Monthly Archives: April 2019

SupplyStack raises €5 million to continue expansion in Europe

Fortino Capital

Antwerp, April 6th 2019 – SupplyStack announces the closing of its series A funding round of €5 million, led by Participatiemaatschappij Vlaanderen and Mainport Innovation Fund and existing investor Fortino Capital. SupplyStack delivers an easy-to-integrate and flexible visibility solution that monitors transport orders in real-time. “SupplyStack helps supply chain and customer service departments to contribute to a better customer experience and overall supply chain collaboration. With this new funding in place, we can tap into new European markets and go after our ultimate goal: turning the supply chain into a competitive differentiator and putting the end customer first”, explains Nick Poels, CEO of SupplyStack.  

Visibility and collaboration

SupplyStack announces the closing of its series A funding round of €5 million, led by Participatiemaatschappij Vlaanderen and Mainport Innovation Fund and existing investor Fortino Capital. SupplyStack launched its software in 2013 with the goal of helping B2B organisations obtain supply chains that are predictive, data-driven, deeply automated and continuously optimizing for business returns and environmental impact. The SupplyStack interface uses visibility and collaboration as a core capability to drive transport execution and automate work where possible. “It’s our mission to remove friction in the supply chain. We bring users, systems and data together to offer end-to-end, real-time transport visibility that drives outcomes”, states Nick Poels, CEO of SupplyStack.

Last year, SupplyStack was recognized as a notable vendor by Gartner in the ‘European Context for Transportation Management System’. Currently, numerous leaders in the industry, including Sony, Umicore, DHL, Duracell and Atlas Copco, are using SupplyStack to accomplish their transport management. Transportation management systems (TMS) are becoming less expensive and easier to own. Now, companies of any size can get in the game. “As we evangelise customer centricity to our customers, it’s our duty to practise what we preach. We want to provide an exceptional user experience so users don’t simply adopt SupplyStack. They have to love it because it’s effortless and intuitive.”

Supply chain as a competitive advantage

For today’s companies a competitive operation cost is key but according to SupplyStack a customer-centric supply chain is what should be the strategic business priority. As B2C experiences are influencing B2B expectations – also known as “The Amazon Effect” – the current supply chain systems are under pressure. According to Gartner, 75% of B2B organizations have immature capabilities when it comes to customer experience management. As customer retention is cheaper than acquisition, actively investing in customer satisfaction offers great value.

“In general, corporate customer experience is managed by the sales and marketing departments, in spite of the fact that the supply chain plays a key role in the customer journey. Organisations should realise that a late delivery can disrupt or disappoint and that an expedited delivery can delight or save a life. Putting the customer first will turn your supply chain into a competitive advantage”, explains Poels.

LogTech is the new FinTech

The investment is a testimony to how quickly the logistics technology sector is growing. The industry is experiencing an influx of venture capital and new companies that has never been experienced before. “Logistic technology venture capital investments have seen rapid growth for the past few years. It’s an industry that has been historically slow-moving: using spreadsheets, emails, and phone calls. This is rapidly changing now: LogTech is becoming what FinTech was 10 years ago”, states Poels.

“The last few years have been fantastic. Together with our clients, we are building the technology, growing the team and finding our unique spot,” says Poels. “We’re really motivated to give supply chain and customer service professionals true satisfaction by providing them with the tools to be successful in their everyday job. It’s time to co-create a new normal within the transportation management industry.”

Growth potential

This new round of investment will allow SupplyStack to expand further in the countries in which they are already present, not to mention tapping into new European markets.

Fortino Capital is investing in SupplyStack for the second time. “We have supported the management team over the past three years and are excited to assist them during the next phase of further scaling-up  their company. The team has the skills and focus to drive digitalisation in the logistics sector, and deliver a more efficient supply chain to its clients,” says Steven De Troyer, Investment Director at Fortino Capital.

“We strongly believe in SupplyStack, not only because their technology delivers freight cost savings for the customer, but also because SupplyStack puts customer focus and customer information at the heart of its business”, explains Isabelle Tennstedt, Senior Investment Manager atParticipatiemaatschappij Vlaanderen. “That is exactly what determines whether a company can distinguish itself from the competition in a digital age.”

SupplyStack can also count on support from the Netherlands with investments from Mainport Innovation Fund (Schiphol, KLM, the Port of Amsterdam, NS and TU Delft). “This is the first time we’re investing in a Belgian start-up. The growth that SupplyStack has been able to achieve in only a few years’ time is impressive, along with the fact that SupplyStack – instead of other established software providers – earned the trust of large organisations to support them in their logistics operations”, says Thijs Gitmans, Fund Manager at Mainport Innovation Fund.

About SupplyStack

SupplyStack delivers an easy-to-integrate and flexible visibility solution that monitors transport orders in real-time in order to facilitate collaboration, drive execution and automates work where possible. Currently, numerous leaders in the industry, including Sony, Umicore, DHL, Duracell and Atlas Copco, are using SupplyStack to accomplish their logistics and transport management. In 2018, SupplyStack was recognized as a notable vendor by Gartner in their ‘European Context for Transportation Management System’.

For more information: www.supplystack.com

About Fortino Capital

Fortino Capital invests in small and medium-sized businesses with growth potential, across Europe with a focus on Benelux. Fortino Capital believes in the potential of visionary entrepreneurs with a focus on technology, E-commerce and digital transformation. Fortino Capital brings a strengthening of capital, expertise and experience in the areas of innovation, strategy and growth.

For more information: www.fortino.be

About PMV

PMV is an investment company focussed on the economic future of Flanders. PMV finances promising companies from the very start to growth and internationalization. PMV offers tailor-made financial solutions for every entrepreneur with a solid business plan and a strong management team, by providing (venture) capital, loans or guarantees. PMV has a portfolio of about EUR 1.2 billion in assets under management.

For more information: www.pmv.eu

About Mainport Innovation Fund II

MIF II aims to accelerate innovation in logistics, transport and aviation. It was founded in 2015 by Schiphol, KLM, TU Delft, NS and Port of Amsterdam, together with NBI Investors, the fund manager. MIF II has invested in ViriCiti, Mobian, We4Sea, Synple, C Teleport and SupplyStack. Its predecessor Mainport Innovation Fund I has invested in Casper (exit), Multi Pilot Simulations (exit), Versa (previously FastTrack Company), Ampyx Power (exit), Robin Radar, MI Airline, Snocom, Eye on Air, Undagrid and Calendar42 (exit).

For more information: www.mainportinnovationfund.nl and www.nbi-investors.nl

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Carlyle Cardinal Ireland Invests in Sports Surgery Clinic

Carlyle

Specialist Orthopaedic & Sports Medicine Hospital To Focus on Continued Growth of Patient Services and Facilities

Dublin, Ireland – Carlyle Cardinal Ireland (CCI), the private equity fund established by The Carlyle Group (NASDAQ: CG) and Cardinal Capital Group, has agreed to an investment in Sports Surgery Clinic (SSC), a private hospital specialising in orthopaedic surgery, spinal surgery and sports medicine.  The investment, terms of which are not being disclosed, is expected to complete in the coming months.

SSC, located in Santry, Dublin, is a state-of-the-art private hospital dedicated to orthopaedics and sports medicines.  Launched in 2007, SSC introduced world-class facilities and treatment into Ireland for orthopaedic joint-replacement surgery, spinal surgery and sports medicine.  The hospital has quickly grown to become a premier provider of both sports medicine and orthopaedic joint-replacement surgery in Ireland with a reputation for leading-edge innovation and highest standards of patient care.

Facilities at SSC include five ultra-clean-air operating theatres dedicated to orthopaedic and spinal surgical procedures, a diagnostic-imaging service including two 3-Tesla MRI scanners and a 64-slice CT scanner, and an expansive physiotherapy and rehabilitation department incorporating wellness and health-screening facilities.  A recently developed sports medicine-dedicated laboratory provides performance rehabilitation, running clinics, fitness testing and physiotherapy services.  Currently employing over 300 people, SSC’s capacity comprises 63 in-patient beds, 26 day-care beds and 21 on-site consultancy suites.

Jonathan Cosgrave, Managing Director, The Carlyle Group and John Dolan, Managing Director, Cardinal Capital Group, will join the board of directors of SSC upon completion of the investment.

Dr. Josh Keaveny, Chief Executive, SSC said: “With our patient-focused model of care we are continuously exploring the science and medicine related to sports injuries, athletic performance, joint replacement and spinal injury.  We aim to keep people of all ages fit and active.  The investment from CCI allows us to accelerate our growth and we plan to begin work in the near future on expanding the hospital.  This expansion will significantly increase our capacity which will enable us to treat more patients.”

John Dolan, Managing Director, Cardinal Capital Group, said: “CCI’s financial backing of SSC’s expansion plan will add two additional theatres, which will increase surgical capacity by 40%, meaning more of the population can readily access the hospital’s leading facilities and consultants.  With an increased focus on exercise and wellness, more and more people are looking for restorative procedures, particularly knee and hip replacements, and shoulder surgery.  SSC’s specialist orthopaedic and rehabilitation expertise has allowed it establish a national reputation for treating injuries in both professional and amateur athletes, and members of the wider population.”

Jonathan Cosgrave, Managing Director, The Carlyle Group, said: “SSC is CCI’s second healthcare sector investment and we are excited to be partnering with such a high quality, ambitious management team and group of staff.  Planned increases to SSC’s operating capacity will expand SSC’s workforce and we look forward to adding new consultants, nurses and other healthcare professionals to the SSC team.  The Irish population aged over 65 years is forecast to increase 45% by 2030 driving a significant increase in annual demand for hip and knee joint replacements, and SSC’s management team and staff are well positioned to service this growing patient demand.”

CCI has been an active growth investor in the Irish market since 2014.  SSC is the fund’s tenth investment and the fund continues to explore other investment opportunities.  Current fund investments include The AA Ireland, Payzone, Carroll Cuisine, Learning Pool, McCauley Pharmacy Group, Abtran and Millicent Pharma.  CCI previously invested in Lily O’Brien’s and General Secure Logistics Services (GSLS), both high-growth companies run by first-class management teams, each of which underwent an exit process in 2018.

CCI’s investment in SSC is subject to approval from the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC).

* * * * *

Press Contacts:

The Carlyle Group
Laurie Mannix, MKC Communications
Tel: +353 (0)1 703 8620 Mob: +353 (0)86 814 3710 laurie@mkc.ie

Cardinal Capital Group
Tom McEnaney, McEnaney Media
Tel: +353 (0)87 2222 666 tom@tommcenaney.com

About Sports Surgery Clinic (SSC)

SSC’s goal is dedicated to delivering the highest standards of diagnosis, prehabilitation, treatment, rehabilitation and full recovery care for its patients.  The hospital aims to provide an exceptional working environment for staff with a focus on continuous education and quality improvement to support excellence in patient care.

SSC’s facilities are built with optimised patient outcomes in mind.  They include five ultra clean-air operating theatres, a world-class diagnostic imaging department, an expansive physiotherapy department, a wellness and health screening facility, as well as dedicated research laboratories which highlight the commitment that SSC places on promoting future breakthroughs in orthopaedic surgery.

SSC offers patients all the advantages of the newest technologies, including 21 on-site consulting rooms that ensure rapid and smooth access to consultant expertise on a continuous basis.  The hospital houses some of the world’s most advanced radiology equipment including two 3-Tesla MRI scanners and a 64-slice CT scanner, both of which yield superior image quality and resolution, particularly in the diagnosis of soft tissue and orthopaedic injuries.

Patient comfort is at the heart of the service provided by the SSC.  In total, the clinic offers 63 in-patient beds in addition to 26 day-care beds.  Each patient room has its own ensuite bathroom with shower, and entertainment centre incorporating internet, radio and telephone access along with both clinic and treatment information.

About Carlyle Cardinal Ireland

Carlyle Cardinal Ireland is a joint venture between The Carlyle Group (NASDAQ: CG) and Cardinal Capital Group.  The €292 million private equity fund is focused on growth capital and buyout investment opportunities across the island of Ireland.

About The Carlyle Group

The Carlyle Group (NASDAQ: CG) is a global investment firm with deep industry expertise that deploys private capital across four business segments: Corporate Private Equity, Real Assets, Global Credit and Investment Solutions. With $216 billion of assets under management as of December 31, 2018, Carlyle’s purpose is to invest wisely and create value on behalf of our investors, portfolio companies and the communities in which we live and invest. The Carlyle Group employs more than 1,650 people in 31 offices across six continents.

The Carlyle Group is a seasoned investor in the hospital sector.  Notable hospital investments include Schoen Klinik (Germany – 17 hospitals), Rede D’Or São Luiz (Brazil – 38 hospitals), Healthscope (Australia – 45 hospitals), Medical Park (Turkey – 18 hospitals) and Medanta (India – 3 hospitals, 1 Day Care Facility and 2 new hospitals under construction).

