has the financial resources to accelerate its ambitious international development and growth strategy.

“The arrival of Ardian as a minority shareholder consolidates our development strategy. Operations management has never been so critical for our clients who are facing very short-term business recovery issues, and also issues of competitiveness and resilience of their operations, all in a context of environmental sustainability. We are applying all our expertise on these subjects alongside them to meet these challenges,” said Yvan Salamon, CEO of Argon & Co.

Geoffroy de La Grandière and Frédéric Quéru, Directors at Ardian Growth, continued “In the coming period, more than ever, Ardian Growth will be supporting entrepreneurs with ambitious projects, and we are thrilled to be partnering alongside Argon & Co which offers services that will be all the more critical and strategic for its clients in this new context.”

ABOUT ARGON & CO

Argon & Co is a global management consultancy that specializes in operations strategy and transformation. Its expertise spans the supply chain, procurement, finance and shared services, working together with clients to transform their businesses and generate real change. Its people are engaging to work with and trusted by clients to get the job done.
Argon & Co has offices in Paris, London, Abu Dhabi, Atlanta, Melbourne, Mumbai and Singapore.
www.argonandco.com

ABOUT ARDIAN

Ardian is a world-leading private investment house with assets of US$96bn managed or advised in Europe, the Americas and Asia. The company is majority-owned by its employees. It keeps entrepreneurship at its heart and focuses on delivering excellent investment performance to its global investor base.
Through its commitment to shared outcomes for all stakeholders, Ardian’s activities fuel individual, corporate and economic growth around the world.
Holding close its core values of excellence, loyalty and entrepreneurship, Ardian maintains a truly global network, with more than 680 employees working from fifteen offices across Europe (Frankfurt, Jersey, London, Luxembourg, Madrid, Milan, Paris and Zurich), the Americas (New York, San Francisco and Santiago) and Asia (Beijing, Singapore, Tokyo and Seoul). It manages funds on behalf of around 1,000 clients through five pillars of investment expertise: Fund of Funds, Direct Funds, Infrastructure, Real Estate and Private Debt.
www.ardian.com

LIST OF PARTICIPANTS

– Argon & Co: Yvan Salamon, Fabrice Bonneau
– Ardian: Geoffroy de La Grandière, Frédéric Quéru, Mélissa Yvonnou- Legal and tax Advisors to Ardian: McDermott Will & Emery (Diana Hund, Herschel Guez, Marianne Zwobada – corporate / Pierre-Arnoux Mayoly, Hugo Lamour – banking)
– Financial Advisors to Ardian: KPMG (Philippe Blanadet, Arthur Texte)

– Corporate finance Advisors to Argon & Co: Rothschild & Co (Jean-Christophe Quiniou, Romain Golven)
– Legal and fiscal Advisors to Argon & Co: Paul Hasting (Olivier Deren, Charlotte Dupont, Vincent Nacinovic) and Jeausserand Audouard (Erwan Bordet, Antoine Le Roux, Elle Otto)
– Financial Advisors to Argon & Co: Oderis (Thomas Claverie, Leo Placzek)

– Bank arranger: LCL (Cécile Penard, Véronique Darchy)
– Legal Advisors to the banks: Hogan Lovells (Sabine Bironneau, Maria Klass, Aurélien Périgois)

PRESS CONTACTS

ARDIAN
Headland
Viktor Tsvetanov
vtsvetanov@headlandconsultancy.co.uk
Tel: +44 020 3435 7469
ARGON & Co
Johanna Balabane-Dugas
Johanna Balabane-Dugas@argonandco.com
Tel: +33 (0)1 55 46 13 00
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AURELIUS portfolio company completes sale of online bookshop WORDERY

Aurelius Capital

Munich / London, May 1, 2020 – AURELIUS Equity Opportunities SE & Co. KGaA (ISIN DE000A0JK2A8) (“AURELIUS”) today announces the sale of the online specialist bookseller Wordery by its portfolio company Bertram Group to Elliott Advisors.

The sale of Wordery follows the sale of Bertram Group’s library businesses, Erasmus Antiquariaat en Boekhandel BV and Houtschild Internationale Boekhandel BV, to Italian Casalini Libri SPA, a strategic partner and family-owned business, at the end of March.

