Hg strengthens executive team with four Partner promotions

HG Capital

Alongside a total of 30 promotions, the appointments support the evolution of the firm, further reinforcing Hg as the largest technology team in Europe

Hg, Europe’s leading software investor, today announces four new Partner appointments as part of a number of senior promotions across the firm.

The promotions continue to strengthen the executive leadership team and further support the evolution of the firm, having now grown to over 200 employees. Today the team is made up of over 140 investors, more than 30 operational experts and several other transaction support teams, together comprising the largest technology investor in the region.

Hg has promoted four long-standing colleagues to Partner: Martina Sanow (Deputy COO), Luke Finch (Client Services), Joris van Gool and Stefan Margolis (Investment team). The average tenure of these four individuals at Hg is close to a decade, during which time they have all made a material individual contribution to the firm’s achievements as well as helping to build and shape the firm over that period.

Hg is also pleased to promote several colleagues to Director: Yasemin ArikViviana KaneManuela ThomysRichard EarnshawHector GuinnessBenedikt Joeris and Carlo Pohlhausen.   Each of these colleagues has made a strong contribution to developing and leading investment activity at Hg over many years.

Matthew Brockman, Managing Partner at Hg, commented: “I am delighted to announce these positive developments, as we recognise individuals whose commitment and performance has stood out over years.  We are hugely committed to the long-term development of our people.  Each of these new Partners joined the firm as a junior team member nearly 10 years ago and since then have worked tirelessly across investments, deepening our client relationships and improving our business. They also share our values and each have supported several areas of the business during that time.  We are delighted to now have them as Partners.”

Martina Sanow joined the Client Services team in 2009 and has worked on all Hg fundraisings since then.  She was promoted to the role of Deputy Chief Operating Officer in 2019. Today Martina has responsibility for the firm’s operations including talent, finance, technology and ESG. She also leads the firm’s work on Diversity & Inclusion and has been leading the work in establishing the Hg Foundation. Most recently Martina was recognised in the ‘Future 40’ list of PE operators on course for stand-out roles in private markets.

Luke Finch joined Hg’s Client Services team in 2010 and has led this team for the last 18 months. Over the last decade he has worked on several fundraisings including Hg Mercury 1, Hg Genesis 7 (2012/13 vintage funds) and Hg Mercury 2, Hg Genesis 8, Hg Saturn 1 (2017 vintage funds), as well as the current fundraising activities.

Joris Van Gool joined in 2013 having previously interned with Hg when at Harvard Business School.  Joris has worked on, led and originated numerous deals on behalf of Hg. He is currently a board director of team.blue and Citation. His other investments at Hg have included Zenith, Parts Alliance, Raet/Visma (and the Benelux consolidation including Roxit, ProActive), JLA, Kinapse and A-Plan. Joris was recognised as a ‘Rising Star of Private Equity’ back in 2017.

Stefan Margolis joined in 2013 from Warburg Pincus. Stefan works from the Munich office and led current Hg investments into Transporeon and Medifox and in addition is also a Board Director of STP.  He has also been a strong contributor to a series of other successful investments including e-conomic, Speedledger, P&I, Eucon, Visma and Teufel.

Categories: People

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

GIMV

06/05/2020 – 09:30 | Portfolio

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

 

Categories: News

Tags:

A positive outlook for Eurazeo Growth in a more digital world

Eurazeo

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

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

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

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

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

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

Categories: News

Tags:

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

Carlyle

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

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

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

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

* * * * *

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

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

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

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

Categories: News

Tags:

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

Tesi

INVESTMENTS IN FUNDS – 4.5.2020

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Verso Capital

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

Contact for more information:
Anssi Kariola

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

www.versocapital.com

 

Categories: News

Tags:

Argon & Co welcomes Ardian

Ardian

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

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

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

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

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

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

ABOUT ARGON & CO

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

ABOUT ARDIAN

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

LIST OF PARTICIPANTS

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

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

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

PRESS CONTACTS

ARDIAN
Headland
Viktor Tsvetanov
vtsvetanov@headlandconsultancy.co.uk
Tel: +44 020 3435 7469
ARGON & Co
Johanna Balabane-Dugas
Johanna Balabane-Dugas@argonandco.com
Tel: +33 (0)1 55 46 13 00

Categories: News

Tags:

AURELIUS portfolio company completes sale of online bookshop WORDERY

Aurelius Capital

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

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

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

Categories: News

Tags: