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The Carlyle Group Agrees to Sell graze, the Healthy Snacks Company, to Unilever

Carlyle

Carlyle supported graze’s international expansion

London – Global investment firm The Carlyle Group (NASDAQ: CG) today announced it has agreed to sell graze, the UK’s largest healthy snack brand, to Unilever.  Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. 

Carlyle acquired graze in November 2012 through Carlyle Europe Technology Partners II (CETP II).  During Carlyle’s ownership, graze experienced strong growth in its delivery service, as well as expansion into retail stores in the UK and US, with products being stocked in Sainsbury’s, Boots, Costco and Target.

Founded in 2008, graze’s purpose is to put excitement into healthy snacking, providing a range of snacking nuts, seeds, trail mixes and snack bars, with no artificial ingredients. Having started with a snack box delivery service, graze is now a multichannel brand, with products available via retail stores, ecommerce and direct to consumer. 

Fernando Chueca, Managing Director on the CETP advisory team said: “It has been a delight to support graze with its international expansion, and development into the largest multi-channel brand in the healthy snacking sector.  We wish graze and Unilever continued success.”

Anthony Fletcher, graze CEO said: “This deal marks a transformational moment in graze’s growth journey. graze believes that learning from Unilever’s sustainable living plan will become a key driver for the business.”

“graze has an incredibly exciting future ahead as part of Unilever and we look forward to working closely with the team to keep on inventing new healthy snacks, as well as continuing to work to understand the role technology can play in improving the food industry. We thank Carlyle for all the support it has lent to graze on our journey.”

Nitin Paranjpe, President of Unilever’s Food & Refreshment business said: “graze is the number one healthy snacking brand in the UK – delivering consumers fabulously tasty snacking options, delivered in beautiful packaging. A truly multichannel brand, graze offers personalisation, convenience and great nutrition, brilliantly meeting the needs of millennial consumers.”

“Accelerating our presence in healthy foods and out of home this is an excellent strategic fit for the Unilever Food & Refreshment business, and a wonderful addition to our stable of purpose driven brands.  We look forward to working with the graze team to grow the business, leveraging their tech and ecommerce expertise for our wider portfolio, and offering more consumers the opportunity to snack in a healthier way.”

* * * * *

About The Carlyle Group

The Carlyle Group (NASDAQ: CG) is a global investment firm with $212 billion of assets under management across 339 investment vehicles as of September 30, 2018. Carlyle’s purpose is to invest wisely and create value on behalf of its investors, many of whom are public pensions. Carlyle invests across four segments – Corporate Private Equity, Real Assets, Global Credit and Investment Solutions – in Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, the Middle East, North America and South America. Carlyle has expertise in various industries, including: aerospace, defense & government services, consumer & retail, energy, financial services, healthcare, industrial, real estate, technology & business services, telecommunications & media and transportation. The Carlyle Group employs more than 1,625 people in 31 offices across six continents.

Web: www.carlyle.com 
Videos: www.youtube.com/onecarlyle  
Tweets: www.twitter.com/onecarlyle   
Podcasts: www.carlyle.com/about-carlyle/market-commentary

About graze

graze, the UK’s largest healthy snacking brand, has been helping consumers reimagine how snacking can fuel their busy lives over the last ten years.

With an innovative tech-led multichannel model operating direct-to-consumers, online and via retail, the business has access to unique data enabling it to pioneer innovation, as well as maintaining relationships with its most loyal customers.

Graze is present in over 30,000 top retailers across the UK, as well as national US retailers such as Target, Walgreens and 7Eleven.

About Unilever

Unilever is one of the world’s leading suppliers of Beauty & Personal Care, Home Care, and Foods & Refreshment products with sales in over 190 countries and reaching 2.5 billion consumers a day. It has 161,000 employees and generated sales of €53.7 billion in 2017. Over half (57%) of the company’s footprint is in developing and emerging markets. Unilever has more than 400 brands found in homes all over the world, including Persil, Dove, Knorr, Domestos, Hellmann’s, Lipton, Wall’s, PG Tips, Ben & Jerry’s, Magnum and Lynx.

Unilever’s Sustainable Living Plan (USLP) underpins the company’s strategy and commits to:

  • Helping more than a billion people take action to improve their health and well-being by 2020.
  • Halving the environmental impact of our products by 2030.
  • Enhancing the livelihoods of millions of people by 2020.

The USLP creates value by driving growth and trust, eliminating costs and reducing risks. The company’s sustainable living brands are growing 46% faster than the rest of the business and delivered 70% of the company’s growth in 2017.

Unilever was ranked as an industry leader in the 2018 Dow Jones Sustainability Index. In the FTSE4Good Index, it achieved the highest environmental score of 5. It led the list of Global Corporate Sustainability Leaders in the 2017 GlobeScan/SustainAbility annual survey for the seventh year running, and achieved four A ratings across Climate Change, Water, Forests and Supplier Engagement in CDP’s 2018 Global Supply Chain report. Unilever has pledged to become carbon positive in its operations by 2030, and to ensure 100% of its plastic packaging is fully reusable, recyclable or compostable by 2025. For more information about Unilever and its brands, please visit www.unilever.com.

For more information on the USLP: www.unilever.com/sustainable-living/

Media Contacts:

The Carlyle Group

Catherine Armstrong
Catherine.Armstrong@carlyle.com
+44 20 7894 1632

graze

graze@instinctif.com

Unilever

Frida Critien
+44 (0) 7824 089 836
Press-Office.London@unilever.com

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Blackstone Energy Partners Announces Its Partnership with Waterfield Midstream – a Permian Basin Oil & Gas Water Management Platform

Blackstone

The Woodlands and New York, February 5, 2019 – Today, Blackstone (NYSE:BX) (“Blackstone”) announced that funds managed by Blackstone Energy Partners L.P. have formed Waterfield Midstream (“Waterfield”), a full-cycle provider of water management services, including water gathering, treatment, recycling and disposal, to provide solutions to producers in the Permian Basin.  Waterfield is Blackstone’s water midstream platform in the Permian Basin and has a $500 million equity commitment to pursue greenfield development and acquisitions of water-related infrastructure, helping producers minimize the environmental impact and operating cost of oil and gas production.

Waterfield is led by Co-Chief Executive Officers Scott Mitchell and Mark Cahill, who previously built and led Anadarko’s and Western Gas’s Permian Basin commercial water infrastructure platform.  Since partnering with Blackstone last summer, Waterfield has put together a highly skilled team that brings together upstream and midstream technical expertise with a deep understanding of the subsurface and operating characteristics of the Permian Basin.  This expertise positions Waterfield to provide reliable, turn-key services for its customers.

Recently, Waterfield signed a 15-year contract with Guidon Energy (“Guidon”) to construct a new system to handle Guidon’s water gathering and disposal needs across its ~40,000 acre position in Martin County, Texas.  In Martin County, Waterfield is targeting deeper disposal zones, as opposed to shallow disposal zones, to provide long-term flow assurance and to support optimal drilling conditions for its upstream customers.  Additionally, Waterfield has entered into an agreement with EagleClaw Midstream (“EagleClaw”) to operate EagleClaw’s water assets in Reeves County, Texas.  These assets consist of 58 miles of gathering lines and 390,000 barrels per day of permitted water disposal capacity.

“We are excited to have partnered with Blackstone,” said Co-CEO Scott Mitchell.  “Blackstone shares our vision of developing a long-term and sustainable water business focused on flow assurance in the Permian Basin.  We are confident that Waterfield can deliver high quality and cost-effective outcomes for our customers.  The opportunity to build Waterfield with the commitment and support of Blackstone’s upstream expertise, capital, industry relationships and successful track record greatly enhances our ability to execute this vision.”

“In addition, we are excited to work with Guidon and EagleClaw,” said Co-CEO Mark Cahill. “They are both exceptional companies with technical expertise, operating excellence, financial discipline and integrity.  We believe Waterfield Midstream brings those same qualities to the water management market in the Permian Basin.”

Angelo Acconcia, Senior Managing Director at Blackstone who oversees its upstream investments, said, “Our partnership with Scott and Mark is illustrative of our strategy of enabling and building best-in-class management teams with proven technical and operational expertise.  We are excited to work with them to build the leading water management platform in the basin and to provide unique, long-term water solutions of scale to upstream companies in the Permian.”

Erik Belz, Principal at Blackstone, added, “We believe that Waterfield addresses a critical need of producers in the Permian Basin both in terms of infrastructure and quality of service.  Waterfield’s subsurface capabilities and engineering track record set it apart from other offerings in the market.”

About Blackstone Energy Partners

Blackstone Energy Partners is Blackstone’s energy-focused private equity business, with a successful track record built on our industry expertise and partnerships with exceptional management teams.  Blackstone has invested and committed approximately $16 billion of equity globally across a broad range of sectors within the energy industry.

About Blackstone

Blackstone is one of the world’s leading investment firms. We seek to create positive economic impact and long-term value for our investors, the companies we invest in, and the communities in which we work. We do this by using extraordinary people and flexible capital to help companies solve problems. Our asset management businesses, with $472 billion in assets under management, include investment vehicles focused on private equity, real estate, public debt and equity, non-investment grade credit, real assets and secondary funds, all on a global basis.  Follow Blackstone on Twitter @Blackstone.

Further information is available at www.blackstone.com and at www.waterfieldmidstream.com

 

Contact:

Paula Chirhart
+1-212-583-5011
paula.chirhart@blackstone.com

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EQT Real Estate, Metropolitan Real Estate and STAM Europe pre-let Paris asset to Adobe for French HQ

eqt

A joint venture between EQT Real Estate I fund (“EQT Real Estate”), a fund managed by Metropolitan Real Estate (“Metropolitan”) and STAM Europe has agreed a pre-let agreement with Adobe, one of the largest and most diversified software companies in the world headquartered in San Jose, California, for the entirety of Code, an office property situated on Rue Lauriston in central Paris. The 5,800 sqm asset will serve as Adobe’s new French HQ upon completion, which is expected in spring 2019.

Located moments from the Place du Trocadéro, Code presents an architecturally striking asset comprising seven levels. The asset offers 5,800 sqm of office space, including an 800 sqm co-working area and an out-door patio for tenants. The asset also boasts a landscaped roof top that can be accessed by all occupiers, a dedicated wellness area, bike space and a carpark. Code also has a potential ERP classification, and benefits from strong natural light, providing qualitative communal spaces.

Having acquired the asset in 2016, EQT Real Estate, Metropolitan and STAM Europe have repositioned the property by undertaking a full-scale redevelopment, transforming a derelict, unused space into a Grade A office building in central Paris.

Olivier Astruc, Managing Director at EQT Partners and advisor to the fund, said: “EQT Real Estate strives to deliver best-in-class assets for users and investors. The Code development has been an exciting journey, as we have turned these obsolete garage and residential buildings into premium office facilities. We look forward to welcoming Adobe to these flexible and stimulating surroundings.”

Edward Bates, Managing Director at STAM Europe continues: “The ambitious restructuring program we have implemented has triggered a lot of interest from users. We are particularly proud to host Adobe France in this building that will provide an exceptional experience and work environment and will surely inspire Adobe employees to collaborate, create, innovate and perform. “

The owner was represented by BNP Paribas and JLL as landlord commercial representatives and Ashurst as legal representative. The tenant was represented by Colliers as tenant representative and Hogan Lovells as legal representative.

Contacts EQT
Olivier Astruc, Managing Director at EQT Partners, Investment Advisor to EQT Real Estate I, +44 20 8432 5426
Robert Rackind, Partner and Head of EQT Real Estate at EQT Partners and Investment
Advisor to EQT Real Estate I, +44 207 430 5555
EQT Press Office, +46 8 506 553 34

About EQT
EQT is a leading alternative investments firm with more than EUR 50 billion in raised capital across 28 funds. EQT funds have portfolio companies in Europe, Asia and the US with total sales of more than EUR 19 billion and approximately 110,000 employees. EQT works with portfolio companies to achieve sustainable growth, operational excellence and market leadership.

More info: www.eqtpartners.com

About EQT Real Estate I
EQT Real Estate I will seek to make direct and indirect controlling investments in real estate assets, portfolios and operating companies that offer significant potential for value creation through repositioning, redevelopment, refurbishment and active management. The investments will typically range between EUR 50 million and EUR 200 million. The fund is advised by an experienced team from EQT Partners, with extensive knowledge of property investment, development and intensive “hands-on” asset management, and with access to the full EQT network, including 10 European offices and more than 250 industrial advisors.

More info: www.eqtpartners.com/Investment-Strategies/real-assets/real-estate/

Contact STAM Europe
Samantha SUDRE ROUX
SSudreRoux@stam-europe.com
Tél: +33 (0)1 55 35 98 30

About STAM Europe
Based in Paris and established for 20 years, STAM Europe is an independent investment and asset management company particularly focused on the French market. STAM Europe operates with a fully integrated team of experienced professionals with financial, legal, real estate and technical backgrounds. The firm manages separate accounts on behalf of international investor partners. STAM’s track record covers a diversified array of real estate asset classes and the full range of risk-adjusted return profiles. Throughout 2018, STAM has executed a total of €750 million in transactions on behalf of its clients and partners.

STAM France IM is a portfolio management company incorporated in 2008 and registered under the French Financial Market Authority (AMF) to manage real estate collective investment vehicles (OPPCI).

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Ultimate Software Announces Agreement to be Acquired by an Investor Group Led by Hellman & Friedman to Operate as a Privately Held Company

Hellman & Friedman

Ultimate Software Stockholders to Receive $331.50 Per Share in Cash; Ultimate to Continue Driving HCM Innovations Under Private Ownership

Public Company Information:
NASDAQ: ULTI
US90385D1072

Ultimate Software (Nasdaq: ULTI), a leading global provider of human capital management (HCM) solutions in the cloud, today announced that it has entered into a definitive merger agreement to be acquired by an investor group led by Hellman & Friedman (“H&F”), a leading private equity investment firm, in an all-cash transaction for $331.50 per share in cash—representing an aggregate value of approximately $11 billion—after which Ultimate Software (“Ultimate”) will operate as a privately held company.

Under the terms of the agreement, all Ultimate stockholders of record will receive $331.50 in cash for each share of Ultimate’s common stock held upon the closing of the transaction. This price represents a premium of approximately 32% over Ultimate’s volume-weighted average price during the 30 trading days ending February 1, 2019, and a premium to Ultimate’s all-time high closing share price. Ultimate’s Board of Directors has unanimously approved this transaction and recommended that stockholders vote in favor of the transaction.

Upon completion of the transaction, Ultimate will continue to operate under the leadership of CEO Scott Scherr and the existing senior management team. The privately held company will be owned by an investor group led by Hellman & Friedman in partnership with significant investors Blackstone, GIC, and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB), and other investors including JMI Equity.

“The transaction provides our stockholders with a substantial premium. Our decision was also made with the best interests of our 5,144 employees and our more than 5,600 customers at heart. This change will bring meaningful benefits to our employees and customers—both in the long and short terms. Since all of our employees are given equity in Ultimate when they join us, as stockholders, this transaction will result in immediate financial upside for them. Today’s announcement will also allow us to make additional, prudent investments in our products and services to better serve our customers,” said Scott Scherr, CEO, president, and founder of Ultimate.

“Our customers will benefit from our ability to bring new features and services to market more quickly, while still enjoying the same high level of service they have with Ultimate today, or better, with new innovations to our offerings. Hellman & Friedman is in full alignment with our vision to serve the global HR market, while preserving our unique company culture and mission,” said Scherr.

For almost 29 years, Ultimate has focused exclusively on helping businesses improve the experience of their employees through leading HR and payroll solutions, and in recent years, through a comprehensive human capital management suite. At the end of 2018, Ultimate’s total revenues exceeded $1.1 billion and the company currently serves more than 5,600 companies worldwide, with more than 48 million people records in the cloud. After the transaction is complete, Ultimate will continue to develop, market, deliver, and service its suite of human capital management and employee experience solutions globally—including HR, payroll, benefits management, talent acquisition, talent management, workforce management, employee sentiment analysis, and HR service delivery—with no changes to the markets Ultimate serves and no changes to its mission: put “People First.”

“Ultimate’s market leadership in the human capital management segment, and the company’s impressive track record of growth, are built on the outstanding quality of its software and its dynamic and motivated employees. The company deeply understands the essence of human capital management, having itself been recognized with numerous best workplace awards from leading publications for its exceptional mission-driven culture,” said David Tunnell, partner at Hellman & Friedman. “We look forward to building on Ultimate’s successes, working along with our investment partners: Blackstone, GIC, CPPIB, and JMI Equity.”

Martin Brand, senior managing director at Blackstone, added, “We are excited to partner with Ultimate and this investor group to support the strong growth and culture of this exceptional company.”

The transaction is expected to close in mid-2019, subject to stockholder approval and other customary closing conditions including regulatory approvals.

The definitive agreement for the transaction includes a 50-day “go-shop” period which permits Ultimate’s Board of Directors and financial advisor to actively initiate, solicit, and encourage alternative acquisition proposals, and potentially enter negotiations with other parties that make alternative acquisition proposals. Ultimate will have the right to terminate the merger agreement to accept a superior proposal subject to the terms and conditions of the merger agreement. There can be no assurance that this 50-day “go-shop” will result in a superior proposal, and Ultimate does not intend to disclose developments with respect to the solicitation process unless and until the Board of Directors makes a determination requiring further disclosure.

Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC acted as exclusive financial advisor to Ultimate Software, and Stroock & Stroock & Lavan LLP provided legal counsel. Qatalyst Partners acted as financial advisor to the investor group and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett served as legal counsel to Hellman & Friedman.

Media Contacts

Ultimate Software
Mitchell K. Dauerman
mitch_dauerman@ultimatesoftware.com
954-331-7069

Hellman & Friedman
James Bourne
Abernathy MacGregor
jab@abmac.com
213-630-6550

William Braun
Abernathy MacGregor
whb@abmac.com
212-371-5999

Blackstone
Matt Anderson
Matthew.Anderson@blackstone.com
212-390-2472

GIC
Ms. Mah Lay Choon
Senior Vice President
Tel: (+65) 6889 6841
Email: mahlaychoon@gic.com.sg

Ms. Wendy Wong
Senior Vice President
Tel: (+65) 6889 6928
Email: wendywong@gic.com.sg

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB)
Darryl Konynenbelt
Director, Global Media Relations
dkonynenbelt@cppib.com
+1-416-972-8389

JMI Equity
Chuck Dohrenwend
Abernathy MacGregor
cod@abmac.com
212-371-5999

About Ultimate Software
Ultimate Software is a leading global provider of cloud-based human capital management and employee experience solutions, with more than 48 million people records in the cloud. Our award-winning UltiPro delivers HR, payroll, talent, and time and labor management as well as HR service delivery solutions. Founded in 1990, Ultimate is headquartered in Weston, Florida, and employs more than 5,100 professionals. In 2019, Fortune magazine and Great Place to Work ranked Ultimate #1 on their Best Workplaces in Technology list, in the “Large Companies” category, Ultimate’s fourth consecutive year to top the list. In 2018, Fortune ranked Ultimate #3 on its prestigious 100 Best Companies to Work For list, our seventh consecutive year in the top 25; #1 on its 100 Best Workplaces for Women list; and #1 on its Best Workplaces for Millennials list, our second year at the top. Customer Sales and Service World Awards recognized Ultimate’s Services team as the #1 Customer Service Department of the Year in 2018 for companies with 2,500 employees or larger across diverse industries. Ultimate has more than 5,600 customers worldwide including Bloomin’ Brands, Culligan International, Feeding America, Red Roof Inn, SUBWAY, Texas Roadhouse, and Yamaha Corporation of America. More information on Ultimate’s products and services can be found at www.ultimatesoftware.com.

About Hellman & Friedman
Hellman & Friedman is a leading private equity investment firm with offices in San Francisco, New York, and London. Since its founding in 1984, Hellman & Friedman has raised over $50 billion of committed capital. The firm focuses on investing in outstanding business franchises and serving as a value-added partner to management in select industries including software, financial services, business & information services, healthcare, internet & media, retail & consumer, and industrials & energy. For more information, please visit www.hf.com.

About Blackstone
Blackstone is one of the world’s leading investment firms. We seek to create positive economic impact and long-term value for our investors, the companies in which we invest, and the communities in which we work. We do this by using extraordinary people and flexible capital to help companies solve problems. Our asset management businesses, with $472 billion in assets under management, include investment vehicles focused on private equity, real estate, public debt and equity, non-investment grade credit, real assets and secondary funds, all on a global basis. Further information is available at www.blackstone.com. Follow Blackstone on twitter @Blackstone.

About GIC
GIC is a leading global investment firm established in 1981 to manage Singapore’s foreign reserves. A disciplined long-term value investor, GIC is uniquely positioned for investments across a wide range of asset classes, including equities, fixed income, private equity, real estate and infrastructure. In private equity, GIC invests through funds as well as directly in companies, partnering with its fund managers and management teams to help world class businesses achieve their objectives. GIC has investments in over 40 countries. Headquartered in Singapore, GIC employs over 1,500 people across 10 offices in key financial cities worldwide. For more information on GIC, please visit www.gic.com.sg.

About Canada Pension Plan Investment Board
Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) is a professional investment management organization that invests the funds not needed by the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) to pay current benefits in the best interests of 20 million contributors and beneficiaries. In order to build a diversified portfolio, CPPIB invests in public equities, private equities, real estate, infrastructure and fixed income instruments. Headquartered in Toronto, with offices in Hong Kong, London, Luxembourg, Mumbai, New York City, São Paulo and Sydney, CPPIB is governed and managed independently of the Canada Pension Plan and at arm’s length from governments. At September 30, 2018, the CPP Fund totalled C$368.3 billion. For more information about CPPIB, please visit www.cppib.com or follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook or Twitter.

About JMI Equity
JMI Equity is a growth equity firm focused on investing in leading software companies. Founded in 1992, JMI has invested in over 140 businesses in its target markets, successfully completed over 90 exits and raised more than $4 billion of committed capital. JMI partners with exceptional management teams to help build their companies into industry leaders. For more information visit www.jmi.com.

Additional Information and Where to Find It
This communication relates to the proposed merger involving The Ultimate Software Group, Inc. (“Ultimate” or the “Company”). In connection with the proposed merger, Ultimate Software will file relevant materials with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”), including the Company’s proxy statement on Schedule 14A (the “Proxy Statement”). This communication is not a substitute for the Proxy Statement or any other document that Ultimate Software may file with the SEC or send to its stockholders in connection with the proposed merger. BEFORE MAKING ANY VOTING DECISION, STOCKHOLDERS OF ULTIMATE SOFTWARE ARE URGED TO READ ALL RELEVANT DOCUMENTS FILED WITH THE SEC, INCLUDING THE PROXY STATEMENT, WHEN THEY BECOME AVAILABLE BECAUSE THEY WILL CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT THE PROPOSED MERGER. Investors and security holders will be able to obtain the documents (when available) free of charge at the SEC’s website, www.sec.gov, and the Company’s website, https://www.ultimatesoftware.com. In addition, the documents (when available) may be obtained free of charge by directing a request to Mitch Dauerman by email at mitch_dauerman@ultimatesoftware.com or by calling 954-331-7069.

Participants in the Solicitation
The Company and its directors and executive officers may be deemed to be participants in the solicitation of proxies from the holders of Ultimate Software common stock in respect of the proposed merger. Information about the directors and executive officers of Ultimate Software is set forth in the proxy statement for the Company’s 2018 annual meeting of stockholders, which was filed with the SEC on April 2, 2018, and in other documents filed by Ultimate Software with the SEC. Other information regarding the participants in the proxy solicitation and a description of their direct and indirect interests, by security holdings or otherwise, will be contained in the Proxy Statement and other relevant materials to be filed with the SEC in respect of the proposed merger when they become available.

Cautionary Statements Regarding Forward-Looking Information
Certain statements contained in this communication may constitute “forward-looking statements.” These forward-looking statements may be identified by terms such as “plan to,” “designed to,” “allow,” “will,” “can,” “expect,” “estimates,” “believes,” “intends,” “may,” “continues,” “to be” or the negative of these terms, and similar expressions intended to identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements, and reported results should not be considered as an indication of future performance. These risks, uncertainties and other factors include, but are not limited to, risks related to the occurrence of any event, change or other circumstance that could give rise to the termination of the merger agreement; the failure to obtain Ultimate Software stockholder approval of the merger or the failure to satisfy any of the other conditions to the completion of the merger; the effect of the announcement of the merger on the ability of Ultimate Software to retain and hire key personnel and maintain relationships with its clients, providers, partners and others with whom it does business, or on its operating results and businesses generally; risks associated with the disruption of management’s attention from ongoing business operations due to the merger; the ability to meet expectations regarding the timing and completion of the merger; and other factors described in the Company’s Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2017, as filed with the SEC, and in other reports filed by the Company with the SEC from time to time. You are cautioned not to unduly rely on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this communication. Unless required by law, Ultimate Software undertakes no obligation to publicly revise any forward-looking statement to reflect circumstances or events after the date of this communication or to report the occurrence of unanticipated events.

UltiPro is a registered trademark of The Ultimate Software Group, Inc. All other trademarks referenced are the property of their respective owners.

Follow Ultimate Software
LinkedIn: https://ulti.pro/LinkedIn
Twitter: www.twitter.com/UltimateHCM
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/UltimateSoftware

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Verdane to invest 6 billion SEK in Northern European growth companies

Verdane Capital

Verdane has established Verdane Capital X, the largest Verdane fund to date, with 6 billion SEK of committed capital. Through the new fund, Verdane will help build high-growth market leaders in the Northern European software, consumer internet, energy technology and advanced industrial sectors.

Based on deep sector expertise, Verdane will help ambitious management teams of fast-growing businesses accelerate and sustain growth. The new fund will invest in Northern European companies, typically with 50-500 million SEK in revenues. It will acquire majority or minority positions in either single companies or portfolios of companies.

“Growth is always at the top of our agenda. On average, the portfolio companies grew their revenues by 23% in 2018, and put together created well over one thousand new jobs. With our new fund, we will continue to look for well positioned companies operating in structural growth markets, and our goal is to identify and remove bottlenecks constraining growth. By offering a long-term focus, companies backed by Verdane funds can make the necessary investments in their organisations, products and brands to secure sustainable market leadership,” comments Bjarne Lie, Managing Partner at Verdane Capital Advisors.

Companies backed by Verdane funds will access capital, know-how, a global network and the advisory team’s 15-year experience of building sector leaders across the Nordics. Importantly, they will also gain access to peer-to-peer knowledge exchange in a professional network built through over 100 core investments in the software, consumer internet, advanced industrial and energy sectors.

“Verdane funds probably have the most flexible investment mandate on the market. As long as we believe in a business, and see a way to add value, we can find a way for the Verdane funds to invest. It is the business that matters and how we can help, not the structure,” explains Bjarne Lie.

Verdane Capital X closed at its 6 billion SEK hard cap in January. The fund received commitments from leading global university endowments, foundations, insurance companies, family offices, government agencies, as well as private and public pension funds from 11 countries. Over 50% of the capital comes from non-profit investors.

“We want to thank the investors for their support and for moving at high speed, allowing us to close the first investments of the fund. Momox, Germany’s leading re-commerce company, and HIVE Streaming, a Swedish enterprise video distribution company, have already begun their journey as part of Verdane Capital X’s portfolio. These are exactly the types of companies that the fund will continue to invest in.”

Verdane Capital X was advised by Rede Partners, an independent fundraising advisor to the private equity industry, and Andulf Advokat, a law firm specialising in private equity.

***

For more information, please contact

Jonathan Bui, Communications Manager
+46 762 72 81 00
jonathan.bui@verdane.com

About Verdane

Verdane funds provide flexible growth capital to fast-growing software, consumer internet, energy or high-technology industry businesses, through both majority and minority investments in individual companies and portfolios. Verdane funds act as ambitious, active and long-term owners, helping management teams and companies accelerate and sustain growth by leveraging the Verdane advisory team’s technology capabilities and proven track record in driving business value. Verdane funds’ current portfolio includes Boozt, EasyPark, Freespee, inRiver, MatHem, Mustad, Momox, Polytech and Trivec. Verdane Advisory Group has 38 employees working out of offices in Copenhagen, Helsinki, London, Oslo and Stockholm. For more information, please visit www.verdane.com

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Semantix invests in on-demand interpreting

Segula

Semantix continues its acquisition drive and invests in on-demand interpreting by acquiring Tolkvox AB. This acquisition is an important addition to the company’s portfolio of multilingual services and is in line with the increasing demand for flexible online solutions. It also solidifies the company’s position as the leader in language technology in the Nordic region.

“The acquisition of Tolkvox is a very important and logical step for us to take in extending our digital offer into the growing on-demand market in the Nordics. Mobile on-demand human interpretation will help users overcome language barriers anywhere and in real time. It is an exciting development of language technology, disrupting conventional language services,” says Patrik Attemark, CEO Semantix.

Tolkvox is a Swedish on-demand interpreting start-up, founded three years ago. Tolkvox provides interpreting services between 178 languages and English in an easy-to-use app. Via the app, customers can reach qualified interpreters within 30 seconds, with just the push of a button and no need to pre-book.

“I am looking forward to Tolkvox becoming a part of the Semantix service offer and being able to make on-demand interpreting available to all Semantix customers 24/7,” says Mattias Schain, founder of Tolkvox, who will take on the new role of Business Development Manager On-demand Interpreting at Semantix.

For more information

Patrik Attemark, CEO, patrik.attemark@semantix.se, 070 166 56 01

 

Semantix is the largest language technology company in the Nordics, providing interpreting, translation and advanced language solutions to the public sector and private corporations for more than 50 years. Semantix has a turnover of approximately SEK 1 billion and operates in accordance with ISO 9001:2015. The group has offices in Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland and representatives in China, Chile and Spain. Semantix has some 400 full-time employees and manages a comprehensive network of thousands of language specialists all over the globe. Semantix is majority owned by the private equity fund Segulah V L.P. 

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INVESTCORP acquires CAMBIO HEALTHCARE SYSTEMS

Valedo

Investcorp has reached an agreement to acquire Cambio Healthcare Systems AB (“Cambio” or “the Company”) from Valedo Partners Fund II AB (“Valedo”) and a group of minority investors, primarily Cambio’s two founders, Tomas Mora-Morrison and Håkan Mattsson. Valedo invested in Cambio in 2012 and has, together with the Company’s management team and employees, transformed and significantly grown Cambio into a position as one of the leading regional European providers of eHealth solutions.

Cambio operates in the Electronic Health Records (“EHR”) market, offering software solutions for acute, primary, social and person-centred care. Cambio promotes a holistic view on health and social care and offers an EHR agnostic solution for clinical decision support applicable for all branches of health and social care. The Company, which has grown rapidly in recent years, has customers primarily in Sweden, Denmark and the United Kingdom, with more than 150,000 users of its software solutions. Cambio is headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden and has approximately 600 employees, of which the majority are dedicated to research and development as well as software maintenance.

Peter Gille, CEO, Cambio Healthcare Systems, said; “eHealth is increasingly transforming how healthcare is delivered, and is a key enabler for further improvements of quality of care, productivity and patient empowerment. Cambio is clearly one of the leading providers in the Nordic and UK eHealth markets and I am very proud of Cambio’s achievements during the last few years where we have launched a number of very innovate software solutions, won several new customers and further deepened our cooperation with existing customers. Following more than six years with Valedo as a majority owner, we now look forward to continuing Cambio’s growth journey with the support of Investcorp.”

The terms and conditions of the transaction are not disclosed.

Media contacts for Cambio:

Peter Gille, CEO
+46 70 825 00 14

About Cambio Healthcare Systems:
Cambio Healthcare Systems is one of Scandinavia’s leading suppliers of healthcare information systems and a growing player in the European market with just over 150,000 users across general and university hospitals, specialist units and outpatient units. Through the use of our integrated solutions, our customers provide services to 4 million patients. Since 1993, our ambition has been to combine the continuous development of our technology with the constant improvement of our care processes and eHealth services software support, in order to offer our customers safer and more efficient care support. We are growing continuously and currently have more than 600 employees globally with different backgrounds, skills and responsibilities, but who are all passionate about developing open and comprehensive eHealth solutions tailored towards the publicly-funded healthcare sector. We are geographically close to our customers with offices in Sweden, Denmark, England and Sri Lanka.

www.cambio.se

About Investcorp:
Investcorp is a leading global manager of alternative investments. Led by a new vision, Investcorp has embarked on an ambitious, albeit prudent, growth strategy. The Firm continues to focus on generating value through a disciplined investment approach in four lines of business: private equity, real estate, absolute return investments and credit management.

