Monthly Archives: December 2018

Samsung SDI, Port of Tallinn, GEM and Alrosa recognised in the 15th annual East Capital Awards

East Capital

East Capital, a specialist asset manager in emerging and frontier markets, today announces the winners of the 2018 East Capital Awards:

 

  • Samsung SDI      Best Growth Award
  • Port of Tallinn    Best IPO Award
  • GEM                       Discovery of the Year Award
  • Alrosa                    Best Corporate Governance Award

 

This is the 15th year that the East Capital Awards honour remarkable companies in East Capital’s investment universe. Peter Elam Håkansson, Chairman and CIO of East Capital, said: “The Awards serve to highlight some of the most outstanding companies in our portfolios, and also to inspire others. Through our extensive in-depth research with frequent company meetings in emerging and frontier markets, we identify companies each year that have achieved impressive results and demonstrate great potential. I want to extend my sincere congratulations to this year’s award winners on their impressive achievements.”

The Best Growth Award is presented to Samsung SDI, a global leader in lithium battery technology. In 2018, the South Korean company saw a strong turnaround in earnings thanks to growth momentum in all its business segments. During the first nine months of 2018, revenue jumped 49% and net profit 19%. The small battery segment benefitted from market share gains among smartphone and power-tool producers. The large batteries are used for electric vehicles and are on track to become a profitable segment for the company in the second half of 2018 due to superior product quality. During next year, we expect a significant margin improvement in the large battery business.

The Best IPO Award is presented to Port of Tallinn, the fourth largest port operator in Northern Europe, with 10.6 million passengers in 2017. The Estonian company operates a portfolio of diversified high-quality infrastructure assets, including passenger and cruise ship harbours, cargo ports and a domestic ferry service. Their IPO on the Tallinn Stock Exchange was the first privatisation in the Baltic region in almost two decades. The deal was skillfully executed, and more than 3 times oversubscribed by a wide investor base. The company has continued to show strong results in the first half of the year, with an expected dividend yield of 6% for 2018, above the market and peer group benchmarks. East Capital participated in the IPO, acquiring 1.3% of the shares. The stock outperformed the market by 16% during the first three days of trading and is up by 22%* since the IPO. It is however still trading at a significant discount to European peers.
*As of 12-11-2018

The Discovery of the Year Award is presented to GEM, the largest used batteries and rare metals recycling company globally. It is also the world’s largest ultra-fine cobalt powder producer, with 20% market share, sourcing 35% of its cobalt from its own recycling. GEM moved downstream and entered the nickel-cobalt-manganese cathode and precursor material business in recent years, growing cathode and precursor capacity from 15,000 tons in 2015 to a target of 90,000 tons in 2020. We like GEM’s leading position in cobalt recycling and the strong synergy between the recycling and battery material businesses. While the recycling business provides cost advantages for GEM’s battery material business, its battery material business creates a new sales channel for its recycling business, allowing GEM to climb up the value chain by capturing a higher-margin segment.

The Best Corporate Governance Award is presented to Alrosa, the world’s largest producer of diamonds. The company is majority owned by the Russian State and by the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia). Typically, state-owned companies are not leaders in terms of corporate governance developments, but we consider Alrosa one of the best examples adhering to the highest standards of corporate governance in emerging markets. The improvement of corporate governance has been led by CEO Sergey Ivanov and CFO Alexey Phillipovskiy. Most notably, the dividend policy is expected to be radically changed to 100% of the free cash flow. And there have been a number of other achievements, including cost-cutting, disposal of non-core assets and working capital improvements.

 

 

—

 

Notes to editors

The East Capital Awards were established in 2004 to reward the progress of outstanding companies in East Capital’s portfolios.

The award for Best Growth is presented to a company that has demonstrated outstanding growth in the areas of sales, market share and profit margins in recent years. The Best IPO Award is presented to the company that has carried out the most successful floatation in the region. The Discovery of the Year is awarded to a company discovered by our investment team that is expected to demonstrate unique performance. The Best Corporate Governance Award is presented to a company that demonstrates exceptional standards in the area of corporate governance.