These successful disposals of the e-commerce and library businesses have secured many jobs and, in both cases, compliment their new owners’ existing models, thereby securing the futures of both businesses. Wordery has performed well under Aurelius’ ownership receiving prestigious awards continually for the last two years as the best online bookshop. Separately, as a result of the economic uncertainty created by Brexit and more recently the Covid-19 pandemic, AURELIUS is reviewing its strategic options for the Bertram wholesale division, Education Umbrella, a key supplier of books to schools and Dawson Books a major partner of UK Universities.

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Waterlogic closes on long-term investment from strong institutional partners to accelerate growth ambition

Castik Capital

Waterlogic, a leading global designer, manufacturer, distributor and service provider of purified drinking water dispensers, is pleased to announce the closing of the acquisition of a significant minority stake in the company by four strong institutional investors – BCI, Neuberger Berman, StepStone, and Skandia.

Following January’s announcement of British Columbia Investment Management Corporation (BCI) entering into an agreement to acquire a significant minority stake in Waterlogic from Funds managed by Castik Capital and the Waterlogic management team, Waterlogic and Castik Capital complete the transaction and include three additional partners.

BCI, with C$153.4 billion in assets under management (as of March 31, 2019), is a leading provider of investment management services to British Columbia’s public sector and one of Canada’s largest asset managers. Joining BCI as minority shareholders in Waterlogic are:

  • Neuberger Berman, a private, independent, employee-owned investment management firm that manages equities, fixed income and private equity portfolios for global institutional investors, advisors and high-net-worth individuals;
  • StepStone, a global private markets firm providing customised investment and advisory solutions to some of the most sophisticated investors in the world; and
  • Skandia, a mutual life insurance company with SEK 692 billion under management as of 31 December 2019, provides pension, banking and insurance services to the population of Sweden.

Jeremy Ben-David, Founder and Group CEO of Waterlogic, said: “This is a very pleasing result and a testament to Waterlogic’s businesses resilience, especially considering the unprecedented economic downturn and turbulent times we currently find ourselves in. The acquisition provides further access to capital in support of Waterlogic’s growth ambition to become the global leader in the fast-growing market for bottle-less workplace hydration. We look forward to continuing our journey with Castik Capital and the new shareholders in this next exciting phase of our growth.” 

Waterlogic has a direct presence in 17 countries including the UK, USA, Canada, Chile, Australia and Western Europe, and an extensive independent global distribution network reaching over 50 countries around the world. The company is responsible for hydrating nearly 50 million consumers daily and contributes to the reduction of 23.8 billion single-use plastic bottles around the world each year.

Waterlogic aims to build on its capabilities and customer base in both established and new geographic markets in pursuit of its mission to offer healthy drinking water solutions and contribute to the reduction of plastic pollution globally with a range of freestanding and countertop dispensers, Billi integrated dispensers and Purezza, the company’s specialty restaurant and hospitality solution.

Inspired by innovation, Waterlogic has embraced superior FirewallTM and BioCote® technologies to create cutting-edge, highly certified products focused on delivering the safest, best-tasting water to all businesses in the most sustainable way. The company’s approach to Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) supports the growing demand from organisations looking to reduce the plastic pollution and high CO2 emissions associated with bottled water, and supports Waterlogic’s long-term growth, relevancy and financial standing in the marketplace.

Waterlogic has annualised revenues of c. $400M and c. 550k water dispensers on rental and service contracts across 17 direct markets and employs over 3,000 people worldwide. Waterlogic was advised on the transaction by Goldman Sachs International, Skadden (legal), PwC (financial and commercial), Deloitte (tax), L.E.K. (commercial), and EY (Luxembourg legal).

Media Contact

Rosanna Turner, Group Marketing Communications Manager
rosanna.turner@waterlogic.com

 

About Waterlogic

Waterlogic is an innovative designer, manufacturer, distributor and service provider of drinking water dispensers and solutions designed for environments such as offices, factories, hospitals, restaurants, hotels, schools and public spaces. From freestanding, countertop and integrated dispensers to water filling stations, fountains and boilers, every solution focuses on delivering the best quality water in the most sustainable way. Founded in 1992, Waterlogic was one of the first companies to introduce mains-fed dispensers to customers worldwide and has been at the forefront of the market promoting product design and water quality, the application of proprietary technologies, sustainability and world-class sales and service. Waterlogic has its own subsidiaries in 17 countries and its leading markets are the U.S., Australia and Western Europe, in particular the UK and Germany. In addition, Waterlogic’s extensive and expanding independent global distribution network reaches over 50 countries around the world in North and South America, Europe, Asia, Australia and South Africa. More information can be found at www.waterlogic.com.

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DIF Capital Partners closes refinancing Finnish district heating network

DIF

DIF Capital Partners is pleased to announce the closing of the refinancing of Loimua’s (formerly known as Elenia Heat) acquisition debt facilities.

DIF Capital Partners, together with its partners LPP Infrastructure and Aberdeen Standard Investments, acquired Loimua in July 2019 with DIF Infrastructure V (link to original press release). Loimua is the second largest private supplier of district heating in Finland, providing environmentally sustainable heating to residential, commercial and public sector customers. The company owns and operates 640 MW of heat production capacity across 16 networks, covering circa 500 kilometers and circa 4,600 supply points (85,000 end-users).

Through the refinancing of the acquisition facilities Loimua established a common terms multi tenor debt platform including long term bank debt and 10, 12, and 14 year private placement tranches from institutional debt providers, alongside working capital facilities for general and capex financing purposes. The refinancing further de-risks the company’s long term capital structure and provides operational flexibility to deliver growth in line with the business plan. The transaction was concluded at favourable terms and covenants, emphasizing that there is still strong support from debt providers for stable and sustainable businesses such as Loimua despite the recent capital market developments.

DIF Capital Partners and its partners were advised by DC Advisory (financial) and Shearman& Sterling (Legal).

About DIF Capital Partners

DIF Capital Partners is a leading global independent infrastructure fund manager, with €7.4 billion of assets under management across nine closed-end infrastructure funds and several co-investment vehicles. DIF Capital Partners invests in greenfield and brownfield infrastructure assets located primarily in Europe, the Americas and Australasia through two complementary strategies:

  • DIF Infrastructure funds target equity investments in public-private partnerships (PPP/PFI/P3), concessions, utilities and renewable energy projects with long-term contracted or regulated income streams.
  • DIF CIF funds target equity investments in small to mid-sized infrastructure assets in the telecom, energy and transportation sectors.

DIF has a team of over 140 professionals, based in nine offices located in Amsterdam (Schiphol), Frankfurt, London, Luxembourg, Madrid, Paris, Santiago, Sydney and Toronto. Please visit www.dif.eu for further information.

Contact: Allard Ruijs, Partner; a.ruijs@dif.eu.

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Celebrating CloudGenix’s $420M Acquisition By Palo Alto Networks

BainCapital

Today, Palo Alto Networks closed its $420M acquisition of CloudGenix, an industry leader in software-defined wide-area network (SD-WAN).

I have had the privilege of knowing CloudGenix’s co-founder and CEO Kumar Ramachandran since November 2013.

We initially met on a Saturday morning at the DoubleTree in Pleasanton to discuss his new company. And while the location might have been less memorable, the meeting was not. We spent the next two hours sitting in the hotel lobby discussing the massive opportunity at hand: the myriad of reasons why customers might choose to move away from traditional MPLS routing to software-defined edge networking. We could see then what we know now to be true…

Software-defined edge networking not only offers increased functionality to MPLS routing, but is also easier to manage, more secure, and allows network administrators unprecedented visibility into their networks.

Couple this discussion on the advantages of software-defined networking with Kumar’s incredible passion on the topic. Within the first few minutes of our conversation, it was clear that Kumar felt strongly about networking being overcomplicated. There had to be a way to eliminate the need to have intimate knowledge of underlying protocols, while also simplifying the overall process of delivering applications to remote offices. He believed that he and the team at CloudGenix could deliver on these needs.

Shortly thereafter, in early 2014, I made my first investment in the company, and was invited to join the board. I was confident then in Kumar’s experience, leadership, incredible drive, and the team he and his co-founder Venkataraman Anand had assembled, and knew I wanted to be a part of the journey.

In April 2015, Bain Capital Ventures had the chance to invest as CloudGenix readied their product for initial shipment. We could see the demand for large enterprises to implement SD-WAN in order to effectively manage a complex, multi-cloud strategy, and how the CloudGenix team had capitalized on it; creating a best-in-class solution that autonomously tailors to each enterprise’s specific security and networking needs.

In the years following, I had the privilege of working with the leadership team on a number of key initiatives. Many of my fondest memories with the startup, however, are of the days I spent working alongside the field organization, engaging with prospects and customers to share the CloudGenix vision, and express Bain Capital Ventures’ support for the company.

Recognizing CloudGenix sales achievers in August 2019

Fast forward several years, and my confidence in Kumar, the team he’s built, and the award-winning product, has never been stronger. Just last year, CloudGenix announced a 300% year-over-year growth, as large enterprises made the switch from legacy incumbents, due in part to our work in the field, helping to win many highly competitive engagements against intense competition. This significant progress and growth is what spurred us to become CloudGenix’s largest investor in their latest funding round.

Today, as we all navigate through this period of uncertainty, and millions have been forced to work remotely, the need for an effective WAN to supply a secure network across a largely distributed workforce, has never been greater.

Palo Alto Networks, a leader in next generation firewalls, plans to extend its network reach further and consolidate the edge technology stack. They announced their intent to acquire CloudGenix for $420M on March 31st, 2019. It couldn’t be a better match.

Congratulations again to Kumar and the entire team at CloudGenix. We could not be prouder to have been a part of your journey since the early days, and cannot wait to see how you continue to revolutionize the networking industry.

Kumar Ramachandran and members of the CloudGenix team

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COVID-19 has a negative impact on Finnish venture capital

Tesi

COVID-19 has a negative impact on Finnish venture capital and private equity backed companies, but most of them will be able to raise further financing from current investors

A market pulse survey for Finnish venture capital and buyout investors conducted by Tesi, Finnish Venture Capital Association, and Business Finland Venture Capital in April 2020 indicates that COVID-19 is negatively impacting 50% of VC portfolio companies and 62% of buyout portfolio companies. The survey does, however, show that in over 85% of companies, current owners can wholly or partially meet their financing needs over the next year. It seems that only a small proportion of companies is facing an immediate liquidity crisis.

“We’re in this rather good situation because these funds are well managed and they have taken sound precautionary steps,” comments Matias Kaila, Tesi’s Director, Fund Investments.

One-third of VC backed startups will run out of money in less than six months and one-third in 6-12 months’ time. One-third of startups have cash reserves for a year. The financing situation for startups does not, however, differ much from normal because many of them are financed in a way that they can manage short-term loss-making.

The situation has had a more adverse impact on later-stage growth companies, and their situation is rather worrying. Investors estimate that some 40% of later-stage growth companies will run out of funds in less than six months, and many of them in less than three months without follow-on financing. This differs clearly from the situation enjoyed before the crisis by profitable and established growth companies that were pursuing rapid growth in normal conditions.

In 58% of cases, buyout investors are able to meet the financing needs of later-stage growth companies over the next year. However, for more than half (59%) of the later-stage growth companies, it is uncertain whether they will receive further financing. 42% of startups will ride out the crisis with additional investments from their current VC investors. External financing, on the other hand, is available for only 30% of startups. Less than 15% of startups and later-stage growth companies completely lack follow-on financing.

“It’s important that we take the whole ecosystem into consideration. Taking action during the crisis will ensure that we have high-growth companies and success stories in different sectors in the future, too,” comments Pia Santavirta, Managing Director of the Finnish Venture Capital Association.

Although COVID-19 has a negative impact on one-half of startup companies, for 8-10% of them it has opened up new business opportunities and boosted demand. Only some 2-3% of later-stage growth companies are reaping the same benefits.

“At present, investors are willing and able to provide follow-on financing to their portfolio companies. We’ll continue to closely monitor the impact of COVID-19 on the Finnish venture capital and private equity market,” says Matias Kaila.

About the survey:

  • Altogether 27 investors responded to the market pulse survey, of which:
    16 make venture capital investments
    11 make buyout and/or growth investments
  • The survey was conducted 9th – 16th April 2020.
  • The survey covered 412 companies, of which 345 are registered in Finland.
  • Fund managers completed the survey comprehensively for all their funds and answered all the questions.
  • The company base was widely distributed across different sectors and development phases, and gives a fair representation of Finnish venture capital and private equity backed companies.

Survey results

 

For further information, please contact: 

Matias Kaila, Tesi
Matias.Kaila@tesi.fi, 040 720 1324

Pia Santavirta, Pääomasijoittajat ry
pia.santavirta@paaomasijoittajat.fi, 040 546 7749

Tesi (Finnish Industry Investment Ltd) is a state-owned investment company that wants to raise Finland to the front ranks of renewed economic growth by investing in funds and directly in companies. We invest profitably and responsibly, hand-in-hand with co-investors, to create the world’s new success stories. Our investments under management total 1.3 billion euros. Ambition for ownership and success www.tesi.fi | www.dtg.tesi.fi | @TesiFII

 

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