Monthly Archives: September 2017

Ardian and EDF Invest acquire further stake in Geosel from LyondellBasell

Ardian

Paris, September 27th 2017 – Transport Stockage Hydrocarbures (TSH), the joint subsidiary of Ardian and EDF Invest, today announces that it has completed the acquisition of a 26.7% stake in oil storage company Géosel from Basell Polyolefines, the multinational manufacturers of polyolefin (LyondellBasell group).

TSH already owned a majority stake in Géosel following the acquisition of a 50.01% stake in the company from Total in 2015. With this latest transaction, TSH now owns 76.7% of Geosel, alongside Petroineos Manufacturing France (19.9%) and Total (3.4%). The exiting shareholder, Basell Polyolefines France, will continue to use Géosel’s infrastructure for its own needs.

With a capacity of almost 9 million cubic meters, Géosel owns a critical site for the management of French national oil reserves. The company is based in Manosque, Alpes-de-Haute-Provence (France) and operates underground storage caverns and related pipelines linked to the seaport of Fos, Marseille (France), and the petrochemical facilities of Etang de Berre (Fos, Lavera, France).

TSH, alongside its co-shareholders, aims at preserving the company’s operational excellence and will pursue its long-term development as one of the most important and best performing sites in the sector in Europe.

Commenting on the closing of the deal, Guillaume d’Engremont, Managing Director of EDF Invest and Mathias Burghardt, Head of Ardian Infrastructure, said: “We are very pleased, through TSH, to further strengthen our investment in Géosel and to reinforce our long-term commitment to the sector.”

ABOUT TSH

Starting with the acquisition of a 50% stake in Géosel Manosque SAS (“Géosel”) from Total in December 2015, TSH has been established as an investment platform in the storage and transportation of liquid hydrocarbons in Europe and potentially outside of Europe, benefiting from the strong support of both Ardian and EDF Invest in the long term. Its board of directors is comprised of investment team members of Ardian and EDF Invest that have been involved in the execution and asset management of oil midstream storage assets in multiple countries across Europe, as well as industry veterans and experts with up to 30 years of experience in the transportation and storage of hydrocarbons sector.

ABOUT ARDIAN

Ardian, founded in 1996 and led by Dominique Senequier, is an independent private investment company with assets of US$65bn managed or advised in Europe, North America and Asia. The company, which is majority- owned by its employees, keeps entrepreneurship at its heart and delivers investment performance to its global investors while fuelling growth in economies across the world. Ardian’s investment process embodies three values: excellence, loyalty and entrepreneurship.

Ardian maintains a truly global network, with more than 470 employees working through twelve offices in Paris, London, Frankfurt, Milan, Madrid, Zurich, New York, San Francisco, Beijing, Singapore, Jersey, Luxembourg. The company offers its 610 investors a diversified choice of funds covering the full range of asset classes, including Ardian Funds of Funds (primary, early secondary and secondary), Ardian Private Debt, Ardian Buyout (including Ardian Mid Cap Buyout Europe & North America, Ardian Expansion, Ardian Growth and Ardian Co-Investment), Ardian Infrastructure, Ardian Real Estate and Ardian Mandates.

www.ardian.com

ABOUT EDF INVEST

EDF Invest is the unlisted investment arm of EDF’s Dedicated Assets, the asset portfolio which covers its long-term nuclear decommissioning commitments in France. EDF Invest manages a portfolio of over €5bn equity investments through three asset classes: infrastructure, real estate and private equity.

In addition to TSH, the existing infrastructure portfolio includes stakes in RTE (the French electricity transmission company), Thyssengas (the third largest gas TSO in Germany), Aéroports de la Côte d’Azur (the second largest French airport operator, owned in partnership with Atlantia), TIGF (a gas transport and storage company operating in the South-West of France), Madrileña Red de Gas (the operator of the main gas distribution network in the region of Madrid), Porterbrook (one of the three main rolling stock owning companies in the UK) and Autostrade per I’Italia (the largest toll motorway concession asset in Europe).

www.edfinvest.com

ABOUT GÉOSEL

Géosel owns the Manosque underground storage facility in southeastern France and pipelines linking the facility to the oil ports in Fos and Lavéra, also in the same region.

With a capacity of close to 9 million cubic meters, Géosel’s underground liquid hydrocarbon storage facility is one of the largest of its kind in Europe. It represents about 20% of France’s total hydrocarbon storage capacity and is primarily used to store around 40% of the country’s strategic reserves.

Categories: News

Tags:

NPM merges NL Healthcare Clinics with Malenstein family’s Bergman Clinics

NPM Capital

Jointly largest provider of insured healthcare via focus clinics

NPM Capital as an investment company is clearly committed to Healthcare, with current investments in various focus clinics of NL Healthcare, the Arts en Zorg health centres (combining GPs, physiotherapists, pharmacists and psychological healthcare providers) and psychological and psychiatric care providers (Mentaal Beter).

On 26 September 2017, NPM Capital announced jointly with the Malenstein family that their respective interests in NL Healthcare (which include the clinics Oogziekenhuis Zonnestraal, Orthopedium, Medinova, Dermicis and Nedspine) and Bergman Clinics would be merged. Via their focus clinics, they will jointly be the largest provider of medical specialist care in the Netherlands following the merger.

By joining forces, both parties are responding to the need for upscaling and specialisation in the medical specialist healthcare sector. Their aim is to deliver high-quality, patient-focused treatments at competitive prices throughout the Netherlands. The merged chains of clinics will jointly become the country’s largest provider of treatments included in healthcare insurances in the fields of hip, knee, shoulder, foot/ankle, back and eye disorders and plastic surgery. They also provide specialist treatments in the field of skin, gastro-intestinal and pelvic floor disorders (for women). The new group comprises more than forty specialised clinics throughout the Netherlands. Joint revenue amounts to some EUR 220 million, and the organisation will have around 1,500 employees following the merger. The group expects to be able to create new employment opportunities in the years ahead by expanding existing clinics and opening new ones.

Investment and greater focus
The increase in scale will enable medical teams within the merged clinics to focus their attention even more closely on their specialisation. The combination also provides greater scope for investing in technological innovation, digitalisation and training. Planning efficiency for treatments will also be increased due to the nation-wide coverage, leading to better utilisation of the available treatment facilities in the clinics. This offers opportunities to deliver customised high-quality medical care at lower costs.
The merger is taking place against a background in which people in the Netherlands are making increasingly informed choices in all areas of their lives, including the medical field. For both patients and healthcare insurers, the demonstrable quality of treatments, costs and the service they are offered are increasingly important. Focus clinics are able to offer high quality at competitive prices, which they successfully combine with a customer-focused approach in which service and patient experience are among the key factors.

“Specialisation and focus are important principles for improving treatment outcomes and service,” says Bart Malenstein, CEO of Bergman Clinics. “To achieve those aims effectively requires an organisation to have a certain size and the volume of disorders presented to increase significantly. That creates greater potential for giving medical specialists room to specialise even further and for stepping up investments to improve the medical services they deliver”.

Photo: Bart Malenstein

Close cooperation with hospitals
After the merger, the new organisation will continue to seek partnerships with traditional hospitals in order to work jointly on improved indication setting and uniformity for treatments.
The merger will lead to a more mature offering by focus clinics that complements the transition that these traditional hospitals are undertaking to define clear treatment profiles in order to maintain the high quality of their medical care at affordable costs. Malenstein: “For that reason, we expect that they will be open to complementary alliances with specialised healthcare providers such as our clinics. This will enable hospitals to maximise their focus on patients’ disorders, leading to better diagnosis and treatment of patients as well as lower healthcare costs for society in general.”

Frank Arnoldy, CEO of NL Healthcare Clinics, points to another consequence of the merger: “The focus clinics of Bergman Clinics and NL Healthcare Clinics are able to provide high quality at competitive prices. That is important in a sector in which people are increasingly taking control of their own affairs, including insured healthcare. We successfully combine this high price/quality ratio with a customer-focused approach, in which service and patient experience are key factors. Entering into this merger enables us to continually improve the way in which we deliver that combination and means we have even more to offer our patients and staff.”

Photo: Frank Arnoldy

Better diagnoses
The new organisation will devote special attention to innovations that utilise data analysis to ensure that better and more transparent diagnoses are provided. This leads to better and more objective indication setting, contributing to more effective treatments. The upscaling also offers opportunities to treat disorders in a uniform manner, according to clearly described methods and guidelines throughout the Netherlands. “Overall, this creates better outcomes for patients,” concludes Arnoldy.

New management
Following a transition period, the new organisation will be led by a new CEO. The current CEOs of Bergman Clinics and NL Healthcare Clinics will step down when the new CEO is appointed. The CEO of Bergman Clinics, Bart Malenstein, will continue for some time as a director after the transition phase. The Malenstein family, which at present is a major shareholder of Bergman Clinics, will remain a shareholder in the new company after the merger, as will NL Healthcare Clinics shareholder NPM Capital, part of family-owned multinational SHV.

Rutger Ruigrok, managing director of NPM comments: “We know that it takes time to achieve change in the healthcare sector. Our flexible investment horizon and conservative financing of our portfolio companies provides a good match not just for the healthcare sector but also for the Malenstein family’s investment philosophy. These are important foundations for achieving further sustainable growth for our clinics.”

After completion of the transaction, teams from both organisations will work on developing in further detail the merger plans drawn up in outline as part of the negotiations. In doing so, they will also identify potential synergies, particularly at the central support departments.

Required approvals and timeline
The merger will take place subject to approval by the relevant authorities. The works councils of both businesses will also have to consider the requests for advice that will be submitted by the management of the companies concerned. The parties expect to be able to complete the merger before the end of this year.

About Bergman Clinics
Bergman Clinics has been one of the leading independent chains of focus clinics for more than 25 years, with more than 25 locations throughout the Netherlands.

The focus clinics engage in delivering high-quality plannable medical care, centred on the customer and the disorder. Owing to their focus on frequently occurring treatments, a great deal of knowledge and expertise has been built up. Today, Bergman Clinics is one of the most highly experienced institutions in the Netherlands for a range of frequently occurring treatments.

The five categories in which Bergman Clinics offers insured or uninsured care are: Movement care, Eye care, Women’s care, Internal care and Appearance and Skin care.

Bergman Clinics has contracts with all healthcare insurers. The majority of treatments qualify as insured healthcare (70%), which is reimbursed from the basic insurance package. Bergman Clinics receives more than 80,000 customers a year. The average customer rating for Bergman Clinics on zorgkaartnederland.nl is 8.7.

About NL Healthcare Clinics
NL Healthcare Clinics provides high-quality secondary healthcare which it delivers through a focused approach for each specialisation.

The organisation has around 500 employees and 18 clinics throughout the Netherlands with various labels for orthopaedic care (Medinova, Orthopedium and NedSpine), ophthalmology (Ooghospital Zonnestraal) and dermatology (Dermicis). The average customer rating on zorgkaartnederland.nl is 8.8.

Get in touch with the NPM Capital investment team

Categories: News

Tags:

Webstep announce terms of IPO

Reiten

Webstep announce terms of IPO

As announced earlier in September, Webstep intends to list their shares on the Oslo Stock Exchange and the terms of the IPO is now released. Subject to approval of the application for listing and successful completion of the Offering, the company is expected to be admitted to trading on 11 October 2017. The indicative price range for the company’s shares is set at NOK 23.75-27.75, corresponding to an equity value of NOK 505-590m

The IPO will comprise of a secondary sale of up to 9,379,870 existing shares in the company and a new issue of NOK 120m, which will be used to pay down long-term debt. Reiten & Co Capital Partners VII L.P will sell up to 6,455,176 shares, equivalent to 55% of their current shareholding.

For further information, please see the stock exchange notice: http://www.newsweb.no/newsweb/search.do?messageId=435320

The Prospectus will, subject to regulatory restrictions in certain jurisdictions, be available at:

www.webstep.com
www.arctic.com
www.sb1markets.no
www.sr-bank.no/markets

Categories: News

Tags:

Gimv is acquiring a majority stake in WEMAS, a leading German provider of passive mobile road safety equipment

GIMV

Along with the management, Gimv is taking over the German WEMAS from NORD Holding, which has held a majority stake since 2011. Gimv is acquiring a significant majority, while the balance will be held by the company’s management team under the leadership of CEO Markus Schwinn. Next to growing its core business in the DACH-region, WEMAS wants to expand into adjacent road safety markets and further grow its international business.

WEMAS Absperrtechnik GmbH (www.wemas.de) was established in 1971 and has grown into a full-range provider of certified passive mobile road safety equipment, including protective barriers, delineators, base plates, warning lamps and traffic cones. The company supplies both wholesalers and roadwork safety service providers serving the road safety, infrastructure and construction markets, predominantly in the DACH-region.

The company operates in a growing market. WEMAS is well placed to benefit from this growth thanks to its innovative and high-quality product and value-added service offering, including the highest number of certified road safety products in the industry and a wide range of customised products.

WEMAS is located in Gütersloh (North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany), where most of the products are made. With more than 120 employees, it serves more than 1000 clients thus realizing a turnover of EUR 33.7 million (2016). In the coming years, the company intends to further grow its passive mobile safety business in DACH and internationally. Moreover, the company wants to explore further growth into adjacent road safety market segments, potentially through acquisitions.

Markus Schwinn, CEO of WEMAS Absperrtechnik, explains: “I am looking forward to bringing WEMAS to the next level with the help of Gimv, a partner with a strong track record as growth investor. This collaboration will enable us to speed up the growth trajectory of our company.”

Ruben Monballieu, Principal in the Gimv Sustainable Cities Platform, continues: “Increasing traffic, growing investments in road infrastructure and safety concerns drive the need for safety products. WEMAS is well positioned to capture growth in the road safety market thanks to its fully integrated value chain and its focus on product innovation and value added services.”

“We are proud that Gimv can use its network and its experience in building leading companies to co-shape the future of WEMAS together with the company’s ambitious and entrepreneurial management team. With this fourth investment in the DACH-region over the past twelve months, Gimv once again underlines its ambition to further build its franchise in the region,” adds Sven Oleownik, Head of Gimv Germany.

The transaction is subject to the approval by the competition authorities. No further financial details of the transaction will be announced.

Categories: News

Tags:

Cancellation of own shares and reduction of par value

Cancellation of own shares and reduction of par value

Castle Private Equity AG announces that the cancellation of 2,904,511 own shares which was approved at the 15 May 2017 general meeting of shareholders was registered by the commercial register on 25 September 2017.

With regards to the listing of the company’s shares at the SIX Swiss Exchange, the cancellation becomes effective as of 26 September 2017 (date of exchange adjustment). From then on, the issued share capital of the company will amount to 26,323,950 registered shares with a par value of CHF 0.05 each.

As a result of the cancellation, the company’s holding of own shares will reduce to below 10 per cent.

Further notifications of changes in significant shareholdings due to the cancellation of 2,904,511 own shares can be expected.

For further information, please contact:

Benedikt Meyer, General Manager, telephone: +41 55 415 9710

or e-mail: lgt.cpe@lgt.com

Swiss Security Number 4885474

A joint stock corporation incorporated on February 19, 1997 under Swiss laws

Registered Office: Schuetzenstrasse 6, 8808 Pfaeffikon/SZ, Switzerland

Categories: News

Tags:

GS-Hydro Holding Oy and its subsidiary GS-Hydro Oy file for bankruptcy

Ratos

Ratos’s Finnish subsidiary GS-Hydro Holding Oy and its subsidiary GS-Hydro Oy have filed for bankruptcy today at the District Court of Kanta-Häme following consultation with Ratos and GS-Hydro’s lenders.

The Board of Directors of Ratos’s Finnish subsidiary GS-Hydro Holding Oy and its subsidiary GS-Hydro Oy have resolved yesterday evening to initiate bankruptcy proceedings and have filed for bankruptcy at the District Court of Kanta-Häme today. The GS-Hydro Group has experienced liquidity and profitability problems for some time, and these became acute when one of the company’s largest customers could not meet its payment commitments to a Group company within the GS-Hydro Group.

In recent years, Ratos has, together with the company’s Board of Directors and management, implemented an extensive action programme. In combination with this Ratos has made substantial capital contributions since 2015. This has had effect but has taken long time and the company has also been under pressure in several geographical markets. The company’s situation is primarily the result of a weak development and substantial price pressure in the offshore markets in combination with the company’s insufficiently competitive market position.

“First and foremost, we naturally regret the worry and the consequences this situation has had on the company’s employees, customers and suppliers. This is a decision we have tried to avoid for as long as possible,” says Magnus Agervald, CEO of Ratos.

“Ratos has supported the company for a long time and worked intensively in recent years to turn earnings around. As recently as last summer Ratos made a previously agreed capital contribution. We have invested a lot of work in the company, but the conclusion in the current situation is unfortunately that conditions do not exist to reverse the trend,” Magnus Agervald continues.

“Ratos has a responsibility also towards its shareholders, and after careful appraisal of the situation we have come to the conclusion that it would not be responsible to continue contributing capital in this position. It is a difficult decision that we have carefully considered,” says Jonas Wiström, Chairman of the Board of Ratos.

On 31 December 2016, Ratos wrote down the consolidated book value in GS-Hydro by SEK 160m to SEK 0. The consolidated book value of GS-Hydro amounts to SEK -64m as per 30 June 2017.

The bankruptcy estate’s administrator, who will be appointed in connection with the commencement of bankruptcy proceedings for GS-Hydro Holding Oy and GS-Hydro Oy, will provide more information about the proceedings within the scope of his authority.

GS-Hydro was acquired in 2001 in conjunction with the acquisition of Atle. Today, GS-Hydro has approximately 600 employees in 17 countries. In 2016, sales amounted to EUR 93,7m and operating loss (EBITA) to EUR -15,8m.

For questions, please contact:
Magnus Agervald, CEO, +46 8 700 17 00
Helene Gustafsson, Head of IR and Press, +46 8 700 17 98

Categories: News

Tags:

IK Investment Partners to sell Schenck Process to Blackstone

ik-investment-partners

IK Investment Partners (“IK”), a leading Pan-European private equity firm, is pleased to announce that the IK 2007 Fund has reached an agreement with private equity funds managed by Blackstone (“Blackstone”) to sell Schenck Process (“Schenck”), a global market leader in measuring and process technology.

Headquartered in Darmstadt, Germany, Schenck develops and manufactures innovative solutions for a wide range of industrial processes including weighing, feeding, conveying and filtration. With over 2,300 employees’ worldwide and significant operations across Europe, North and South America, China, India and Australia, Schenck serves a diversified customer base across a variety of industries, including food, chemicals, mining and construction.

“Schenck is an innovative and unrivalled leader, and we see considerable opportunity to grow the business both organically and by acquisitions in its various end markets.  We are excited to team up with management and accompany Schenck in the next stage of its development,” said Lionel Assant, Head of European Private Equity at Blackstone.

“This investment underlines our strong commitment to the German market as we continue to evaluate further opportunities across Europe.  Blackstone has a proud record of working with growing companies and supporting their strategies and we are hugely excited about our new partnership with Schenck,” added Juergen Pinker, Managing Director at Blackstone.

“As we embark on an exciting new chapter for Schenck, I would like to thank IK for their invaluable support over the past years. Blackstone’s significant sector experience and financial backing make them the ideal new partner. As we commit to further investment in innovation and developing new technologies, we look forward to accelerating growth across our international footprint,” said Andreas Evertz, President & CEO of Schenck.