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

About Cardinal Capital Group

Cardinal Capital Group is Ireland’s leading provider of alternative capital, directing private-equity capital, mezzanine finance and alternative lending to a broad range of sectors in the Irish market.  Cardinal invests its own capital alongside institutional funders to support entrepreneurs and corporate management teams as well as real-estate investors and developers.

Web: www.cardinalcapitalgroup.com

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EURAZEO sells its take in CAPZANINE to AXA SA

Eurazeo

Paris, April 5th, 2019 – As announced in January, Eurazeo sold today to AXA its 22% stake in
Capzanine, an independent European management company specializing in private investment.
Since entering Capzanine’s share capital in October 2015, Eurazeo and AXA have helped Capzanine
accelerate its growth in the debt and equity sectors and develop international partnerships.
This transaction is accompanied by the assumption by AXA and other investors of all Eurazeo
commitments in funds managed by Capzanine, excluding an €8 million commitment in Capzanine
Situations Spéciales.
***
About Eurazeo
o Eurazeo is a leading global investment company, with a diversified portfolio of €17 billion in assets under
management, including nearly €11 billion from third parties, invested in over 300 companies. With its
considerable private equity, venture capital, real estate, private debt and fund of funds expertise, Eurazeo
accompanies companies of all sizes, supporting their development through the commitment of its 235
professionals and by offering deep sector expertise, a gateway to global markets, and a responsible and stable
foothold for transformational growth. Its solid institutional and family shareholder base, robust financial structure
free of structural debt, and flexible investment horizon enable Eurazeo to support its companies over the long
term.

Eurazeo has offices in Paris, New York, Sao Paulo, Buenos Aires, Shanghai, London, Luxembourg, Frankfurt
and Madrid.

o Eurazeo is listed on Euronext Paris.
o ISIN: FR0000121121 – Bloomberg: RF FP – Reuters: EURA.PA

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The Carlyle Group Completes Purchase of StandardAero

Carlyle

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – Global investment firm The Carlyle Group (NASDAQ: CG) announced today that it has closed its purchase of StandardAero from Veritas Capital. StandardAero is a global provider of repair and maintenance services to the aviation industry.

“StandardAero has established itself as one of the true leaders in the MRO industry,” said Adam J. Palmer, Managing Director and Global Head of Aerospace, Defense and Government Services for The Carlyle Group. “We are excited to partner with the StandardAero team to continue supporting the Company’s growth and industry leadership.”

“Joining The Carlyle Group is a great honor and we look forward to working with this distinguished and experienced ownership team,” said Russell Ford, CEO of StandardAero.

Ramzi Musallam, CEO and Managing Partner of Veritas Capital said: “Veritas is pleased to have played an important role in StandardAero’s growth and success, and we believe the Company is well-positioned to continue its strong momentum. We thank Russ and the team for their successful partnership.”

StandardAero has more than 6,000 employees at 38 primary locations and dozens of field services and sales offices across five continents.

* * * * *

About StandardAero

StandardAero is one of the world’s largest independent providers of services including engine and airframe maintenance, repair and overhaul, engine component repair, engineering services, interior completions and paint applications. StandardAero serves a diverse array of customers in business and general aviation, airline, military, helicopter, components and energy markets. The company celebrated its 100th year of industry leadership in 2011. More information can be found on the company’s web site at www.standardaero.com.

About The Carlyle Group

The Carlyle Group (NASDAQ: CG) is a global investment firm with deep industry expertise that deploys private capital across four business segments: Corporate Private Equity, Real Assets, Global Credit and Investment Solutions. With $216 billion of assets under management as of December 31, 2018, Carlyle’s purpose is to invest wisely and create value on behalf of our investors, portfolio companies and the communities in which we live and invest. The Carlyle Group employs more than 1,650 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

About Veritas Capital

Veritas Capital is a leading private equity firm that invests in companies that provide critical products and services, primarily technology and technology-enabled solutions, to government and commercial customers worldwide, including those operating in the aerospace & defense, healthcare, technology, national security, communications, energy, government services and education industries. Veritas seeks to create value by strategically transforming the companies in which it invests through organic and inorganic means. Veritas raised its first fund in 1998.  For more information on Veritas and its current and past investments, visit www.veritascapital.com.

Media Contact:

Kyle Hultquist
1.480.377.3192 – Office
1.602.577.2875 – Cell
kyle.hultquist@standardaero.com

 

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Following regulatory approvals Investor AB has increased its ownership in EQT AB to 23 percent

Investor

As previously announced by EQT and communicated in Investor AB’s Year-End Report 2018, EQT is reviewing different options to further strengthen its balance sheet and several steps are being taken to simplify EQT AB’s ownership structure.

Investor supports the steps being taken by EQT. As one part of these steps and after having received relevant regulatory approvals, Investor AB has now increased its ownership in EQT AB from 19 percent to approximately 23 percent. Investor AB will continue as a long-term shareholder in EQT AB.

More information on EQT:
As EQT discloses on its website, it has since its inception raised EUR 61 bn. in capital across 29 funds and currently has around EUR 40 bn. in assets under management. In 2018, EQT AB generated roughly EUR 400 m. in revenue on the back of EUR 30 bn. in average assets under management. Following the completion of the simplification of EQT’s ownership structure, EQT AB will receive 100 percent of the management fee from funds. In addition, EQT AB will be entitled to approximately 1/3 of the carried interest in the most recent as well as future funds. EQT AB’s share of carry will be lower in older existing funds. Read more about EQT at www.eqtpartners.com/About-EQT/Fast-facts/.

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Sitecore acquires Stylelabs – further advances ability to personalize digital experiences

eqt

With a platform that combines content management, commerce and customer analytics with sophisticated machine learning and AI, EQT portfolio company Sitecore helps companies make the most of every online interaction with every customer. Following the add-on acquisition of Stylelabs, Sitecore expands its product platform and further strengthens its digital capabilities.

Founded in 2001 and headquartered in San Francisco, California, USA, Sitecore is a leading digital experience platform that offers natively-integrated content, commerce, customer analytics, marketing operations, and always-on personalization capabilities. The Company’s products enable companies to deliver the best possible experience to any customer or potential customer in any channel of engagement, ensuring highly-targeted messaging that enables companies to drive increased conversion. Sitecore primarily targets enterprise and mid-market companies across industry verticals, including brands such as American Express, Kimberly-Clark, and L’Oréal, which have put their trust in Sitecore’s solutions.

Since being acquired by EQT VII in 2016, Sitecore has grown to become one of the leading global players of web content management and digital experience software. The Company’s position as a leader in both markets has been repeatedly confirmed by prominent industry analysts such as Gartner® and Forrester®, as well as the trust placed in Sitecore by thousands of blue-chip customers.

Advanced personalization across the content marketing lifecycle

In November 2018, Sitecore announced the acquisition of Stylelabs, an innovative vendor of digital asset management, marketing resource management, and product information management software. Headquartered in Brussels, Belgium, Stylelabs created the Marketing Content Hub®, which is an online platform that allows companies to easily create, manage, and publish marketing content across different channels. Stylelabs’ solutions allow CMOs and their teams to own the entire content lifecycle and understand the impact of specific content assets on individual customers’ behavior, empowering them to deliver even more engaging digital experiences.

Mark Frost, CEO of Sitecore, commented: “The addition of the Stylelabs Content Hub to the Sitecore Experience Cloud creates a unified platform that enable marketing departments to easily define, create, manage, and deliver highly personalized content across any digital channel, at every stage of the customer journey. We believe that this will provide our customers with a distinct advantage in the marketplace and enable them to build life-long customer relationships.”

The combination of Sitecore and Stylelabs further integrates Sitecore into the marketer’s workflow, which strengthens Sitecore’s footprint in its existing customer base and opens substantial additional growth potential for Sitecore in its attractive end-markets. Leading brands such as Microsoft and General Mills are already capturing the value of the combined solution.

The add-on of Stylelabs will immediately accelerate Sitecore’s revenue growth rate and is expected to be accretive to its margin profile in the mid-term.

Preparing Sitecore for continued growth

During the ownership period, one of EQT’s main objectives was to transform Sitecore’s offering from a perpetual license model deployed on-premise, to a cloud-based subscription model. The completion of this transformation and the launch of Sitecore’s fully-managed cloud offering will allow Sitecore to continue its strong growth by delivering state-of-the-art solutions through its digital experience platform. At the same time, this shift has allowed Sitecore to considerably enhance the share of recurring revenue from its large customer base that has seen continuous high growth.

Sitecore has also continued to strengthen its partner program and the Company added award-winning global digital agencies such as WPP and IBM iX to its more than 500 service delivery partners. In addition, Sitecore teamed up with Salesforce to integrate its experience platform solutions with Salesforce Marketing Cloud. This broad set of partnerships provides a considerable benefit to Sitecore customers, who gain the ability to easily complement and expand the Sitecore platform with market-leading solutions and services that offer maximum value for their business.

Dominik Stein, Partner and Head of EQT’s TMT Sector Team, concluded “Consumers today demand smooth, more relevant and personalized interactions with businesses, which places an increasing demand on marketers to deliver seamless and engaging digital experiences. Sitecore has been a leader in the industry for a long time and the Company continues to evolve at an impressive pace. The management team around Mark Frost has done an incredible job at driving both innovation and growth which we are expecting to continue in the years to come. We are also very glad that we have been able to establish such a strong board with prominent industry representatives such as Jonas Persson, Craig Conway, and Carsten Thoma, which provides great testimony for the excitement around Sitecore as a leader in its space.”

Read more about Sitecore here.

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Eurazeo Brands completes investment in Q MIXERS

Eurazeo

PARTNERSHIP WILL FUEL Q MIXERS’ CONTINUED GROWTH
Paris, April 4th , 2019 – Eurazeo, a leading global investment firm with approximately €17 billion in assets
under management, is pleased to announce it has completed an investment in Q Mixers, a premium
carbonated mixer brand based in New York. This marks Eurazeo Brands’ fourth investment since May 2017,
and its first investment within food and beverage. In partnership with founders Jordan Silbert and Ben Karlin,
Eurazeo Brands has invested $40 million in Q Mixers, joining existing investors including First Beverage
Ventures.

Born in a Brooklyn kitchen in 2007, Q Mixers elevates the cocktail with mixers crafted to a high standard of
quality and sophistication. Q mixers pair the best ingredients with high carbonation to deliver a truly
spectacular drinking experience together with spirits or non-alcoholic alternatives. Today, Q Mixers is the
fastest-growing premium mixer brand in the United States, and the number one mixer brand among top
bartenders. Q Mixers come in a variety of innovative and classic flavors all made without artificial sweeteners
and are proudly served in thousands of the country’s leading restaurants, bars, and hotels. Consumers can
purchase Q mixers directly at grocery retailers nationwide.
Jordan Silbert, CEO and Founder of Q Mixers stated, “Over the past 12 years we have built an incredible
community that shares a fundamental vision: your mixer should be as great as your spirit. Together with
Eurazeo Brands we will build this company into the mixer brand of choice.”

“The US premium mixer market has reached an inflection point,” said Ben Karlin, President and CoFounder of Q Mixers. “Our growth is rapid and accelerating – but we are in the early stages of disrupting a category long dominated by brands that don’t resonate with today’s discerning drinkers. Premium penetration in mixers substantially lags spirits, and we expect high growth in the years ahead. We look forward to working with Eurazeo Brands and tapping into their expertise to scale our business and establish category leadership globally.”

Eurazeo Brands will provide Q Mixers with proven brand building, operating, and category expertise. The
investment proceeds will be used to accelerate Q’s marketing activities, including the continued development
of a strong consumer and influencer community, and to support Q’s rapid expansion within both the grocery
and on-premise channels.

As part of Eurazeo Brands’ investment in Q Mixers, Jim Goldman, senior advisor to Eurazeo and a seasoned
food and beverage executive with 30 plus years of experience building and leading brands, and George
Birman, a member of the Eurazeo Brands investment team, will join Q Mixers’ Board of Directors.
Jill Granoff, CEO of Eurazeo Brands, said, “Q has established itself early on as a differentiated and exciting
brand led by passionate and entrepreneurial founders and highly experienced sales leadership. Given the
tremendous growth opportunity within this category, we are excited to be partnering with Q and to be making
the first of multiple food and beverage investments at Eurazeo Brands.”
Eurazeo Brands aims to invest a total of $800 million in high potential U.S. and European consumer
companies with differentiated brands across a wide range of verticals including beauty, fashion, home,
wellness, leisure and food.

About Q Mixers
Q makes the world’s best carbonated mixers – spectacular beverages crafted with authentic ingredients, more carbonation and much less sugar to perfectly complement the world’s finest spirits and non-alcoholic alternatives. Our tonic water, ginger beer and other flavors are proudly carried by thousands of America’s best restaurants, bars and retailers including Whole Foods, Safeway, Kroger, Total Wine and Amazon. For more information please visit Qmixers.com. Follow on social media: @Qmixers, #HIGHBALLR.

About Eurazeo
Eurazeo is a leading global investment company, with a diversified portfolio of €17 billion in assets under management,
including nearly €11 billion from third parties, invested in over 300 companies. With its considerable private equity, venture capital, real estate, private debt and fund of funds expertise, Eurazeo accompanies companies of all sizes, supporting their development through the commitment of its 235 professionals and by offering deep sector expertise, a gateway to global markets, and a responsible and stable foothold for transformational growth. Its solid institutional and family shareholder base, robust financial structure free of structural debt, and flexible investment horizon enable Eurazeo to support its companies over the long term.
• Eurazeo has offices in Paris, New York, Sao Paulo, Buenos Aires, Shanghai, London, Luxembourg, Frankfurt and
Madrid.

• Eurazeo is listed on Euronext Paris.
• ISIN: FR0000121121 – Bloomberg: RF FP – Reuters: EURA.PA
ISIN: FR0000121121 – Bloomberg: RF FP – Reuters: EURA.PA

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Unico and Partners Group acquire Portland office portfolio from Bill Naito Company

Partners Group

Unico Properties LLC, a subsidiary of Unico Investment Group LLC, a real estate investment and operating company, and Partners Group, the global private markets investment manager, announced today that they have purchased Montgomery Park, an 18-acre, 745,000-square-foot urban property in Portland’s Northwest/Slabtown district. The acquisition was part of a joint venture partnership between the two firms, in which Partners Group has invested on behalf of its clients. In December 2018, Unico and Partners Group also purchased the Galleria, a 5-story, 195,000-square-foot office building over street-level retail in the heart of downtown Portland. Both properties were acquired from the Bill Naito Company.

The Montgomery Park site consists of a 9-story, 745,000-square-foot office building, which was originally constructed in 1921 as Montgomery Ward’s department store. The site also contains a 335,000-square-foot historic warehouse and a 3-acre development site capable of accommodating more than 800,000 square feet of new development.

The Montgomery Park office building is currently 94 percent leased to high-profile tenants including Adidas, Daimler Trucks North America, WebMD, OnPoint Community Credit Union, Wells Fargo, and Kaiser Permanente.  The property features a full height, 9-story glass atrium at the center of an 84,000-square-foot “U” shaped floor plate.

Unico and Partners Group plan to make significant capital investments to reposition, redevelop and develop the site, transforming it into a preeminent urban campus and bringing a first-class, amenity-rich tenant experience to the property.

“Purchasing one of Portland’s landmark office properties in the Northwest district presents a unique opportunity to build and shape a premier neighborhood,” said Brian Pearce, Unico Properties Executive Vice President of Real Estate Services. “With Montgomery Park’s size and scale, its abundance of development options and our vision to deliver unrivaled amenities, our goal is to help evolve this industrial district into a vibrant extension of Slabtown and ultimately, a live-work-play neighborhood.”

The Northwest district is primed for responsible development and growth with the recent sale of the adjacent, 22-acre ESCO property to a group of prominent Portland real estate investors, the new 60,000-square-foot Redfox Commons creative office development, and the City of Portland pursuing the expansion of the Streetcar to the Northwest.

Separately acquired by Unico and Partners Group in December 2018, the 5-story, 195,000-square-foot Galleria office building in downtown Portland was built in 1910 and was originally known as the Olds, Wortman & King department store. Spanning a full city block directly on the MAX transit line at SW 9th & Morrison, the Galleria is located in the West End, a vibrant and emerging downtown neighborhood that brings energy to the urban core.

The Galleria is currently 46 percent leased to an 89,000-square-foot “City Target” store, with 106,000-square-feet of available office space on the upper floors. Unico and Partners Group plan to make significant capital investments to transform the existing office space, and bring a sophisticated tenant experience to the building with a new lobby and new common area amenities.

“We are very pleased to have expanded our relationship with Unico to acquire these high-quality office buildings which will appeal to a broad range of tenants looking for best-in-class creative office space in Portland,” said Marcus Day, Partners Group’s Senior Vice President of Private Real Estate Americas.

Partners Group’s Co-Head Private Real Estate Americas, Fabian Neuenschwander, added: “These recent Portland acquisitions reflect our investment strategy of acquiring real estate assets with significant value-add potential and optionality. Both of these assets offer an attractive combination of income and growth from further lease up and potential development and the ability to create value through proactive asset management.”

