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Apollo to Acquire Dutch Equipment Leasing Specialist Beequip from NIBC

Apollo logo

NEW YORK, Sept. 05, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Apollo (NYSE: APO) today announced that balance sheet and other investor capital managed under its Aligned Alternatives platform have agreed to acquire Netherlands-based equipment leasing specialist Beequip from NIBC.

Founded in 2015, Beequip has grown to become a leading independent equipment financing company in the Netherlands, serving small and medium enterprises (SMEs) across Europe and internationally, with a current portfolio of €1.4 billion and €700 million of annual run-rate originations. Beequip offers financing and leasing solutions for new and used heavy equipment spanning transport, cranes, containers, maritime and more.

Beequip will further the build-out of Apollo’s European equipment finance platform, established in 2018 with UK-based Haydock Finance. The acquisition is consistent with Apollo’s origination platform strategy focused on high-quality, secured credit generation, diversified across corporate and consumer categories, including asset-backed finance.

“Beequip has established itself as a leader in the equipment finance space in its home market, with a strong team and robust underwriting to serve a growing base of SMEs in the Netherlands and beyond,” said Kevin Crowe,” Partner in Apollo’s Financial Institutions Group.

“We are pleased to welcome the Beequip team to Apollo’s origination ecosystem and to support the business as it continues to scale, meeting vital demand from SMEs to facilitate their business plans and fuel economic growth,” added Apollo’s Mikhail Rychev.

Beequip co-founders Giel Claes and Peter Loef said, “We are extremely proud of our team and the success we have achieved. Leveraging our expertise in equipment, our focus on used machinery, and our ‘iron above numbers’ philosophy, we have consistently increased market share. With the help of our self-developed fintech systems, we have provided entrepreneurs with user-friendly and tailored financing solutions for heavy equipment. We look forward to working in partnership with Apollo in this exciting next chapter, with a solid foundation for growth domestically and internationally alongside a steadfast commitment to risk management.

The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and expected to be completed before the end of 2024.

Through the first half of 2024, Apollo reported record debt origination volumes of $92 billion in aggregate across the firm and its affiliate platforms, and for the 12-month period ending June 30, 2024, Apollo reported $146 billion of debt origination. Origination is integral to Apollo’s strategy seeking excess spreads in private investment grade credit to serve its retirement services businesses and other ratings-sensitive liabilities.

About Apollo
Apollo is a high-growth, global alternative asset manager. In our asset management business, we seek to provide our clients excess return at every point along the risk-reward spectrum from investment grade to private equity with a focus on three investing strategies: yield, hybrid, and equity. For more than three decades, our investing expertise across our fully integrated platform has served the financial return needs of our clients and provided businesses with innovative capital solutions for growth. Through Athene, our retirement services business, we specialize in helping clients achieve financial security by providing a suite of retirement savings products and acting as a solutions provider to institutions. Our patient, creative, and knowledgeable approach to investing aligns our clients, businesses we invest in, our employees, and the communities we impact, to expand opportunity and achieve positive outcomes. As of June 30, 2024, Apollo had approximately $696 billion of assets under management. To learn more, please visit www.apollo.com.

Contacts

Noah Gunn
Global Head of Investor Relations
Apollo Global Management, Inc.
(212) 822-0540
IR@apollo.com

Joanna Rose
Global Head of Corporate Communications
Apollo Global Management, Inc.
(212) 822-0491
communications@apollo.com / EuropeanMedia@apollo.com

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Bizzdesign acquires two leaders in the global Enterprise Architecture & Digital Transformation space

Main Capital Partners
Bizzdesign today announced it has signed two substantial acquisitions, creating a globally leading player in the Digital Transformation software market.
Home / Knowledge / Press release / Bizzdesign acquires two leaders in the global Enterprise Architecture & Digital Transformation space

Bizzdesign and MEGA International, both recognized by Gartner as leaders in Enterprise Architecture (EA) software, today announced a definitive merger agreement.

Next to this acquisition, Bizzdesign has signed another significant acquisition that will bring the group towards EUR 110m in revenues, with over 600 employees. Through these two sizeable acquisitions, a globally leading player in the Digital Transformation Software market is formed with offices, employees and clients around the world. The combined group will continue under the Bizzdesign brand, reflecting a shared commitment to innovation and customer-centric solutions.

MEGA

MEGA is acquired from its founder & management, as well as from Belgian Private Equity investor GIMV. The acquisition of MEGA marks the second step of the buy-and-build strategy of Bizzdesign since teaming up with strategic software investor Main Capital Partners (“Main”).

Founded in 1991 and headquartered in Paris, France, MEGA has a global presence with offices across 10 countries and employing c. 350 employees. MEGA’s HOPEX platform enables collaboration, automation, and actionable insights to accelerate transformation initiatives. The four key solutions of HOPEX focus on Enterprise Architecture (EA), Business Process Management (BPM), Governance, Risk & Compliance (GRC) and Data Governance. MEGA serves more than 600 customers across EMEA, North America, LATAM and APAC regions, including amongst others large banks, insurance companies and aerospace companies.

Creating a global leader in Enterprise Architecture

Through the combination of Bizzdesign and MEGA, the newly formed group will form a clear leader in the Enterprise Architecture and Digital Transformation space, serving a diversified customer base of more than 1,000 enterprises and public institutions, including blue-chip customers such as HSBC, Shell, Wells Fargo and EDF. With a strongly complementary market presence across all continents, the combination creates a true global leader in the space. For over a consecutive decade, both Bizzdesign and MEGA have been recognized as leaders in Gartner’s Magic Quadrant for Enterprise Architecture, illustrating the leading position of both organizations within this space. The combined product offering will be well-positioned to seamlessly guide organizations in their business transformation initiatives.

“We are thrilled to join forces with MEGA”, says Bert van der Zwan, CEO of Bizzdesign. “The combination will accelerate our growth journey, enabling us to deliver more innovative solutions, and unlock greater value for our customers across the globe. We foresee a fruitful strategic partnership with strong potential to offer a value-added proposition together with MEGA across international markets.”

Luca de Risi, CEO of MEGA International, states: “Bizzdesign is an excellent strategic and cultural match for MEGA. Our combined strengths and resources will greatly enhance the value of Enterprise Architecture in driving business transformation. The MEGA management team is very much looking forward to be part of this story.”

Sven van Berge Henegouwen, Managing Partner at Main and Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Bizzdesign, concludes: “This transaction marks a milestone in the growth strategy of Bizzdesign. We strongly believe in establishing collaborations with driven entrepreneurs to accelerate innovation for the benefit of their clients. Over the past 20 years, this has been a key value driver for Main Capital in the successful organic and buy-and-build growth strategies we have executed together with our business partners. With Bizzdesign and MEGA, we combine two organizations that are both renowned for their innovativeness and expertise within Enterprise Architecture, resulting in a strong foundation for additional global expansion. The combination underlines our strategy to build leading international software groups in one of our core product-markets, as well as marks our official expansion towards France.”

Closing of the MEGA acquisition is still pending mandatory regulatory approvals.

Additional strategic acquisition in the Digital Transformation Space.

Besides the acquisition of MEGA, Bizzdesign has furthermore recently signed another substantial strategic acquisition in the Digital Transformation Space. This other acquisition will further solidify the already global market-leading position of the group in this space, as well as bring additional complementary and synergistic product capabilities to the group. The combined group including this undisclosed acquisition will bring the group towards EUR 110 million in revenues, with over 600 employees, providing a strong fundament for further organic and inorganic growth. A more detailed announcement regarding this last acquisition is expected to be published in the course of Q4 2024.

With Bizzdesign and MEGA, we combine two organizations that are both renowned for their innovativeness and expertise within Enterprise Architecture, resulting in a strong foundation for additional global expansion.”

– Sven van Berge, Managing Partner and Head of DACH at Main Capital Partners

About

Bizzdesign

Founded in 2000, Bizzdesign is the trusted global SaaS Enterprise Architecture platform and is recognized as a leader by major analyst firms like Gartner and Forrester. Bizzdesign supports the world’s leading public and private organizations to ensure the success of investment prioritization, transformation initiatives, and risk management. Bizzdesign helps architects and executives to have full visibility on multi-dimensional architectural structures, design and plan on both current state and future state architecture, and confidently execute on their strategic transformation initiatives. Success should not be a matter of hope, it should be by design.

MEGA International

MEGA, founded in 1991, is a global software provider specialized in digital transformation solutions to connect IT leaders, process owners, risk managers and data governance officers. Headquartered in Paris, France, the company has a global presence with offices across 10 countries. MEGA’s SaaS platform is named HOPEX, a platform that enables collaboration, automation, and actionable insights to accelerate transformation initiatives. MEGA services >600 customers across EMEA, North America, LATAM and APAC, including large banks, insurance companies, public administration and airspace industry.

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Stonepeak Acquires 1.1 Million Square Foot Logistics Portfolio in Fort Worth, Texas

Stonepeak

 

NEW YORK, NY – September 5, 2024 – Stonepeak, a leading alternative investment firm specializing in infrastructure and real assets, today announced the acquisition of two logistics assets totaling 1.1 million square feet in Fort Worth, Texas from institutional investors advised by J.P. Morgan Asset Management.

The assets are strategically located in the Alliance submarket of Dallas-Fort Worth (“DFW”), which is anchored by two Class I rail lines, the BNSF Alliance intermodal terminal, and the Fort Worth Alliance cargo airport, all of which have direct access to the I-35 “NAFTA highway” linking Mexico to Canada. The Alliance submarket’s transport infrastructure is supported by DFW’s population of over 8 million residents, which is expected to grow by 4x the national average through 2028.

“We are excited to add these assets to our growing portfolio,” said Phill Solomond, Senior Managing Director and Head of Real Estate at Stonepeak. “We believe that high-quality real estate adjacent to transport infrastructure will continue to outperform given its mission-critical role in local and national supply chains.”

Most recently, in April 2024, Stonepeak acquired a 1.7 million square foot logistics portfolio located adjacent to the BNSF and Union Pacific intermodal terminals in Chicago, Illinois. Prior to that, in October 2023, Stonepeak announced the sale of the Omni Industrial Campus, a 1.3 million square foot logistics portfolio located near the Port of Charleston in South Carolina.

Stonepeak’s real estate team invests thematically in real estate assets that demonstrate infrastructure characteristics. The team invests in high conviction sectors including supply chain, residential, healthcare, and technology real estate. With the benefit of the strength and insights of the broader Stonepeak platform, the team targets opportunities supported by strong macro tailwinds that have durable cash flow profiles, embedded demand drivers, high barriers to entry, inflation protection, and are mission critical to the businesses and communities they serve.

Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP served as legal counsel and Jones Lang LaSalle served as financial advisor to Stonepeak.

About Stonepeak

Stonepeak is a leading alternative investment firm specializing in infrastructure and real assets with approximately $71.2 billion of assets under management. Through its investment in defensive, hard-asset businesses globally, Stonepeak aims to create value for its investors and portfolio companies, with a focus on downside protection and strong risk-adjusted returns. Stonepeak, as sponsor of private equity and credit investment vehicles, provides capital, operational support, and committed partnership to grow investments in its target sectors, which include communications, energy and energy transition, transport and logistics, and real estate. Stonepeak is headquartered in New York with offices in Hong Kong, Houston, London, Singapore, and Sydney. For more information, please visit www.stonepeak.com.

Contacts

Kate Beers / Maya Brounstein
corporatecomms@stonepeak.com
+1 (212) 907-5100

 

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P95 Acquires Assign DMB, Expanding Data Management and Biostatistics Services

Ampersand

Leuven, Belgium, September 5, 2024 /PR Newswire/ – P95 BV (“P95”), a leading global provider of epidemiology and clinical solutions with a specialty focus on vaccines and infectious diseases, is excited to announce the acquisition of Assign DMB. Founded by current CEO Anton Klingler in 2005, Assign DMB stands at the forefront of clinical research organisations (CROs) in Austria and is renowned for its exceptional clinical data management and biometrics services, particularly in the areas of infectious diseases and vaccines. Backed by Ampersand Capital Partners, a global investment firm with offices in Boston and Amsterdam, P95 is proud to raise the bar in leading innovation and excellence in clinical research globally with this acquisition.

Thomas Verstraeten, CEO of P95 comments, “It is with great pleasure that we welcome Anton and his team to the P95 family. Assign DMB is a world class leader in the areas of data management and biostatistics. By combining forces, we further enhance our capacity to implement both clinical and non-interventional studies, with a continued focus on vaccines and infectious diseases. Like us, Assign DMB has supported studies in various regions worldwide. Our combined global expertise enables us to deliver our services at any location worldwide, including underserved and developing countries.”

Anton Klinger, CEO of Assign DMB adds, “I am delighted to join forces with P95. This acquisition is a significant milestone for Assign DMB, and I am confident that our combined expertise will enable us to deliver even greater value to our clients. Together, we will continue to strive for excellence in clinical research.”

 

 

 

About P95

P95 is a leading global provider of epidemiology and clinical solutions with a specialty focus on vaccines and infectious diseases. Headquartered in Belgium, P95 has regional hub offices in Africa (South Africa), Latin America (Colombia), North America (USA) and Southeast Asia (Thailand). P95’s full-service CRO solutions span 5 continents, with 300 staff and experience across 30 countries. P95 offers a range of high-quality services including clinical trials Phase I-IV, epidemiology and real-world evidence, vaccine development consulting, study start-up and regulatory, clinical monitoring, home nursing, sample management, medical monitoring, pharmacovigilance, data management, biostatistics, medical writing and qualitative research.

About Assign DMB

Assign DMB is one of the leading clinical research organisations in Austria offering a broad range of services for all phases of clinical trials. Based in Innsbruck, Assign DMB has more than 20 years of experience managing clinical studies. Assign DMB’s services are tailored to the sponsors’ individual needs and include data management, biostatistics, and medical writing as well as safety management and medical monitoring.

About Ampersand Capital Partners

Ampersand Capital Partners, founded in 1988, is a middle-market private equity firm with $3 billion of assets under management, dedicated to growth-oriented investments in the healthcare sector. With offices in Boston, MA, and Amsterdam, Netherlands, Ampersand leverages a unique blend of private equity and operating experience to build value and drive long-term performance alongside its portfolio company management teams. Ampersand has helped build numerous market-leading companies across each of the firm’s core healthcare sectors. For additional information, visit Ampersandcapital.com or follow us on LinkedIn.

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P95 Acquires Assign DMB, Expanding Data Management and Biostatistics Services

Ampersand

Leuven, Belgium, September 5, 2024 /PR Newswire/ – P95 BV (“P95”), a leading global provider of epidemiology and clinical solutions with a specialty focus on vaccines and infectious diseases, is excited to announce the acquisition of Assign DMB. Founded by current CEO Anton Klingler in 2005, Assign DMB stands at the forefront of clinical research organisations (CROs) in Austria and is renowned for its exceptional clinical data management and biometrics services, particularly in the areas of infectious diseases and vaccines. Backed by Ampersand Capital Partners, a global investment firm with offices in Boston and Amsterdam, P95 is proud to raise the bar in leading innovation and excellence in clinical research globally with this acquisition.

Thomas Verstraeten, CEO of P95 comments, “It is with great pleasure that we welcome Anton and his team to the P95 family. Assign DMB is a world class leader in the areas of data management and biostatistics. By combining forces, we further enhance our capacity to implement both clinical and non-interventional studies, with a continued focus on vaccines and infectious diseases. Like us, Assign DMB has supported studies in various regions worldwide. Our combined global expertise enables us to deliver our services at any location worldwide, including underserved and developing countries.”