“During the IK 2007 Fund’s ownership, Schenck has transformed its business focus from a mechanical manufacturer to a service and integrated solutions provider, achieved significant growth by expanding the product portfolio and entering new markets both organically and through selected add-on acquisitions. It has been a pleasure working with the management team, and we wish them the very best as they continue on their growth trajectory,” said Detlef Dinsel, Partner at IK Investment Partners and advisor to the IK 2007 Fund.

Financial terms of the transaction are not disclosed.

For further questions, please contact:

IK Investment Partners
Detlef Dinsel
Partner
Phone: +49 40 369 8850

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

Blackstone
Andrew Dowler/Rebecca Flower
+44 (0) 207 451 4275
Andrew.Dowler@Blackstone.com

About Schenck Process
Schenck Process is the global technology and market leader in applied measuring technology. We make processes work in all areas of industry throughout the world. For us that means improving our customer processes in terms of reliability, efficiency, and accuracy. Combining outstanding equipment and extensive process knowledge, we develop and manufacture innovative solutions for weighing, feeding, conveying, screening, automation, and air filtration applications. We focus on the needs of our customers and support them through the whole lifecycle of a product. For more information, visit www.schenckprocess.com

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 billion of capital and invested in over 110 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

About Blackstone
Blackstone is one of the world’s leading investment firms. We seek to create positive economic impact and long-term value for our investors, the companies in which we invest, and the communities in which we work.  We do this by using extraordinary people and flexible capital to help companies solve problems.  Our asset management businesses, with over $370 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

 

Categories: News

Tags:

EQT Mid Market sells stake in TransIP

eqt

  • EQT Mid Market and EQT Mid Market Europe sell stake in domain name, hosting and VPS provider TransIP to its founder
  • Both parties strongly believe in the future prospects of TransIP and are in agreement that having one owner with full control serves the interests of TransIP best

On September 19, 2017, EQT Mid Market and EQT Mid Market Europe agreed to sell their stake in domain name, hosting and VPS provider TransIP (or “the Company”) to Cherenkov B.V., a company controlled and fully owned by Mr. Ali Niknam, founder of TransIP.

TransIP is the largest independent domain name, hosting and Virtual Private Server (“VPS”) provider in the Benelux with a focus on tech savvy customers and IT professionals. TransIP is headquartered in Leiden in the Netherlands. The Company has developed and continued its expansion across existing products and markets, and generated a substantial growth and EBITDA increase.

During EQT’s ownership, a high-caliber Board was formed with Jonas Persson, former CTO EMEA at Microsoft acting as Chairman, who was joined, among others, by Denise Koopmans, former CEO LexisNexis. In addition, Oliver Mauss, a former CEO of 1&1, the largest European hosting Group, joined as CEO and Mark Stork, former CFO at Multikabel BV (today part of Ziggo), joined as CFO.

“TransIP is going through a fast transformation, with a particularly strong growth in its core tech-savvy customer segment with its VPS product in the Benelux. TransIP has a unique and entrepreneurial culture and I am confident that they will continue to prosper in the future”, says Jonas Persson, resigning Chairman of TransIP.

“Following discussions on ownership strategy, both EQT and Mr Ali Niknam believe having one owner with sole control is the best structure for TransIP going forward. TransIP is a great company with strong talent and is well positioned to enjoy further future growth,” says Florian Funk, Partner at EQT Partners and Investment Advisor to EQT Mid Market and EQT Mid Market Europe.

TransIP has appointed a new management team and supervisory board effective immediately. The parties have agreed not to disclose financial details of the transaction.

Contacts:
Florian Funk, Partner at EQT Partners and Investment Advisor to EQT Mid Market, +49 89 2554 99 504

EQT Press office, +46 8 506 55 334

About EQT
EQT is a leading alternative investments firm with approximately EUR 37 billion in raised capital. EQT has portfolio companies in Europe, Asia and the US with total sales of more than EUR 19 billion and approximately 110,000 employees. EQT works with portfolio companies to achieve sustainable growth, operational excellence and market leadership.

