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Winch invests in the Belgium company Infra Group

Andera Partners

Winch Capital 4, managed by Andera Partners, one of the leading French Private Equity firms, today announced that it has completed the acquisition of a majority stake in Infra Group, Belgium’s major multi-disciplinary network infrastructure and service provider, from Waterland Private Equity and family investors. In the context of the transaction, Infra Group’s CEO Tom Vendelmans reinvested significantly and 17 managers became shareholders for the first time.

 

Paris, 5 April 2019 –

Infra Group is the leading partner for design, installation, improvement and maintenance of distribution networks, offering full turnkey solutions and services to telecommunications, electricity, gas, heating and water operators and local authorities in Belgium. These end-markets benefit from solid growth drivers across all utility segments and, as the largest independent player in Belgium, the Group has built a solid order book for the coming years. Infra Group is a trusted partner to its customers, including most Belgian utility companies, thanks to its ability to provide quality of service and highly-qualified resources to its clients, which is key in a market where the need of replacement and extension of existing infrastructure is growing and where the scarcity of skilled employees has never been so important. Infra Group has also built specific knowhow in certain niche technologies, such as horizontal directional drilling (HDD), where the Group is market leader in Belgium and France.

 

Over the years, Infra Group has grown continuously through both organic growth and multiple strategic acquisitions (20 since 2000), has expanded in France (Northern and Paris regions) through acquisitions and has developed a presence in Germany (North Rhine-Westphalia). Infra Group employs over 1,000 individuals across Belgium, France and Germany and generated sales in excess of €160 million in 2018.

 

The new partnership between Andera Partners and Infra Group will accelerate the growth strategy, especially in France, where Andera Partners can leverage on its network to access new opportunities and can offer a deep understanding of the French utility ecosystem. In Germany, the management team and Andera Partners will consider acquisitions to consolidate the Group’s presence in the region. Today, Infra Group has already an important pipeline of potential acquisitions.

 

Andera Partners led this majority LBO, alongside the CEO Tom Vendelmans and the management. A new financing pool was set up in the context of the transaction, with the renewed confidence of ING and Belfius (already present in the previous pool) and two new banks, Deutsche Bank and Caisse d’Epargne Hauts de France, to support the development of the Group. Additionally, the banking pool set up a sizeable acquisition facility to sustain the significant expansion plan.

 

Laurent Tourtois and Antoine Le Bourgeois, Partners at Andera Partners, said: “Winch Capital is truly excited to partner with Tom Vendelmans and his team to continue and accelerate the growth of Infra Group. We have been impressed by Infra Group’s management team and our common goal is to reinforce Infra Group’s position as a leader in the Belgian market, while pursuing the change of scale of the Company through new growth opportunities in Europe, notably in France and in Germany.”

 

Tom Vendelmans, CEO at Infra Group, added: “Loyal and highly-qualified workforce and strong customer relationships are the foundation of Infra Group’s success. Over the past years we have been able to grow and diversify our customer base, as well as further strengthen our technical knowledge, both organically and through targeted acquisitions, and we are proud of the market leading position we have built. Since our first exchanges with the Winch Capital team in 2017, we have built a relationship of mutual understanding and trust. We have found in Winch Capital the ideal investor to support the next phase of our ambitious growth plans to reach €250-300 million revenue over the next few years.”

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AXA XL teams up with Contguard to launch Connected Cargo

AXA

AXA XL teams up with Contguard to launch Connected Cargo

AXA XL Risk Consulting, in partnership with Contguard, today announced the launch of “Connected Cargo”, a real-time digital cargo tracking solution designed to help French companies optimise their supply chain.

Contguard specialises in Big Data and uses Artificial Intelligence to develop applications and services for companies that need to secure their goods in transit. The company uses data from sensors placed on containers, such as geolocation, temperature and humidity fluctuations, door opening or shock.

Through this partnership, clients will benefit from 24/7 monitoring and the expertise of AXA XL’s risk engineers in order to implement prevention plans.

Maxime Ambourg, Director, Offer & Innovation at AXA Matrix*, now part of AXA XL, comments: “Connected Cargo brings together some of the best tracking and datamining technologies and the experience of our specialised risk engineers. Working with Contguard allows us to augment our consultants’ expertise and to provide more precise and impactful prevention services for the risks associated with transportation and logistics.”

AXA Venture Partners, AXA’s venture capital fund dedicated to technology, invested in Contguard in 2018.

Sébastien Loubry, Partner, Global Head of Business Development at AXA Venture Partners, explains: “We are delighted that Contguard, one of our investments, established a partnership with AXA XL. We are convinced that the technology they developed, which brings a real difference to that market, will provide a lot of value to their clients.”

Follow AXA XL on Twitter and on LinkedIn.

Axa Venture Partners

ABOUT AXA XL[1]

AXA XL1 provides insurance and risk management products and services for mid-sized companies through to large multinationals, and reinsurance solutions to insurance companies globally. We partner with those who move the world forward. To learn more, visit www.axaxl.com

 

ABOUT AXA XL[1] RISK CONSULTING

AXA XL[1] Risk Consulting delivers a comprehensive range of risk management solutions and consulting services. Our global network of professionals helps identify current and future risks, while providing practical and realistic solutions to optimize and mitigate them. We empower our clients to improve business results and protect brand value. We partner with those who move the world forward. To learn more, www.axaxl.com

 

ABOUT CONTGUARD

XXX

 

MEDIA RELATIONS:

Alexandre Rizos

alexandre.rizos@axaxl.com

+44 (0) 207 933 7624


1AXA XL is a division of AXA Group providing products and services through four business groups: AXA XL Insurance, AXA XL Reinsurance, AXA XL Art & Lifestyle and AXA XL Risk Consulting.

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SupplyStack raises €5 million to continue expansion in Europe

Fortino Capital

Antwerp, April 6th 2019 – SupplyStack announces the closing of its series A funding round of €5 million, led by Participatiemaatschappij Vlaanderen and Mainport Innovation Fund and existing investor Fortino Capital. SupplyStack delivers an easy-to-integrate and flexible visibility solution that monitors transport orders in real-time. “SupplyStack helps supply chain and customer service departments to contribute to a better customer experience and overall supply chain collaboration. With this new funding in place, we can tap into new European markets and go after our ultimate goal: turning the supply chain into a competitive differentiator and putting the end customer first”, explains Nick Poels, CEO of SupplyStack.  

Visibility and collaboration

SupplyStack announces the closing of its series A funding round of €5 million, led by Participatiemaatschappij Vlaanderen and Mainport Innovation Fund and existing investor Fortino Capital. SupplyStack launched its software in 2013 with the goal of helping B2B organisations obtain supply chains that are predictive, data-driven, deeply automated and continuously optimizing for business returns and environmental impact. The SupplyStack interface uses visibility and collaboration as a core capability to drive transport execution and automate work where possible. “It’s our mission to remove friction in the supply chain. We bring users, systems and data together to offer end-to-end, real-time transport visibility that drives outcomes”, states Nick Poels, CEO of SupplyStack.

Last year, SupplyStack was recognized as a notable vendor by Gartner in the ‘European Context for Transportation Management System’. Currently, numerous leaders in the industry, including Sony, Umicore, DHL, Duracell and Atlas Copco, are using SupplyStack to accomplish their transport management. Transportation management systems (TMS) are becoming less expensive and easier to own. Now, companies of any size can get in the game. “As we evangelise customer centricity to our customers, it’s our duty to practise what we preach. We want to provide an exceptional user experience so users don’t simply adopt SupplyStack. They have to love it because it’s effortless and intuitive.”

Supply chain as a competitive advantage

For today’s companies a competitive operation cost is key but according to SupplyStack a customer-centric supply chain is what should be the strategic business priority. As B2C experiences are influencing B2B expectations – also known as “The Amazon Effect” – the current supply chain systems are under pressure. According to Gartner, 75% of B2B organizations have immature capabilities when it comes to customer experience management. As customer retention is cheaper than acquisition, actively investing in customer satisfaction offers great value.

“In general, corporate customer experience is managed by the sales and marketing departments, in spite of the fact that the supply chain plays a key role in the customer journey. Organisations should realise that a late delivery can disrupt or disappoint and that an expedited delivery can delight or save a life. Putting the customer first will turn your supply chain into a competitive advantage”, explains Poels.

LogTech is the new FinTech

The investment is a testimony to how quickly the logistics technology sector is growing. The industry is experiencing an influx of venture capital and new companies that has never been experienced before. “Logistic technology venture capital investments have seen rapid growth for the past few years. It’s an industry that has been historically slow-moving: using spreadsheets, emails, and phone calls. This is rapidly changing now: LogTech is becoming what FinTech was 10 years ago”, states Poels.

“The last few years have been fantastic. Together with our clients, we are building the technology, growing the team and finding our unique spot,” says Poels. “We’re really motivated to give supply chain and customer service professionals true satisfaction by providing them with the tools to be successful in their everyday job. It’s time to co-create a new normal within the transportation management industry.”

Growth potential

This new round of investment will allow SupplyStack to expand further in the countries in which they are already present, not to mention tapping into new European markets.

Fortino Capital is investing in SupplyStack for the second time. “We have supported the management team over the past three years and are excited to assist them during the next phase of further scaling-up  their company. The team has the skills and focus to drive digitalisation in the logistics sector, and deliver a more efficient supply chain to its clients,” says Steven De Troyer, Investment Director at Fortino Capital.

“We strongly believe in SupplyStack, not only because their technology delivers freight cost savings for the customer, but also because SupplyStack puts customer focus and customer information at the heart of its business”, explains Isabelle Tennstedt, Senior Investment Manager atParticipatiemaatschappij Vlaanderen. “That is exactly what determines whether a company can distinguish itself from the competition in a digital age.”

SupplyStack can also count on support from the Netherlands with investments from Mainport Innovation Fund (Schiphol, KLM, the Port of Amsterdam, NS and TU Delft). “This is the first time we’re investing in a Belgian start-up. The growth that SupplyStack has been able to achieve in only a few years’ time is impressive, along with the fact that SupplyStack – instead of other established software providers – earned the trust of large organisations to support them in their logistics operations”, says Thijs Gitmans, Fund Manager at Mainport Innovation Fund.

About SupplyStack

SupplyStack delivers an easy-to-integrate and flexible visibility solution that monitors transport orders in real-time in order to facilitate collaboration, drive execution and automates work where possible. Currently, numerous leaders in the industry, including Sony, Umicore, DHL, Duracell and Atlas Copco, are using SupplyStack to accomplish their logistics and transport management. In 2018, SupplyStack was recognized as a notable vendor by Gartner in their ‘European Context for Transportation Management System’.

For more information: www.supplystack.com

About Fortino Capital

Fortino Capital invests in small and medium-sized businesses with growth potential, across Europe with a focus on Benelux. Fortino Capital believes in the potential of visionary entrepreneurs with a focus on technology, E-commerce and digital transformation. Fortino Capital brings a strengthening of capital, expertise and experience in the areas of innovation, strategy and growth.

For more information: www.fortino.be

About PMV

PMV is an investment company focussed on the economic future of Flanders. PMV finances promising companies from the very start to growth and internationalization. PMV offers tailor-made financial solutions for every entrepreneur with a solid business plan and a strong management team, by providing (venture) capital, loans or guarantees. PMV has a portfolio of about EUR 1.2 billion in assets under management.

For more information: www.pmv.eu

About Mainport Innovation Fund II

MIF II aims to accelerate innovation in logistics, transport and aviation. It was founded in 2015 by Schiphol, KLM, TU Delft, NS and Port of Amsterdam, together with NBI Investors, the fund manager. MIF II has invested in ViriCiti, Mobian, We4Sea, Synple, C Teleport and SupplyStack. Its predecessor Mainport Innovation Fund I has invested in Casper (exit), Multi Pilot Simulations (exit), Versa (previously FastTrack Company), Ampyx Power (exit), Robin Radar, MI Airline, Snocom, Eye on Air, Undagrid and Calendar42 (exit).

For more information: www.mainportinnovationfund.nl and www.nbi-investors.nl

 

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JENSEN HUGHES Acquires Security Risk Management Market Leader Hillard Heintze

Gryphon Investors

Acquisition provides clients with a holistic, integrated approach to managing risk across the spectrum from fire and life safety to emergency management and security

Baltimore, MD – April 19, 2019 —

JENSEN HUGHES, a global leader in safety, security and risk-based engineering and consulting, announced today its acquisition of Hillard Heintze, a market leader in strategic security risk management and investigation services for Fortune-ranked enterprises, professional sports leagues, and law enforcement agencies, as well as many of the world’s most affluent families.Over the last four years, Jensen Hughes, a portfolio company of Gryphon Investors, has made eight strategic acquisitions. These have been specifically focused on both expanding the company’s global presence and also strengthening its expertise in emergency management and security to better serve clients and their most complex challenges by addressing their risk from an increasingly sophisticated, integrated, and holistic perspective.

Hillard Heintze has earned accolades as an industry leader in setting new world-class service standards for customized solutions that help organizations identify and manage risk to their people, property, performance, and reputations. Since its formation in 2004, more than 85 Fortune-ranked enterprises, 575 U.S. and international brands, and 150 of the world’s most affluent families have gained insight, assurance, and confidence through its services – and are better managing their security risk.

“Our success stems from a consistent focus on providing our clients with exceptional specialty engineering and consulting services and through expanding our capabilities to meet their growing needs,” explains Paul Orzeske, CEO, JENSEN HUGHES. “In our Security practice, we have been able to provide clients the highest quality of security design engineering, however we recognized that we could help them solve their security challenges more holistically with a broader portfolio of capabilities. Hillard Heintze’s services complement our work exceptionally well, and, like ours, their team is passionate about its commitment to providing outstanding client service. Together we can improve our ability to partner with clients and help them manage their operations across an end-to-end spectrum of risk – from fire and life safety to emergency management and security. Arnette and team have built a best-in-class organization and we are honored to welcome them to the JENSEN HUGHES family.”

“This is a very exciting day for us,” says Hillard Heintze founder and CEO Arnette Heintze. “The rapid growth of our two companies, respectively, has been driven by a comparable and complementary commitment to service excellence, exceptional talent, and an internal culture of teaming and collaboration. Joining JENSEN HUGHES is the most powerful and promising way to continue to meet our vision to be trusted around the world to protect what matters. As part of JENSEN HUGHES, we strengthen our ability to scale and adapt as our clients’ needs expand to areas such as fire and life safety, emergency management, and forensics, and as their operations expand worldwide to new countries and markets – and new risks.”

Livingstone acted as exclusive financial advisor to Hillard Heintze. XMS Capital Partners advised Gryphon Investors and JENSEN HUGHES on this transaction.

Contacts

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Quest Acquires Development & Database Market Leader ApexSQL to Enhance Information Management Business Solution Offerings

Franciso Partners

  • Acquisition of ApexSQL expands Quest’s database management tools portfolio that help organizations securely manage, monitor and optimize Microsoft SQL Server environments
  • ApexSQL’s successful heritage in SQL Server productivity tools augment Quest’s commitment in helping DBAs and developers maintain optimal SQL Server performance
  • ApexSQL products allow Quest to have deeper solution conversations with prospects, customers and partners around SQL Server

ALISO VIEJO, Calif.– Quest Software, a global systems management, data protection and security software provider, today announced the acquisition of ApexSQL, a market leader in SQL Server development and database tools. The acquisition of ApexSQL strengthens the Quest Information Management business unit’s portfolio of solutions that give DBAs and developers the tools to securely automate the management, movement, and performance of SQL Server database infrastructures to increase productivity and reduce costs. In addition to SQL Server, Quest’s Information Management business unit has a broad range of database management and performance monitoring solutions that support a variety of applications and database platforms, including Oracle, MySQL, PostGreSQL, MongoDB, and others.

With companies placing increased emphasis on data to support strategic growth, businesses require proven database management tools to drive value, meet organizational needs and ensure optimal performance. ApexSQL’s database auditing, recovery, change management, development and documentation solutions will bolster Quest’s existing database tools portfolio for SQL Server environments. Additionally, it introduces new opportunities to engage with prospects, customers and partners looking for automated tools to better manage SQL Server workloads and ensure their data meets compliance requirements.

“We’re pleased to further enhance our portfolio of database operation solutions with the acquisition of ApexSQL,” said Jeff Hawn, Chairman and CEO, Quest. “We remain unwavering in our commitment to deliver products that are simple to use and address our customers’ toughest technology challenges. Today’s announcement is indicative of that commitment.”

“We’re joining Quest today at an exciting time where our joint technology stacks are helping DBAs and developers address their SQL Server challenges to make an impact on the industry,” said Brian Lockwood, Chief Executive Officer, ApexSQL. “As part of the Quest family, we will be able to maximize the potential of our SQL Server offerings to deliver the most value to customers and partners.”

ApexSQL will join the Quest Information Management business, which is dedicated to helping companies manage, monitor, and move their data and database infrastructures across traditional databases, open-source databases, both on-premise and in the cloud.

“DBAs and developers tell us they need reliable tools to manage and secure an increasingly heterogeneous database environment,” said Kathleen Owens, President and GM, Quest Information Management. “Microsoft SQL Server is a vital part of our customers’ database solution mix and adding the ApexSQL portfolio into our proven SQL Server database management solutions builds on our commitment to help customers manage their SQL Server database environment. Quest will continue to be steadfast in its commitment to develop and expand solutions across a variety of database types to ensure we deliver the solutions customers need to better manage, protect, and ensure optimal performance across multi-database environments.”

About Quest Software

Quest provides software solutions for the rapidly-changing world of enterprise IT that help simplify the challenges caused by data explosion, cloud expansion, hybrid datacenters, security threats and regulatory requirements. The company is a global provider to 130,000 companies across 100 countries, including 95% of the Fortune 500 and 90% of the Global 1000. Since 1987, Quest has built a portfolio of solutions which now includes database management, data protection, identity and access management, Microsoft platform management and unified endpoint management. With Quest, organizations spend less time on IT administration and more time on business innovation. For more information, visit www.quest.com.

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Transaction reinforces Hg’s position as Europe’s largest software investor, with Visma’s Enterprise Value now €6.5 billion

HG Capital

18 April 2019. Hg today announces that Hg Saturn and its investors have agreed to a further c.€640 million equity investment in Visma, a leading provider of business-critical software to private and public enterprises in the Nordic, Benelux and Baltic regions. The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) will also make a further investment of c.€110 million in Visma as part of this transaction.

Hg is already the majority owner of Visma, having led the original delisting of Visma from the Oslo Stock Exchange in 2006.  Hg has been the lead or co-lead investor in Visma for the last 13 years.  Cinven, who first invested in Visma in 2014, sold part of its stake to Hg and co-investors in 2017 and is now selling the entirety of its remaining shareholding in Visma as part of this transaction.  The transaction values Visma at an enterprise value of over €6.5 billion.

Hg is Europe’s largest investor in private software business and has supported Visma’s management to build a world-class company through several stages of growth and innovation since 2006.  Most importantly Visma management, backed by Hg, started to invest in cloud and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) in 2009.  This early investment has given Visma a significant competitive advantage, having transitioned, over the last decade, from a largely on-premise software provider to being Europe’s largest provider of cloud-delivered SaaS to businesses.  Today Visma has over $1billion of SaaS revenues delivered to more than 500,000 customers, with over 70% of Visma’s revenues coming from cloud-delivered SaaS products or services.

During Hg’s ownership period over the last 13 years, Visma’s world-class management team has delivered consistent revenue and profit growth of more than 20% per year, evolving from a business valued at under €450 million in 2006 into one valued at over €6.5 billion today.

Following completion of the transaction, Hg’s managed funds will own c.63% of Visma, alongside other significant co-investors including GIC, ICG, Montagu and CPPIB.

Nic Humphries, Senior Partner and Head of the Hg Saturn Fund said: “Working closely with Øystein Moan and his team over the last 13 years has been a pleasure.  Quite simply they are a world-class team, and great fun to work with.  They have built Europe’s leading SMB SaaS business. This is a testament to their technical competence and willingness to invest early and consistently for the long-term in new technologies that, in turn, bring great benefits to their nearly 1 million customers.  Hg were able to recognise the potential of SaaS well ahead of most investors because of our longevity and focus on the sector.   We are proud to have been by Øystein and Visma’s side every step of the way on this exciting journey for the last 13 years and many more in the future.”

Øystein Moan, CEO and Chairman of Visma said: “Hg is Europe’s largest and most consistent investor in software and SaaS businesses over the last 20 years, having led more software deals than any other private investor in Europe.  To have a partner with this background is a significant advantage for any management team and this experience has helped Visma on every step of our growth.  They have been, consistently, our largest investor over the last 13 years, demonstrating what long-term support really means.  I’m delighted that two world-class investors, Hg and CPPIB, have decided to invest further in the company.”

This investment re-enforces Hg’s position as Europe’s leading software investor.  Hg has led over 40 “platform” software investments and more than 200 bolt-on acquisitions, delivering industry-leading investment returns to its investors.  Successful software/SaaS investments include: Addison Software, Allocate Software, Computer Software Group, IRIS Software, P&I, RAET, Sequel, Sovos and over 30 others.

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HENDRIX GENETICS and SALMONES AYSEN partner to advance COHO SALMON GENETICS in Chile

NPM Capital

Animal genetics market leader Hendrix Genetics and salmon producer Salmones Aysen have announced the signing of a Genetic Service Agreement. With this agreement in place, Hendrix Genetics will stimulate the Coho salmon breeding and genetics program to advance product performance for the Chilean market.

Hendrix Genetics, a NPM Capital portfolio company, will direct the program and will integrate innovative technologies, such as genomic selection. In addition, Hendrix Genetics will support broodstock and egg production management and will analyze data collected from breeding and processing. The partnership will allow Salmones Aysen to tap into the expertise and resources of a global, multi-species breeding company.

This partnership is a natural complement to Hendrix Genetics’ owned Atlantic salmon breeding and egg production operations in Chile. The Atlantic salmon operations serve a growing demand for eggs based on high health status, proven commercial performance and year-round availability.

Pablo Baraona, Managing Director of Salmones Aysen said: “Having established a solid production base in Coho salmon over a number of years, we wanted to engage with the global leader in animal and aquaculture genetics to take our business to new heights. We believe that Hendrix Genetics will help us to improve our production and outputs and facilitate our growth plans for the next ten years.”

Neil Manchester, Managing Director Aquaculture of Hendrix Genetics states: “We are delighted to work with Salmones Aysen. Like Hendrix Genetics, Salmones Ayes is a family company with strong values and an entrepreneurial spirit, and we are convinced that this partnership will deliver significant results.”

About the companies
Hendrix Genetics, headquartered in the Netherlands, is a leading company in the fields of animal genetics. It has a multi-species focus, with core activities in the breeding of layers, turkeys, guinea fowl, pigs, salmon, trout and shrimp. Backed by a strong portfolio of leading brands, Hendrix Genetics provides expertise and resources to producers in more than 100 countries, with operations and joint ventures in 25 countries and nearly 3,400 employees worldwide. Hendrix Genetics is developing an increasing global presence in aquaculture breeding having been a pioneer in the development of genetic and genomic technologies since the 1990’s, with Atlantic salmon breeding and egg production operations in Scotland and Chile under the brand name Landcatch, trout breeding and egg production operations in the USA, Chile and UK under the brand name Troutlodge, and shrimp breeding operations in Hawaii, Malaysia and Ecuador under the brand name Kona Bay.

Salmones Aysen is one of the largest dedicated Coho salmon producers in Chile, with a reputation for quality production and premium branded products. It has offices in Chile (Santiago and Puerto Montt), Japan (Tokyo) and USA (Seattle). Through a team of seasoned professionals in the salmon industry, Salmones Aysen controls every stage of the productive chain, guaranteeing the highest quality standards demanded by different markets around the world.

Also read: ‘Hendrix Genetics launches new products for Chilean salmon industry’

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NPM CAPITAL acquires 35% stake in OHPEN

NPM Capital

First and long-time investor Amerborgh sells a part of its stake in Ohpen to NPM Capital that upon the transaction will have a 35% stake in Ohpen. Amerborgh wanted to sell this stake to finance ongoing and future projects, like the arts and culture centre ‘het HEM’ in Zaandam, the Netherlands. Ohpen is a fast-growing Fintech company. The Ohpen SaaS, cloud native core banking platform administers retail investment and savings accounts for banks and other financial institutions.

Rutger Ruigrok, Managing Director at NPM Capital explains: “The technology sector is an increasingly important focus point in our investment portfolio. Already, we have had Ohpen in sight as one of the most promising technology companies that we have seen in the past few years. We are impressed with their achievements over the past ten years: a cloud native core banking engine, an impressive customer base and a wonderful foundation for further growth. We are very enthusiastic about now being part of their future.”

Having the new shareholder on board means a broadening of our options to finance future growth, although Ohpen can still advance with the growth capital that we raised early 2018, says Matthijs Aler, CEO of Ohpen. “With Amerborgh and now also with NPM, we have a well-balanced long-term shareholder structure that enables Ohpen to realize all of its future growth ambitions. I am really looking forward to working with the NPM team.”

Ohpen is the world’s first cloud native core banking provider and became a market leader in the Dutch midsize banking market over the past few years. In the near future, Ohpen will extend its services to large banks and the pension market.

Michel Vrolijk, Managing Director at Amerborgh Netherlands is happy with the fact that the company decided to invest in Ohpen ten years ago. “Our expectations at the time have always been exceeded. We hope to be a partner of Ohpen’s incredible adventure for a long time to come.”

About Ohpen
Ohpen is the first SaaS core banking engine in the world that runs entirely in the cloud. Ohpen liberates its customers from their legacy systems, making them more flexible, safe, scalable and compliant. Founded in 2009 by a team of experienced bankers and software developers, the Ohpen platform administers savings and investment accounts for clients such as Aegon, Nationale-Nederlanden, Volksbank and other banks, investment institutions and insurers. The company employs over 120 people in the Netherlands and Spain.

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Servelec announces sale of Servelec Technologies to Laurel Solutions

Montagu

Servelec confirms the sale of its subsidiary Servelec Technologies, a market-leading provider of remote monitoring systems, secure SCADA systems, and business optimization software, to Laurel Solutions, a holding company which works with leading businesses to grow the smart use and development of industrial technology.

Servelec
Servelec, a leading software provider to the NHS and local government for over 20 years, will now focus on the healthcare, social care and children’s services markets. With a strategy to support the provision of Digital Care, Servelec’s software helps NHS trusts to deliver against the NHS 10 year plan for digital maturity and supports local authority social work, youth services and education practitioners in accessing the right information at the right time to deliver improved outcomes.

Neville Davis, Chairman of Servelec commented; “We are pleased to confirm the sale of Servelec Technologies. The company has a strong strategy in place to further develop the business and we wish David Frost, Managing Director of Servelec Technologies, and the team every success for the future.

“Servelec is now wholly focussed on our core public sector markets of NHS and local government. As these markets continue to integrate and share data to deliver improved care, we are working very closely with our customers to provide what they need for a joined-up future. Digital Care is at the heart of what we do; we are certain that this will enable the sectors we address to provide higher quality service in a more cost-effective manner.”