Anton Klinger, CEO of Assign DMB adds, “I am delighted to join forces with P95. This acquisition is a significant milestone for Assign DMB, and I am confident that our combined expertise will enable us to deliver even greater value to our clients. Together, we will continue to strive for excellence in clinical research.”

 

 

 

About P95

P95 is a leading global provider of epidemiology and clinical solutions with a specialty focus on vaccines and infectious diseases. Headquartered in Belgium, P95 has regional hub offices in Africa (South Africa), Latin America (Colombia), North America (USA) and Southeast Asia (Thailand). P95’s full-service CRO solutions span 5 continents, with 300 staff and experience across 30 countries. P95 offers a range of high-quality services including clinical trials Phase I-IV, epidemiology and real-world evidence, vaccine development consulting, study start-up and regulatory, clinical monitoring, home nursing, sample management, medical monitoring, pharmacovigilance, data management, biostatistics, medical writing and qualitative research.

About Assign DMB

Assign DMB is one of the leading clinical research organisations in Austria offering a broad range of services for all phases of clinical trials. Based in Innsbruck, Assign DMB has more than 20 years of experience managing clinical studies. Assign DMB’s services are tailored to the sponsors’ individual needs and include data management, biostatistics, and medical writing as well as safety management and medical monitoring.

About Ampersand Capital Partners

Ampersand Capital Partners, founded in 1988, is a middle-market private equity firm with $3 billion of assets under management, dedicated to growth-oriented investments in the healthcare sector. With offices in Boston, MA, and Amsterdam, Netherlands, Ampersand leverages a unique blend of private equity and operating experience to build value and drive long-term performance alongside its portfolio company management teams. Ampersand has helped build numerous market-leading companies across each of the firm’s core healthcare sectors. For additional information, visit Ampersandcapital.com or follow us on LinkedIn.

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Ncontracts Acquires Venminder Via Hg Buyout

Gryphon Investors
  • Ncontracts announces the acquisition of Venminder to broaden its governance, risk and compliance solutions capabilities.
  • Hg, a leading investor in software and services businesses, has become a new investor in the combined business, backing Founder and CEO, Michael Berman.
  • Gryphon Investors, a leading middle-market private equity firm, has completed a full exit of Ncontracts.

Ncontracts, a leading provider of integrated compliance, risk, and vendor management solutions to the financial services industry, announced today that it has acquired Venminder, a unified platform for managing third-party risk.

Simultaneously with this transaction, Hg has bought out prior Ncontracts shareholder Gryphon Investors (“Gryphon”), as well as prior Venminder shareholders. Hg is a leading investor in software and services businesses and is backing Founder and CEO, Michael Berman, to lead the combined business, which promises to deliver more value to customers via these expanded capabilities.

Acquiring Venminder gives Ncontracts more depth and expertise in third-party risk management, further enhancing its position as a software-as-a-service (SaaS) and knowledge-as-a-service (KaaS) leader in enterprise risk management.  The investment from Hg brings resources and expertise, continuing to strengthen Ncontracts as a leader in governance, risk and compliance (“GRC”) software solutions for banks, credit unions, mortgage companies, fintechs and registered investment advisors, as they grapple with increased risks and regulatory scrutiny.

“We are excited to join forces with Venminder,” said Michael Berman, Ncontracts Founder and CEO. “With our teams coming together to help reduce risk, improve compliance and control costs, we will continue to strengthen the financial industry and the communities they serve. With the investment and support from Hg, we are well positioned to continue our rapid growth. Gryphon has been a valuable partner, and I want to thank their outstanding team of operating partners, operating advisors and investment professionals.”

“Uniting Venminder and Ncontracts will bring tremendous value to our customers,” stated James Hyde, Venminder’s CEO. “This strategic partnership extends beyond third-party risk management, propelling Venminder into the broader integrated risk and compliance space. By combining our strengths, we are poised to deliver even more comprehensive and innovative solutions to our clients and the broader market.  Our unwavering commitment is to continue to support our clients by guiding them through the complex landscape of third-party risk.”

Ncontracts has been named in the prestigious Inc. 5000 list of fastest growing private companies in America for the sixth consecutive year in 2024. This transaction will grow Ncontracts’ customer base further to over 5,000 customers. The investment and acquisition demonstrate Ncontracts’ commitment to continued growth from both an organic and inorganic perspective.

Alan Cline, Head of North America at Hg, said: “We see Ncontracts swiftly becoming a ‘gold standard’ provider of highly automated, AI-enabled, integrated software solutions for the financial industry. The merger with Venminder creates a compelling platform with a comprehensive product suite that can deliver significant value to customers.”

Alexander Johnson, a Director at Hg added: “We’re excited to partner with Michael Berman as he continues to lead and scale the company for its next stage of growth.”

Jon Cheek, Partner & Co-Head of the Software Group at Gryphon, said: “We are delighted to have completed a complex transaction that significantly transforms Ncontracts and positions it to continue to thrive. Through a combination of organic and inorganic growth strategies, Ncontracts has more than quadrupled in size since Gryphon originally invested in 2020. With its comprehensive suite of products meeting the continued demand for sophisticated financial services governance, risk and compliance management tools, the company is poised to continue that aggressive growth going forward.”

Gryphon sees continued attractive opportunity for new platform investments in the GRC sector and retains its investment in separate portfolio company RegEd, a leading provider of enterprise regulatory compliance solutions to insurance companies and financial services firms.

Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

Raymond James served as the lead financial advisor to Gryphon, with Atlas Technology Group also advising Gryphon; Kirkland & Ellis acted as Gryphon’s legal advisor. William Blair served as exclusive financial advisor to Venminder.  Choate Hall & Stewart, LLP served as legal counsel to Venminder.  Goldman Sachs served as financial advisor to Hg; Latham & Watkins served as Hg’s legal advisor.

For more information, please contact:

Company Contact Person Contact Email
Ncontracts Shawn McKee shawn.mckee@ncontracts.com
Venminder Deirdre Grubbs media@venminder.com
Hg Tom Eckersley tom.eckersley@hgcapital.com
Gryphon Investors Caroline Luz cluz@lambert.com


About Ncontracts

Ncontracts provides integrated risk, vendor and compliance management software to a rapidly expanding customer base of over 4,000 financial institutions, mortgage companies, and fintech companies in the United States. The company’s powerful combination of software and services enables financial institutions to achieve their risk management and compliance goals with an integrated, user-friendly cloud-based solution suite encompassing vendor, organizational, audit, and compliance risk management. Visit www.ncontracts.com or follow the company on LinkedIn and Twitter for more information.

About Venminder

Venminder is the leading provider offering a unified SaaS platform for third-party risk management. The platform is used by more than 1,200 customers to manage the entire vendor lifecycle, from onboarding to offboarding, with ease and efficiency. Venminder combines technology and human expertise to enable customers to manage vendors, track contract data, perform due diligence and oversight, send and score questionnaires, conduct risk assessments, systemically monitor risks across domains, order due diligence assessments on vendor controls, and much more. Venminder also powers Third Party ThinkTank, the largest online community dedicated to the practice of third-party risk.

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Ncontracts acquires Venminder via Hg buyout

HG Capital

Ncontracts announces the acquisition of Venminder to broaden its governance, risk and compliance solutions capabilities.

Hg, a leading investor in software and services businesses, has become a new investor in the combined business, backing Founder and CEO, Michael Berman.

Gryphon Investors, a leading middle-market private equity firm, has completed a full exit of Ncontracts.

BRENTWOOD, Tenn., September 4, 2024
Ncontracts, a leading provider of integrated compliance, risk, and vendor management solutions to the financial services industry, announced today that it has acquired Venminder, a unified platform for managing third-party risk.

Simultaneously with this transaction, Hg has bought out prior Ncontracts shareholder Gryphon Investors (“Gryphon”), as well as prior Venminder shareholders. Hg is a leading investor in software and services businesses and is backing Founder and CEO, Michael Berman, to lead the combined business, which promises to deliver more value to customers via these expanded capabilities.

Acquiring Venminder gives Ncontracts more depth and expertise in third-party risk management, further enhancing its position as a software-as-a-service (SaaS) and knowledge-as-a-service (KaaS) leader in enterprise risk management. The investment from Hg brings resources and expertise, continuing to strengthen Ncontracts as a leader in governance, risk and compliance (“GRC”) software solutions for banks, credit unions, mortgage companies, fintechs and registered investment advisors, as they grapple with increased risks and regulatory scrutiny.

“We are excited to join forces with Venminder,” said Michael Berman, Ncontracts Founder and CEO. “With our teams coming together to help reduce risk, improve compliance and control costs, we will continue to strengthen the financial industry and the communities they serve. With the investment and support from Hg, we are well positioned to continue our rapid growth. Gryphon has been a valuable partner, and I want to thank their outstanding team of operating partners, operating advisors and investment professionals.”

“Uniting Venminder and Ncontracts will bring tremendous value to our customers,” stated James Hyde, Venminder’s CEO. “This strategic partnership extends beyond third-party risk management, propelling Venminder into the broader integrated risk and compliance space. By combining our strengths, we are poised to deliver even more comprehensive and innovative solutions to our clients and the broader market. Our unwavering commitment is to continue to support our clients by guiding them through the complex landscape of third-party risk.”

Ncontracts has been named in the prestigious Inc. 5000 list of fastest growing private companies in America for the sixth consecutive year in 2024. This transaction will grow Ncontracts’ customer base further to over 5,000 customers. The investment and acquisition demonstrate Ncontracts’ commitment to continued growth from both an organic and inorganic perspective.

Alan Cline, Head of North America at Hg, said: “We see Ncontracts swiftly becoming a ‘gold standard’ provider of highly automated, AI-enabled, integrated software solutions for the financial industry. The merger with Venminder creates a compelling platform with a comprehensive product suite that can deliver significant value to customers.”

Alexander Johnson, a Director at Hg added: “We’re excited to partner with Michael Berman as he continues to lead and scale the company for its next stage of growth.”

Jon Cheek, Partner & Co-Head of the Software Group at Gryphon, said: “We are delighted to have completed a complex transaction that significantly transforms Ncontracts and positions it to continue to thrive. Through a combination of organic and inorganic growth strategies, Ncontracts has more than quadrupled in size since Gryphon originally invested in 2020. With its comprehensive suite of products meeting the continued demand for sophisticated financial services governance, risk and compliance management tools, the company is poised to continue that aggressive growth going forward.”

Gryphon sees continued attractive opportunity for new platform investments in the GRC sector and retains its investment in separate portfolio company RegEd, a leading provider of enterprise regulatory compliance solutions to insurance companies and financial services firms.

Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

Raymond James served as the lead financial advisor to Gryphon, with Atlas Technology Group also advising Gryphon; Kirkland & Ellis acted as Gryphon’s legal advisor. William Blair served as exclusive financial advisor to Venminder. Choate Hall & Stewart, LLP served as legal counsel to Venminder. Goldman Sachs served as exclusive financial advisor to Hg; Latham & Watkins served as Hg’s legal advisor.

For more information, please contact:

Ncontracts
ShawnMcKee, shawn.mckee@ncontracts.com

Venminder
Deirdre Grubbs, media@vinminder.com

Hg
Tom Eckersley, tom.eckersley@hgcapital.com

Gryphon Investors
Caroline Luz, cluz@lambert.com

About Ncontracts

Ncontracts provides integrated risk, vendor and compliance management software to a rapidly expanding customer base of over 4,000 financial institutions, mortgage companies, and fintech companies in the United States. The company’s powerful combination of software and services enables financial institutions to achieve their risk management and compliance goals with an integrated, user-friendly cloud-based solution suite encompassing vendor, organizational, audit, and compliance risk management. Visit www.ncontracts.com or follow the company on LinkedIn and Twitter for more information.

About Venminder

Venminder is the leading provider offering a unified SaaS platform for third-party risk management. The platform is used by more than 1,200 customers to manage the entire vendor lifecycle, from onboarding to offboarding, with ease and efficiency. Venminder combines technology and human expertise to enable customers to manage vendors, track contract data, perform due diligence and oversight, send and score questionnaires, conduct risk assessments, systemically monitor risks across domains, order due diligence assessments on vendor controls, and much more. Venminder also powers Third Party ThinkTank, the largest online community dedicated to the practice of third-party risk.

About Hg

Hg supports the building of sector-leading enterprises that supply businesses with critical software applications or workflow services, delivering a more automated workplace for their customers. This industry is characterized by digitization trends that are in early stages of adoption and are set to transform the workplace for professionals over decades to come. Hg’s support combines deep end-market knowledge with world class operational resources, together providing compelling support to entrepreneurial leaders looking to scale their business – businesses that are well invested, enduring and serve their customers well. With a vast European network and strong presence across North America, Hg’s 400 employees and $70 billion in funds under management support a portfolio of more than 50 businesses, worth over $150 billion aggregate enterprise value, with over 110,000 employees, consistently growing revenues at more than 20%.

About Gryphon Investors

Gryphon Investors (www.gryphoninvestors.com) is a leading middle-market private equity firm focused on profitably growing and competitively advantaged companies in the Business Services, Consumer, Healthcare, Industrial Growth, and Software sectors. With approximately $9 billion of assets under management, Gryphon prioritizes investments in which it can form strong partnerships with founders, owners, and executives to accelerate the building of leading companies and generate enduring value through its integrated deal and operations business model. Gryphon’s highly-differentiated model integrates its well-proven Operations Resources Group, which is led by full-time, Gryphon senior operating executives with general management, human capital acquisition and development, treasury, finance, and accounting expertise. Gryphon’s three core investment strategies include its Flagship, Heritage, and Junior Capital strategies, each with dedicated funds of capital. The Flagship and Heritage strategies target equity investments of $50 million to $350 million per portfolio company. The Junior Capital strategy targets investments in junior securities of credit facilities, arranged by leading middle-market lenders, in both Gryphon-controlled companies, as well as in other private equity-backed companies operating in Gryphon’s targeted investment sectors.

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Warburg Pincus Announces $4.0 BN of Total Commitments for its Inaugural Capital Solutions Fund

Warburg Pincus logo

Raised over double the initial target, reflecting strong investor support of the firm’s highly differentiated hybrid capital fund strategy

NEW YORK, Sept. 4, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Warburg Pincus, a leading global growth investor, today announced the close of its Capital Solutions Founders Fund (“WPCS FF”), with total commitments to the fund of over $4.0 billion.  The fund is dedicated to pursuing thesis-based investing opportunities in curated structured transactions, capitalizing on the firm’s nearly two-decade track record of structured investing. Leveraging Warburg Pincus’ collaborative one-firm model, Capital Solutions professionals work closely with domain experts across Warburg Pincus’ core sectors and geographies to source and execute structured, value additive transactions.

Launched in 2023, WPCS FF closed on over $4.0 billion of capital, significantly exceeding its initial target of $2.0 billion. Despite a challenging fundraising environment, the fund was met with strong support from leading world-class investors. WPCS FF follows the success of the firm’s global flagship fund, Warburg Pincus Global Growth 14, which closed with $17.3 billion, also exceeding its initial target fund size of $16 billion.

“We are thrilled with the successful close of our first Capital Solutions focused fund and are deeply appreciative of the support of top-tier investors that partnered with us in this raise. We are confident our Capital Solutions strategy will generate attractive opportunities while positioning our investors well across various market cycles,” said Jeffrey Perlman, CEO, Warburg Pincus. “Our Capital Solutions offering looks to capitalize on the large and growing pipeline of structured investment opportunities, resulting in high-quality transactions with attractive, risk-adjusted return profiles. We look forward to continuing to offer differentiated strategies while remaining disciplined and focused on our investor first approach.”

The Capital Solutions group is responsible for the firm’s structured investment opportunities, offering a flexible and solutions-oriented approach to provide debt or equity for balance sheet optimization, shareholder liquidity, M&A, and growth. The group collaborates with domain experts across Warburg Pincus’ core sectors, geographies, and stages to continue prospecting efforts on structured transactions.

“Our Capital Solutions effort allows us to leverage Warburg Pincus’ exceptional sector expertise and sourcing network, coupled with the deep structured capital and credit underwriting experience of the Capital Solutions team.  Our one-firm approach to Capital Solutions allows us to capitalize on a wide range of opportunities across the firm, creating a truly differentiated franchise,” said Dan Zilberman, Global Head of Capital Solutions and Global Co-Head of Financial Services, Warburg Pincus. “The launch of WPCS FF and its successful fundraise reflects the firm’s expanded capabilities as we continue to partner with management teams to deliver solutions that meet their complex and sophisticated needs,” added Gaurav Seth, Head of Capital Solutions, Americas, Warburg Pincus.

The global Capital Solutions team is comprised of five seasoned Managing Directors, with an average of 20+ years of investing experience, as well as a large, dedicated team of investment professionals and senior advisors. The team collaborates closely with the firm’s 270+ investment professionals and 40+ value creation executives across Warburg Pincus’ global industry verticals, critical to sourcing and underwriting differentiated, attractive investments for the fund.

In addition to a long and successful track record of investing in capital solutions like transactions historically, the Warburg Pincus Capital Solutions Founders Fund portfolio consists of investments including, DriveCentric, Excelitas, Nord Security, Service Compression, and MIAX.

About Warburg Pincus

Warburg Pincus LLC is the oldest private equity firm and a leading global growth investor. The firm has more than $83 billion in assets under management. The firm’s active portfolio of more than 225 companies is highly diversified by stage, sector, and geography. Warburg Pincus is an experienced partner to management teams seeking to build durable companies with sustainable value. Since its founding in 1966, Warburg Pincus has invested more than $117 billion in over 1,000 companies globally across its private equity, real estate, and capital solutions strategies. The firm is headquartered in New York with offices in Amsterdam, Beijing, Berlin, Hong Kong, Houston, London, Luxembourg, Mumbai, Mauritius, San Francisco, São Paulo, Shanghai, and Singapore.  For more information, please visit www.warburgpincus.com. Follow us on LinkedIn.

Contact

Kerrie Cohen | Managing Director, Global Head of Communications & Marketing
kerrie.cohen@warburgpincus.com

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KKR-Mirastar Acquires Portfolio of Five Prime Logistics assets across the UK from PLP

KKR

London, 3 September 2024 – KKR and Mirastar, KKR Real Estate’s industrial and logistics platform in Europe, have completed the off-market acquisition of a prime UK logistics portfolio from PLP, totalling 890,364 square feet across five assets. The portfolio is currently 80% let, with a weighted average lease term to break of 10 years. The assets provide best-in-class specifications, including BREEAM Very Good certifications and EPC A+ ratings.

The five assets are strategically located in the North-West of England and Yorkshire. Respectively across Salford, Liverpool, Crewe, Sheffield and Smithywood, the assets are in close proximity to major population centres and all excellently located near key transport infrastructure and motorways.

Over the last eight years, the assets were developed, owned and managed by PLP and its flagship investment vehicle, the PLP UK Logistics Venture 1, which is owned by majority investor Ivanhoé Cambridge alongside The Peel Group, Macquarie Asset Management and PLP senior management.

Ekaterina Avdonina, CEO and Co-Founder at Mirastar, said: “This impressive portfolio follows our careful approach to asset selection across Europe as we look to aggregate well-specified assets in key logistics locations. The North-West and North of England have performed strongly in the recent years, and we expect this trend to continue as we enter an exciting stage of the UK real estate market cycle.”

Seb D’Avanzo, Managing Director and Head of Acquisitions for Real Estate in Europe at KKR, added: “We are delighted to expand our portfolio with this strategic acquisition, reinforcing our commitment to investing in prime logistics assets across key European markets. This addition in the UK aligns with our focus on high-quality, well-located properties that meet the evolving demands of the market. As we continue to scale our presence across Europe, we are dedicated to unlocking value through assets that combine strong fundamentals with sustainability and growth potential.”

Neil Dickinson, Chief Investment Officer at PLP, said: “PLP are pleased to announce the sale of five assets from its leading UK logistics portfolio to crystallise attractive risk-adjusted returns for our capital partners. PLP continues to leverage third party institutional capital across its flagship managed venture series and a number of separate managed accounts to acquire and develop the next generation of prime logistics assets across major UK markets. The sale of this portfolio to a high-quality counterparty such as KKR and Mirastar, demonstrates the continued institutional investor demand for our market-leading product.”

The acquisition builds on KKR-Mirastar’s series of strategic moves in European logistics across both Core+ and value-add strategies since 2023. This includes the purchase of a high-quality logistics property in Hanover, Germany, marking their first industrial acquisition in Germany under KKR’s Core+ Real Estate strategy, their acquisition of a prime logistics park in Warrington, UK, the funding of a 550k sq ft big box logistics development in Widnes, UK, and the acquisition of a last-mile logistics asset in Stockholm, Sweden, their first acquisition in the Nordics.

KKR and Mirastar were advised by DTRE. PLP were advised by CBRE.