For further information, please visit www.eqtpartners.com

About TransIP
 TransIP is the largest independent domain name, hosting and VPS provider in Benelux with a focus on tech savvy customers and IT professionals. The company is headquartered in Leiden in the Netherlands and has approximately 100 employees.

For further information, please visit www.transip.nl

Categories: News

Tags:

Sale of shares in AcadeMedia to 12 high quality investors including Mellby Gård

eqt

Marvin Holding Limited (a holding company owned by EQT V Limited and its co-investor) (“Marvin”) has entered into an agreement to sell 12,586,941 shares in AcadeMedia AB (publ) (“AcadeMedia”) to 12 high quality Swedish and international investors including Mellby Gård AB.

After the sale, Marvin owns 11,511,385 shares, corresponding to approximately 12.1% of the total number of shares in AcadeMedia. The shares in AcadeMedia that Marvin holds after the sale will be subject to a so-called lock-up, up to and including the date of publication of the Company’s first quarterly report for 2017/2018, which is expected to be published on October 26, 2017, subject to customary exceptions or written consent from Carnegie Investment Bank AB (publ) (“Carnegie”) and Scandinavian Enskilda Banken AB (publ) (“SEB”). Mellby Gård AB, anchor investor in the listing of AcadeMedia, will through the transaction increase its holding in AcadeMedia from approximately 20.1% to 21.1% of the total number of AcadeMedia shares.

Carnegie and SEB acted as advisors in the transaction.

Categories: News

Tags:

Gimv acquires 23.6 per cent of Cegeka shares

GIMV

Gimv is to take a 23.6 per cent interest in ICT company Cegeka. With this move, Cegeka aims to strengthen its position in existing markets and expand geographically. The ambition is to realise growth both organically and by means of a buy & build strategy. Outsourcing in general is at the heart of the expansion plans and is to be the engine for further growth. Gimv will become a shareholder besides CEO André Knaepen, the Limburg Reconversion Company (LRM) and the management of Cegeka.

Since his management buy-out in 1992, André Knaepen has grown Cegeka from a local to a pan-European IT service provider with branches in ten countries. Today the company employs over 4,000 people, together serving more than 2,500 customers. Since 2006, turnover has quadrupled to over 400 million euros and it is Cegeka’s ambition to continue on this impressive growth path in the coming years. It aims to double its size again within five years.

Tom Van de Voorde, Head of Smart Industries at Gimv, on the transaction: “We can see daily from Gimv’s portfolio that IT belongs at the heart of business operations and that there is a need for players who can empathise with their customers. From our experience in ICT, we can particularly appreciate Cegeka’s continuous innovation and customer awareness. From the first contacts, we were very impressed by the growth path that the company – led by a broad and motivated management team – has taken in the last ten years. Our investment will make extra resources available with which we will give a boost to Cegeka’s ambition.”

“This capital operation is necessary to further realise Cegeka’s ambition. In the first place, we will continue investing in the development of our service range, as we want to stay ahead of the market. In our geographical expansion, we will concentrate first on those countries where we are already active. There is scope there for aligning our services more with the needs of our customers”, says Cegeka CEO André Knaepen. “We want to grow in Europe, but that will never be at the expense of our local approach. That is the DNA and the strength of Cegeka. It is from those strong customer relations that we will provide growth and sustainability for medium-sized and large organisations. This operation is a major strategic step which was supported by the team of Degroof Petercam Corporate Finance”

“LRM has been a shareholder of Cegeka since 1999 and has seen the company grow in recent years to become a top European player. With the involvement of Gimv, Cegeka will have the opportunity to gear up and realise its growth ambitions faster”, says Stijn Bijnens, CEO LRM.

The ‘Centrum voor Overheidsinformatica’ (COI), which used to be an important actor in the computerization of the Flemish Government, has supported the first European growth phase of Cegeka. With Gimv joining the capital of the company, COI will now revert to its core tasks.

 

Categories: News

Tags: