Perforce Software Receives Strategic Investment From Francisco Partners To Accelerate Growth

Franciso Partners

With Backing from Leading Investors Clearlake Capital and Francisco Partners, Perforce DevOps Platform Poised to Continue Winning Enterprise Customers

Minneapolis, MN, San Francisco, CA, and Santa Monica, CA – Perforce Software, Inc. (“Perforce” or the “Company”), a market leading provider of enterprise scale software solutions to technology developers and development operations (“DevOps”) teams requiring productivity, visibility, and scale during all phases of the development lifecycle, today announced it has closed on the significant new equity investment from Francisco Partners, a global technology-focused private equity fund. The firm joins Clearlake Capital Group, L.P. (“Clearlake”), which initially invested in Perforce in late 2017. The Company will continue to be led by the Chief Executive Officer, Mark Ties, and the current management team, who invested alongside Clearlake and Francisco Partners in the transaction.

Clearlake and Francisco Partners both possess deep infrastructure software experience and will leverage their collective knowledge and resources to help expand Perforce’s market share and continue to drive its growth strategy.

Perforce has built a broad portfolio of products within DevOps spanning the entire software development lifecycle. The Company has expanded its offering from version control software to agile management, application management and components, code management and collaboration, and automated testing. As a leader in the DevOps industry, Perforce provides a suite of solutions that balance the security, compliance, and control needs of leading enterprises while providing developers the freedom to innovate at global scale.

“With this investment from Francisco Partners, Perforce has gained additional resources to continue our proven buy-and-build strategy and further support our strong relationships with our customers,” said Mark Ties, Perforce CEO. “We are excited to continue to expand to new geographies and product adjacencies, becoming the vendor of choice for large, global enterprises looking to scale efficiently and effectively. Perforce is positioned to continue to gain market share as it continues to provide best-in-class solutions to its enterprise customers.”

Brian Decker, Partner at Francisco Partners, said, “We are very impressed with Perforce’s track record of accretive acquisitions and successful integrations, simultaneously entering new product adjacencies while continuously improving its go to market strategy to win new customers. The Company has grown significantly over the past few years and has established itself as a leader in innovation, functionality, and scalability for DevOps.” Evan Daar, Principal at Francisco Partners, added, “As companies across all end markets increasingly transition to incorporate DevOps best practices, Perforce is well positioned to serve customer needs across the development lifecycle.”

Prashant Mehrotra, Partner, and Paul Huber, Vice President at Clearlake, commented, “Since our investment, we have collaborated with Mark and his team to implement our O.P.S.® framework to invest and sustainably grow the business. The team has further demonstrated their ability to accelerate organic and inorganic growth, and we are confident that with the combined support from Clearlake and Francisco Partners, Perforce will reach new heights. We are excited to partner with Francisco Partners as Perforce embarks on this next stage of growth.”

About Perforce

Perforce is a leading provider of enterprise scale software solutions to technology developers and development operations (“DevOps”) teams requiring productivity, visibility and scale during all phases of the development lifecycle. Enterprises across the globe rely on its agile planning and ALM tools, automated mobile and web testing, developer collaboration, static code analysis, version control and repository management solutions as the foundation for successful DevOps at scale. Perforce is trusted by the world’s most innovative brands, including NVIDIA, Pixar, Scania, Ubisoft, and VMware. For more information, please visit www.perforce.com.

About Francisco Partners

Francisco Partners is an investment firm that specializes in technology and technology-enabled businesses. Since its launch over 19 years ago, Francisco Partners has raised over $14 billion in committed capital and invested in more than 200 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, please visit www.franciscopartners.com.

About Clearlake

Clearlake Capital Group, L.P. is a leading private investment firm founded in 2006. With a sector-focused approach, the firm seeks to partner with world-class management teams by providing patient, long-term capital to dynamic businesses that can benefit from Clearlake’s operational improvement approach, O.P.S.®. The firm’s core target sectors are software and technology-enabled services; industrials and energy; and consumer. Clearlake currently has over $10 billion of assets under management and its senior investment principals have led or co-led over 100 investments. More information is available at www.clearlake.com.

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EQT Real Estate acquires 21-asset urban logistics portfolio in Sweden

eqt

  • EQT Real Estate acquires a 21-asset portfolio of urban logistics properties in Stockholm and surrounding university cities in an off-market process
  • The 85,000 sqm portfolio is well diversified and offers value creation potential through lease re-gears, light CAPEX and energy optimization programs
  • This investment will be EQT Real Estate’s 12th to date and fourth in Sweden

EQT Real Estate continues to invest in the dynamic urban logistics sector via the proprietary acquisition of 21 properties with a lettable area of 85,000 sqm. The seller is Kvalitena AB (publ), which will retain a minority stake, will continue to asset manage the properties and will look to grow the portfolio together with EQT.

The properties are located in established industrial zones close to the city centers of Stockholm and six university cities in central Sweden with attractive demographic and economic growth prospects. The Fund’s target is to continue acquiring assets with the same potential of rent reversion and conversion to modern, flexible space.

Henrik Orrbeck, Managing Director at EQT Partners and Investment Advisor to EQT Real Estate, says: “The portfolio very well accentuates the focus of EQT Real Estate – buying and building real estate portfolios around selective investment themes and transforming them to high-quality platforms offering long-term risk-adjusted returns to institutional investors. EQT has a detailed plan for each property and looks forward to launching these initiatives together with Kvalitena”.

Robert Rackind, Partner and Head of Real Estate at EQT Partners, Investment Advisor to EQT Real Estate, continues: “This off-market transaction represents a rare opportunity to build a platform around the supply-constraint urban logistics sector with an experienced partner. The acquisition is in line with EQT Real Estate’s strategy to future-proof cities by providing flexible warehouse space to expansive e-commerce, distribution and exportation-driven industrial firms.”

The transaction closed on 5 July 2019.

EQT Real Estate was advised on the acquisition by Linklaters, Wigge & Partners, ÅF Consulting, Svalner and Amblin.

Contact
Henrik Orrbeck, Managing Director at EQT Partners, Investment Advisor to EQT Real Estate, +46 8 506 553 27
Robert Rackind, Partner and Head of Real Estate at EQT Partners, Investment Advisor to EQT Real Estate, +44 207 430 5550
EQT Press Office, press@eqtpartners.com, +46 8 506 55 334

About EQT
EQT is a leading investment firm with more than EUR 61 billion in raised capital across 29 funds and around EUR 40 billion in assets under management. EQT funds have portfolio companies in Europe, Asia and the US with total sales of more than EUR 21 billion and approximately 127,000 employees. EQT works with portfolio companies to achieve sustainable growth, operational excellence and market leadership.

More info: www.eqtpartners.com

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Cinven to invest in Jaggaer

Cinven

Investment in leading global procurement software business

International private equity firm, Cinven, today announces that it has agreed to a significant investment in Jaggaer, a global provider of procurement software for large and medium-sized enterprises. Alongside Cinven, Accel-KKR will maintain an interest in Jaggaer.

Headquartered in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, Jaggaer provides cloud-based Source-to-Pay eProcurement solutions for spend management, which enables a fluid supply chain for its customers, driven by powerful spend analytics, vendor sourcing, contract lifecycle management, savings tracking, and efficient accounts payable systems on a single platform.  Jaggaer’s international office network spans the Americas, APAC and EMEA and serves more than 2,000 customers across a broad range of sectors. Through its network of c. 4 million suppliers across 70 countries globally, Jaggaer supports some of the largest commercial, manufacturing and life sciences companies in the world to manage billions of dollars of annual spend. Blue-chip customers include McDonald’s, DHL, Merck, Rolls-Royce and SABMiller, as well as leading academic and public sector institutions.

Building on its successful investment in Visma, a Software as a Service (‘SaaS’) provider, Cinven’s Technology, Media and Telecom (‘TMT’) Sector team worked closely with its US Regional team to identify Jaggaer as an attractive investment opportunity, given:

  • the strong underlying structural growth trends in the global procurement software market, driven by increased adoption of spend management software tools;
  • the quality and breadth of Jaggaer’s proprietary SaaS Source-to-Pay software platform, JAGGAER ONE, which delivers market-leading capabilities in both upstream and downstream spend management across direct and indirect spend;
  • Jaggaer’s best-in-class reputation with its customers, evidenced by its market-leading customer retention rates;
  • Jaggaer’s strong track record of growth, both organically and through buy and build, with a number of businesses successfully acquired and integrated in recent years; and
  • Jaggaer’s excellent leadership team, led by CEO Robert Bonavito, with decades of experience in enterprise software.

Chris Good, Partner at Cinven and Co-Head of Cinven’s TMT Sector team, said:

“Cinven is excited to have the opportunity to invest behind the outstanding Jaggaer team. As a growing and profitable spend management software business with a very strong track record, and following a number of successful acquisitions, the business is poised for continued significant growth.

“Cinven intends to support Jaggaer management’s ambitions to drive growth through investment in R&D; building on market-leading products, such as the recently launched JAGGAER ONE platform; as well as making further acquisitions in the future.”

Michael Korzinstone, Senior Principal at Cinven, added:

“Cinven’s investment in Jaggaer shows how effectively our Sector and Regional teams work together to identify successful target businesses in growth subsectors. We developed our investment thesis following a subsector review of the global Supply Chain Management software industry, which identified Jaggaer as a highly attractive and market-leading business.

“Given the positive underlying return on investment that Jaggaer’s customers are able to generate, we are confident that corporations will continue to find value in partnering with Jaggaer to manage their procurement spend and identify cost savings across their businesses.”

Robert Bonavito, CEO of Jaggaer, commented:

“Spend management software provides granular, actionable data at all levels, which not only enables accurate profit assessment, but also helps with forecasting.  We are seeing increased demand from businesses looking to manage their procurement spend more effectively. We have also been successful in developing our products to better serve our customers, such as using Artificial Intelligence, machine learning and even predictive order management technology.

“We are delighted to be partnering with the Cinven team, who have impressed us with their knowledge of the market and ability to work with companies like ours to expand geographically as well as invest in R&D and product development to drive growth.”

Cinven’s investment in Jaggaer builds on its strong track record in TMT, following its successful realisations of Visma, a leading business solutions provider, in May 2019; Ufinet Group, a provider of fibre infrastructure and transmission services to telecom operators, in July 2018; and HEG, a provider of hosting and domain services, in April 2017.

Alongside these realisations, Cinven has continued to actively invest in the sector, most recently acquiring RTB House, a global digital advertising technology provider, and One.com, a leading European web hosting provider.

This transaction represents Cinven’s third investment in the US, a region where the firm is focused on the TMT and Healthcare sectors.  Cinven successfully realised its investment in US-headquartered Medpace, a global contract research organisation (‘CRO’), in August 2018.

The transaction is subject to customary regulatory and anti-trust approvals.
Advisors to Cinven on the transaction included: UBS Securities LLC, Latham & Watkins LLP and Deloitte LLP.
Advisors to Accel-KKR included: Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC, Stifel and Kirkland & Ellis LLP.  Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC and UBS Securities LLC are also providing committed financing for the transaction.

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Ardian infrastructure acquires stake in Hill Top Energy Center

Ardian

Ardian Infrastructure joins funds managed by Ares Management Corporation and Menora Mivtachim Insurance in financing 620 MW natural gas-fired power plant project

New York, July 8, 2019: Ardian, a world-leading private investment house, today announces they have agreed to purchase 41.9% of the Hill Top Energy Center in Green County, PA from funds managed by the Infrastructure and Power Strategy of Ares Management Corporation (NYSE: ARES). Menora Mivtachim Insurance is the third partner in the deal.

When construction is complete in mid-2021, the 620-megawatt natural gas-fired Hill Top Energy Center (“Hill Top”), will sell capacity and energy to the Pennsylvania-Jersey-Maryland (PJM) regional transmission organization, the largest competitive power market in the United States. PJM serves all or parts of Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia.

“We are excited to make an investment in this state of the art project,“ said Ardian Infrastructure US co-head Mark Voccola about the combined-cycle plant project. “We are thrilled to be working with an experienced management team alongside experienced investors, Ares and Menora Mivtachim Insurance, on this transaction, which will bring efficient, low-cost, natural-gas fired power to a vital energy market.”

“We are pleased to have Ardian join the Hill Top partnership, which represents the latest example of Ares’ value-added approach to clean, efficient energy infrastructure development,” said Andrew Schroeder, Partner within the Infrastructure and Power Strategy of Ares Management.

Kiewit Power Constructors will serve as the engineering, construction and procurement contractor on the project. Gas turbines, steam turbines and heat recovery generators will be provided by GE Power. Hill Top Energy Center is expected to come online for electricity production in 2021.

“The Hill Top investment continues our approach of identifying and investing in essential U.S. infrastructure assets that serve both our investors and the community at large,” continued Mr. Voccola. “This state-of-the-art plant will replace aging, inefficient energy generation, and will provide long-term, cleaner-burning, low-cost energy.”

ABOUT ARES MANAGEMENT

Ares Management Corporation is a publicly traded, leading global alternative asset manager with approximately $137 billion of assets under management as of March 31, 2019 and 19 offices in the United States, Europe, Asia and Australia. Since its inception in 1997, Ares has adhered to a disciplined investment philosophy that focuses on delivering strong risk-adjusted investment returns throughout market cycles. Ares believes each of its three distinct but complementary investment groups in Credit, Private Equity and Real Estate is a market leader based on assets under management and investment performance. Ares was built upon the fundamental principle that each group benefits from being part of the greater whole. For more information, visit
The Ares Infrastructure and Power strategy has a 31-year track record of investing in assets and companies in the power generation, transmission and midstream energy sectors. Ares Infrastructure and Power has deep domain expertise based on approximately $8 billion of capital deployed across more than 140 transactions. These investments include roughly 40 GW of capacity, 1,000 miles of pipelines and 20,000 MMBtu/day of renewable natural gas. The group creates value and enhances returns by providing flexible capital solutions and investing across the asset life cycle, including development, construction and operations. During the last 15 years, Ares Infrastructure and Power funds have invested in nearly 10,000 megawatts of greenfield generation and transmission projects, as well as over 200 miles of greenfield pipeline projects, representing over $12 billion of capital costs.