— Ends —

About Mirastar

Mirastar is a pan-European logistics developer, investor and asset manager, founded in 2019 by Ekaterina Avdonina, Chief Executive Officer, and Anthony Butler, Chief Investment Officer. The team currently comprises over 30 senior real estate professionals and has offices in London, Amsterdam, Stockholm and Milan. The team at Mirastar have deployed over €20bn of capital across key European markets and have built and constructed in excess of 4.0m sqm of logistics assets collectively.

About KKR

KKR is a leading global investment firm that offers alternative asset management as well as capital markets and insurance solutions. KKR aims to generate attractive investment returns by following a patient and disciplined investment approach, employing world-class people, and supporting growth in its portfolio companies and communities. KKR sponsors investment funds that invest in private equity, credit and real assets and has strategic partners that manage hedge funds. KKR’s insurance subsidiaries offer retirement, life and reinsurance products under the management of Global Atlantic Financial Group. References to KKR’s investments may include the activities of its sponsored funds and insurance subsidiaries. For additional information about KKR & Co. Inc. (NYSE: KKR), please visit KKR’s website at www.kkr.com. For additional information about Global Atlantic Financial Group, please visit Global Atlantic Financial Group’s website at www.globalatlantic.com.

About PLP

PLP is a specialist developer, manager and owner of UK logistics real estate.

Established in 2015, PLP is a specialist UK logistics and industrial property business. The full service platform develops, manages and owns prime-grade UK logistics real estate with in-house management expertise across all key capabilities including acquisitions and sourcing, development, leasing and asset management. The PLP platform is owned by Ivanhoé Cambridge, Macquarie Asset Management, The Peel Group and its senior management team. Find out more: www.plproperty.com 

Media Contacts
KKR/ Mirastar
FGS Global
Alastair Elwen / Jack Shelley
KKR-Lon@FGSGlobal.com
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7251 3801

PLP
Laura Knight, Head of Marketing
Email: lknight@plproperty.com
Tel: +44 (0)20 3687 1077

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Blackstone Announces Agreement to Acquire AirTrunk in a A$24B Transaction

Blackstone

Sydney – September 4, 2024 – Funds managed by Blackstone Real Estate Partners, Blackstone Infrastructure Partners, Blackstone Tactical Opportunities, and Blackstone’s private equity strategy for individual investors, along with the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (“CPP Investments”), have entered into a definitive agreement to acquire AirTrunk, the leading Asia Pacific data center platform, from Macquarie Asset Management and the Public Sector Pension Investment Board, for an implied enterprise value of over A$24 billion1. This represents Blackstone’s largest investment in the Asia Pacific region. The transaction is subject to approval from the Australian Foreign Investment Review Board.

AirTrunk is the largest data center platform in the Asia Pacific region, with a sizeable presence in Australia, Japan, Malaysia, Hong Kong, and Singapore. It has more than 800MW of capacity committed to customers and owns land that can support over 1GW of future growth across the region.

Jon Gray, President and Chief Operating Officer of Blackstone, said: “This is Blackstone at its best – leveraging our global platform to capitalize on our highest conviction theme. AirTrunk is another vital step as Blackstone seeks to be the leading digital infrastructure investor in the world across the ecosystem, including data centers, power and related services.”

Sean Klimczak, Global Head of Blackstone Infrastructure and Nadeem Meghji, Global Co-Head of Blackstone Real Estate, said: “Digital infrastructure is experiencing unprecedented demand driven by the AI revolution as well as the broader digitization of the economy. Prior to AirTrunk, Blackstone’s portfolio consisted of US$55 billion of data centers including facilities under construction, along with over US$70 billion in prospective pipeline development. We look forward to partnering with the outstanding AirTrunk management team to further accelerate its growth.”

Robin Khuda, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of AirTrunk, said: “This transaction evidences the strength of the AirTrunk platform in a strong performing sector as we capture the next wave of growth from cloud services and AI and support the energy transition in Asia Pacific. We look forward to working with Blackstone and CPP Investments and benefitting from their scale capital, sector expertise and valuable network across the various local markets, which will help support the continued expansion of AirTrunk.”

It is expected that there will be approximately US$1 trillion of capital expenditures in the United States over the next five years to build and facilitate new data centers, with another US$1 trillion of capital expenditures outside the United States. Blackstone is capitalizing on this movement as a leading investor globally in data centers. Blackstone has invested in both the debt and equity of other data center companies, including as owner of QTS, the fastest growing data center company in the world, Coreweave and Digital Realty. Blackstone is also focused on addressing the sector’s power needs in many differentiated ways, including as an investor in power and utility companies, such as Invenergy, the largest independent renewables developer in the United States.

1 Including capital expenditure for committed projects

About Blackstone
Blackstone is the world’s largest alternative asset manager. We seek to deliver compelling returns for institutional and individual investors by strengthening the companies in which we invest. Our more than US$1 trillion in assets under management include global investment strategies focused on real estate, private equity, infrastructure, life sciences, growth equity, credit, real assets, secondaries and hedge funds. Further information is available at www.blackstone.com. Follow @blackstone on LinkedIn, X (Twitter), and Instagram.

Blackstone Media Contacts
Mariko Sanchanta
Blackstone
mariko.sanchanta@blackstone.com | +852 3656 7738

Hayley Morris
MorrisBrown Communications Pty Ltd
hayley@morris-brown.com.au | +61 407 789 018

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