ThoughtWorks Receives $720 Million Investment at an Enterprise Value of $4.6 Billion

Apax

14 January 2021

January 14, 2021 Chicago – ThoughtWorks, a global software consultancy today announced that GIC, Siemens AG, Fidelity Management and Research LLC, and Mubadala Investment Company have invested $720 million in the company.

Founded over 25 years ago, ThoughtWorks has grown from a small team in Chicago to a leading global software consultancy of more than 7,000+ ThoughtWorkers. Its roots are in digital transformation and agile software development and the company has been at the forefront of defining the tech principles used by some of the world’s most successful organizations.

The proceeds will be used to repurchase equity from existing investors. The new commitment of capital comes as the company continues to invest in growth and international expansion.

“This placement is a very positive indicator of how strong our company and brand are perceived in the market. It’s wonderful that GIC, Siemens, Fidelity and Mubadala see ThoughtWorks to be a strong investment and this is an endorsement of the strength and relevance of our business and people”, said Guo Xiao, president and chief executive officer, ThoughtWorks.

“Since partnering with ThoughtWorks in 2017, the company has gone from strength to strength – accelerating growth and profitability and transforming to be world class in a highly strategic global market. ThoughtWorks’ talented employees, global footprint and reputation for technical excellence make it a standout offering in the rapidly evolving digital transformation space”, said Rohan Haldea, partner at Apax. “We welcome GIC, Siemens, Fidelity and Mubadala Investment Company as additional investors to support the company’s growth strategy.”

“Siemens strongly believes in the growth potential of supporting the digitalization of businesses across all industries. We believe that ThoughtWorks is the right partner with outstanding capabilities. I am proud of our investment to jointly accelerate digital transformation,” said Cedrik Neike, managing board member of Siemens, responsible for Digital Industries and Siemens Advanta.

“As the clear market leader in digital transformation, ThoughtWorks’ long term growth prospects were key to our investment decision. The company’s unique offerings are pivotal to the digitization of many businesses which we see accelerating in 2021 and beyond,” said Tim Breen, executive director, Technology at Mubadala.

Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC and J.P. Morgan Securities LLC served as placement agents to ThoughtWorks in connection with this transaction. Kirkland & Ellis LLP acted as legal advisor to ThoughtWorks.

This press release is for informational purposes only and shall not constitute, or form a part of, an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities.

About ThoughtWorks
We are a software consultancy and community of passionate purpose-led individuals, 7000+ people strong across 46 offices in 15 countries. Over our 25+ year history, we have helped our clients solve complex business problems where technology is the differentiator. When the only constant is change, we prepare you for the unpredictable.

About Apax Partners LLP
Apax Partners is a leading global private equity advisory firm. Over its more than 40-year history, Apax Partners has raised and advised funds with aggregate commitments of approximately $50 billion. The Apax Funds invest in companies across four global sectors of Tech & Telco, Services, Healthcare and Consumer. These funds provide long-term equity financing to build and strengthen world-class companies. For more information see: www.apax.com.

About GIC
GIC is a leading global investment firm established in 1981 to manage Singapore’s foreign reserves. As a disciplined long-term value investor, GIC is uniquely positioned for investments across a wide range of asset classes, including equities, fixed income, private equity, real estate and infrastructure. Headquartered in Singapore, GIC has investments in over 40 countries and employs over 1,700 people across 10 offices in key financial cities worldwide. For more information on GIC, please visit www.gic.com.sg.

About Siemens
Siemens AG (Berlin and Munich) is a global technology powerhouse that has stood for engineering excellence, innovation, quality, reliability and internationality for more than 170 years. Active around the world, the company focuses on intelligent infrastructure for buildings and distributed energy systems and on automation and digitalization in the process and manufacturing industries. Siemens brings together the digital and physical worlds to benefit customers and society. Through Mobility, a leading supplier of intelligent mobility solutions for rail and road transport, Siemens is helping to shape the world market for passenger and freight services. Via its majority stake in the publicly listed company Siemens Healthineers, Siemens is also a world-leading supplier of medical technology and digital health services. In addition, Siemens holds a minority stake in Siemens Energy, a global leader in the transmission and generation of electrical power that has been listed on the stock exchange since September 28, 2020. In fiscal 2020, which ended on September 30, 2020, the Siemens Group generated revenue of €57.1 billion and net income of €4.2 billion. As of September 30, 2020, the company had around 293,000 employees worldwide. Further information is available on the Internet at www.siemens.com.

About Mubadala Investment Company
Mubadala Investment Company is a sovereign investor managing a global portfolio, aimed at generating sustainable financial returns for the Government of Abu Dhabi.

Mubadala’s $232 billion (AED 853 billion) portfolio spans six continents with interests in multiple sectors and asset classes. We leverage our deep sectoral expertise and long-standing partnerships to drive sustainable growth and profit, while supporting the continued diversification and global integration of the economy of the United Arab Emirates.

Headquartered in Abu Dhabi, Mubadala has offices in London, Rio de Janeiro, Moscow, New York, San Francisco and Beijing. For more information about Mubadala Investment Company, please visit: www.mubadala.com.

Contact
Reyne Quackenbush
rquacken@thoughtworks.com
M 732-261-7420

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Symphony Talent Research Finds Most Companies Still Lag in Talent Nurture and Automation Strategies

Stg Partners

NEW YORK and LONDON, JANUARY 14, 2021 Symphony Talent, a recruitment marketing technology company that helps recruiting teams automate tasks and empower interactions, just released its 2021 Recruitment Marekting Strategies Report, based on six years of research on Fortune 500 companies.

“We’ve been able to quantify the growth and investment in recruitment marketing as a necessary discipline since 2015,” said Roopesh Nair, chief executive officer at Symphony Talent. “In this volatile year, it’s clear that the most agile and successful companies were the few that had already established a solid strategy and technology foundation.”

Some of the most prominent businesses in national news due to their impact on and response to the pandemic — like CVS Health, Stryker, and Ecolab — were among the 14% of the Fortune 500 categorized as recruitment marketing pioneers (“A” grades), scoring high in categories like nurture, personalization and initiative hiring.

CVS Health — a company that hired more than 61,000 people this year, including 2,000+ displaced workers from hard-hit industries — took the number one overall spot for the second year in a row due to its leading strategies in employer branding content, talent network communication, and adoption of emerging technology like conversational engagement and candidate relationship management (CRM) automation.

“Our plans for innovation ‒ like utilizing new strategies in our CRM, upskilling the team on tools, improving the candidate experience touchpoints, flipping our recruitment funnel ‒ started long before 2020,” said Kerry Noone, director of employer branding at CVS Health. “When COVID-19 hit, our plans just accelerated, and we continued to grow throughout the pandemic, allowing us to hire pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, and nurses to administer the COVID-19 vaccine as soon as it was available.”

While A-scoring companies are slightly up over six years of research, the vast majority of the Fortune 500 still struggle to utilize technology, effectively communicate with unique talent audiences, and connect the dots across recruiting channels. A few crucial findings include:

  • Companies are trying to use ATSes and/or CRMs to more efficiently connect with talent. 76% of companies now have a talent network or job alerts, up from 57% in 2019.
  • Having a talent network doesn’t mean excelling at talent nurture. Only 54% of companies send any type of communication to people, the majority of which are unpersonalized job reqs.
  • While the use of conversational engagement has almost doubled since 2017, still only 11% of companies utilized a chatbot on their career site.

“I’m extremely excited to see more employers leveraging talent networks to connect with passive candidates in 2020; however, I’m also surprised at the lack of utilization of powerful, intuitive tools that help them communicate to and ultimately hire the right candidates,” Ben Eubanks, principal analyst at Lighthouse Research & Advisory, commented. “I expect the lessons we’ve learned in 2020 will help propel these adoption numbers higher in the coming months.”

The Symphony Talent in-house research team focused on 27 critical recruitment marketing strategies utilized by the Fortune 500 across search, career site, talent network and social media channels from August to November 2020. For the first time, Symphony Talent’s report also looks at a comparison set of companies from the Fortune 50 Fastest Growing.

Download the research report here.

About Symphony Talent

Software that works for you, and you love to work in. Symphony Talent is a recruitment marketing technology company that helps recruitment teams automate tasks for efficiency and empower smarter candidate interactions. Its SmashFlyX platform unifies CRM, career site, and programmatic advertising for the most comprehensive talent campaigning and marketing in the industry. As an employer brand and creative partner, Symphony Talent has won major awards for EVP strategy, employer brand campaigns, career site design, and more. The company supports more than 600 customers across the globe, with headquarters in New York, London, Bangalore, and Belfast. Visit symphonytalent.com to learn more, and follow us on Twitter @SymphonyTalent_ and @SymphonyT_EU.

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Ferd explores opportunities for next chapter in Elopak’s history

Ferd

Ferd and the Andresen family have been active and dedicated owners of Elopak since its foundation in 1957.

«Over the years Elopak has grown from a local hero to a global industry leader. As long term owners and supporters we are impressed with Elopak’s achievements in driving sustainable and carbon neutral packaging, with a long track record of innovation, technological differentiation and R&D efforts both in Norway and internationally», says Morten Borge, CEO of Ferd.

Elopak became carbon neutral in 2016 and reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 70 per cent between 2008 and 2018. Today, Elopak offers customers 100 per cent renewable, recyclable and carbon neutral cartons.

Despite the global pandemic, 2020 proved to be yet another solid year for Elopak, with expected revenues for the group in excess of 930 million euro and EBITDA in excess of 125 million euro (all figures including share of joint ventures). Over the last two years the group’s EBITDA has increased more than 25 percent, in line with the company’s commitment to profitable growth.

«Thanks to the great efforts of our 2,600 employees worldwide, we have succeeded in improving our topline and operational efficiency. As companies and consumers alike increasingly demand more sustainable, carbon neutral products and services, we believe our strong sustainability credentials will help us win more customers in both existing and new markets and market segments», says Thomas Körmendi, CEO of Elopak.

Ferd has now started to explore the opportunity of a potential public listing for Elopak, with Ferd remaining an active and committed shareholder. Goldman Sachs and SEB have been engaged as joint global coordinators in this endeavour.

«This process has only just started, and we will be sure to take the necessary time to consider the best possible ownership structure for Elopak’s future. By inviting more shareholders into Elopak to complement Ferd, we may enable Elopak to grow and use the strong momentum created by the management and employees to play an even bigger part in the global shift towards a low-carbon circular economy», Borge says.

Ferd owner and chairman Johan H. Andresen fully supports the initiative.

«Ferd and Elopak have a long and common history, with my father being instrumental to the foundation of Elopak. We have in other companies shown that together with other shareholders we can create significant value. This active ownership will also be key to creating and releasing further potential in Elopak. »

About Elopak

  • Elopak is a leading global supplier of carton packaging and filling equipment for liquid food, catering to both the fresh and ambient markets.
  • The company’s iconic Pure-Pak® cartons are designed with the environment, food safety and convenience front of mind.
  • Elopak was founded in Norway in 1957 by investor Johan H. Andresen Sr. and engineer Christian August Johansen and is now wholly owned by Andresen’s son and granddaughters via their investment company Ferd.
  • Today Elopak employs 2,600 people and sells in excess of 14 billion cartons every year across more than 80 countries.

This release is not an offer of securities for sale in the United States. Securities may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an exemption from registration. Any public offering of securities to be made in the United States will be made by means of a prospectus that may be obtained from the issuer or the selling security holder and that will contain detailed information about the company and management, as well as financial statements.

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Wilshire Announces New Leadership Team Members and Growth Vision at the Acquisition Close

Motive Partners

Transaction sees new leadership team members join to accelerate Wilshire’s delivery of its strategic growth objectives, capitalizing on the global digitization tailwinds to improve outcomes for investors globally

New York, January 13, 2021 – CC Capital, a private investment firm focused on investing in and operating high-quality businesses for the long term, and Motive Partners (collectively the “Investor Group”), a private equity firm focused on technology-enabled financial services companies, today announced the close of the acquisition of Wilshire Associates (“Wilshire”), a global investment technology and advisory company. At the close, Wilshire and its new investors announced their growth vision and new leadership additions to help capitalize on the market opportunity as a leading world-class data, analytics and investment solutions provider.

The leadership team at Wilshire will be augmented by a number of new executive hires, coordinated by the Investor Group to drive additional value to clients, including the new Chief Executive Officer, Mark Makepeace, Founder of FTSE International and former Chief Executive Officer of FTSE Russell, the global index provider that he grew from inception to be a leading global player. Andy Stewart, an Industry Partner at Motive Partners, joins as Chief Innovation Officer, having previously co-led BlackRock’s Alternative Investment platform. Mr. Stewart brings extensive experience building and leading investment businesses across some of the most successful asset management firms in the world. Jody Kochansky, an Industry Partner at Motive Partners, joins as Chief Technology Officer, having previously served as Head of the Aladdin Product Group at BlackRock. Aladdin is an operating system for investment professionals that powers every aspect of the investment process, and Mr Kochansky was responsible for defining and implementing the vision for the platform used globally by BlackRock and many of BlackRock’s largest clients. Nick Teunon, formerly the Chief Financial Officer of FTSE International, joins as Chief Financial Officer. Mr. Teunon has significant experience in both acquisitions and working with internationally focused growth companies. Alongside them, Jason Schwarz will continue to lead the investment and portfolio analytics activities as President and Chief Operating Officer.

The team will be focused on driving growth by providing investment solutions that deliver impact and value to existing and prospective clients, both organically and through acquisitions.
“The foundation Wilshire has built over nearly five decades provides us with a unique opportunity to deliver innovative solutions to the market, driving real benefits for our clients. I believe that this company, with its deep pool of talent, can unlock great value for those we serve,” said Mark Makepeace, Chief Executive Officer of Wilshire.

“Ahead of the retirement of our founder, Dennis Tito, we identified a set of experienced executives that we believe uniquely complement the existing talent and our growth aspirations and strategy of Wilshire. Working alongside Mark, Andy, Jody and Nick, we will have the opportunity to create long-term value as we improve outcomes for investors globally,” commented Jason Schwarz, President & COO of Wilshire.
The investment management industry’s rapid technological evolution presents opportunities for all aspects of the value chain. With its new leadership additions renowned for pioneering in the industry, Wilshire will build on its strong foundations by executing a growth strategy focused on product innovation and technology-enabled capability enhancements while maintaining its unique focus on improving investment outcomes for current and prospective clients around the globe.

“The leadership team we’ve structured is well-equipped to ensure our innovation roadmap supports the existing business, first and foremost enhancing client offerings and creating market efficiencies. Having worked with Jody at BlackRock, I have seen the impact that technology and pragmatism can have in partnership, and Wilshire is uniquely well-placed to leverage this intersection for the benefit of its clients and the industry more broadly,” said Andy Stewart, Chief Innovation Officer of Wilshire.
“Building upon Wilshire’s long-standing commitment to providing clients with deep insights and analytics, we are excited to focus on the digitization of the entire advisory and investment process. Technology will enable us to more closely partner with our clients across asset allocation, manager and product research, and portfolio construction and implementation,” said Jody Kochansky, Chief Technology Officer of Wilshire.

Effective immediately, the firm will operate under its shorter name – Wilshire – as part of a comprehensive global brand evolution, including the rollout of a new identity and digital assets through the first quarter of the year.
PJ Solomon, Broadhaven Capital Partners and UBS served as financial advisors and Kirkland & Ellis, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison and Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom served as legal advisors in connection with the transaction.

About Wilshire
Wilshire is a leading global investment technology and advisory company, dedicated to improving outcomes for investors worldwide. Founded in 1972, Wilshire advises on over $1.1 trillion in assets and manages $76 billion in assets. Specializing in innovative investment solutions, consulting services and multi-asset analytics, Wilshire serves more than 500 institutional and intermediary clients worldwide, delivering a high quality, coordinated platform of client-centric investment solutions that leverage the entire firm’s resources to the maximum benefit of our clients.
More information on Wilshire can be found at www.wilshire.com

About CC Capital
CC Capital is New York-based private investment firm focused on partnering with high-quality companies, owners and management teams to grow shareholder value for the long term. The firm was founded in 2015 by Chinh Chu, former Senior Managing Director of Blackstone where he spent 25 years in various leadership roles, and invests through the lens of long-term or perpetual ownership through various permanent capital sources. CC Capital acts as a value-added partner to the companies in which it invests and leverages its deep industry relationships with best-in-class executives and collective experience, insights, and resources to assist its management team partners in driving substantial value creation.
More information on CC Capital can be found at www.cc.capital

About Motive Partners
Motive Partners is a specialist private equity firm with offices in New York City and London, focusing on control-oriented growth equity and buyout investments in software and information services companies based in North America and Europe and serving five primary subsectors: Banking & Payments, Capital Markets, Data & Analytics, Investment Management and Insurance. Motive Partners brings differentiated expertise, connectivity and capabilities to create long-term value in financial technology companies.
More information on Motive Partners can be found at www.motivepartners.com

For more information please contact:
AMANDA LAKE, Prosek Partners on behalf of Wilshire media@wilshire.com

 

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Ivanhoé Cambridge and PAG launch a Japan Logistics Venture with $400M of Investment Capacity

Cdpq

Ivanhoé Cambridge and PAG are pleased to announce the launch of a new Japan Logistics Venture, with a capacity to deploy up to US$400M for logistics assets in Japan. The new platform will develop and acquire for longer-term hold high-quality core logistics facilities especially in urban and last mile locations.

George Agethen, Senior Vice-president Asia-Pacific at Ivanhoé Cambridge, said: “Logistics has proven to be highly resilient during this pandemic and will remain a key focus in the coming years, especially in Asia Pacific, where we are already invested in Singapore, Australia, China, India and Indonesia. We’re delighted to launch this new investment strategy in Japan and this venture will significantly accelerate our capacity to grow and diversify our portfolio in this key Asian market.”

“This Partnership continues the roll-out of our global conviction for logistics, and in that global context, these chosen target cities in Japan are attractive as they are highly urbanized, have low vacancies and there is significant room to grow in their e-commerce penetration rates”, he added.

“We have a great respect for Ivanhoé Cambridge as investors, and we are very pleased to be deepening our relationship with them,” said Jon Paul Toppino, PAG Group President and Managing Partner of PAG Real Estate. “PAG has been investing in Japan real estate since 1997, with a comprehensive knowledge of local markets and a strong track record. We expect the logistics sector in Japan to remain a durable and attractive opportunity, and we look forward to working with Ivanhoé Cambridge as they continue to grow their portfolio in the region.”

E-commerce keeps driving demand for logistics facilities and remains in an expansionary mode in Japan, where the stock of modern, high-grade logistics properties is scarce and in high demand. The venture will take advantage of these strong fundamentals and address third party logistic tenants’ increasing demand for high quality space in greater Tokyo and greater Osaka, with potential for tactical investments in greater Nagoya.The new venture will assemble and operate a diversified portfolio of logistics properties through the acquisition of both income producing and development assets.

The venture will have over US$400 million in investment capacity and has already identified a pipeline of opportunities for its investment program. It will be governed by an investment committee composed of Ivanhoé Cambridge, as majority shareholder in the venture, and PAG, which will operationally manage the venture.

This joint venture reinforces the strategic partnership between Ivanhoé Cambridge and PAG, which started with a first investment in 2017.

Ivanhoé Cambridge holds a global, diversified real estate portfolio of approximately C$64 billion AUM across 5 continents, primarily in the industrial and logistics, office, residential and retail sectors.

About Ivanhoé Cambridge

Ivanhoé Cambridge develops and invests in high-quality real estate properties, projects and companies that are shaping the urban fabric in dynamic cities around the world. It does so responsibly, with a view to generate long-term performance. Ivanhoé Cambridge is committed to creating living spaces that foster the well-being of people and communities, while reducing its environmental footprint.

Ivanhoé Cambridge invests internationally alongside strategic partners and major real estate funds that are leaders in their markets. Through subsidiaries and partnerships, the Company holds interests in more than 1,000 buildings, primarily in the industrial and logistics, office, residential and retail sectors. Ivanhoé Cambridge held C$64 billion in real estate assets as at December 31, 2019 and is a real estate subsidiary of the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (cdpq.com), one of Canada’s leading institutional fund managers. For more information: ivanhoecambridge.com.

About PAG

PAG is one of the world’s largest Asia -focused private investment firms, with experience across asset classes and market cycles. PAG’s 200 investment professionals have deep experience in their local markets, working out of nine key offices in Asia and around the world. PAG Real Estate has been an active investor in Asia since 1997, with more than $31 billion in capital invested in nearly 7,000 properties. PAG currently manages US$40 billion in capital on behalf of more than 150 leading institutional investors from Europe, North America, Asia, Australia and the Middle East. For more information please visit www.pag.com.

For more information

Ivanhoé Cambridge Public Affairs +1 866-456-3342 media@ivanhoecambridge.com

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MMI appoints healthcare industry veteran Mark Toland as CEO

Andera Partners

Toland joins Andrew Cleeland (Chairman of the Board, MMI) in developing the field of robotic-assisted microsurgery

CALCI, Italy, January 12, 2021 – Medical Microinstruments (MMI) SpA, a robotics company dedicated to improving clinical outcomes for patients undergoing microsurgery, announced today the hiring of Mark Toland as Chief Executive Officer. He brings more than 25 years of experience in the medical device industry and most recently served as President and CEO of Corindus, a vascular robotics company that Siemens Healthineers acquired for $1.1 billion in 2019. Following the CE mark of MMI’s Symani Surgical System® in 2019 and successfully completing the first human use cases in 2020, Toland will drive the company’s strategic direction from the developmental stage to broad commercialization.

“There is a tremendous need across healthcare to evolve treatment paradigms from a predominantly manual model to one that leverages robotic technology, data integration and AI to improve patient outcomes,” said Toland. “The Symani Surgical System offers an unprecedented level of precision for microsurgical procedures that has the potential to significantly impact patient outcomes in very complex procedures. I look forward to helping the company realize that potential and working with a very talented and growing team at MMI.”

The Symani Surgical System was used to successfully complete four first-in-human surgical procedures in Florence, Italy. The cases included one post-oncological reconstruction of the pharynx and three complex, post-traumatic lower limb reconstructions, demonstrating the combined benefits of tremor reduction and motion scaling (7-20x) with the system’s NanoWrist® instruments, the world’s smallest wristed surgical instrumentation. The system offers seven degrees of freedom and dexterity beyond the reach of human hands to enhance free-flap reconstructions, replantations, congenital malformations, peripheral nerve repairs and lymphatic surgery, which represent over one million combined procedures annually in the U.S. and Europe.

“Mark’s extensive experience in the medical device industry and particularly in the field of robotics will play a pivotal role in MMI’s continued growth and impact on microsurgery,” said Andrew Cleeland, the chairman of MMI’s Board of Directors. “We look forward to empowering surgeons around the world with the most advanced technology that will make highly complex procedures more reproducible and new procedures possible.”

Toland joined Corindus in 2016 and transformed the company into the industry leader in vascular robotics with the only approved system for coronary, peripheral and neurovascular indications. Under Toland’s leadership, the company built advanced capabilities in automation and telerobotics, which included the first ever remotely performed heart procedure in the world and transcontinental pre-clinical studies using 5G technology. The Siemens Healthineers acquisition of Corindus for $1.1 billion was the fifth largest medical technology acquisition of 2019. Prior to Corindus, Mark served as Senior Vice President of Boston Scientific, where he built the company’s global solutions business and led all aspects of the U.S. commercial team’s cardiovascular businesses, which represented approximately $4 billion in revenue.

Categories: People

Andera MidCap invests in Pusterla 1880

Andera Partners

As a part of a minority growth capital investment, the Andera MidCap team invests in Pusterla 1880 via the fund Winch Capital 4 to support its growth strategy in Europe.

Venegono and Paris, January 12, 2021 – The new partnership between Andera Partners, a leading player in private equity through its activity Andera MidCap, and Pusterla 1880, one of the European leaders in premium secondary packaging for luxury goods, will accelerate the growth of the group, particularly in Europe, where the management team and Andera Partners are already considering a large pipeline of potential acquisitions.

 

Under the leadership of the CEO Roberto Marini and the CFO Luca Meana (also Chairman of the Board of Directors), Pusterla 1880 has rapidly grown over the years, thanks to a combination of organic growth and strategic acquisitions (7 since 2000) and today employs more than 1,000 people in Italy, in France, in the UK, in Moldova and in Tunisia.

 

Pierre-Yves Poirier and Antoine Le Bourgeois, Partners at Andera Partners, comment: “Andera MidCap is extremely proud to partner with Roberto Marini, Luca Meana and their teams. Strongly impressed by the management of the group and its track-record, our common objective is now to strengthen its leadership position in the European market, and accelerate its growth through the pursue of new development opportunities and M&A in Europe.”

 

Roberto Marini, CEO and Luca Meana, CFO (and Chairman of the Board of Directors) of Pusterla 1880 comment: “Highly qualified employees, recognized multi-technical know-how and an industrial footprint allowing geographic proximity to our customers represent the foundations of Pusterla 1880 success and strong relationships with our customers. Over the years, we strengthened our approach to sustainability, with the launch of several solutions offering reduced environmental impact. We are proud of the position we have built, both through organic growth and targeted acquisitions in Europe. Since our first discussions with the Andera Midcap team, we have built a relationship of understanding and mutual trust and we have found in Andera Midcap the right partner to support our ambitious growth plan.”

 

The transaction was finalized on December 29, 2020. Pusterla 1880 is the 10th investment of the Winch Capital 4 fund, a fund dedicated to investments in high-growth mid-sized companies. It also represents the fund’s first investment in Italy, a market which remains very important for both Andera Partners and the Andera MidCap team.

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Zisson acquires rising marketing tech star Socialboards

Verdane Capital

Zisson today announced the expansion of its customer dialogue offering through its acquisition of Socialboards, one of the fastest-growing marketing technology companies in Norway. Socialboards gathers all customer dialogue in social media, live chat, and emails in one inbox. Together, Zisson and Socialboards will deliver improved customer center solutions to the market.

“We are pleased that Socialboards’ team and technology will be part of Zisson. We have collaborated well for a long time. We have seen how sought after their solutions are, at the same time as our customers have asked for integration with Socialboards’ technology. Together, Zisson and Socialboards cover all customer communication channels. This merger strengthens our in-house competence and will bring even better solutions to both existing and new customers”, says André Jensen, CEO of Zisson AS.

Socialboards is one of the most exciting marketing technology companies on the Norwegian market. The company grew its revenue over 45% in 2020, and has numerous large and well-known companies including DNB, REMA 1000, NorgesGruppen, Sport1, Avinor, VikingLine (SE), PostNord and Berg Hansen as customers.

Anne Kristine R. Grude, CEO of Socialboards, shares her excitement on now being a part of Zisson: “Our technology and Zisson’s solutions create a completely new, common platform for systematisation and analysis of customer inquiries in larger contact centers. Together with Zisson, we look forward to providing even more companies the right tools for good customer dialogues.”

 

The acquisition of Socialboards comes after a very active 2020 for Zisson, which has delivered socially critical solutions during the pandemic to several private companies and public institutions like Helse Nord; pandemic information telephones, and customer centers with switchboard functionality to several public institutions like NTNU, Ålesund Municipality, Oslo Municipality, and more. Zisson has also continued to grow in Sweden, following acquisitions there in 2019.

André Jensen continues: “We experienced a sharp upswing in demand for our contact center solutions in 2020. With Socialboards on the team, we aim to grow through sales to both new and existing customers in Norway, Sweden, and internationally in 2021.”

Zisson’s and Socialboards’ subscription revenues amounted to NOK70 million in 2020. Zisson is supported by Verdane, a specialist growth investor who partners with ambitious Northern European technology-enabled companies to help them grow internationally.

“The underlying digitalisation of customer communication has been further strengthened as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Zisson covers a growing need in the market, and we are delighted with both the company’s development and that Socialboards’ team and technology
will now merge with Zisson’s on its continued growth journey”, says Nils Vold, Partner at Verdane’s Oslo office.

 

About Zisson

Zisson is an innovative IT company with offices in Oslo and Stockholm, which develops and operates contact center and switchboard solutions. Zisson was established in 2007 with the ambition to simplify and improve communication between companies and end customers. Our vision is simple – to be the preferred solution for all businesses with a professional customer journey approach! www.zisson.com

 

About Socialboards

Socialboards AS was established by Anne Kristine R. Grude and Erik Platou Lundquist, who have worked together on customer service solutions since 2007. The idea around the service “Socialboards” was created in the period when the customer dialogue really changed
after the introduction of social media, and Socialboards has since then worked purposefully to build a product that makes customer service a better experience in all channels – both for the consumer, and the customer service heroes who work daily with the customer journey in
companies in and outside Norway’s borders. Current customers include some of Norway’s most celebrated customer service departments, including DNB, REMA1000, NorgesGruppen, Sport1, Avinor, Telia, and many more. www.socialboards.com

Press contact

André Jensen, CEO
Zisson
andre.jensen@zisson.com

 

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Blackstone Announces Appointment of Frank Slootman, Chairman and CEO of Snowflake, as Senior Advisor

Blackstone

NEW YORK, January 13, 2021 – Blackstone (NYSE:BX) today announced the appointment of Frank Slootman as a Senior Advisor. Mr. Slootman is currently the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Snowflake and is an entrepreneur with over 25 years of enterprise software industry experience. He will advise across Blackstone’s businesses, with a focus on Blackstone Growth (BXG). At Snowflake, which recently completed an initial public offering, and previously at ServiceNow and Data Domain, Mr. Slootman has had repeated success creating fast-growing, market-leading software businesses.

Jon Korngold, Global Head of Blackstone Growth, said: “Frank is a software industry visionary who has an incredible track record of building great teams and world-class companies. Given BXG’s focus on partnering with entrepreneurs to help transform regional champions into global industry leaders, Frank’s insights will be invaluable to us and to our portfolio companies.”

Frank Slootman added: “I’m excited to advise Blackstone. Having run a number of global software companies, I appreciate the scope of resources that Blackstone can bring to high-growth technology companies. Given this period of high growth and innovation, Blackstone is well positioned to help entrepreneurs realize their potential and execute on their visions.”

Prior to Snowflake, Mr. Slootman spent six years as CEO and President of ServiceNow, a cloud computing platform for digital workflows. At ServiceNow, he helped grow the business, advancing the company through an IPO and increasing its annual revenue to $1.4 billion. His experience also includes time as President of the Backup Recovery Systems Division at EMC and as CEO and President of Data Domain Corporation, where he led the company through its IPO process. Mr. Slootman was born in Holland and has undergraduate and graduate degrees in economics from Erasmus University Rotterdam.

BXG, Blackstone’s global growth equity platform, is focused on providing capital to companies seeking to minimize the execution risks associated with high-growth environments. BXG’s recent investments include Bumble, Oatly, and ISN.

About Blackstone
Blackstone is one of the world’s leading investment firms. We seek to create positive economic impact and long-term value for our investors, the companies we invest in, and the communities in which we work. We do this by using extraordinary people and flexible capital to help companies solve problems. Our $584 billion in assets under management include investment vehicles focused on private equity, real estate, public debt and equity, life sciences, growth equity, opportunistic, non-investment grade credit, real assets and secondary funds, all on a global basis. Further information is available at www.blackstone.com. Follow Blackstone on Twitter @Blackstone.

Contacts
Blackstone
Matt Anderson
212-390-2472
matthew.anderson@blackstone.com

Categories: People

Johan Menckel strengthens Latour’s management

Latour logo

2021-01-13 11:05

It is with great joy we can announce that Johan Menckel has accepted the offer to become Executive Vice President and Chief Investment Officer of Latour. Latour has had a strong growth for a long time. Given this, a natural next step is to adapt and strengthen the organisation to enable continued growth in combination with active ownership and delegated organisation, which is close to Latour’s heart.

Johan Menckel has a long industrial and international experience from, among others, Asia and the US, which means that he has a good match with Latour as a long-term principal owner in large and leading international industrial companies. Johan most recently comes from the position as President and CEO of Gränges, and has previously held several senior positions within the Sapa Group and also been a consultant at Accenture.

“I look forward with joy to continue developing Latour together with Johan Menckel in our group management”, says Johan Hjertonsson, CEO of Investment AB Latour.

Johan Menckel will assume the position by 1 August, 2021, at the latest.

Göteborg, 13 January, 2021

INVESTMENT AB LATOUR (PUBL)
Johan Hjertonsson, President and CEO

For further information, please contact:
Johan Hjertonsson, CEO Investment AB Latour AB, +46 702 29 77 93
Johan Menckel, incoming Chief Investment Officer, +46 733 99 34 19

Investment AB Latour is a mixed investment company consisting primarily of a wholly-owned industrial operations and an investment portfolio of listed holdings in which Latour is the principal owner or one of the principal owners. The investment portfolio consists of nine substantial holdings with a market value of about SEK 69 billion. The wholly-owned industrial operations has an annual turnover of SEK 15 billion.

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Categories: People