Ampersand Investment Opportunity: Syft Technologies

admin March 29, 2022

Syft is pleased to announce that it has reached an agreement with Ampersand Capital Partners (Ampersand) to invest $22.8m in Syft, subject to shareholder approval. Ampersand will subscribe to 17,545,000 convertible preference shares, equivalent to 19.6% of the total shares post-investment, at a price of $1.30 per share.

Ampersand is a Boston, Massachusetts, USA based private equity investor, founded in 1988 and with more than US$2billion assets under management. They specialise in the life sciences and healthcare sectors, and have deep expertise in this space.

As part of the investment, Syft will also welcome Mr David Patteson to the Board. Mr Patteson leads Ampersand’s Portfolio Acceleration team, and currently serves as Chairman of US headquartered Alliance Pharma. He has over 30 years of experience in the space in Board and CEO roles, scaling businesses built on mass spectrometry and other analytical instrumentation technologies.

Alex Fala, CEO of Syft, comments “Syft continues to build momentum in our core business. The capital from Ampersand will allow us to accelerate our progress in the semiconductor market and develop our next scalable opportunity in life sciences. Dave Patteson and Ampersand have deep expertise and networks that are directly applicable in Syft. We couldn’t think of a better partner to have on our next phase.”

Dave Patteson, Partner at Ampersand, shared “Syft has a remarkable technology and product platform, with notable traction in semiconductor and adjacent segments. Their life science market pull, applications and commercial expertise, combined with Ampersand’s investments, should allow for meaningful penetration and adoption rates. We are thrilled to partner with their executive team, board, and shareholders to help realize the full potential.”

Following this announcement shareholders will receive two invitations:

A formal notice of meeting to attend the Special Meeting to vote on the ordinary resolutions to issue capital and formally appoint Mr Patteson to the Board. And;
An update on the company strategy from CEO, Alex Fala, at 10am, Thursday 7^th Please register your interest via the following link, where you will also find further instructions on how to participate.

Operational Update

We are now in the final days of the financial year, and Syft is projecting an unaudited full year revenue of $34m, 18% growth YoY.

Mr Fala commented “We are pleased to have returned to growth mode in FY22. We have a large pipeline, including significant potential orders from our major customers. We had aimed for more of that revenue to come into the FY22 year, but that hasn’t ultimately met with our customers’ operational plans and the impacts of the Omicron variant. That’s somewhat the reality of the current concentration in our revenue, which we continue to work on in our sales activities.”

To further support the business growth, Syft has appointed Sharonn Zimmerman as Vice President of People and Capability. Sharonn will oversee every aspect of the people function as Syft develops its talent, capability and culture to enable global growth.

Sharonn brings over 30 years of experience in a myriad of HR leadership roles. In her early career, she was appointed by Ixchange/FrontRange Solutions as HR Director to support their transition from a private to Nasdaq listed company. She spent 12 years with Dimension Data / NTT, as head of the talent integration and organisational development practices, receiving a number of awards for her innovative, people-centred approach and ability to scale for growth. She joins Syft after spending just short of three-years in a strategic HR role with the Ministry of Social Development, the lead agency in the social sector.

Sharonn commented, “I’m thrilled at the opportunity of joining Syft, a homegrown success story, and returning to my business roots. Syft is a big little company, small enough to enable agility and pace, while also big in ambition and global footprint. I’m particularly energised at the prospect of working alongside a relatively new and dynamic leadership team, and supporting the company’s growth agenda.”

Sharonn will join the team based in Christchurch at the end of April.

About Syft

Syft Technologies Limited is a world leading provider of Selected Ion Flow Tube Mass Spectrometry (SIFT-MS) solutions. Revolutionizing the trace analysis world, Syft’s instruments enable the rapid, targeted and comprehensive analysis of compounds in air to a parts-per-trillion level. Syft’s technology is used in industries including semiconductor, energy, life sciences, environmental, consumer products, laboratory and research, security and air quality monitoring. Based in Christchurch, Syft trades on New Zealand’s Unlisted Securities Exchange (USX: SYF). Further information is available at syft.com.

About Ampersand Capital Partners

Founded in 1988, Ampersand is a middle market private equity firm with more than $2 billion of assets under management dedicated to growth-oriented investments in the healthcare sector. With offices in Boston and Amsterdam, Ampersand leverages its unique blend of private equity and operating experience to build value and drive superior 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. Additional information about Ampersand is available at ampersandcapital.com.

Enquiries:

Alex Fala
Chief Executive Officer
alex.fala@syft.com

Nicole Robinson
Chief Financial Officer
alex.fala@syft.com

Categories: News

Main launches international GRC software group following acquisition of Blika and audimex

admin March 28, 2022

Main Capital Partners (“Main”) today announces the roll-out of an international software group that specialises in solutions for Governance, Risk and Compliance (“GRC”) processes. This strategic development comes after the acquisition of a majority stake in Swedish Blika Solutions (“Blika”) and the immediate addition of audimex in Germany as its first add-on portfolio company. The financial details for these transactions were not disclosed.

Blika, headquartered in Stockholm, represents the first Nordic platform investment from the Main Foundation I fund, which was launched in October 2021 targeting innovative, high-growth software companies.

Main will support the Group with further strengthening its position in Europe through a combination of organic growth, focused initially on partnerships as well as a selective buy-and-build strategy.

The acquisition of audimex marks the first strategic step of strengthening Blika’s international market footing as well as further expanding its product suite with complementary GRC functionalities. Blika is well known for its SaaS platform that focuses on legal, entity and tax management activities. audimex provides extensive audit and compliance management software.

In partnership, these companies will offer a comprehensive GRC-suite to both the DACH and Nordic markets. Blika already has a large client base comprising European and global multinationals including Fortune 500 companies. audimex services over 200 customers across the globe with a strong focus on the DACH region.

Blika has developed a modular, best-of-breed SaaS system which allows companies to monitor complex legal entity structures ensuring proper governance and compliance. This platform helps enterprises to comply with complex tax, legal and transfer pricing regulations such as DAC6 and IFRIC 23.

Peter Öhling, CEO at Blika, commented:
“We are very excited to enter this next phase of growth as we look to develop our company together with support from both Main and audimex. Our best-of-breed platform is internationally scalable and brings strong benefits to companies across the DACH region. With the support of Main, we aim to accelerate our growth internationally, starting with the German market. Through the addition of complementary services offered by audimex to our platform, we can add real value for our existing and future clients.”

Dr. Stefan Berchtold, Managing Director at audimex, added:
“We are delighted to partner with Blika and Main. After 20 years growing the company, this is a big strategic step for audimex. Having strong partners on our side means we now have the capability to grow and scale much faster, especially in Northern Europe. By partnering with Blika we can support our customers with a much broader portfolio offering.”

Increasing pressure to comply with complex international regulations

The GRC software sector faces an increasing pressure from companies to comply with complex international regulations and protocols. The entity management software market is predicted to grow by at least 17% per year until 2026. In tandem, the audit management software market, which automates and simplifies the auditing process is influenced by similar regulatory market trends and is expected to expand annually by 12% through to 2027.

Wessel Ploegmakers, Partner and co-Head of Nordic activity at Main, concludes:
“New market regulations such as country-to-country reporting and DAC6 have caused an increased demand for entity management systems to centralise their data and assist corporations throughout the entire compliance and reporting process. Main therefore views this market as a great playing field for Blika to establish a true European market leadership”

Blika Solutions

Since 1989 Blika has been a leading partner in supporting the digitalization of tax and legal departments of large multinationals, providing the digital infrastructure to achieve efficiency, increase quality and automate workflows. Blika is dedicated to supporting large and medium-sized groups with solutions for collecting, sorting, storing, analyzing, and presenting tax, legal, financial, and related information in a structured and searchable way. This knowledge is built into the solutions providing Blika’s customers with a unique value. Blika is headquartered in Stockholm with additional offices in Kalmar and Oskarshamn and employs 20 FTEs.

audimex

As a supplier and developer of complex business solutions for internal audit and compliance, audimex provides its customers all services from a single source. Within the last twenty years, audimex has become a global company that has been successfully maintaining its position on the market as a developer and provider of high-quality software solutions for internal audit. At its locations in Augsburg and Langen, audimexservices customers of all sizes and across all industries worldwide. audimex’s activities range from the development of software solutions for internal audit and compliance, support of the end user, and technical support after implementation to the complete hosting of the applications. audimex employs 45 FTEs.

Main Capital Partners

Main Capital Partners is a leading software investor in the Benelux, DACH and the Nordics. Main has almost 20 years of experience in strengthening software companies and works closely together with management teams of its portfolio companies as a strategic partner, in order to realise sustainable growth and build excellent software groups. Main counts over 45 employees and has offices in The Hague, Stockholm and Düsseldorf. As of October 2021, Main has over EUR2.2 billion of assets under management. Main has invested in more than 130 software companies to date. These companies have created jobs for approximately 4,000 employees.

Categories: News

Tags: Software

A consortium of Carlyle and PAI Partners to acquire Theramex from CVC

admin March 28, 2022

London, UK, 28 March 2022 – Global investment firms PAI Partners and Carlyle (NASDAQ: CG) today announce that they have agreed to acquire Theramex, the leading global specialty pharmaceuticals company focused on women’s health, from CVC Capital Partners VI (“CVC”).

Theramex was created following the carve-out of a portfolio of women’s health pharma products in 2018, and has subsequently developed into one of the largest specialty pharma platforms dedicated to women and their health. The company provides patient-focused solutions across contraception, fertility, menopause, and osteoporosis with the aim of providing patients with products that can support them through their life journey. Under CVC Funds’ ownership, Theramex has focussed on building loyal relationships with physicians through its dedicated sales force, investing in digital capabilities and executing a successful M&A agenda to bring new products to market in the future, resulting in double digit revenue and EBITDA growth since 2018. The company now serves more than six million women in 57 countries across EMEA, APAC and South America, and employs approximately 480 people (~60% of whom are women).

With the support of Carlyle and PAI Partners, Theramex will seek to expand its diverse suite of products across existing and adjacent therapeutic areas and accelerate international expansion. The investment in Theramex builds on Carlyle’s long-term global focus on Healthcare, a sector in which the firm has invested $15 billion to date. Carlyle has significant expertise in scaling global Pharma businesses, such as iNova, Curia and PPD, and specifically in women’s health, through its investment in Millicent Pharma. Similarly, PAI will utilise its deep sector experience in healthcare to support Theramex’s growth trajectory. Healthcare is one of PAI’s four core sectors of focus, in which the firm has made ten investments, including in pharmaceutical companies, Ethypharm and Ipsen.

Robert Stewart, CEO of Theramex said: “I am delighted to have the support of both Carlyle and PAI Partners investing in the business, which will allow us to further accelerate our growth. I also want to thank CVC for being such a fantastic partner over the last years. Together, we have built one of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies dedicated solely to women’s health, improving lives and ensuring these important products are made available to all who need them.”

Sebastien Veil and Andreas Kumeth, both Partners at PAI, said: “We were attracted to Theramex given its strong heritage in women’s health and outstanding reputation for delivering effective and safe solutions that support and care for women around the world. We look forward to leveraging PAI’s extensive healthcare network and capital to support organic and inorganic growth initiatives for Theramex and partnering with the management team to support the continued expansion of the platform.”

Lubna Qunash and Philipp Meyer, both Managing Directors of the Carlyle Europe Partners advisory team, said: “We believe that Theramex’s long-standing and established position as a women’s health champion with a broad and complementary product portfolio are distinctive attributes which position the business well for continued success. This acquisition demonstrates our strategic commitment to the Healthcare sector in Europe, and together with PAI, we look forward to partnering with the Theramex management team and utilising our significant resources and global network to support their international growth ambitions.”

Cathrin Petty, a Managing Partner and Global Head of Healthcare at CVC, said: “Theramex has been at the forefront of raising awareness and delivering better therapies for women across the globe, particularly in relation to menopause, endometriosis and osteoporosis. As a team, we are very proud to have supported the fantastic Theramex leadership, from the head office through supply chain experts, through to the country leadership and our dedicated sales force – all of whom have a dedication to making a difference to women’s lives. We wish the team every success in the next chapter of growth.”

Carlyle and PAI Partners were jointly advised by Morgan Stanley, Jefferies and Greenhill & Co (M&A), and Linklaters and Allen & Overy (Legal), and PwC (Financial). CVC was advised by Rothschild & Co, HSBC (M&A) and Latham & Watkins (Legal), and EY (Financial), and IQVIA (Commercial).

The financial terms of the transaction are not being disclosed.

Categories: News

Tags: Pharmacie

CVC Fund VI agrees exit of Theramex

admin March 28, 2022

28 Mar 2022

Global investment firms PAI Partners and Carlyle (NASDAQ: CG) today announce that they have agreed to acquire Theramex, the leading global specialty pharmaceuticals company focused on women’s health, from CVC Capital Partners VI (“CVC”).

Robert Stewart, CEO of Theramex said: “I am delighted to have the support of both Carlyle and PAI Partners investing in the business, which will allow us to further accelerate our growth. I also want to thank CVC for being such a fantastic partner over the last years. Together, we have built one of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies dedicated solely to women’s health, improving lives and ensuring these important products are made available to all who need them.”

Sebastien Veil and Andreas Kumeth, both Partners at PAI, said: “We were attracted to Theramex given its strong heritage in women’s health and outstanding reputation for delivering effective and safe solutions that support and care for women around the world. We look forward to leveraging PAI’s extensive healthcare network and capital to support organic and inorganic growth initiatives for Theramex and partnering with the management team to support the continued expansion of the platform.”

Lubna Qunash and Philipp Meyer, both Managing Directors of the Carlyle Europe Partners advisory team, said: “We believe that Theramex’s long-standing and established position as a women’s health champion with a broad and complementary product portfolio are distinctive attributes which position the business well for continued success. This acquisition demonstrates our strategic commitment to the Healthcare sector in Europe, and together with PAI, we look forward to partnering with the Theramex management team and utilising our significant resources and global network to support their international growth ambitions.”

Cathrin Petty, a Managing Partner and Global Head of Healthcare at CVC, said: “Theramex has been at the forefront of raising awareness and delivering better therapies for women across the globe, particularly in relation to menopause, endometriosis and osteoporosis. As a team, we are very proud to have supported the fantastic Theramex leadership, from the head office through supply chain experts, through to the country leadership and our dedicated sales force – all of whom have a dedication to making a difference to women’s lives. We wish the team every success in the next chapter of growth.”

The financial terms of the transaction are not being disclosed.

Categories: News

Tags: healthcare

BDC exits investment in Groupe CIR

admin March 28, 2022 No Comments

BlackFin Capital Partners, leading European investor in the financial services sector with €2 billion euros in assets under management, has signed an agreement to become majority shareholder of Groupe CIR, French leader in design, structuring and distribution of savings products based on underlying city-center real estate. BlackFin will replace Bridgepoint Development Capital to support the management team led by CIR founders François Larrère and Franck Temim as they embark on a new phase of growth.

Founded in 1988, Groupe CIR has established its position as independent specialist in city-center real-estate investment. The Group provides French savers and institutional investors with products based on underlying high-quality city-center real estate through three offers: CIR for direct investment in Malraux products, land deficits and historic monuments, Urban Premium for indirect investment through housing and yield real estate investment companies, and Agarim for bare ownership investment. The Group markets more than 1250 investment packages a year through a network of over 800 banking partners and asset management advisors.

Since 2017, with Bridgepoint’s support, CIR has more than doubled in size, boosting its revenue to over €25 million while consolidating its core business and accelerating diversification, notably through integration of Agarim and partnerships signed with top-flight institutional investors.

BlackFin will become the majority shareholder in Groupe CIR and its subsidiaries, alongside its founders, François Larrère and Franck Temim and the management team. They share the same ambition to accelerate the Group’s growth with the aim of offering more high-quality products to the savers and institution investors making up its customer base. Completion of the operation is subject to regulatory approval.

Francois Larrere Chairman of Groupe CIR:

“In this press release we talk about the year – 1998 – in which CIR was created.

It is legitimate to ask questions about the reasons behind a company’s long-term success.

Why do some achieve excellence over all these years? How do they continue to thrive despite the troubled periods that inevitably arise in the natural course of events?

GROUPE CIR has become leader in its business sector by consistently fostering development, change and renewal and setting itself challenging targets.

Most important, it has forged its character through a corporate culture whose first principle defines ‘Quality’ as nothing other than customer satisfaction.

This success is built on the skills and motivation of all the partners who have collaborated with us in a spirit of shared success.

During these five years of collaboration with Bridgepoint Development Capital, CIR Groupe has enjoyed significant growth in every aspect of its business.

Today, alongside BlackFin Capital Partners, we are ready to embark on a new period of strong growth. Our relationship is established, based on agreements setting the ‘Course to Follow’ for shared prosperity.“

Franck Temim, CEO of Groupe CIR: “Capitalizing on our Group’s unique positioning in France, we are keen to participate in growth of a savings market fueled by strong demand from private and institutional investors by proposing a broad range of high-quality and environmentally sustainable investment opportunities based on underlying real-estate assets.