ABOUT ARDIAN

Ardian is a world-leading private investment house with assets of US$90bn managed or advised in Europe, the Americas and Asia. The company is majority-owned by its employees. It keeps entrepreneurship at its heart and focuses on delivering excellent investment performance to its global investor base. Through its commitment to shared outcomes for all stakeholders, Ardian’s activities fuel individual, corporate and economic growth around the world. Holding close its core values of excellence, loyalty and entrepreneurship, Ardian maintains a truly global network, with more than 610 employees working from fifteen offices across Europe (Frankfurt, Jersey, London, Luxembourg, Madrid, Milan, Paris and Zurich), the Americas (New York, San Francisco and Santiago) and Asia (Beijing, Singapore, Tokyo and Seoul). It manages funds on behalf of around 880 clients through five pillars of investment expertise: Funds of Funds, Direct Funds, Infrastructure, Real Estate and Private Debt.

Ardian on Twitter @Ardian

PRESS CONTACTS

ARDIAN US
The Neibart Group
Charlie Mathon
cmathon@neibartgroup.com
Tel +1 718 801 8824
Cell +1 508 614 0667
ARES MANAGEMENT CORPORATION
Media:
Mendel Communications
Bill Mendel
bill@mendelcommunications.com
Tel +1 212-397-1030

Investors:
Carl Drake
cdrake@aresmgmt.com
Tel +1 800-340-6597

Priscila Roney
proney@aresmgmt.com
Tel +1 212-808-1185

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Herkules sells Puzzel to Marlin Equity Partners

Hercules Capital

Herkules Private Equity Fund III (“HPEF III” or “Herkules”) is pleased to announce the sale of Puzzel AS (“Puzzel”). On 12 April 2019, HPEF III entered into an agreement to sell Puzzel, a leading European provider of cloud-based contact center software solutions, to Marlin Equity Partners
During the Herkules ownership, Puzzel was transformed into a SaaS business. Significant investments were made into the software platform. Today, the company has a comprehensive multi-channel CCaaS solution that is both scalable and flexible, and designed to support contact centers of all sizes. The company combines its omni-channel technology with artificial intelligence capabilities to provide comprehensive, end-to-end customer interaction solutions in an age of digitization.

As part of the Herkules value creation plan, Sales & Marketing was strengthened and Puzzel has experienced strong software growth across Europe that has been fueled by feedback and advocacy from market-leading customers. In 2018, Puzzel was recognized as a Challenger in the Gartner Magic Quadrant report for Contact Center as a Service in Western Europe for the fourth consecutive year given its strong growth, functional capabilities, strengths in standards and compliance, customer service and support.

Puzzel is headquartered in Oslo, Norway, with offices in six European markets including the U.K and the company serves more than 900 customers across 40 countries.

“Puzzel’s leading position in the market, knowledgeable employees and pioneering technology platform positions them well to continue to successfully scale their business,” says Gert Munthe, Partner at Herkules Capital

The exit process was advised by Carnegie Investment Bank, Wiersholm, PwC, and BCG. It was strong interest from both Industrial buyers and financial sponsors.

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HPEF III has entered into an agreement to sell Norsk Jernbanedrift

Hercules Capital

HPEF III has entered into an agreement to sell Norsk Jernbanedrift Holding AS (“NJD”) to Baneservice AS (“Baneservice”). The agreement was signed on 5 July 2019, with closing expected to take place in September 2019.
NJD is a leading provider of engineering, construction and machine services, as well as equipment and products to the railway infrastructure in Norway.

NJD has experienced strong development over the past years, with strong growth in revenues and profitability. The order backlog is currently at all-time high levels, and the company expects to reach revenues of more than NOK 650m in 2019.

As part of the value creation plan, two add-ons were completed during the ownership.

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Acceptance period for KKR’s voluntary public tender offer for Axel Springer SE commences

KKR

  • Offer document published after BaFin approval
  • Acceptance period runs from 5 July 2019 to 2 August 2019
  • Offer price of EUR 63 per share in cash, representing a premium of 40 percent to Axel Springer’s unaffected share price
  • Offer subject to regulatory approvals and a minimum acceptance of 20 percent of Axel Springer’s share capital

5 July 2019 – Traviata II S.à r.l., a holding company owned by funds advised by KKR, today published the offer document for its voluntary public tender offer for the shares (ISIN: DE0005501357, DE0005754238) of Axel Springer SE (“Axel Springer”) following the permission by the German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (“BaFin”) to publish the offer document.

Beginning today Axel Springer shareholders can accept the offer and tender their shares at a price of EUR 63 per share, which represents a premium of 40 percent to the closing price of EUR 45.10 per share on 29 May 2019, i.e. the last close prior to the ad hoc announcement from Axel Springer confirming negotiations with KKR about a potential strategic investment. The relevant details as to how the offer can be accepted are set out in the offer document. To tender their shares, shareholders should contact their respective custodian bank.

The acceptance period will end at midnight (CET) on 2 August 2019 (shareholders should inquire with their custodian banks for any relevant deadlines set by custodian banks which may require actions prior to this date). Consummation of the tender offer is subject to various customary conditions, including the receipt of regulatory approvals such as merger control, foreign investment control and media concentration, and a minimum offer acceptance of 20 percent of Axel Springer’s share capital.

As announced on 12 June 2019, KKR’s offer is intended to enable a strategic investment in Axel Springer to support the company’s strategy in a partnership with Friede Springer and Mathias Döpfner. Both have committed to form a consortium with KKR to jointly develop Axel Springer further and strengthen its position in a rapidly changing and challenging market environment. The formation of the consortium is subject to the successful closing of the voluntary public tender offer.

KKR and the existing shareholders’ companies of Friede Springer and Mathias Döpfner have also entered into an investor agreement with Axel Springer. This agreement sets out, subject to their review of the offer document, that the Executive Board and Supervisory Board of Axel Springer support the offer and intend to recommend Axel Springer shareholders to accept it.

If the offer is successful KKR intends to propose to the other consortium members and to the Executive Board of Axel Springer to initiate a delisting of Axel Springer. In addition, KKR does not intend further post-transaction restructuring measures (e.g. conclusion of a domination and profit transfer agreement, squeeze-out or fundamental changes of the capital structure).

The offer document and a non-binding English translation are now available at
www.traviata-angebot.de/en. Copies of these documents can also be obtained free of charge at UniCredit Bank AG, MFM1EG, Arabellastraße 14, 81925 Munich, Germany (orders per fax: +49 89 378-44081; orders by email: tender-offer@unicreditgroup.de).

###

KKR media contact Germany

Raphael Eisenmann

Hering Schuppener Consulting

Phone: +49 69 92 18 74-86

Mobile: +49 160 90 61 11 07

Email: reisenmann@heringschuppener.com

 

KKR media contact international

Alastair Elwen

Finsbury

Phone: +44 207 251 3801

Mobile: +44 7557 549 325

Email: alastair.elwen@finsbury.com

Stephanie Lichtenberg

Hering Schuppener Consulting

Phone: +49 69 92 18 74-24

Mobile: +49 171 86 29 942

Email: slichtenberg@heringschuppener.com

 

 

Axel Springer SE media contact

Edda Fels

Axel Springer SE

Phone: +49 30 2591 77600

Email: edda.fels@axelspringer.de

 

About KKR

KKR is a leading global investment firm that manages multiple alternative asset classes, including private equity, energy, infrastructure, real estate and credit, with strategic partners that manage hedge funds. KKR aims to generate attractive investment returns for its fund investors by following a patient and disciplined investment approach, employing world-class people, and driving growth and value creation with KKR portfolio companies. KKR invests its own capital alongside the capital it manages for fund investors and provides financing solutions and investment opportunities through its capital markets business. References to KKR’s investments may include the activities of its sponsored funds. For additional information about KKR & Co. Inc. (NYSE: KKR), please visit KKR’s website at www.kkr.com and on Twitter @KKR_Co.

About Axel Springer

Axel Springer is a media and technology company and active in more than 40 countries. By providing information across its diverse media brands (among others BILD, WELT, BUSINESS INSIDER, POLITICO Europe) and classifieds portals (StepStone Group and AVIV Group) Axel Springer SE empowers people to make free decisions for their lives. Today, the transformation from a traditional print media company to Europe’s leading digital publisher has been successfully accomplished. The next goal has been identified: Axel Springer wants to become global market leader in digital content and digital classifieds through accelerated growth. The company is headquartered in Berlin and employs more than 16,300 people worldwide. In the fiscal year 2018, Axel Springer generated 71 percent of revenues with its digital activities which also contributed 84 percent to earnings (adj. EBITDA).

Disclaimer and forward looking statements

This announcement is neither an offer to purchase nor a solicitation of an offer to sell shares in Axel Springer SE. The terms and conditions of the public tender offer, as well as further provisions concerning the public tender offer are published in the offer document, the publication of which has been approved by the German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (Bundesanstalt für Finanzdienstleistungsaufsicht – BaFin) to. Investors and holders of shares in Axel Springer SE are strongly advised to read the offer document and all other documents regarding the public tender offer when they become available, as they will contain important information.

The public tender offer has been published exclusively under the laws of the Federal Republic of Germany and certain applicable provisions of U.S. takeover laws. The public tender offer documentation as well as further documents regarding the public tender offer are available at www.traviata-angebot.de. Any contract concluded on the basis of the public tender offer will be exclusively governed by the laws of the Federal Republic of Germany and is to be interpreted in accordance with such laws.

To the extent permissible under applicable law or regulation, and in accordance with German market practice, Traviata II S.à r.l., its affiliates or its brokers may purchase, or conclude agreements to purchase, shares in Axel Springer SE, directly or indirectly, outside of the scope of the public tender offer, before, during or after the period in which the offer remains open for acceptance. This applies to other securities which are directly convertible into, exchangeable for, or exercisable for shares in Axel Springer SE. These purchases may be completed via the stock exchange at market prices or outside the stock exchange at negotiated conditions. If such purchases or arrangements to purchase are made they will be made outside the United States and will comply with applicable law, including the US Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Any information on such purchases will be disclosed as required by law or regulation in Germany or any other relevant jurisdiction and on http://www.traviata-angebot.de.

This announcement may contain certain forward-looking statements and forecasts which relate to events and depend on circumstances that will occur in the future. The terms “intend”, “can”, “may”, “will”, “would” or, in each case, their negative, or other variations or comparable terminology are used to identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are subject to many risks, uncertainties and other variable circumstances which may cause the statements to be inaccurate or materially differ from the actual result, and readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such statements. The forward-looking statements included in this announcement are made only as of the date hereof. We retain the right to revise any such statement and do not undertake, and specifically decline, any obligation to update any such statements or to publicly announce the results of any revisions to any of such statements to reflect future events or developments.

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Ardian arranges unitranche financing for 21 Invest France’s acquisition of controlling stake in Landanger

Ardian

Paris, July 5th 2019 – Ardian, a world leading private investment house, today announces the arrangement of a unitranche financing facility to support 21 Invest France’s partnership with Landanger, the French leader in the manufacturing and distribution of reusable surgical instruments and maintenance services. The unitranche package will also include a committed acquisition facility to finance future build-ups.
Founded in 1947 in Chaumont, Landanger has become a leading player in France with an international presence in nearly 60 countries. Through the reputable Landanger and Delacroix-Chevalier brands, the family-run company has developed a strong expertise in the design and distribution of surgical instruments for open and minimally invasive surgeries, especially in cardiovascular and thoracic applications. It has also maintained its historic expertise in the manufacturing of complex ancillaries for orthopedic implants through its Maire-Didier brand.
Thanks to a wide range of innovative products (7,500 SKUs), a strong commitment to quality of service, and a well-established presence in France, the Landanger Group works with 85% of French public and private hospitals and clinics, with which it has formed deep and long-standing relationships.
With state-of-the-art technical expertise and a recognized quality of service, Landanger has a strong position in France but also internationally, with foreign sales representing roughly 30% of its turnover. This is driven by the rising number of surgical operations and the growing need for specialty instruments in increasingly complex procedures.
21 Invest France will help Landanger strengthen its leading position in France by expanding its offer through improved innovation capacity (recent launch of a new Ear, Nose and Throat range), and to accelerate its internationalization. Targeted build-ups, facilitated by the unitranche facility provided by Ardian, are intended to further support the growth plan, bringing synergies both in terms of products and geographic coverage.
Grégory Pernot, Director in the Private Debt team of Ardian highlighted: “As an agile and flexible financing product, the unitranche immediately resonated with Landanger and 21 Invest’s ambition for its strategic growth plan, both in France and internationally.”
Benoit Landanger, CEO, commented: “The Landanger Group has historically been driven by a dynamic innovation strategy, and I am happy to partner up with 21 Invest France and benefit from the support of Ardian’s financing in order to bring the company to its next expansion phase.”
François Barbier, Managing Partner & CEO and Antoine Vigneron, Partner at 21 Invest France, commented: “Landanger has showcased its technical know-how and long-standing expertise in surgical instruments since its inception over 70 years ago. We look forward to embarking on the next stage of growth alongside the CEO. We firmly believe Landanger will become an international leader in surgical instruments, supported by Ardian’s unitranche financing, which will grant us flexibility and speed of execution to strategically enhance the company’s footprint.”
Guillaume Chinardet, Head of Private Debt France and Managing Director at Ardian, concluded: “We have been very impressed by the company’s achievements in this space, and are delighted and proud to be a key partner of Landanger going forward. Landanger stands for the 119th transaction since the creation of Ardian’s Private Debt activity, reflecting the longstanding track-record of the team since 2005.”

ABOUT ARDIAN

Ardian is a world-leading private investment house with assets of US$90bn managed or advised in Europe, the Americas and Asia. The company is majority-owned by its employees. It keeps entrepreneurship at its heart and focuses on delivering excellent investment performance to its global investor base.
Through its commitment to shared outcomes for all stakeholders, Ardian’s activities fuel individual, corporate and economic growth around the world.
Holding close its core values of excellence, loyalty and entrepreneurship, Ardian maintains a truly global network, with more than 610 employees working from fifteen offices across Europe (Frankfurt, Jersey, London, Luxembourg, Madrid, Milan, Paris and Zurich), the Americas (New York, San Francisco and Santiago) and Asia (Beijing, Singapore, Tokyo and Seoul). It manages funds on behalf of around 880 clients through five pillars of investment expertise: Fund of Funds, Direct Funds, Infrastructure, Real Estate and Private Debt.

