Monthly Archives: January 2019

AXA Venture Partners (AVP) raises $150 million for second Early Stage Fund.

AXA

AVP, a venture capital firm investing in high-growth technology companies, announces it has
completed the first closing of the second vintage of its Early Stage Fund (AVP Early Stage II)
with $150 million (€130 million). The first Early Stage Fund, a $110 million vehicle raised 2015,
has now been successfully deployed. The launch of the second Fund confirms AVP’s ambition
and commitment to early stage venture investing.

The fundraise has generated strong interest from existing and new investors and confirms the
differentiation of AVP’s approach to venture investment: strong team with deep sector
expertise, global presence and ability to add value beyond capital, notably through business
development opportunities with the investors of the Fund.
Similar to AVP Early Stage I, AVP Early Stage II will focus on North America, Europe & Israel and
will aim to invest in outstanding technology businesses, pre and early revenue, in enterprise
SaaS, consumer platform and SME solutions, with particular focus on fintech and digital health.
AVP Early Stage II will write initial checks up to $6 million and will support entrepreneurs in
their ambition by providing them business development opportunities with AXA and any other
relevant corporations.

AVP confirms with this fundraise, its position as a unique platform for investments in
technology with $600 million of assets under management (AUM) through three pillars of
investment expertise: Early Stage Fund, Growth Stage Fund and Fund of Funds, allowing its
investors to choose the most appropriate solution for tech investing.
AVP’s ambition is to become a preferred partner for entrepreneurs looking to grow their
business in Europe, North America and Israel. Since 2015, AVP has supported more than 40
companies in the Early and Growth stages with a focus on the following verticals: digital health,
cyber-security, enterprise software, artificial intelligence, fintech/insurtech, most recently
including investments in early stage companies such as Hackajob, K4Connect, Futurae and
growth stage companies like Zenjob, Phenom People and Happytal.
Francois Robinet, AVP Managing Partner, said: “This fundraise was completed at a record speed
with existing and new investors. This is a strong vote of confidence for our team and strategy,
and a recognition of what has been achieved with our first Early Stage Fund. We plan to hold
Paris – London – New York – San Francisco – Hong Kong
a second closing with additional new investors. This fundraise strengthens AVP’s positioning as
a leading player for ambitious entrepreneurs across Europe and North America.”

ABOUT AVP
AXA Venture Partners (AVP) is a venture capital fund investing in high-growth, technologyenabled
companies. AVP has built a unique investment platform specialized in tech investments
with $600 million of assets under management through three pillars of investment expertise:
Early Stage Fund, Growth Stage Fund and Fund of Funds. To date, AVP has invested in 40 Early
and Growth equity deals and 6 Fund investments. AVP team operates globally backed by offices
in San Francisco, New York, London, Paris and Hong Kong. Beyond investments, AVP provides
access to business development opportunities helping portfolio companies to scale globally
and accelerate their growth.

ABOUT THE AXA GROUP
The AXA Group is a worldwide leader in insurance and asset management, with 160,000
employees serving 105 million clients in 62 countries. In 2017, IFRS revenues amounted to Euro
98.5 billion and IFRS underlying earnings to Euro 6.0 billion. AXA had Euro 1,439 billion in assets
under management as of December 31, 2017.

For further information, please contact:
Sébastien LOUBRY
Partner, Business Development
sebastien@axavp.com
06.15.31.61.68

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Trendy Group acquires Denham the Jeanmaker

Amlon

Amsterdam, The Netherlands – Trendy (China) Group Co., Ltd. (which together with its subsidiaries and affiliates are collectively referred to as “Trendy Group”) has entered into share purchase agreement to acquire majority equity interest in Denham Group B.V. (“Denham Group”, the parent company of Denham the Jeanmaker B.V. and the joint-venture partner of both Denham Japan Inc. and Shanghai Trendy Denham Commercial Co., Ltd.).

Pursuant to the share purchase agreement, Trendy Group will acquire all shares held by Amlon Capital B.V. in Denham Group. Jason Denham remains as a shareholder of Denham Group and will stay in his position as Chief Creative Officer after closing of the acquisition.

In March 2017 Denham Group and Trendy Group started a joint venture in China to build the brand.  Until January 2019 the joint venture has opened 16 retail stores in key cities in China and has plans to grow the business much larger in the coming years.

‘Trendy Group is a strong retail company with its roots in China and over the years it has successfully rolled out well-known international brands including Miss Sixty and Superdry in China’ said Ludo Onnink, departing CEO of Denham Group.  ‘With Trendy Group as a new major shareholder with all the relevant experience needed for our group, this will be a major step for our 10-year old business, embarking for the next decade of growth’.

‘We are very pleased with Trendy Group as our new major shareholder and partner in the business,’ said Jason Denham, Chief Creative Officer of Denham Group. ‘After the start of our joint venture in 2017 our relationship with Jacky Xu, Chairman of the Board of Trendy Group, further intensified and led to the current transaction’.

‘We see many opportunities to grow the Denham business in the existing markets but also as the most influential denim player in the future’, said Andre Chen, the new CEO of Denham Group.  ‘This will not only be achieved by extending our jeans business, but also by adding additional product categories’.

ABOUT DENHAM

DENHAM was founded in Amsterdam in 2008 by Jason Denham, an English jeanmaker with an obsession for premium quality denim. Driven by the pioneering spirit of the original blue jean, collections for men, women and children are created with a passion for innovation while honouring tradition. Inspired by the tagline ‘The Truth is in the Details,’ DENHAM obsesses over every detail of the design process and across every brand touchpoint. Its growing global network reaches over 20 countries, with stores in Amsterdam, Antwerp, Hamburg, Tokyo, Osaka, Shanghai and Seoul. It is also available through top-tier wholesale partners and an online flagship store at denhamthejeanmaker.com. DENHAM is based in Amsterdam, with satellite offices in Düsseldorf, Shanghai and Tokyo.

ABOUT TRENDY GROUP

Founded in 1999, Trendy Group has grown into an international fashion conglomerate which possesses a rich portfolio of fashion brands and has set up nearly 3,000 boutiques in more than 290 cities worldwide. Under the umbrella of Trendy Group are famous fashion brands such as ochirly, Five Plus, COVEN GARDEN, TRENDIANO and fashion brands of the Italian house SIXTY GROUP – MISS SIXTY, Killah and ENERGIE.

In 2015, Trendy Group and the British company Superdry Plc pooled capital to introduce Superdry, the world-renowned metropolitan fashion band, into China. Trendy Group is committed to achieving the perfect integration of arts and businesses; establishing a digital sales network and an omnichannel shopping environment that enables interaction with consumers; and providing consumers with comprehensive, premium lifestyle services.

ABOUT AMLON

Amlon is a private investment vehicle, with offices in Amsterdam and London, which invests in apparel and accessory brands and has stakes in Karl Lagerfeld, Denham the jeanmaker, DKNY China and kids wear brand Vingino.

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Altor divests majority stake in Orchid Orthopedic Solutions to Nordic Capital

Altor

On January 21, Altor Fund III (“Altor”) announced that it has agreed to divest the majority of its current holding in Orchid Orthopedic Solutions (“Orchid”) to Nordic Capital Fund IX (“Nordic Capital”). Altor will retain a significant minority holding in the company.

Altor has been the majority owner of Orchid since 2011. Headquartered in Holt, Michigan, Orchid is a world leader in the design and manufacture of implants to the global orthopedic market. Orchid’s leading offerings span hip, knee, trauma, extremity and spinal implant products, as well as single-use and multi-use complex instruments used in implant related surgical procedures.

As a strategic partner to the leading global medical device OEMs, Orchid offers solutions in product and procedure design and possesses the full range of manufacturing processes required to produce finished, packaged products. The Company serves a global customer base from its 12 manufacturing sites in the US, UK, Switzerland and China. Orchid innovates continually to provide differentiated processes yielding unique products, while simplifying its customers’ supply chains, delivering outstanding quality and offering end-to-end solutions benefitting from the broadest implants portfolio in the market.

The orthopedic implant market benefits from strong secular growth driven by larger and increasingly active elderly populations, obesity, medical advancements and increased access to surgical orthopedic care. As a leader in the industry, Orchid is ideally positioned to capitalize on this demand growth while helping its customers become more competitive.

“We are proud of what we have achieved together with the management team during these eight years where we have built Orchid into a world leading supplier of design and manufacturing solutions for the rapidly growing global orthopedic implant market. During Altor’s ownership, Orchid has developed into a true global company serving global customers with innovative end-to-end manufacturing solutions. We are excited to see Nordic Capital as the new main owner with Altor continuing the journey as a significant minority shareholder since we have continued strong belief in Orchid’s strong management team, unique position and the attractive long-term industry fundamentals. Together we are fully committed to support Orchid’s management team in realizing the company’s growth strategy” says Claes Ekström, Chairman of Orchid and Senior Advisor at Altor Equity Partners AB.

Orchid’s current management team, led by CEO Jerry Jurkiewicz, will continue to lead the Company, building on its strong track record of both organic and acquisitive growth.

“We are very proud of our achievements during Altor’s tenure as our majority owner. We have transformed Orchid from a US contract manufacturer to the leading global orthopedic implants design and manufacturing partner in the world. We focused on satisfying our customers with a broad array of innovative implants procedure solutions built upon manufacturing sites dedicated to delivering operational excellence. We are humbled by Altor’s renewed commitment to Orchid in partnership with Nordic Capital” says Orchid CEO Jerry Jurkiewicz.
The parties have agreed not to disclose financial details of the transaction, which remains subject to customary regulatory approvals.

Media contacts
Tor Krusell, Head of Communications at Altor
Tel: +46 70 543 87 47
e-mail: tor.krusell@altor.com

About Orchid Orthopedic Solutions
Orchid is a world leader in orthopedic medical device solutions, providing design and manufacturing services globally. As a strategic partner, Orchid has the capability of providing entire implant procedure and product design services, as well as, complete single source manufacturing. Orchid has the broadest portfolio in the industry, ranging from design and development through finished goods manufacturing and packaging, improving customers’ supply chains and adhering to the highest quality standards in the industry. Orchid specializes in implants, single use instruments and innovative technologies within joint reconstruction, hips, knees, spine, trauma, extremities and dental. For further information, please see www.orchid-ortho.com

About Altor
Since inception, the family of Altor funds has raised some EUR 5.8 billion in total commitments. The funds have invested in excess of EUR 4.2 billion in more than 40 companies. The investments have been made in medium sized, predominantly Nordic, companies with the aim to create value through growth initiatives and operational improvements. Among current and past investments are ByggMax, Carnegie Investment Bank, Dustin, Dynapac, Helly Hansen, Lindorff and SATS ELIXIA. For more information visit altor.com.

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ARDIAN enters into exclusive negotiations to support REVIMA, a major player in the aerospace MRO sector, in its development alongside Argos Wityu

Ardian

Paris, January, 16, 2019 – Ardian, a world leading private investment house announces that it is in exclusive talks to acquire a majority stake in Revima, a leading MRO (Maintenance, Repair & Overhaul) solutions provider for aircraft equipment, from private equity firm, Argos Wityu. Following the transaction, Olivier Legrand, President of the Group, and Argos Wityu will reinvest alongside Ardian. This transaction is subject to approval from the antitrust authorities as well as the opinion of the works council.

Founded in 1952, Revima is an independent company which has become a leader in the maintenance, repair and overhaul of commercial transport aircraft equipment. The group is well-known for its expertise in the maintenance of auxiliary power units (APU) and landing gears for regional, medium and long-haul aircraft. The company, which has c.750 employees, realized revenues of more than €280 million in 2018, showing double digit growth for several years.

Revima is active in a fast-growing market driven by the continued increase of aircrafts in service worldwide. The group is ideally positioned to continue this development following investment in its French site, the construction of a new industrial site in Thailand which will be operational in 2020, and the pursuit of a bolt-on acquisition strategy. In this regard, Revima is currently in exclusive negotiations for two acquisitions aimed at strengthening its skillsets in repairing engine parts and in the field of advanced predictive maintenance.

Yann Bak, Managing Director at Ardian Buyout, said: “We are very pleased to be associated with the teams at Revima, a fast-growing company positioned in a very promising niche market. We will use our experience and network to expand the group’s international presence and further accelerate its commercial development.”

Olivier Legrand, President and CEO of Revima added: “Our rapid development these last years and the existing and future opportunities for both internal and external growth make us particularly enthusiastic about Revima’s prospects. We are delighted with Ardian’s investment alongside Argos Wityu, as we share common values and entrepreneurial cultures. Our priority is for Revima to become a global player, expanding its skills and know-how into new areas, and be closer to its customers.”

Gilles Mougenot, partner at Argos Wityu concluded: “Revima perfectly illustrates a situation where we helped position the company into new areas of growth. The objective we set ourselves in 2015 was to simplify the shareholder structure while opening it up to employees, help build a supportive management team, and from 2017, invest significantly in the business, notably internationally.”

ABOUT REVIMA

Revima is a leading independent MRO (Maintenance, Repair & Overhaul) solutions provider, specialized in APUs, Engine Parts and Landing Gears, for civil and military aircraft through five dedicated services: Repair & Overhaul, Engine Parts Repair, Material Solutions, Fleet Management and Leasing.
With committed and passionate employees across locations in France, Asia, North America and the Middle East, Revima boasts over 60 years of MRO expertise. Revima supports aircraft operators, lessors, and repair stations worldwide, is an EASA & FAA Part 145 certified organization, and has approvals from numerous agencies.
www.revima-group.com

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 550 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: Fund of Funds, Direct Funds, Infrastructure, Real Estate and Private Debt.
www.ardian.com

ABOUT ARGOS WITYU

Argos Wityu is an independent European private equity group supporting management buyouts of medium sized companies and has offices in Brussels, Frankfurt, Geneva, Luxembourg, Milan and Paris.
Argos Wityu funds take majority stakes between €10m and €100m in companies with revenues from €20m to €600m.
Our investment philosophy aims at creating value through business transformation and growth, instead of financial leverage, and bringing solutions to complex situations: MBI, spin-offs, strategic repositioning, shareholding conflicts… We work in close relationship with management teams, with a strong sense of transparency, trust, entrepreneurship and social responsibility.
Argos Wityu is a member of Invest Europe as well as national associations in France (France Invest), Italy (AIFI), Switzerland (SECA) and BVA (Belgium). Argos Wityu SAS is regulated by the AMF and is AIFMD compliant.
www.argos.wityu.com

LIST OF PARTICIPANTS

Ardian: Yann Bak, Alexandra Goltsova, Benjamin Witcher, Maxime Debost
M&A advisors: Wil Consulting (Jacques Ittah), Alantra (Franck Portais)
Legal and tax advisors: Weil, Gotshal & Manges ((David Aknin, Guillaume Bonnard and Come Wirz (corporate), Edouard de Lamy (fiscal), James Clarke (financing))
Commercial and strategic DD: Archery (Marc Durance, Thibault Espinosa), Oliver Wyman (David Stuart)
Financial DD: KPMG (Florent Steck, Stephane Kuster)

Argos Wityu: Gilles Mougenot, Thomas Ribéreau, Pierre Dumas
M&A: Canaccord Genuity (Olivier Dardel, Lucas Vuillemin, Mohamed Sagou)
Legal advisors: Mayer Brown (Thomas Philippe, Clotilde Billat) & Xavier Jaspar
Financial DD: Eight Advisory (Eric Demuyt, Jean-Sébastien Rabus, Victor Heilweck)
Commercial and strategic DD: Emerton (Sébastien Plessis, Jean-Edmond Coutris)
Tax advisors: Arsène Taxand (Brice Picard)

Management advisors:
Legal advisors: Jeausserand Audouard (Alexandre Dejardin, Elodie Cavazza, Faustine Paoluzzo)
Tax advisors: Jeausserand Audouard (Jérémie Jeausserand, Carole Furst, Charlotte Elkoun)

PRESS CONTACTS

REVIMA
C/O CMYK & CO
CYNTHIA JORDAN
cynthia@cmykandco.com
Tel: + 33 6 86 03 97 95
ARDIAN
Headland
TOM JAMES
tjames@headlandconsultancy.co.uk
Tel: +44 207 3675 240
ARGOS WITYU
toBnext
ANTOINETTE DARPY
adarpy@tobnext.com
Tel: +33 6 72 95 07 92

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Funds advised by Apax Partners invest USD 200 million in Fractal Analytics

Apax

Investment will accelerate Fractal’s path to a $1 billion-revenue company in the AI space

New York, London & Mumbai, January 16, 2019: Funds advised by Apax Partners (the “Apax Funds”) have today announced a definitive agreement to invest USD 200m for a significant minority stake in Fractal Analytics, a global provider of AI to Fortune 500 clients. The transaction, which consists of a secondary stake acquired from existing shareholders and a primary investment into the business, is expected to close by February 2019.

Founded in 2000 with the vision of powering every human decision in the enterprise, Fractal Analytics is a strategic analytics & AI partner to the most admired Fortune 500 companies globally. The company will use the investment by the Apax Funds to accelerate growth, both organically and through M&A, and to invest further in AI products and research.

Srikanth Velamakanni, Co-founder, Group Chief Executive and Executive Vice-Chairman of Fractal Analytics, said: “We are making progress on our goal to build a $1 billion-revenue company in the AI space thanks to our relentless focus on serving Fortune 500 companies globally in enabling an AI-led digital transformation in their businesses. We have been fortunate to have the backing of supportive investors in Khazanah Nasional, TA Associates and Mr. Gulu Mirchandani in this journey. We are excited about our new partnership with Apax Partners, who have an enviable track record of building scaled new-age tech services companies.”

Pranay Agrawal, Co-founder and CEO of Fractal Analytics, said: “The demand for AI is surging across the enterprise. Our AI solutions and globally-recognized team of experts empower these organizations to realize and maximize their full potential. The investment from the Apax Funds will accelerate our ability to scale and meet this rising demand globally. It also establishes Fractal Analytics as one of the world’s most well-funded AI providers.”

Rohan Haldea, Partner at Apax Partners, said: “The data and analytics sector is attractive and growing rapidly as companies increasingly see it as a core strategic function of their business. We are delighted to partner with Fractal Analytics who are extremely well-regarded in this space due to their cutting-edge advanced analytics and AI capabilities which help their blue-chip client base solve complex problems. Srikanth and Pranay have done an excellent job building a differentiated company with a clear vision. We look forward to working with them to scale the business further.”

Shashank Singh, Partner at Apax Partners, said: “We are keen to partner with successful companies, like Fractal Analytics, that have become global leaders. Fractal’s strong culture, which fosters employee engagement and innovation, has played a significant role in driving its success. Notably, its ability to attract high-quality data science and engineering talent has allowed the company to stay at the forefront of the rapidly-evolving analytics space.”

Chinta Bhagat, Head of Khazanah in India and chairman of Fractal, said “Khazanah is proud to have been Fractal’s largest shareholder during a period in which it scaled up rapidly into a leading global analytics player. In addition to providing growth capital, Khazanah worked closely with Fractal on streamlining the board, supporting product innovations, and bringing Fractal’s capabilities to Khazanah’s portfolio companies. We wish everyone at Fractal the very best as it embarks on its next stage of growth, and look forward to being supportive partners over the coming years”.

The Apax Funds investment in Fractal Analytics will be its 12th in the Tech Services space globally. Apax has significant experience in partnering with and growing technology services business, such as ThoughtWorks, GlobalLogic, Zensar and EVRY, and will leverage this expertise to help Fractal scale further.

About Fractal Analytics

Founded in 2000, Fractal Analytics is a strategic analytics partner to the most admired Fortune 500 companies globally and helps them power every human decision in the enterprise by bringing analytics & AI to the decision-making process.

Fractal has built several cutting-edge AI product startups within its ecosystem across industries, including:

 – Qure.ai to transform how radiologists make diagnostics’ decisions. Qure’s qXR solution is the first AI-based Chest X-Ray interpretation tool to receive CE certification. Qure’s recently-launched qER solution for interpreting head CT scans has been proven to have more than 95% accuracy in identifying abnormalities.

 – Cuddle.ai to transform how executives make tactical and operational decisions. Cuddle automatically alerts users on what they need to know about their business and allows them to ask questions about their business in natural language.

 – Trial Run to improve strategic and operational decisions. Trial Run is a cloud-based experimentation platform that enables companies across verticals to test, measure and refine strategies before rollout.

Fractal has more than 1,200 consultants spread across 15 global locations including the United States, UK and India. Fractal has been featured as a leader in the Customer Analytics Service Providers Wave™ 2017 by Forrester Research, a Great Place to Work by The Economic Times in partnership with the Great Place to Work® Institute and recognized as a ‘Cool Vendor’ and a ‘Vendor to Watch’ by Gartner. For more information: www.fractalanalytics.com

About Apax Partners

Apax Partners is a leading global private equity advisory firm. Over its more than 35-year history, Apax Partners has raised and advised funds with aggregate commitments of over $50 billion. The Apax Funds invest in companies across four global sectors of Tech & Telco, Services, Healthcare and Consumer. These funds provide long-term equity financing to build and strengthen world-class companies. For more information see: www.apax.com.

Media Contacts

For Fractal Analytics:

Global Media: Sharmila Shah | sharmila.shah@fractalanalytics.com

USA Media: Chris Harihar | chris@crenshawcomm.com

For Apax Partners:

Global Media: Andrew Kenny, Apax | +44 20 7 872 6371 | andrew.kenny@apax.com

USA Media: Todd Fogarty, Kekst | +1 212-521 4854 | todd.fogarty@kekst.com

UK Media: James Madsen / Matthew Goodman, Greenbrook | +44 20 7952 2000 | apax@greenbrookpr.com

 

Notes to Editors

London-headquartered Apax Partners (www.apax.com), and Paris-headquartered Apax Partners (www.apax.fr) had a shared history but are separate, independent private equity firms.

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Cristina Stenbeck, Erik Mitteregger and Mario Queiroz will not stand for re-election in 2019

Kinnevik

Cristina Stenbeck, Erik Mitteregger and Mario Queiroz will not stand for re-election in 2019, and the Nomination Committee proposes two new Directors to the Kinnevik Board

 

Kinnevik AB (publ) (“Kinnevik”) today announced that it has been informed that Cristina Stenbeck, Erik Mitteregger and Mario Queiroz have decided not to stand for re-election to Kinnevik’s Board of Directors at the 2019 Annual General Meeting, and that the Nomination Committee will propose Susanna Campbell and Brian McBride as new Board members.

Cristina Stenbeck was elected to the Board of Kinnevik in 2003 as Deputy Chairman. Over the last 16 years, she has led the transformation of Kinnevik from a mobile, media and packaging investment holding company into a leading digital growth investor. Cristina will continue to support the business and influence material strategic matters in her role as an active owner. She will also continue to lead the Nomination Committee work together with her partners.

James Anderson, Member of the Nomination Committee, commented:

“On behalf of all shareholders, this is a moment to reflect on the extraordinary commitment, energy and leadership that Cristina has provided over the last 16 years. Her willingness to take responsibility from a young age has been remarkable and the many achievements of the company she has led have been admirable. We are confident that Cristina’s thoughts and ambitions and her backing as principal shareholder will continue to be deeply beneficial to Kinnevik, to its now established management team, and to our work on the Nomination Committee.”

Susanna Campbell currently serves as Chairman of Röhnisch Sportswear, Ljung & Sjöberg, and Babyshop Group. She is currently a Board member of Telia Company, Indutrade, Northvolt and Nalka Invest, as well as a member of Norrsken’s Investment Committee. Between 2012-2016, she was the Chief Executive Officer of Swedish investment firm Ratos, having joined the company in 2003 from McKinsey & Co. Susanna holds an MSc from Stockholm School of Economics.

Brian McBride is the former Chairman of ASOS, the global online fashion and beauty retailer. He is currently a non-executive director of Wiggle, a private-equity owned online cycling and apparel business, and of AO World, an online retailer specializing in household appliances. Brian also sits on the UK government’s Government Digital Service Advisory Board, supporting the delivery of digital quality public services, is a senior adviser at Lazard, and a member of the Advisory Board of Scottish Equity Partners. Prior to assuming Chairmanship of ASOS, Brian was the Managing Director of Amazon UK, and prior to that the Managing Director of T-Mobile UK.

Cristina Stenbeck, Chairman of the Nomination Committee, commented:

“The Nomination Committee is pleased to be able to propose the elections of Susanna Campbell and Brian McBride. Susanna brings experience from different stages of private investing in sectors like e-Commerce, Healthcare and TMT. Susanna has also agreed to serve as Chairman of the Board’s Remuneration Committee, and will join its Audit Committee. In Brian McBride, Kinnevik will have a Director with an exceptional operational background from e-Commerce and TMT, drawing on his experience at companies such as ASOS, Amazon and T-Mobile. The Board looks forward to leveraging Brian’s insights gained during his distinguished career.”

Cristina Stenbeck continued:

“Susanna will replace Erik Mitteregger, who joined Kinnevik’s Board already back in 2004. During his 15-year tenure Erik has consistently stood for value creation for all shareholders, the systematic release of capital through consolidation, and the re-allocation of capital into growth companies. In a fast-changing environment, he has driven important strategic initiatives that have come to define Kinnevik during these eventful years. Mario Queiroz has after three years on the Board of Kinnevik also decided not to stand for re-election. Mario has since joining the Board contributed with valuable perspectives on the importance of technological and product platforms within Kinnevik’s investee companies. For this, I am joined by the many who thank them.”

The Nomination Committee’s complete proposals will be presented in the notice convening Kinnevik’s Annual General Meeting to be held on 6 May 2019. The Nomination Committee comprises Cristina Stenbeck appointed by Verdere S.à r.l. and Camshaft S.à r.l., Hugo Stenbeck appointed by AMS Sapere Aude Trust, James Anderson appointed by Baillie Gifford, Ramsay Brufer appointed by Alecta, and Marie Klingspor.

This information is information that Kinnevik AB (publ) is obliged to make public pursuant to the EU Market Abuse Regulation. The information was submitted for publication, through the agency of the contact person set out below, at 08.00 CET on 18 January 2019.

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HEPACO Acquires PetroChem Recovery Services

Gryphon Investors

Transaction Represents the 4th Acquisition Completed Under Gryphon’s Ownership

Charlotte, NC – January 18, 2019 —

HEPACO, LLC (“HEPACO”), a leading provider of environmental and emergency response services, announced today that it has acquired PetroChem Recovery Services, Inc. (“PetroChem” or “the Company”) from Succession Capital Partners. Headquartered in Norfolk, VA, PetroChem is a leading environmental services provider for transportation, industrial, and government clients. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. HEPACO is majority-owned by San Francisco-based Gryphon Investors, a leading middle market private equity firm. This transaction represents the fourth acquisition completed under Gryphon’s ownership.

HEPACO Chief Executive Officer Ken Smith said, “We are thrilled to announce the acquisition of PetroChem and welcome their team to HEPACO.” Mr. Smith added, “We look forward to working with the PetroChem team to enhance our emergency response and environmental service offerings and better serve our customers.” HEPACO Chairman and Gryphon Operating Partner Phil Petrocelli said, “We are excited to continue our successful acquisition strategy with the PetroChem transaction. We anticipate continuing HEPACO’s expansion through new geographies and greater coverage density in attractive markets.”

Succession Capital Partners Managing Partner Matt Malone stated, “We have very much enjoyed working with the talented team at PetroChem and are delighted to announce the Company’s sale to HEPACO, which we believe is the ideal partner to facilitate PetroChem’s next phase of growth for both its customers and employees.”

Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP acted as legal advisor to HEPACO, while Queen Saenz + Schutz PLLC represented PetroChem.

About HEPACO
HEPACO (www.hepaco.com) is a leading provider of emergency response, environmental remediation, maritime services, wastewater treatment, and other industrial services across a diversified group of end markets including rail, oil & gas, transportation, power & utility, and manufacturing. The company has a broad geographic footprint more than 40 locations in the Mid-Atlantic, Midwest, Northeast, and Southeast United States and offers a three-hour or less response time within its footprint and on a national basis through its managed network of third-party emergency response vendors. HEPACO provides services on both an emergency response and planned basis.

About PetroChem Recovery Services 
Based in Norfolk, VA, PetroChem (www.petrochemrecovery.com) serves as a full service environmental consulting and remediation company in the Mid-Atlantic region to large industrial, government agencies, small business, and residential clients. PetroChem provides emergency response to spill incidents in addition to hazardous material stabilization and packaging, facility decontamination, and hazardous waste transportation and disposal.

About Gryphon Investors
Based in San Francisco, Gryphon Investors (www.gryphoninvestors.com) is a leading private equity firm focused on profitably growing and competitively enhancing middle-market companies in partnership with experienced management teams. The firm has managed more than $4.5 billion of equity investments and capital since its founding in 1997. Gryphon targets making equity investments of $50 million to $200 million in portfolio companies with sales ranging from approximately $100 million to $500 million. Gryphon prioritizes investment opportunities where it can form strong partnerships with owners and executives to build leading companies, utilizing Gryphon’s capital, specialized professional resources, and operational expertise.

Contacts

 

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Verdane invests in leading eSourcing company Scanmarket

Verdane Capital

Verdane Edda has invested in Scanmarket, a cloud-based SaaS suite within strategic sourcing software. The goal of the investment is to strengthen Scanmarket’s position as a best of breed solution within eSourcing and to build a leading international Source-2-Contract (S2C) software company that helps procurement professionals in achieving cost savings.

Founded in 1999, Scanmarket is a top-rated niche player targeting medium and large companies to help digitalise their procurement function in order to improve efficiency and provide cost savings. On average, Scanmarket’s platform helps achieve cost savings between 10-15% for procurement professionals. Based in Solbjerg, Aarhus in Denmark, Scanmarket supports procurement teams with purchasing, planning, assessment and performance management through a Source-to-Contract SaaS suite. Its client portfolio of more than 120 customers includes automobile manufacturer Nissan, film studio Paramount Pictures, facility service company ISS and grocery retailer COOP. Spread across 29 countries primarily in North America and Europe, Scanmarket has employees in Denmark, the UK, the US, Germany, the Netherlands and Ukraine. The global market for Strategic Sourcing Applications is estimated at USD 1.5 billion by Gartner, a leading research and advisory company.

“Scanmarket is already a fast-growing global market leader in a strategic procurement software niche, and I believe Verdane the ideal partner for us to further accelerate growth”, says Scanmarket founder Ole Nielsen.

“This partnership allows us to accelerate our investments into product development and marketing, so that even more companies can benefit from the cost savings generated by our clients from adopting our platform”, adds CEO Betina Nygaard.

“Procurement is still relatively undigitalised compared to for example marketing. In the transition to cloud-based software for procurement professionals, efficient platforms like Scanmarket’s are key to reaping the benefits of engaging with multiple suppliers, to increase productivity and to generate cost savings when using for example eAuctions as part of the engagement. We look forward to working together with the team at Scanmarket in realising the company’s growth potential”, comments Martin Welna, investment director at Verdane’s Danish office.

Scanmarket joins a Verdane roster of over 170 software and consumer internet investments made over the last 14 years. CEO Betina Nygaard and CCO Ole Nielsen will reinvest in Scanmarket to retain an ownership stake at approximately 10%, with Verdane Edda holding the remaining 90%. Both Nygaard and Nielsen will remain with the company to play an active role in its future development.

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For more information, please contact:

Jonathan Bui, Communications Manager, Verdane: +46 76 27 28 100

Betina Nygaard, CEO, Scanmarket: +45 22 52 83 24

Ole Nielsen, CCO, Scanmarket: +45 20 12 30 09

About Scanmarket

Scanmarket is a market-leading global strategic sourcing platform that since 1999 has delivered superior bottom-line results in savings, transparency and efficiency to hundreds of organizations globally. We achieve this by dramatically increasing adoption and volume through a proven cloud-based platform that is easy to use, easy to get expert support, and easy to do business with. Scanmarket has 43 employees working out of offices in Solbjerg, London, Hamburg, Amsterdam and Atlanta. For more information, please visit www.scanmarket.com

About Verdane

Verdane funds provide flexible growth capital to fast-growing software, consumer internet, energy or high-technology industry businesses, through both minority and majority investments in individual companies and portfolios. Verdane funds act as ambitious, active, and long-term owners, helping management teams and companies accelerate and sustain growth by leveraging the Verdane advisory team’s unrivalled technology capabilities and proven track record in driving business value. Verdane funds’ and SPVs’ current portfolio includes EasyPark, inRiver, HR Manager and Freespee. Verdane funds have attracted SEK 12 billion in total commitments from investors. Verdane Advisory Group has 39 employees working out of offices in Copenhagen, Helsinki, London, Oslo and Stockholm. For more information, please visit www.verdane.com

Categories: News

Personio raises $40m Series B funding

Northzone

German HR and recruiting platform Personio raises $40M Series B led by Index

Steve O’Hear@sohear / 
Personio Management Team_high_res_(3_founders_on the left)

Personio, the German HR and recruiting platform, has raised $40 million in a Series B funding. Leading the round is London-based Index Ventures, with participation from existing investors Northzone and Rocket Internet’s Global Founders.

Founded in 2015, Munich-based Personio  has set out to build an “HR operating system” for small and medium-sized companies (SMEs) ranging from 10 to 2,000 employees. The cloud-based software is designed to power all of a company’s HR and recruiting processes, either via the product’s own core functionality or through its ability to integrate with third-party software.

“We believe in the benefit of a holistic HR solution that covers the entire employee life cycle, while its functionalities need to adapt to individual customer requirements and processes,” Personio co-founder and CEO Hanno Renner tells me.

“That being said, we distinguish between the bread-and-butter HR activities which every company needs to do (e.g. recruiting, on-boarding, time-off management, payroll etc.) and those that are either industry-specific or rather-nice-to-haves.”

Examples include hardware-based time tracking and employee engagement, respectively. “We focus our efforts on providing a best-in-class experience for what we consider bread-and-butter HR,” adds Renner. “For more specific requirements, we let our customers choose from a growing number of integrated vertical solutions based on their needs. Data will be synced so Personio acts as the system of record for all HR information and information only needs to be entered once.”

In addition to “out of the box” third-party software integrations, Personio’s claim to offer an HR operating system is backed up by the company’s open API, which is designed to cover various use cases where accessing data that is stored in Personio can add further value to customers. This includes building something as simple as a Slack bot using Personio data, to connecting Personio to a company’s data-warehouse or deeper integrations with internal systems.

More broadly, Renner says this holistic approach, coupled with Personio’s workflow automation that aims to cut down on time wasted on repetitive tasks, is not only resonating with HR managers and recruiters who typically use the product for several hours per day, but is also finding use with managers, executives and other employees. The end result is that HR and recruitment processes can become much more distributed across a company.

To that end, Personio says its Series B funding will be used to help the company attempt to become Europe’s leading provider of human resources software for SMEs. It boasts more than 1,000 clients in 35 countries, seeing more than 150,000 employees and several hundred thousand applicants currently being managed within Personio.

“We believe that now is the right timing to actively expand into further regions, and the funding as well as Index expertise will certainly help in making that move successful,” adds the Personio CEO. “Apart from that, we consider ourselves a product-driven company and hence want to continue to strongly invest into building the best product for our customers, which will mean significantly growing our product and engineering team and potentially even opening a new office to facilitate hiring.”

Categories: News

3i announces sale of OneMed generating proceeds of c. £100 million

3I

 

3i Group plc (“3i”), and funds managed by 3i, have entered into a sale and purchase agreement to sell their investment in OneMed, the leading medical supplies distributor in Northern Europe, to Nalka Invest AB.

Proceeds to 3i will be c. £100m. The transaction is expected to complete in March 2019, subject to customary antitrust approvals.

3i invested in OneMed in 2011. During 3i’s ownership, the company successfully strengthened its market positions in Sweden, Denmark and Finland and built its international footprint through three strategic acquisitions in the Netherlands and a major expansion in Norway.

For further information, contact:
3i Group plc
Silvia Santoro
Investor enquiries
Kathryn van der Kroft
Media enquiries
Tel: +44 20 7975 3258
Email: silvia.santoro@3i.com
Tel: +44 20 7975 3021
Email: kathryn.vanderkroft@3i.com

Categories: News

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