 

For further information about the winning companies, please visit:

Best Growth Award 2018: Samsung SDI
samsungsdi.com / linkedin.com/company/samsung-sdi/

Best IPO Award 2018: Port of Tallinn
portoftallinn.com / linkedin.com/company/port-of-tallinn/

Discovery of the Year Award 2018: GEM
gemchina.com

Best Corporate Governance Award 2018: Alrosa
eng.alrosa.ru / twitter.com/ALROSA_official

 

Contact information:

Ilze Johnston, Marketing Communications Manager, East Capital

+46 8 505 88 550 mediaenquiries@eastcapital.com  

 

Andrew Fleming/ Georgie Rudkin, MHP Communications, Europe

+44 203 128 8100  eastcapital@mhpc.com  

 

Ruby Lo / Judith Bence, MHP, Asia

+852 6255 8133 / +61 415 903 849 eastcapital@mhpc.com

 

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ARDIAN arranges a unitranche financing for the acquisitions of selection1818 and aprep by DLPK GROUP

Ardian

Paris, 5 December 2018 – Ardian, a world-leading private investment house, today announces the arrangement of a Unitranche facility to support DLPK Group’s acquisitions of Sélection 1818 and APREP, which both took place towards the end of November.
DLPK Group is a major French player in the design and distribution of financial products for finance professionals, through its three specialized subsidiaries: Nortia (life insurance), Nortia Invest (securities accounts) and Haas Gestion (asset management). The group is majority owned by its management team, with BlackFin Capital Partners a minority shareholder since February 2018.
With the acquisition of Sélection 1818 and APREP, DLPK Group strengthens its position in the life insurance and securities accounts segments and becomes the leading distribution platform for financial advisers in France, with total assets under management of around €13bn.
Guillaume Chinardet, Head of Ardian Private Debt in France and Managing Director, said: “We were impressed by DLPK Group’s positioning, focused on the development of innovative financial solutions with a strong emphasis placed on quality of service and customer satisfaction, as well as the ambitions of its management team, who are determined for DLPK Group to become a leader in its market.”
“We are pleased to be able to help DLPK Group expand in a consolidating market. We are convinced that Sélection 1818 and APREP will benefit in full from DLPK’s expertise after their integration, and our Unitranche financing is particularly well suited to support the group’s expansion in the years to come” added Jean-David Ponsin, Director at Ardian Private Debt.
Vincent Dubois, chairman of DLPK Group, commented: “We are delighted to be working alongside Ardian, which has proven its creative and agile nature in providing a tailor-made financing solution, meeting the group’s needs perfectly under the framework of these two transformative acquisitions.”
Daniel Cohen-Sabban, Managing Director at BlackFin Capital Partners, added: “We are pleased to continue supporting growth at DLPK Group alongside Ardian, a long-term partner for BlackFin.”

ABOUT ARDIAN

Ardian is a world-leading private investment house with assets of US$82bn 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 560 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 750 clients through five pillars of investment expertise: Funds of Funds, Direct Funds, Infrastructure, Real Estate and Private Debt.
Ardian on Twitter @Ardian
www.ardian.com

ABOUT DLPK

Majority-owned by its management team, the DLPK Group counts companies specializing in the design and distribution of innovative financial solutions for financial professionals. It houses NORTIA (life insurance) and NORTIA INVEST (securities accounts), two distribution platforms which are exclusively dedicated to supporting financial advisors, as well as HAAS GESTION, an asset management company. The Group also holds a stake in the investment company NEXO CAPITAL.
Following the successive acquisitions of Sélection 1818 and APREP Diffusion, the DLPK group manages €13 billion in assets under management as of December 1, 2018.
www.nortia.fr

ABOUT BLACKFIN CAPITAL PARTNERS

BlackFin Capital Partners is a sector-focused fund, specializing in Financial Services across Europe. BlackFin’s investment strategy focuses on asset-light businesses in the financial services & technology sector, across continental Europe. Businesses of interest to BlackFin include asset-management, institutional and retail brokerage, distribution of insurance and banking products, both digital and through traditional channels, payments, processing, debt management and collection, fund administration, business process outsourcing and financial technology.
BlackFin operates as an active and influential investor, supporting management teams to take their businesses to the next level.
BlackFin manages €800m through two financial services growth / buyout funds and one FinTech focused venture capital fund.
BlackFin Capital Partners is a fully independent firm, run by its four founding partners who have worked together as managers and entrepreneurs in the financial industry for decades. Altogether the team consists of 25 experienced professionals operating out of offices in Paris, Brussels and Frankfurt.
www.blackfincp.com

LIST OF PARTICIPANTS

Ardian Private Debt: Guillaume Chinardet, Jean-David Ponsin, Melchior Huet
DLPK: Vincent Dubois, Antoine Limare
BlackFin Capital Partners: Bruno Rostain, Sabine Mathis, Daniel Cohen-Sabban, Alexandre Chanteur
Legal and Financial Advisors (Ardian): K&L Gates – Mounir Letayf, Adeline Roboam

PRESS CONTACTS

ARDIAN
HEADLAND
TOM JAMES
Tel: +44 020 3805 4840
ardian@headlandconsultancy.com
DLPK
AGENCE FARGO
MARIE MAUREL
Tel: 01 44 82 95 54
mmaurel@agencefargo.com

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V3 Group Limited Welcomes Investment from KKR

KKR

S$500M Landmark Investment by KKR in Leading Luxury Group in Asia

 

SINGAPORE–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Dec. 4, 2018– V3 Group Limited (“V3” or the “Company”), a leading specialty retailer of luxury lifestyle and wellness products in Asia, today announced an investment by global investment firm KKR, which will invest up to S$500 million for a significant stake in V3, at an enterprise value of approximately S$1.7 billion.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181203006091/en/

Headquartered in Singapore, V3 owns and develops premium products and services through its leading luxury and wellness brands – OSIM, TWG Tea and ONI (GNC, LAC, Xndo) – promoting and inspiring a healthy lifestyle to a broad and affluent consumer demographic across Asia. The Company also owns Futuristic Store Fixtures, which supports some of the world’s leading retail brands. The Company has a history of impressive brand creation and development, a deep understanding of the consumer market and retailing, and a presence in over 100 cities in 26 countries around the world.

Commenting on the investment by KKR, Mr. Ron Sim, Founder, Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of V3, said, “I am extremely pleased to welcome KKR as a significant shareholder in V3. I look forward to an exciting partnership together as well as drawing on KKR’s longstanding expertise and full support to accelerate the growth of the business. I am confident this investment will position the Company for our next phase of growth, starting with the immediate expansion of TWG Tea in Japan and the USA and of OSIM in China.”

KKR’s investment marks the beginning of a robust relationship with V3, and affirms the strong heritage and prospects of one of Asia’s most distinguished luxury groups. KKR is making this investment from its Asian Fund III.

Mr. Jaka Prasetya, Member of KKR, said, “V3 is a landmark investment for KKR in a leading luxury group in Asia, underscoring our strong belief in the continued growth of the region’s consumer sector. At KKR, we aim to provide support and capital to successful home-grown, regional companies like V3 in order to capture opportunities across Asia and beyond. We look forward to working alongside the whole V3 team to build on the Company’s success.”

The transaction was advised by Evercore, the exclusive financial adviser to V3.

About V3 Group Limited

Headquartered in Singapore, V3 Group Limited (“V3”) is a leading Asian luxury group that creates, develops, and owns brands in the lifestyle and wellness markets. V3 has three major business streams, Lifestyle, Wellness and Specialist Fixtures, and a presence in over 100 cities in 26 countries around the world.

Beginning with the global luxury product leader OSIM in 1980, V3 Group founder Ron Sim has built up a portfolio of leading luxury brands over the years, including TWG Tea, the finest luxury tea brand in the world, and ONI Global, Asia’s largest retailer of nutritional supplements. In ONI Global’s core markets Singapore, Malaysia and Taiwan, V3 Group holds the exclusive franchise rights to the global wellness brand GNC. Through ONI Global, V3 also owns LAC, which offers customers wellness products that combine eastern herbal ingredients and modern western processing; and Xndo, a provider of formulated food-based health products. The Company also owns Futuristic Store Fixtures, which supports some of the world’s leading retail brands.

For more information about V3 Group, please visit www.v3group.com.

About KKR

KKR is a leading global investment firm that manages multiple alternative asset classes, including private equity, energy, infrastructure, real estate and credit, with strategic partners that manage hedge funds. KKR aims to generate attractive investment returns for its fund investors by following a patient and disciplined investment approach, employing world-class people, and driving growth and value creation with KKR portfolio companies. KKR invests its own capital alongside the capital it manages for fund investors and provides financing solutions and investment opportunities through its capital markets business. References to KKR’s investments may include the activities of its sponsored funds. For additional information about KKR & Co. Inc. (NYSE:KKR), please visit KKR’s website at www.kkr.com and on Twitter @KKR_Co.

Source: V3 Group Limited

For media queries on KKR:
Cara Major
KKR
Cara.Major@kkr.com

For media queries on V3 Group:
Jeffrey Fang
Executive Director, Black Dot
jeffrey@blackdot.sg

 

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Lumeon secures $28M in funding to accelerate growth in the US market

GIlde Healthcare

Utrecht (The Netherlands), Boston (United States) – Lumeon, the digital health scale-up in Care Pathway Management (CPM), today announced the closure of a $28M investment. The financing allows Lumeon to expand its U.S. team and Boston headquarters, scale commercial operations and accelerate customer deployments in the region.