ABOUT 21 INVEST

21 Invest supports resilient mid-market companies based in France, Italy and Poland through local Funds and accompanies them in a new stage of development. 21 Invest positions itself as an active shareholder alongside management teams, providing a strategic vision for companies, enabling them to accelerate their growth, improve their operational efficiency and achieve ambitious long-term projects. Over the past 27 years, 21 Invest has completed more than 105 investments and raised more than € 2 billion from European and global institutional investors.

LIST OF PARTIES INVOLVED

Landanger: Benoit Landanger
21 Invest: François Barbier, Antoine Vigneron, Dorothée Chatain
Ardian Private Debt: Guillaume Chinardet, Grégory Pernot, Clément Chidiac
Financing Legal Advisor (Ardian): Willkie Farr & Gallagher – Paul Lombard, Igor Kukhta, Ghita Lorabi

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Nordic Capital to sell Ellos Group, a Nordic e-commerce leader in fashion and home furnishings, to fashion group FNG

Nordic Capital

July 04 2019
Nordic Capital to sell Ellos Group, a Nordic e-commerce leader in fashion and home furnishings, to fashion group FNG ImageNordic Capital has signed an agreement to sell Ellos Group to FNG NV (“FNG”) for an enterprise value of approximately SEK 2,400 million (EUR 229 million). During Nordic Capital’s ownership, Ellos Group has become an e-commerce leader in fashion and home furnishings in the Nordic region, with the strong brands Ellos, Jotex, Stayhard and Homeroom. The new owner FNG is a fast-growing Benelux-based fashion group that will support Ellos Group’s further European expansion and growth. Nordic Capital will become a significant minority shareholder in FNG following completion of the transaction.

“Together with Nordic Capital, we have made significant investments in recent years to strengthen Ellos Group, focusing on the development of the home furnishings offering at Ellos, Jotex and our new online store Homeroom. We now have an excellent platform to drive further growth as a leading Nordic e-commerce platform with a unique customer offering in fashion and home furnishings. European expansion is a natural next step for Ellos Group, and can be accelerated with FNG as our new owner. With its extensive experience in the European fashion industry, FNG can provide new insights and strategic support in the next stages of our development journey”, says Hans Ohlsson, CEO of Ellos Group.

Ellos Group has been owned by Nordic Capital since 2013 and, during the ownership period, has focused on solidifying its position as a market leader in the Nordics and improving its strong digital position. Homeroom is now well established and the Group has streamlined its operations and focus on core business. Operations have been strengthened on all levels to support the ideal customer experience and to manage the rapid growth of the Company. Completed investments include the implementation of a new e-commerce system and the construction of a new warehouse and logistics centre. The Group’s commercial and operational developments have been combined with an increased focus on sustainability as an essential part of the long-term value creation and the identity of Ellos Group. Today, Ellos Group has approximately 1.7 million active customers throughout the Nordic region, and sells its own range of products on other platforms in Europe.

“Nordic Capital invested in Ellos Group with the explicit goal of developing and modernising one of Sweden’s best-known brands. Since then, Ellos Group has reinforced its digital and commercial capabilities to drive strong growth, supported by Nordic Capital’s expertise in e-commerce, branding and consumer credit. Nordic Capital sees joining forces with FNG as a natural next step for Ellos Group and looks forward to participating in the continued value creation journey as a significant minority shareholder in FNG”, says David Samuelson, Principal at the Adviser to the Nordic Capital Funds.

FNG, listed on Euronext Brussels and Euronext Amsterdam has a long history of successful acquisition-led growth. FNG was founded in 2003 and has grown from one brand in children’s fashion to a leading Benelux retailer-brand portfolio with over 3,000 employees and total sales of approximately EUR 500 million. FNG has deep experience in leveraging synergies within areas such as shared supply channels and data-based customer analyses. It has a successful opti-channel sales strategy and is ideally positioned to support Ellos Group’s continued growth as a leading fashion and home e-retailer.

“Ellos Group is a true leader in the Nordic market, boasting an attractive mix of fashion and home interior products, with strong positioning of its own brands. Together with its well-developed financial services platform, it makes Ellos Group an ideal addition to FNG, and we are very excited to take this major transformational next step for our company”, commented Dieter Penninckx, founding CEO of FNG.

Following the change in ownership, Ellos Group will be able to offer Nordic customers FNG brands through its own e-commerce platforms, while Ellos Group’s own range of fashion and home furnishings will be available to new customer groups in Europe via FNG’s existing e-commerce platforms and physical stores.

The combined entity will have a geographically diversified business, an even stronger market position, an attractive product mix in fashion and home interior, and a balanced mix between own and external brands. With pro forma revenues of EUR 759 million in 2018, the combined entity will be a leading player in the European fashion and home interior retail landscape.

Paul Frankenius, through Frankenius Equity AB, will remain a minority owner in the combined company (alongside Nordic Capital).

The transaction is subject to customary regulatory approvals, including SFSA ownership assessment approval. Completion of the transaction is expected in September or October 2019.

ABG Sundal Collier acted as the sole financial advisor to Nordic Capital in the transaction and Cederquist acted as lead counsel.

 

Press contacts:

Nordic Capital
Katarina Janerud, Communications Manager
Adviser to Nordic Capitals Funds
Ph: +46 8 440 50 50
email: katarina.janerud@nordiccapital.com

 

Ellos Group
Hans Ohlson, CEO
Ph: +46 733 74 70 50
For media inquiry: malin.lundin@jklgroup.com

 

About Ellos Group

Ellos Group – with online stores Ellos, Jotex, Stayhard and Homeroom – is the Nordic region’s leading e-commerce group. Working closely with its millions of customers, Ellos Group constantly strives to develop and offer attractive fashion and home furnishings for the entire family. The Ellos Group focus is always on the customer. Ellos Group, headquartered in Borås and with operations in all Nordic countries, has around 500 employees and annual sales of approximately SEK 2.6 billion (EUR 247 million). Ellos Group’s principal owners are Nordic Capital and Paul Frankenius (with co-investor Frankenius Equity AB). www.ellosgroup.com

 

About Nordic Capital

Nordic Capital is a leading private equity investor with a resolute commitment to creating stronger, sustainable businesses through operational improvement and transformative growth. Nordic Capital focuses on selected regions and sectors where it has deep experience and a proven track record. Core sectors are Healthcare, Technology & Payments, Financial Services and in addition, Industrial Goods & Services and Consumer. Key investment regions are the Nordics, Northern Europe and globally for Healthcare. Since inception in 1989, Nordic Capital has invested EUR 14 billion in over 100 investments. The most recent fund is Nordic Capital Fund IX with EUR 4.3 billion in committed capital, principally provided by international institutional investors such as pension funds. The Nordic Capital Funds and vehicles are based in Jersey. They are advised by several advisory entities, which are based in Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Germany, the UK and the US, any or all of which is referred to as the Advisor to the Nordic Capital Funds. For further information about Nordic Capital, please visit www.nordiccapital.com

 

About FNG

FNG is a fast-growing group of companies active throughout Europe. FNG designs and distributes clothing and footwear for women, children and men through its own concept stores at the best locations in Belgium and the Netherlands, as well as through a network of several brand stores in Benelux and elsewhere. FNG, listed on Euronext Brussels and Euronext Amsterdam, has more than 3,000 employees and aggregate sales of around EUR 500 million. www.fng.eu

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Allianz Real Estate and Gaw Capital joint venture to acquire Singapore’s marquee commercial real estate development DUO Tower and DUO Galleria

Gaw Capital

Singapore / Munich, July 30, 2019   – Allianz Real Estate, acting on behalf of several Allianz companies, and Gaw Capital, representing a sovereign wealth fund separate account, have signed a sale and purchase agreement to acquire DUO Tower and DUO Galleria (“DUO”), a premium grade-A office asset with ancillary retail in Singapore for approximately SGD 1.6 billion. Allianz will own a 60% interest and the remaining 40% will be owned by Gaw Capital. The asset will be jointly managed by Allianz Real Estate and Gaw Capital.
Designed by internationally acclaimed German architect Ole Scheeren, DUO has redefined Singapore’s skyline with its distinctive hexagonal plated towers. The asset was completed in 2017 and was awarded the Green Mark Platinum Award, the highest accolade from Building and Construction Authority of Singapore. Located above the Bugis MRT Interchange station, DUO offers excellent connectivity to the CBD, Marina Bay and other metropolitan areas.
The commercial asset comprises 557,972 square feet of international premium grade-A office space with floor plates ranging between 26,000 and 31,000 square feet as well as 59,873 square feet of retail space. The asset is stabilized with a current occupancy of 97%.
“Singapore is an established 24/7 city and has one of the most institutionalized commercial real estate markets in the world given its position as a key headquarter location for corporations in Asia. M+S has done an impressive job of delivering DUO as a marquee, mixed-used development providing an unparalleled live-work-play environment and is poised to establish itself as one of Singapore’s key business hubs. It will be an excellent addition to our global 24/7 cities office portfolio,” said Rushabh Desai, Asia-Pacific CEO of Allianz Real Estate. “Gaw Capital is one of our trusted partners in the region. We are excited about expanding our collaboration from value-add to core investments.”
The acquisition of DUO builds upon a number of recent deals in Singapore by Allianz Real Estate, including the investment in Ocean Financial Centre and 77 Robinson Road.
“We are delighted to be partnering with Allianz Real Estate to acquire this iconic asset. The acquisition of DUO deepens our strong partnership with Allianz Real Estate and we look forward to working together to add strategic value to the property.” said Ms. Christina Gaw, Managing Principal and Head of Capital Markets at Gaw Capital Partners.
Allen & Gledhill, Rajah & Tann, KPMG, and Arcadis acted as advisors to the joint venture.

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