“We could not be more pleased to complete this transaction with Unico and Partners Group because they absolutely support our vision for the property. With abundant redevelopment potential, the planned Streetcar expansion and the right development partners, the property has tremendous potential to bring great vibrancy to the area,” said Diane McMahon, CEO of the Bill Naito Company.  “Portland has always attracted bold thinkers and its success has been defined by them. This transaction is a catalyst that will support the next chapter of our own bold future at The Bill Naito Company.”

The brokers who represented the seller in both acquisitions are Graham Taylor and Charles Safley of CBRE. Acquisition financing was arranged by Nick Santangelo, also from CBRE.

“It will be exciting to watch this property continue to transform and add to the already booming NW Portland,” said Charles Safley, CBRE Portland.

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Red Points raises $38 million Series C round

Northzone

Northzone portfolio company Red Points has secured a $38 million Series C investment, led by Summit Partners.

Red Points, is a Barcelona-based global leader in online IP infringement detection and removal. This latest round brings the company’s total capital raised to $64 million and cementing its global footprint in the online brand protection space. The round was led by Summit Partners, with additional participation from existing investors Northzone, Mangrove, Eight Roads Ventures and Banco Sabadell.

“Brands have never been more vulnerable to the issues of online counterfeiting, piracy and distribution fraud,” said Laura Urquizu, CEO of Red Points. “This growing threat makes it nearly impossible for a company to protect its online assets effectively without full visibility into its brand’s online presence. This investment round from Summit Partners will help to strengthen Red Points’ position as a global leader in addressing the ever-growing, rapidly evolving problem of online brand abuse. With this new funding, we plan to further expand our technology and global footprint with the goal of empowering brands worldwide to seamlessly protect their valuable assets online.”

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DIF sells its stakes in 29 solar assets in France

DIF

Paris, 3 April 2019 – DIF Infrastructure III and DIF Infrastructure IV are pleased to announce that they have completed the sale of their stakes in a portfolio of 29 French solar plants (the “Portfolio”) to Terres d’Energie, a company whose majority shareholder is Tenergie, a successful French Independent Power Producer that specialises in renewable energy. The Portfolio’s total capacity is 107.8 MW comprising of:

  • a DIF III owned shareholding in projects with total capacity amounted to 97.8 MW; and
  • a DIF IV owned shareholding in projects with total capacity amounted to 10 MW.

The Portfolio includes a mix of ground-mounted and rooftop assets (including a number of assets developed by GreenYellow on Casino supermarkets), which achieved commercial operations between 2009 and 2016. Most plants were acquired by DIF during construction. They all benefit from 20-year Feed-in-Tariffs.

Andrew Freeman, Head of Exits, said: “We are pleased with the completion of the sale of the Portfolio that was successfully optimized throughout the life of the assets, starting with acquiring individual projects or small portfolios, bringing some of them through construction, completing refinancings of two sub portfolios in 2016 and 2017, recontracting and then exiting via a competitive portfolio sales process.”

DIF was advised by Astris Finance (Financial), Clifford Chance and LPA-CGR (Legal) and RINA (Technical).

About DIF

DIF is an independent infrastructure fund manager, with €5.6 billion of assets under management across seven closed-end infrastructure funds and several co-investment vehicles. DIF invests in greenfield and brownfield infrastructure assets located primarily in Europe, North America and Australasia through two complementary strategies:

  • DIF Infrastructure V targets equity investments in public-private partnerships (PPP/PFI/P3), concessions, regulated assets and renewable energy projects with long-term contracted or regulated income streams that generate stable and predictable cash flows.
  • DIF Core Infrastructure Fund I targets equity investments in small to mid-sized infrastructure assets in the energy, transportation and telecom sectors with mid-term contracted income streams that generate stable and predictable cash flows.

DIF has a team of over 115 professionals, based in eight offices located in Schiphol (the Netherlands), Frankfurt, London, Luxembourg, Madrid, Paris, Sydney and Toronto. Please visit www.dif.eu for further information.

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

 

About Tenergie

Tenergie is a French renewable energy operator, which operates over 600 solar power plants and wind farms and ranks as the fifth largest solar power producer in France. Created in 2008, Tenergie is an independent player. Our 80 employees share a strong team spirit and are deeply committed to foster the energy transition together with all stakeholders: industrial and commercial enterprises, farmers and local authorities in this common challenge. By producing local and clean energy, Tenergie contributes, with you, to the ongoing energy revolution.

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