Along with LSP as lead investor, the finance was provided by MTIP and current investors Gilde, Amadeus Capital Partners, IPF Partners and Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.

 

About Lumeon
Lumeon enables healthcare organizations to orchestrate and automate systems and processes, bringing situational awareness to care operations to deliver high performance, team-centered healthcare. The industry-leading Lumeon Care Pathway Management (CPM) platform and suite of solutions empower health organizations to take control of their end-to-end care delivery model and maximize the use of resources. By iteratively designing and deploying efficient pathways, organizations reduce cost and minimize unwarranted variation, while flexibly adapting to emerging needs.

With headquarters in the USA and Europe, Lumeon serves some of the largest health enterprises across the globe, managing over six million patients on its platform. Find out more at www.lumeon.com.

About Gilde Healthcare
Gilde Healthcare is a specialized European healthcare investor managing €1 billion across two business lines: a venture & growth capital fund and a private equity fund. Gilde Healthcare’s venture & growth capital fund invests in medtech, digital health and therapeutics. The portfolio companies are based in Europe and North America. Gilde Healthcare’s private equity fund invests in profitable European lower mid-market healthcare services companies with a focus on the Benelux and DACH-region. The portfolio consists of healthcare providers, suppliers of medical products and other service providers in the healthcare market. For more information, visit the company’s website at www.gildehealthcare.com.

Gilde Healthcare

Gilde Healthcare is a specialized European healthcare investor managing two business lines: a lower mid-market buy-out fund and a venture & growth capital fund. It has over €800 million ($1 billion) under management and is actively looking to lead new investments in digital health, diagnostics, medical devices, therapeutics and healthcare services across Europe and the US.

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DataCenter Finland adds Adelis to ownership base – aim is to create the leading IT services company focusing on the SME segment in Finland

Adelis Equity

DataCenter Finland (DCF) has in recent years grown organically and through acquisitions into Finland’s leading independent cloud provider. Now DCF has decided to accelerate its growth. Supported by Adelis Equity Partners the goal is to become the leading Finnish IT services provider focusing on mid-sized companies.

DataCenter Finland has in recent years become the leading provider of cloud services to mid-sized companies. The company has invested significantly into its operations by building a strong IT infrastructure and cloud services focused organization and by building two modern datacenters. Organic growth has been accelerated by acquisitions and the company’s turnover is expected to exceed 20 million euros in 2018.

To enable its next growth phase, including larger acquisitions, DCF has partnered with Adelis. DCF’s aim is to create the leading IT services provider focused on mid-sized companies in Finland by investing heavily into its own organization and by pursuing further acquisitions.

”After building a strong foundation within IT infrastructure and private cloud services, we want to evolve into a holistic IT services provider. Our plan is to expand our offering especially within information security, holistic IT architecture and modern end-user solutions coupled with excellent service desk and onsite support services. Our strong customer relationships and our organization’s deep technical expertise creates a strong platform from which to introduce these new services. We are excited to get a strong partner to support us on this path. The Adelis team’s previous experience from the Danish and Swedish IT services markets brings very valuable know-how to us”, says Atte Kekkonen, CEO of DataCenter Finland.

”It is highly motivating for us at Adelis to join forces with DCF. We have previously supported IT Relation and AddPro in becoming the leading IT services providers focused on mid-sized companies in Denmark and Sweden. Now we have found a partner in Finland to support on a similar journey. DCF’s strong IT infrastructure capabilities create a good base for the planned broadening of the service offering. The biggest winner from this development will be the Finnish SME sector”, says Rasmus Molander from Adelis.

Adelis becomes the majority owner of DCF through the transaction. The company’s current owners, including management, will remain as significant owners. In addition, the founder and CEO of AddPro, Nicklas Persson, will invest into DCF and join its board of directors. The transaction is subject to customary regulatory approvals.

For further information:

DataCenter Finland: Atte Kekkonen, CEO, +358 40 505 5020

Adelis Equity Partners: Rasmus Molander, Partner, +46 730 823 74 33

Adelis Equity Partners: Joel Russ, Partner, +46 73 543 90 68

DataCenter Finland

DataCenter Finland is an IT infrastructure and cloud services provider focused on mid-sized companies. Local customer service is the foundation for all of its operations. The company has revenues of approximately EUR 21 million, operates two modern datacenters in the Helsinki capital region and employs c. 80 IT experts.www.datacenter.fi

Adelis Equity Partners

Adelis is an active partner in creating value at mid-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 18 companies and making more than 40 add-on acquisitions. Adelis now manages approximately €1 billion in capital. For more information please visitwww.adelisequity.com.

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Main Capital acquires strategic stake in RegTech software specialist cleversoft

Main Capital

Main Capital has acquired a strategic stake in cleversoft, a Munich-based RegTech software specialist. With scalable SaaS solutions, cleversoft enables financial institutions to efficiently comply with the ever-increasing regulatory challenges in the financial industry.

 cleversoft was founded in 2004 and grew out to a leading software specialist in the RegTech market. With its 80 plus employee workforce, cleversoft helps financial institutions to efficiently comply with a growing number of complex regulations. The company supports globally-acting banks, asset managers and insurers to tackle regulatory challenges under regimes such as PRIIPs, MiFID II, PIB, FIDLEG and AML-regimes. The Services for these regulations are underpinned with lifecycle management solutions including customer relations (CRM) and marketing processes. The company currently serves over 200 international customers.

In recent years, financial institutions have been under increasing pressure to comply with more regulations with limited resources. It is expected that the multitude of financial regulation, its increasing complexity and the strong enforcement of financial authorities will increase the demand for smart regulatory solutions and spur growth of the RegTech market for the coming years.

 Under these market conditions, cleversoft aims to grow towards a market leading RegTech player in the European market through organic growth and a synergetic buy-and-build strategy. In addition to maintaining its strong growth trajectory, an explicit focus lies on smart add-on acquisitions in order to expand into adjacent market segments as well as to further internationalize.

Cooperation cleversoft – Main Capital

Florian Clever (Managing founder of cleversoft): “The RegTech market is accelerating under the increased pressure and complexity of regulation in the financial industry. At the same time, the market for smart regulatory solutions is underserved and extremely fragmented. We are excited that the cooperation with Main allows us to capitalize on these observations and to further expand our product offering through an add-on strategy. Their proven track-record in consolidation strategies and software expertise make them the ideal partner to support cleversoft in our next growth stage.

 Charly Zwemstra (Managing Partner Main Capital): “cleversoft has demonstrated an impressive profitable growth path over the last few years. The company offers highly-scalable regulatory reporting solutions for the financial industry. With its products, the company supports the financial industry to overcome the increasingly complex regulatory challenges. We see strong organic growth opportunities for cleversoft in this market. Moreover, through an active buy-and-build strategy, we see ample opportunities for cleversoft to expands its product offering and to enter adjacent market segments, both in Germany and abroad. Currently we are also invested in SecondFloor, an Amsterdam-based Regtech company with a focus on the insurance & pensions industry”.

Cleversoft

 About cleversoft

cleversoft is a market-leading regulatory reporting specialist for the financial industry. The company offers cloud based proprietary PRIIPs and MiFID II SaaS-solutions. Through an intuitive interface and lean integrations with back-end systems, cleversoft’s products enables financial players to efficiently harness highly-complex regulations.

About Main Capital

Main Capital is a strategic investor with an exclusive focus on the software sector in the Benelux, Germany and Scandinavia. Within this sector, we are the most specialized party in management buy-outs and later-stage growth capital. Main Capital has approximately € 400 million under management for investments in mature but growing software companies in the Netherlands and Germany. An experienced team of professionals manages these Private Equity funds from offices in The Hague and Düsseldorf.

In addition to cleversoft, the current investment portfolio of Main Capital consists of growing (SaaS) software companies such as Enovation, SDB Ayton, GOconnectIT, JobRouter (Germany), Inergy, MUIS Software, artegic (Germany), OBI4wan, Axxerion, b+m Informatik (Germany), Ymor, Roxit, Onguard, Sharewire, SecondFloor, Sofon and ChainPoint. Main Capital also has an interest in managed hosting provider Denit. Main Capital has a long-term perspective with the intention to build larger strong software groups.

Note for the editor:

This press release is issued by Main Capital. For more information, please contact:

Charly Zwemstra (Managing Partner)
Main Capital Partners BV, Paleisstraat 6, 2514 JA, Den Haag
Tel: +31 (0) 70 324 3433 / +31 (0) 6 512 77 805
charly@main.nl
www.main.nl

For more information in German, please contact:

Sven van Berge Henegouwen (Partner)
Main Capital Partners GmbH, Rathausufer 17, 40213, Düsseldorf
Tel: +49 (0) 211 7314 9339 / +31 (0)70 324 34 33
sven@main.nl
www.main.nl

Florian Clever (Managing Partner)
cleversoft group, Paul-Heyse-Str.6, 80336 München
Tel: + 49 (0) 89 288 5111 0
fc@clever-soft.com
www.clever-soft.com

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TMG Partners and KKR Acquire 1221 City Center in Downtown Oakland

KKR

TMG and KKR partner on second Oakland-based transaction in 2018

SAN FRANCISCO/OAKLAND, Calif. & NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Dec. 3, 2018– TMG Partners, one of the Bay Area’s largest mixed-use property developers, and KKR, a leading global investment firm, announced today the purchase of 1221 City Center in Downtown Oakland, California. The purchase is the second transaction by TMG and KKR in Oakland this year, following the purchase of 1330 Broadway in Oakland in July.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here:https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181203005485/en/

1221 City Center (Photo courtesy of TMG Partners)1221 City Center (Photo courtesy of TMG Partners)

The project is a 24-story, 522,000-square-foot office building and is located at the intersection of Broadway and 12th Street. The building is one of three in the Bay Area that enjoys access to BART via a direct entrance to the 12thStreet Station through the building lobby.

“We expect that the Oakland office market will continue its positive trajectory because of strong tenant demand and extremely limited supply,” said TMG’s Director of Development David Cropper. “We look forward to broadening our partnership with KKR in the future.”

“We are excited to partner with TMG for our second Oakland-based transaction this year, which will be KKR’s third investment in Oakland since 2017. We believe Oakland has attractive long-term secular growth trends driven by its accessibility to transit, a growing retail amenity base, and a meaningful amount of residential development,” said Justin Pattner, Head of Real Estate Equity in the Americas at KKR. “1221 City Center is an iconic property in the Oaklandskyline, and we look forward to the next phase of its business plan.”

KKR is making the investment through its Real Estate Partners Americas II Fund.

1221 City Center is 99% leased. Existing tenants include Clorox, Union Bank, Stanford Health Care, Wells Fargo Bank and Parsons Brinkerhoff.

The building has previously achieved a LEED Platinum rating by the US Green Building Council and features panoramic Oakland skyline and Bay views, onsite retail amenities and ample parking, as well as bike lockers and showers.

TMG, which recently celebrated its 33 1/3 anniversary, has been increasingly active in the Oakland office market. The purchase of 1221 City Center represents TMG’s fourth transaction in Oakland. 1330 Broadway was TMG’s first Oaklandredevelopment. Last year, the firm also acquired 2201 Broadway, an eight-story 198,000-square-foot office building in Uptown Oakland. Currently, the firm is also entitling an approximately 750,000-square-foot office and retail tower at the intersection of Grand Avenue and Telegraph Avenue.

About TMG Partners

TMG Partners, founded in 1984 and headquartered in San Francisco, is a full-service real estate development and management company. TMG has developed more than 25 million square feet of property throughout the San Francisco Bay Area, including San Francisco, San Jose, Oakland, Palo Alto, San Bruno, Emeryville, and Marin City. One of the most active developers in this area, the company has developed a variety of office, retail, residential and industrial properties, ranging from office campus and multi-story properties in urban, infill locations to mixed-use retail and single-story suburban buildings. For detailed information, visit www.tmgpartners.com.

About KKR

KKR is a leading global investment firm that manages multiple alternative asset classes, including private equity, energy, infrastructure, real estate and credit, with strategic partners that manage hedge funds. KKR aims to generate attractive investment returns for its fund investors by following a patient and disciplined investment approach, employing world-class people, and driving growth and value creation with KKR portfolio companies. KKR invests its own capital alongside the capital it manages for fund investors and provides financing solutions and investment opportunities through its capital markets business. References to KKR’s investments may include the activities of its sponsored funds. For additional information about KKR & Co. Inc. (NYSE: KKR), please visit KKR’s website at www.kkr.com and on Twitter @KKR_Co.

Source: KKR

MEDIA:
TMG Partners: Julie Chase
jchase@jchasepr.com
415.710.7108

KKR: Kristi Huller or Samantha Norquist
Phone: 212-750-8300
media@kkr.com

 

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Floom – the global technology platform and marketplace for florists – raises £2m

Pembroke

Funding round led by firstminute capital, Pembroke VCT and leading technology entrepreneurs

 

  • lastminute.com co-founder Brent Hoberman’s investment vehicle backs Floom
  • firstminute capital leads fund, alongside consumer venture capital trust, Pembroke VCT
  • Other investors include The Hut Group CTO digital experiences Wing Chan and New Look founder Tom Singh
  • Former CTO of Just Eat, Carlos Morgado, joins Floom’s board
  • Floom increased revenue by 464% in the past 12 months
  • Funding will enable further expansion to four more US cities and a new country in 2019

 

London, 3rd December 2018: Floom, the digital marketplace that connects independent florists with customers across the world, has raised £2m/US $2.5m in a seed funding round led by firstminute capital, alongside Pembroke VCT. The investment will allow the start-up to continue its US expansion and develop its pioneering tech, including the floristry industry’s first SaaS offering.

 

Founded by 31-year-old entrepreneur Lana Elie in 2016, whose background lies in digital content creation for the likes of Gucci and Prada, Floom is the only curated marketplace of its kind for independent florists. Floom’s technology platform – which has been compared to the likes of JustEat and Farfetch – gives florists the software and tools to create and deliver beautifully crafted bouquets to a global network of customers in 125+ countries. The start-up now works with the best florists in the UK, New York and LA to offer customers same-day delivery.

 

The £2m investment comes from a venture capital-led funding round by firstminute capital with Henry Lane-Fox as the lead. Firstminute capital’s $100m seed fund is backed by 30 unicorn founders and global strategics. Additional investors include Tom Singh, the founder of New Look, Pembroke VCT, Wing Chan, CTO digital experiences of The Hut Group, and Carlos Morgado, former CTO of Just Eat, who also joins Floom’s board. The funding will allow Floom to bring its highly scalable, low-risk model that requires virtually no local infrastructure to four new US cities and a new country in 2019.

 

The funding will also be used to develop the first vertically integrated Software as a Service (SaaS) for the floristry industry. The technology will give independent florists everything they need to compete with bigger players, whose outdated systems lead to poor customer experience resulting in reduced numbers of newly acquired customers across the sector. With independent florists often lacking the e-commerce expertise and financial means to achieve market share, Floom’s SaaS will give them everything they need to reach and delight customers, from inventory management and a wholesale shop, to website builders and POS systems – as well as preparing for seasonal peaks with trend data e.g. Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day.

 

The industry, which is worth $105 billion globally, has witnessed a 7% YoY growth, with 84% customers saying they will spend more on skilfully arranged, hand delivered flowers from a florist. Meanwhile, Floom’s revenue has increased by 463% over the past 12 months and is projecting £5m in sales in 2019.

 

Lana Elie, founder and CEO of Floom, said: “Achieving this seed funding is a huge achievement for us, and we’re delighted to get backing from so many experts in building tech-backed lifestyle brands.  We’re really excited about developing the technology required to help not only independent florists, but also eventually other hyper-local businesses, thrive in the modern economy.”

 

Andrew Wolfson, managing director of Pembroke VCT, said: “When it comes to investing in any business, the founders and the proposition are paramount. Lana’s passion for the business, her understanding of the disruption that is possible in this sector, her attention to detail and her commitment to her customers has already created significant traction. We think Floom is set to provide the flower market a welcome makeover.”

 

Henry Lane Fox, lead investor from firstminute capital, said: “After finding product/market fit with its B2C marketplace, Floom is now perfectly positioned to act on Lana’s vision and build their B2B SaaS solution for its florist partners. Lana’s business model is a prime example of a “market network”; combining a marketplace, a direct network, and the lucrative revenue model and stickiness of SaaS. With her relentlessness and ability to speak the language of wholesalers, florists and end consumers alike, we believe Lana will put her mark not only on the cut flower market, but the industry as a whole.”

 

Carlos Morgado, former CTO of Just Eat, who is joining Floom’s board, said: “I’m really looking forward to joining the board and working alongside Floom’s passionate team. Like them, I think floristry has huge digital potential, particularly as it’s a largely traditional marketplace. Floom is creating technology that perfectly complements the creative focus of independent florists, so I’m excited to be part of their transformation journey. I’m looking forward to finding another unicorn, this time among flowers.”

 

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Ecore Completes €255 Million Senior Secured Notes Offering

PARIS – December 3, 2018 – H.I.G. Capital (“H.I.G.”), a leading global private equity investment firm with over €26 billion of equity capital under management, is pleased to announce that its portfolio company Groupe Ecore (“Ecore”) successfully completed a high-yield bond placement. The Group issued €255 million in senior secured floating rate notes, with Barclays acting as sole bookrunner.

Established in 1993, Ecore is a leading player in the French metal recycling market. It employs over 1,400 people and recycles and sells 3.7 million tons of materials each year, including more than 3.0 million tons of ferrous metals. Ecore manages all stages of the recycling chain, from waste collection to processing, transport, and sale of recycled products. In 2017, Ecore generated revenue of €1.3 billion.

H.I.G. acquired a significant stake in Ecore in 2017 to support the Group in its new phase of development, alongside the Dauphin family and management team.

Olivier Boyadjian, Managing Director at H.I.G. Capital commented, “We are thrilled by the success of this operation, which demonstrates the confidence of investors in the company and its prospects, especially in the current difficult market conditions. Ecore is well placed to continue building on its success, and we look forward to further supporting Ecore and its management team. Ecore is a good example of H.I.G.’s value-added investment strategy in Europe.”

About H.I.G. Capital
H.I.G. is a leading global private equity and alternative assets investment firm with over €26 billion of equity capital under management.* Based in Miami, and with offices in New York, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Atlanta in the U.S., as well as international affiliate offices in London, Hamburg, Madrid, Milan, Paris, Bogotá, Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, H.I.G. specializes in providing both debt and equity capital to small and mid-sized companies, utilizing a flexible and operationally focused/value-added approach:

  1. H.I.G.’s equity funds invest in management buyouts, recapitalizations and corporate carve-outs of both profitable as well as underperforming manufacturing and service businesses.
  2. H.I.G.’s debt funds invest in senior, unitranche and junior debt financing to companies across the size spectrum, both on a primary (direct origination) basis, as well as in the secondary markets. H.I.G. is also a leading CLO manager, through its WhiteHorse family of vehicles, and manages a publicly traded BDC, WhiteHorse Finance.
  3. H.I.G.’s real estate funds invest in value-added properties, which can benefit from improved asset management practices.

Since its founding in 1993, H.I.G. has invested in and managed more than 300 companies worldwide. The firm’s current portfolio includes more than 100 companies with combined sales in excess of €28 billion. For more information, please refer to the H.I.G. website at www.higcapital.com.

* Based on total capital commitments managed by H.I.G. Capital and affiliates.

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The Carlyle Group Closes Second Business Development Company

Carlyle

Raises More Than $1.9 Billion for U.S. Direct Lending Platform

New York, NY – Global alternative asset manager The Carlyle Group (NASDAQ: CG) today announced the final close of TCG BDC II, Inc., a private Business Development Company (BDC). The BDC, together with related investment vehicles, raised a total of $1.9 billion.   The BDC, part of Carlyle’s U.S. Direct Lending platform, lends to companies that are backed by U.S. middle market private equity firms. Carlyle’s first BDC (TCG BDC, Inc.) is publicly listed and trades on the NASDAQ as CGBD.

Since raising its first BDC in 2013, The Carlyle Group’s Direct Lending team has invested more than $6.9 billion in approximately 250 transactions across 30 industries as of September 30, 2018. Carlyle’s Direct Lending team includes nine Managing Directors who have an average of 19 years of industry experience and are supported by a team of 19 dedicated employees.

The direct lending team is part of The Carlyle Group’s Global Credit segment.  Carlyle’s Global Credit platform, with $37 billion in assets as of September 30, 2018, includes funds in Loans & Structured Credit, Direct Lending, Opportunistic Credit, Energy Credit and Distressed & Special Situations. These businesses have more than 100 investment professionals in New York, Washington, DC, Los Angeles, Chicago, Hong Kong and London.

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Contact:

The Carlyle Group
Christa Zipf: +1 (212) 813-4578
christa.zipf@carlyle.com

About The Carlyle Group

The Carlyle Group (NASDAQ: CG) is a global alternative asset manager with $212 billion of assets under management across 339 investment vehicles as of September 30, 2018. Carlyle’s purpose is to invest wisely and create value on behalf of its investors, many of whom are public pensions. Carlyle invests across four segments – Corporate Private Equity, Real Assets, Global Credit and Investment Solutions – in Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, the Middle East, North America and South America. Carlyle has expertise in various industries, including: aerospace, defense & government services, consumer & retail, energy, financial services, healthcare, industrial, real estate, technology & business services, telecommunications & media and transportation. The Carlyle Group employs more than 1,625 people in 31 offices across six continents.

Web: www.carlyle.com
Videos: www.youtube.com/onecarlyle
Tweets: www.twitter.com/onecarlyle
Podcasts: www.carlyle.com/about-carlyle/market-commentary

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