Baird Capital invested in Arrive (formerly “ParkWhiz”) in 2015. For the full news release about the merger, click here.
LONDON – January 7, 2021 – H.I.G. Capital, LLC (“H.I.G.”), a leading global alternative investment firm with $43 billion of equity capital under management, announced today that one of its affiliates has invested in Makios Logistics SA (Makios or the “Company”) a leading provider of integrated logistics services and a market leader in temperature-controlled warehousing in Greece.
Founded in 1927, the Company is strategically located next to the port of Thessaloniki. Makios currently owns and operates two state of the art logistics assets in Thessaloniki and also owns logistics assets and land north of Athens with significant expansion potential. As a result of its special custom status, the Company is strongly positioned to increase its share of international trade flows.
Riccardo Dallolio, Managing Director and Head of H.I.G. Europe Realty Partners, commented: “This marks our 9th Industrial & logistics real estate investment in Europe. The sector continues to be an attractive asset class for H.I.G. driven by strong investment fundamentals and secular tailwinds. More specifically, the Piraeus and Thessaloniki ports are two key logistics hubs not only at a national but also at a European level and we believe Makios is strongly positioned to capture an increasing share of trade flows”.
Stelios Theodosiou, Principal at H.I.G. Europe Realty Partners, added: “We are partnering with the Company and its management as the ideal platform to grow and execute on H.I.G.’s logistics strategy in the region. Makios already possesses state of the art facilities and systems and together with H.I.G.’s hands-on operational approach, we plan to grow it into a regional champion. This transaction is another example of our ability to source off-market deals with significant value-add potential. We look forward to supporting the Makios team through the Company’s next exciting phase of organic and inorganic growth”.
About H.I.G. Capital
H.I.G. is a leading global private equity and alternative assets investment firm with $43 billion of equity capital under management.* Based in Miami, and with offices in New York, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Atlanta in the U.S., as well as international affiliate offices in London, Hamburg, Madrid, Milan, Paris, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo and Bogotá, H.I.G. specializes in providing both debt and equity capital to small and mid-sized companies, utilizing a flexible and operationally focused/value-added approach:
Since its founding in 1993, H.I.G. has invested in and managed more than 300 companies worldwide. The firm’s current portfolio includes more than 100 companies with combined sales in excess of $30 billion. For more information, please refer to the H.I.G. website at www.higcapital.com.
* Based on total capital commitments managed by H.I.G. Capital and affiliates.
Miami, New York and Mexico City, December 29, 2020 – Searchlight Capital Partners, LP (“Searchlight”), a global private investment firm, ForgeLight LLC (“ForgeLight”), an operating and investment company focused on the media and consumer technology sectors, and Grupo Televisa, S.A.B. (“Televisa”) a leading media company in the Spanish-speaking world, today announced the completion of Searchlight and ForgeLight’s acquisition of a majority ownership interest in Univision Holdings, Inc. (“Univision”), the leading Hispanic content company in the United States. In connection with the transaction Televisa will maintain its ownership interest in Univision and will convert its warrants into common stock. Televisa will also maintain its Program License Agreement and will continue to serve as an important strategic partner to the company’s new majority owners.
Wade Davis, media industry veteran and CEO and founder of ForgeLight, also assumed the role of Univision CEO, effective as of the closing of the transaction. Led by Davis and benefitting from his extensive expertise in managing the growth and transformation of large-scale media enterprises, Univision’s new leadership team plans to use the company’s extensive platform and strong pipeline of entertainment, sports and news content to deepen its relationship with the Hispanic community, one of the most important consumer groups in the United States. Building upon its established leadership in Spanish-language media, Univision will also seek new opportunities to innovate and accelerate growth by creating new market-defining content for the next generation of Hispanic viewers, expanding its portfolio of advertising products and enhancing its digital presence.
“I am honored to be partnering with Searchlight and Televisa to begin this exciting new era for Univision,” said Mr. Davis. “Televisa’s strategic insight and global content leadership, coupled with Searchlight’s tremendous experience as a long-term media investor, will help us fully realize Univision’s potential as the leading Hispanic content company in the United States. Univision’s recognized and trusted brand, its consistent performance, and its leadership serving an important and growing consumer audience give us an unmatched opportunity to achieve even greater success.”
Davis added: “I want to thank Vince Sadusky and the entire team for their work to refocus our strategy on the company’s deep roots in the U.S. Hispanic community and for building a robust platform to support future innovation. I am proud to inherit leadership of such an incredible team, and I know that together we can create even greater value for our advertisers, distributors and investors, and, most importantly, create innovative and compelling content for our audiences.
This is a pivotal moment in Univision’s rich history, as the company plays an increasingly important role in educating audiences about key issues relevant to the Hispanic community and encouraging and elevating the dialogue on social justice and equality, while also continuing to provide entertainment when viewers need it most. I couldn’t be more excited to get started. I would also like to thank Haim Saban and all the prior owners for their stewardship of this iconic business.”
Eric Zinterhofer, Founding Partner of Searchlight Capital, added: “We are delighted to complete this transaction and look forward to partnering with Televisa, Wade and the leadership team to realize our ambitions. We are confident that Univision’s strong content and leadership in serving the dynamic U.S. Hispanic community positions the company for continued success.”
Bernardo Gomez and Alfonso de Angoitia, Co-Chief Executive Officers of Televisa, said: “We are excited to be part of this new phase of Univision. Wade’s leadership and Searchlight’s support are the catalysts that Univision needs to solidify its position as the leading Spanish-language media organization in the United States in light of the rapid changes that the industry is facing. We are looking forward to an even closer collaboration with Univision to help it implement the many transformational initiatives that Wade has set out to achieve. We would also like to thank Haim Saban for his leadership and dedication to Univision all these years.”
Recent highlights showcasing Univision’s momentum include:
As previously disclosed, under the terms of the acquisition, investors including Searchlight and ForgeLight purchased an approximately 64 percent ownership interest in Univision from an investor group including Madison Dearborn Partners, Providence Equity Partners, TPG, Thomas H. Lee Partners and Saban Capital Group. Televisa has retained its approximate 36 percent stake in Univision’s fully diluted equity capital. Televisa’s Program License Agreement with Univision will remain in effect in accordance with its terms. The agreement, which is one of Univision’s most strategic assets, provides the company exclusive access to the largest Spanish-language video library in the world.
EQT and Verdane are pleased to announce the merger of their respective portfolio companies FocusVision, majority owned by EQT Mid Market US, and Confirmit. The combined company will be led by Confirmit CEO Kyle Ferguson and supported by members of both the FocusVision and Confirmit management teams.
FocusVision offers a comprehensive suite of experience insights software solutions, including advanced survey, online interview and focus groups, and online qualitative research community solutions to get brands close enough to their customers to have a full understanding of Customer Truth™ – how they think, feel, and act.
Confirmit offers market research, customer experience and employee engagement software solutions to turn insight into stories that fuel action. Confirmit delivers the flexibility and power that customers need to understand and manage experiences, emotions, and behaviors so they are always one step ahead.
The merger will harness the scale and scope of two complementary organizations and enable the combined business to provide better solutions to its customers on a global basis. Together, EQT and Verdane will support investments in best-of-breed technology solutions, ranging from data collection to reporting and action capabilities, and accelerate innovation initiatives. Moreover, the two companies will combine their digital infrastructure and technology capabilities, which will increase efficiencies and deliver new opportunities to the benefit of both existing and new customers.
Kyle Ferguson, Chief Executive Officer, Confirmit, said: “At Confirmit, we imagine a future where every action is initiated by the right decision at the right time. No data silos. No unknowns. Just accurate, visual insights, in real time, helping to make businesses smarter. This merger will make that a reality. We will create a world class organization that brings real value to our clients and colleagues alike.”
Chris Nagy, Chief Executive Officer, FocusVision, said: “The merger of Confirmit and FocusVision is a perfect fit and heralds an exciting, new dynamic for the global insights industry. We are complementary on every level and together we will be a great company, focused on excellence in everything we do.”
Hajo Krösche, Managing Director and Investment Advisor at EQT Partners, said: “The merger of FocusVision and Confirmit will create a leading Research Technology player with a significantly stronger suite of solutions in Europe and North America. The merger creates a scalable platform to invest further into growth and technology to further improve the value add to our customers. We are excited about the opportunities this merger presents.”
Pål Malmros, Partner at Verdane, said: “This acquisition will be transformative for FocusVision and Confirmit and an exciting step toward delivering an even more comprehensive end-to-end technology solution. We are excited to support the management team in this merger as we believe this combination will allow the combined company to deliver even greater value to its customers.”
The transaction is conditioned on receipt of regulatory approvals and is expected to close in the second quarter of 2021.
EQT press contact
European media; press@eqtpartners.com, +46 8 506 55 334
US media: Stephanie Greengarten, +1 646 687 6810
Verdane press contact
Pål Malmros, Partner, pal.malmros@verdane.com, +46 70 268 65 16
About EQT
EQT is a purpose-driven global investment organization with more than EUR 75 billion in raised capital and over EUR 46 billion in assets under management across 16 active funds. EQT funds have portfolio companies in Europe, Asia-Pacific and North America with total sales of more than EUR 27 billion and approximately 159,000 employees. EQT works with portfolio companies to achieve sustainable growth, operational excellence and market leadership.
More info: www.eqtgroup.com
Follow EQT on LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram
About Verdane
Verdane is a specialist growth equity investment firm that partners with ambitious Northern European tech-enabled businesses to help them reach the next stage of international growth. Verdane pioneered portfolio acquisitions in Northern Europe in 2003 and announced a complementary fund strategy entirely dedicated to direct investments in 2018. Verdane’s eight funds have made over 120 investments into category leaders in digital consumer, energy & resource efficiency and software businesses. Based out of Berlin, Copenhagen, Helsinki, London, Oslo and Stockholm, the Verdane team is dedicated to being the preferred growth partner to tech-enabled businesses in Northern Europe.
More info: www.verdane.com
About FocusVision
Established in 1990, FocusVision offers the most comprehensive suite of experience insights software solutions – including advanced survey, online interview and focus groups, and online qualitative research community solutions to get brands close enough to their customers to have a full understanding of Customer Truth™ — how they think, feel, and act. Trusted by 18 of the Top-20 Fortune 100 companies, and all of the Top-10 Healthcare and CPG companies, FocusVision was honored for its Outstanding Innovation in Customer Experience Management with MarTech Breakthrough Awards in 2018 and 2019.
More info: www.FocusVision.com
About Confirmit
Confirmit’s solutions are built by insights professionals, for insights professionals. Market Research, customer experience and employee engagement consultants around the world rely on our solutions to turn insight into stories that fuel action. The heart of our business is the people behind our technology, and we work as a partner to deliver the flexibility and power you need to understand and manage experiences, emotions, and behaviours so you are always one step ahead.
More info: www.confirmit.com
New Funding to Drive Further Growth & Development of Nation’s No. 1 Intelligent Local News App
MOUNTAIN VIEW – News Break, The Nation’s No. 1 Intelligent Local News App, today announced it has closed a $115 million round in Series C funding led by Francisco Partners, a leading global investment firm that specializes in partnering with technology businesses. Francisco Partners will gain a seat on News Break’s Board of Directors. The investment makes News Break one of the first new unicorns of 2021.
News Break has previously raised more than $36 million from investors including IDG Capital, who have also participated in this latest round.
The investment comes as News Break is experiencing greater than three times year-over-year user growth, reaching 12 million daily active users. The new funding will allow News Break to significantly increase its investments in the local-content ecosystem — both in the United States, and for the first time, internationally — making vital local news and information more easily accessible and abundantly available to people everywhere.
Already top ranked in the News category on Google Play and in the App Store, News Break is transforming how local news and information is published and shared, bringing people together around the unique and inspiring stories they mutually experience in their own communities.
“News Break’s breakout multi-year successes in the local news space is what first brought them to our attention,” said Alan Ni, Principal at Francisco Partners. “We are inspired by their mission and extremely impressed by the work they have done to bring local-news distribution into the 21st Century through cutting-edge machine learning and media savvy. We are thrilled to be partnering with News Break’s talented leadership team as they continue to drive local news innovations while also rapidly expanding their business into adjacent local verticals beyond news.”
News Break was founded in Silicon Valley in 2015 by ex-Yahoo executive Jeff Zheng, with Yahoo co-founder Jerry Yang as Advisor. News Break launched its iOS and Android apps in 2016. In 2020, Harry Shum, former Executive Vice President of Artificial Intelligence and Research at Microsoft, joined News Break as Chairman of the Board. In 2021, News Break plans to substantially expand its leadership, business, product, and engineering teams.
“Today, more than 30 million app users across the country trust News Break to deliver their breaking neighborhood news,” said Jeff Zheng, CEO at News Break. “With this investment, we plan to significantly grow that number by broadening News Break’s mission to include everything local, delivering the information and services locals everywhere need to feel connected and empowered. We are thrilled to have Francisco Partners by our side as their expertise and financing will support us through this next phase of talent and user growth as we expand into new verticals and geographies.”
About Francisco Partners
Francisco Partners is a leading global investment firm that specializes in partnering with technology and technology-enabled businesses. Since its launch over 20 years ago, Francisco Partners has raised over $24 billion in committed capital and invested in more than 300 technology companies, making it one of the most active and longstanding investors in the technology industry. The firm invests in opportunities where its deep sectoral knowledge and operational expertise can help companies realize their full potential. For more information on Francisco Partners, please visit www.franciscopartners.com.
About News Break
News Break, The Nation’s No. 1 Intelligent Local News App, is a business name of Particle Media, Inc., a Delaware Corporation, founded in Silicon Valley in 2015 by Jeff Zheng. Yahoo co-founder Jerry Yang is Advisor. Harry Shum, former Executive Vice President of Artificial Intelligence and Research at Microsoft is Chairman of the Board. News Break’s mission is to make local information easily accessible and abundantly available, with the goal of helping people everywhere live safer, more vibrant, more truly connected lives. Its long-term vision is to be the world’s largest intelligent local information platform, connecting and empowering local users, local content creators, and local advertisers. To download News Break or to learn how to join our fast-growing team, please visit www.newsbreak.com/about.
Oakley Capital Fund II (“Fund II”) portfolio company, Daisy (“Daisy” or “the Group”), has reached an agreement to sell its stake in the Digital Wholesale Solutions (“DWS”) division to Inflexion Private Equity Partners, a U.K. based buyout and growth capital investor, with Fund II exiting its stake in DWS in full. Fund II will retain a c.10% stake in Daisy following the sale.
Fund II invested in Daisy in July 2015 following the Group’s acquisition of Phoenix IT Group to create the first converged IT and unified communications company in the UK small and medium businesses market. Oakley originally invested in the business via Oakley Capital Private Equity L.P. (“Fund I”) in 2008 and has maintained a close relationship with the founder, Matthew Riley, since the successful exit of Fund I’s investment in 2014.
Daisy is a leading provider of tailored IT, communications and cloud services to corporate customers of all sizes, and is organised into four main divisions based upon the size of the end customer: Small and Medium Businesses (customers with up to 250 employees), Digital Wholesale Solutions (customers with up to 250 employees), Daisy Corporate Services (customers with 250+ employees) and Allvotec (customers with 2000+ employees).
The sale of the DWS division to Inflexion, combined with the retained stake in Daisy, takes the gross return on investment to date to 1.6x MM for Fund II. Completion is subject to regulatory approval.
3i Group plc (“3i Group”) announces that four of its portfolio companies have recently made significant bolt-on acquisitions, expanding their geographies, capabilities and product ranges.
GartenHaus, the leading online retailer of garden homes, sheds and saunas in the DACH region in which 3i invested in September 2020, has acquired Polhus, a leading online retailer of garden houses and related products based in Sweden. Combined, GartenHaus and Polhus will be the pure-play, online market leader in both the German-speaking and Scandinavian regions.
Havea, a European leader in natural health products in which 3i invested in 2016, has acquired Laudavie, which includes Calmosine, the French specialist in children’s food supplements. Combined, Havea and Laudavie will become a leader in the babycare market in France. This is Havea’s fourth acquisition since 3i’s investment following the acquisitions of Aragan, Densmore and Pasquali Healthcare.
Cirtec, a leading global provider of outsourced medical device and components design, engineering and manufacturing in which 3i invested in 2017, has acquired NovelCath, a fast growing catheter-based delivery systems manufacturer based in Minnesota. The acquisition will enable Cirtec to further vertically expand within the core structural heart end market while increasing its existing exposure to other attractive segments including the electrophysiology, neurovascular and peripheral vascular markets. This is Cirtec’s seventh acquisition since 3i’s original investment.
Royal Sanders, a leading European private label and contract manufacturing producer of personal care products, has signed the acquisition of Royal Herkel, a private label and contract manufacturing producer of nutritional supplements, medical devices, pharmaceutical and cosmetic products based in the Netherlands. The acquisition expands Royal Sanders’ offering into vitamins, minerals and supplements, which is an attractive growth segment and a highly fragmented market. This is Royal Sanders’ second significant acquisition since 3i’s investment in 2018.
Simon Borrows, Chief Executive, 3i Group, commented: “During a challenging period, we have maintained our focus on enhancing the value of our portfolio through buy-and-build opportunities for our platform assets. These four strategic acquisitions represent significant milestones in the growth and internationalisation of GartenHaus, Havea, Cirtec Medical and Royal Sanders.”
-ends-
For further information, contact:
3i Group plc
| Silvia Santoro Investor enquiries |
Tel: +44 20 7975 3258 Email: silvia.santoro@3i.com |
| Kathryn van der Kroft Media enquiries |
Tel: +44 7721 886 304 Email: kathryn.vanderkroft@3i.com |
About 3i Group
3i is an investment company with two complementary businesses, Private Equity and Infrastructure, specialising in core investment markets in Northern Europe and North America.
3i’s Private Equity team provides investment solutions for growing companies, backing entrepreneurs and management teams of mid-market companies with an EV typically between €100m – €500m. We back international growth plans, providing access to our network and expertise to accelerate the growth of companies across the consumer, industrial, healthcare and business and technology services industries.
For further information, please visit: www.3i.com
Regulatory information
This transaction involved a recommendation of 3i Corporation, a US wholly owned subsidiary of 3i Group, and recommendations of 3i Investments plc, advised by 3i France and 3i Benelux.
SFC Fluidics Inc., developer of an Alternate Controller Enabled (ACE)
insulin delivery pod and Diabeloop, pioneer in therapeutic artificial
intelligence, are partnering to integrate the SFC ACE insulin pod into
Diabeloop’s Automated Insulin Delivery (AID) solution. The
agreement includes a full US-adaptation of the system.
A common mission: bring the next generation of diabetes management
to patients with type 1 diabetes in the United States.
Diabeloop is developing interoperable solutions, based on a proprietary self-learning algorithm,
for diabetes management. Both DBLG1 ® , their first product, and DBL-hu (for highly unstable Type 1
diabetes) have received CE-marking and will be deployed in Europe in 2021.
The technology developed by Diabeloop – an algorithm hosted in a dedicated handset – wirelessly
communicates with a continuous glucose monitoring device (CGM) and an insulin pump in an AID
(closed-loop) system. Diabeloop’s artificial intelligence analyzes glucose data, calculates the proper
dose of insulin to be administered and instructs the pump to deliver it, thus automating the treatment.
The agreement signed today covers the development of a system integrating the SFC insulin pump as
an Alternate Controller-Enabled 1 (ACE) insulin pump.
SFC’s ACE insulin delivery pod (“Panda™”) is intended for the subcutaneous delivery of insulin at set
and variable rates for the management of diabetes mellitus in persons requiring insulin. Its advanced
microfluidic pumping system (ePump®) is designed to provide accurate delivery of extremely small
doses of insulin without the resolution limits inherent in other commercially-available delivery devices.
SFC believes its technology will effectively eliminate 95% of over and under dispenses of insulin.
SFC’s proprietary Dispense Confirmation Sensor (DCS™) represents a differentiating technology that
can detect flow or no flow conditions of insulin in real-time. The DCS will quickly signal a lack of
dispense for any reason. SFC received the US Food and Drug Administration’s breakthrough device
designation for its Panda™ insulin delivery pod on November 5, 2020.
“We are encouraged that our relationship with Diabeloop continues to progress towards a meaningful
goal of a marketed artificial pancreas in the US” , commented Don Jackson, CFO of SFC .
Diabeloop and SFC Fluidics share the vision of advancing diabetes therapy for patients through
state-of-the-art technologies and a fully automated approach.
SFC Fluidics and Diabeloop continue their relationship, which started with a project initially funded by
the JDRF.
“JDRF is committed to improving the lives of people with type 1 diabetes by supporting innovations in
diabetes treatments. We are excited to see the partnership between Diabeloop and SFC Fluidics
continue to flourish and look forward to the development of a novel artificial pancreas system that can
improve the health and quality of life of people living with T1D ”, said Jonathan Rosen , Ph.D., Associate
Director of Research at JDRF.
SFC would also like to acknowledge the National Institutes of Health, including the National Institute
of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, for help in funding the development of various
aspects of the ACE pod 2 .
The new agreement includes the adaptation of Diabeloop’s algorithm and data visualization platform
YourLoops™, the integration of the SFC ACE insulin pump, as well as the application for regulatory
approval and the conduct of non-clinical and clinical trials, all following US Food and Drug
Administration regulations 3 .
“We are delighted to reinforce our collaboration with this strong partner. The conclusion of this
agreement with SFC Fluidics, Inc. is a real mutual achievement, and for Diabeloop it is an additional
opportunity to enter the US market ”, commented Marc Julien, co-CEO of Diabeloop .
About Diabeloop
Diabeloop’s mission: to relieve people living with Type 1 diabetes from dozens of therapeutic decisions and
reduce their heavy mental burden. Initially conceived from a medical research project, Diabeloop was created
in 2015 by Dr. Guillaume Charpentier, now Chief Medical Officer, and Erik Huneker who has co-managed the
company with Marc Julien since 2016. This complementary management team works with experienced
partners, CEA-Leti (a research laboratory) and CERITD (a French research team of diabetologists).
In 2018, DBLG1 ® System, Diabeloop’s first medical device for automated diabetes management, obtained CE
marking, followed by DBL-hu, its solution for highly unstable Type 1 diabetes management in 2020.
A second round of financing of 31 million euros concluded in November 2019 to speed up the international
commercial rollout of the DBLG1 ® iController and support an ambitious R&D program.
Today, Diabeloop gathers the personality, the passion and the skills of close to 100 talented individuals who
work hard to improve the quality of life for every person living with Type 1 diabetes.
About SFC Fluidics, Inc.
SFC Fluidics, Inc. has a mission to advance healthcare and improve quality of life through our enabling
microfluidic technologies. The company’s vision is to become a recognized global leader in drug delivery, with
a focus on insulin, where our unique product lines improve lifestyle and affordability. SFC Fluidics ® is a VIC