The arrival of a major specialist such as BlackFin Capital Partners as new shareholder gives us the enthusiasm and ambition to accelerate our growth and diversification.“

Bertrand Demesse, Partner at Bridgepoint Development Capital : “We are very proud to have had the opportunity to accompany Groupe CIR in its ambitious development over the last few years. From the beginning of our collaboration at end 2017, Groupe CIR has considerably accelerated its growth, doubling in size by strengthening its core business and accelerating its diversification. Today, more than ever, Groupe CIR has all the strengths it needs to continue growing under the leadership of a talented management team.”

Bruno Rostain, Founding Partner at BlackFin Capital Partners: “We are very enthusiastic about the idea of working with CIR’s management team to write the next page of the Group’s history. We will support its growth initiatives, particularly as concerns institutional investors, digitization and a policy of targeted acquisitions.”

Categories: News

Tags: Real estate

Bridgepoint takes majority stake in Inspired Thinking Group

admin March 28, 2022

• Team ITG has 1,000+ employees across the UK, Europe and America, with its sights set on global growth

• Clients include some of the world’s most recognisable brands such as GSK, Heineken, Jaguar Land Rover and PUMA

(London, United Kingdom – 28 March 2022) – Bridgepoint has acquired a majority stake in fast- growing Inspired Thinking Group (Team ITG) from previous shareholder Equistone Partners Europe (Equistone) for an undisclosed sum. Bridgepoint’s investment will support the existing management team to deliver the next phase of Team ITG’s development internationally, focused on U.S. growth with its cloud-based marketing technology and marketing services.

Headquartered in Birmingham, UK, with over 1,000 employees across offices in Europe and America, Team ITG is transforming the way global brands operate their marketing. Founded in 2009, the company has already become the ‘go-to’ solution for many major corporations, including some of the world’s most recognisable brands: GSK, Jaguar Land Rover, Heineken, PUMA, Currys and many more.

Team ITG is a technology-led, multichannel marketing activation business. Its disruptive marketing technology (martech) platform, CanopyCloud, is supported by its 24-hour creative production studio and award-winning client services ranging from strategy, creative and creative production, to delivery, performance marketing, TV, film and photography. This blended model of technology and services allows Team ITG to rapidly deploy bespoke solutions built around individual client needs; all aimed at delivering efficiencies and creating fast, agile marketing partnerships that produce impressive results across all channels.

Simon Ward, CEO of Team ITG, commented: “Our success has been built on revolutionising the way marketers work, liberating them from tedious administrative tasks through our integrated ecosystem of game-changing technology and world-class creative services. Designed by marketers for marketers, our martech platform is highly innovative, refreshingly intuitive, and extremely powerful. GSK, one of our many global clients, recently described our CanopyCloud platform as ‘the future and heart of their content operations.’

“We would like to thank Equistone for its fantastic support in developing our business over the past four years. And now, our relationship with Bridgepoint is another brilliant milestone in our journey as we grow globally. We have the team and the resources to deliver even more powerful results for our clients across the world while also developing a host of exciting new partnerships.”

Emma Watford, partner and co-head of Bridgepoint’s investment activities in the UK, said: “Team ITG is a successful marketing operations services business with a compelling software offering, CanopyCloud. It operates in a very large, growing and fragmented market that benefits from the increasing need for automation driven by the shift to digital and personalised marketing. We’re excited to be backing the team at a crucial time as they scale their technology offering and become increasingly global – areas where we can provide the necessary expertise to accompany them on this next stage in their journey.”

Whilst Equistone has sold its majority stake, the firm has reinvested in Team ITG through its Reinvestment Fund. This reflects Equistone’s ongoing support and confidence in the executive team, the driving force behind the next stage of Team ITG’s growth.

Paul Harper, Partner at Equistone, said: “We are proud to have partnered with Simon and the team during this exceptional phase of the company’s development, comprising strong organic and acquisitive growth. We are also delighted to be reinvesting in Team ITG as a minority shareholder and look forward to continuing to support the business’s ambitious global growth strategy.”

Bridgepoint was advised on the deal by Alantra, JEGI Clarity, Allen & Overy, EY and Bain & Company. Team ITG and Equistone were advised by GP Bullhound and Eversheds Sutherland.

Categories: News

Tags: Marketing