Servelec Technologies
“Servelec Technologies is a leading, global provider of connected remote monitoring and control solutions, helping clients and industries to realise their digital futures. The business is a leader in the UK and other water and wastewater markets, and a major player internationally in sectors including energy, transport and infrastructure. This investment further builds out our leading portfolio in remote asset monitoring and control.” said Martin Carter, CEO of Laurel Solutions. “We are excited to partner with Servelec Technologies’ highly talented management team, and plan significant investment in innovative products and solutions that will enhance their already outstanding offering.”

“We’re thrilled to have the backing of Laurel Solutions as we start a new chapter as a standalone business,” said David Frost, Managing Director at Servelec Technologies. “They bring not only the technical knowledge, but the business operations experience and capital resources that will be instrumental in our success and future growth.”

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Transaction reinforces Hg’s position as Europe’s largest software investor, with Visma’s Enterprise Value now €6.5 billion

HG Capital

18 April 2019. Hg today announces that Hg Saturn and its investors have agreed to a further c.€640 million equity investment in Visma, a leading provider of business-critical software to private and public enterprises in the Nordic, Benelux and Baltic regions. The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) will also make a further investment of c.€110 million in Visma as part of this transaction.

Hg is already the majority owner of Visma, having led the original delisting of Visma from the Oslo Stock Exchange in 2006.  Hg has been the lead or co-lead investor in Visma for the last 13 years.  Cinven, who first invested in Visma in 2014, sold part of its stake to Hg and co-investors in 2017 and is now selling the entirety of its remaining shareholding in Visma as part of this transaction.  The transaction values Visma at an enterprise value of over €6.5 billion.

Hg is Europe’s largest investor in private software business and has supported Visma’s management to build a world-class company through several stages of growth and innovation since 2006.  Most importantly Visma management, backed by Hg, started to invest in cloud and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) in 2009.  This early investment has given Visma a significant competitive advantage, having transitioned, over the last decade, from a largely on-premise software provider to being Europe’s largest provider of cloud-delivered SaaS to businesses.  Today Visma has over $1billion of SaaS revenues delivered to more than 500,000 customers, with over 70% of Visma’s revenues coming from cloud-delivered SaaS products or services.

During Hg’s ownership period over the last 13 years, Visma’s world-class management team has delivered consistent revenue and profit growth of more than 20% per year, evolving from a business valued at under €450 million in 2006 into one valued at over €6.5 billion today.

Following completion of the transaction, Hg’s managed funds will own c.63% of Visma, alongside other significant co-investors including GIC, ICG, Montagu and CPPIB.

Nic Humphries, Senior Partner and Head of the Hg Saturn Fund said: “Working closely with Øystein Moan and his team over the last 13 years has been a pleasure.  Quite simply they are a world-class team, and great fun to work with.  They have built Europe’s leading SMB SaaS business. This is a testament to their technical competence and willingness to invest early and consistently for the long-term in new technologies that, in turn, bring great benefits to their nearly 1 million customers.  Hg were able to recognise the potential of SaaS well ahead of most investors because of our longevity and focus on the sector.   We are proud to have been by Øystein and Visma’s side every step of the way on this exciting journey for the last 13 years and many more in the future.”

Øystein Moan, CEO and Chairman of Visma said: “Hg is Europe’s largest and most consistent investor in software and SaaS businesses over the last 20 years, having led more software deals than any other private investor in Europe.  To have a partner with this background is a significant advantage for any management team and this experience has helped Visma on every step of our growth.  They have been, consistently, our largest investor over the last 13 years, demonstrating what long-term support really means.  I’m delighted that two world-class investors, Hg and CPPIB, have decided to invest further in the company.”

This investment re-enforces Hg’s position as Europe’s leading software investor.  Hg has led over 40 “platform” software investments and more than 200 bolt-on acquisitions, delivering industry-leading investment returns to its investors.  Successful software/SaaS investments include: Addison Software, Allocate Software, Computer Software Group, IRIS Software, P&I, RAET, Sequel, Sovos and over 30 others.

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