As at June 30, 2018, the Investcorp Group had US$22.6 billion in total AUM, including assets managed by third party managers and assets subject to a non-discretionary advisory mandate where Investcorp receives fees calculated on the basis of AUM.
Since its inception in 1982, Investcorp has made over 175 Private Equity deals in the U.S., Europe, the Middle East and North Africa region and Asia, across a range of sectors including retail and consumer products, technology, business services and industrials, and more than 600 commercial and residential real estate investments in the US and Europe, for in excess of US $57 billion in transaction value.

Investcorp employs approximately 390 people across its offices in Bahrain, New York, London, Abu Dhabi, Riyadh, Doha, and Singapore.

About Valedo:
Valedo is an independent Swedish investment company investing in high-quality small/mid cap companies in the Nordic region. Valedo is focusing on companies with clear growth and development potential where Valedo can actively contribute to and accelerate the companies’ development. Being an active owner and contributing both capital and industrial experience, Valedo ensures that a company can achieve its full potential.

www.valedopartners.com

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Questel acquires intellectual property services company Concur IP

ik-investment-partners

 

Today, Questel announces a majority investment in Concur IP, an India and US based IP services company well known for its patent drafting and standard essential patents related capabilities. This investment adds an essential piece to Questel’s existing suite of IP services. Questel can now support its clients throughout the entire IP lifecycle offering patentability search, patent drafting, translations, and international filing, as well as post grant support during licensing negotiations and litigations. Nitin Agrawal and Sachin Sinha will continue to operate as Concur IP’s Co-CEOs post this merger.

“Concur IP’s drafting service will dovetail nicely with Questel’s prior art search service,” said Charles Besson, Questel’s CEO. “Our full suite of services, including International Filing and Translation, meets a growing desire for more efficiency and clarity in connection with Intellectual Property costs, which we can now substantially guarantee to our customers”.

After noting Concur IP’s diverse experience, Nitin Agrawal, said “We believe corporate IP departments are committed to finding cost effective ways to delegate routine tasks, so they can focus their time on higher level activities. Our team of highly skilled and experienced IP professionals, having drafted more than 3,000 patent applications cumulatively, is well positioned to fulfil the demand of high quality patent applications at reasonable cost.”

Another key benefit Concur IP brings to Questel is their “Standard Essential Patent (SEP)” expertise, which is already being utilized by large telecom companies and law firms during licensing negotiations, litigations, and patent acquisitions. “Our SEP services enable companies to determine fair and reasonable licensing terms for standardized technologies. Our methodology is now well established in the market and has been adopted by the court, companies, and economists to calculate royalty rates. With Questel and their sophisticated platforms, we look forward to bringing more transparency in the process of technology standardization and the associated IP practices” said Sachin Sinha.

Questel is one of the world’s leading intellectual property management companies, delivering complete software and service solutions for each stage of the innovation lifecycle. And, for both software and services, Questel leverages a comprehensive and unique collection of intellectual property and scientific databases. With recent acquisitions of ITIP and Multiling, Questel now delivers the world’s largest and highest quality services for foreign filing of patent applications and translations. These services, when added to Questel’s e-learning and general IP consulting, make Questel the final destination to fulfill the most critical IP and Innovation needs. www.questel.com

Concur IP was formed with the specific purpose of providing high-end IP consulting services in a cost-effective manner. Concur IP’s solutions cater to various IP needs of corporates, law firms, universities, research organizations, consulting firms, and licensing support firms. Core services offerings include patent application drafting, office action responses, patent licensing & litigation support services, patent research and analytics. www.concurip.com

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DiscoverOrg Acquires ZoomInfo

Carlyle

Combination creates unrivaled B2B intelligence for sales, marketing, and recruiting professionals

Vancouver, WA – DiscoverOrg announced today that it has acquired Zoom Information, Inc (ZoomInfo). The two companies are coming together to provide sales, marketing, and recruiting professionals access to the most trusted and comprehensive B2B data available in the market.

“High-quality data is the fundamental go-to-market requirement for growth,” says DiscoverOrg co-founder and CEO Henry Schuck. “In the near future, CRM and marketing automation systems will be defined not by their empty-box capabilities but by the data that is housed inside them.”

He added: “To effectively capitalize on growth opportunities, companies of all sizes need accurate firmographic, technographic, contact, and intent data. Combined, DiscoverOrg and ZoomInfo deliver the trifecta: B2B data of the highest quality, quantity, and depth.”

DiscoverOrg’s research-verified accuracy and deep buying insights complement ZoomInfo’s comprehensive coverage of 100 million business professionals worldwide. Both organizations use highly advanced proprietary technologies and tools to gather, cleanse, and maintain company and contact data.

Within the next month, mutual customers will have a light integration that allows them to easily access both data platforms. Over the next year, DiscoverOrg will bring together the databases onto a single B2B intelligence platform, while accelerating the launch of new features, integrations, and advanced analytics.

By bringing together their complementary strengths and increasing investment in innovation, DiscoverOrg and ZoomInfo will help companies achieve what used to seem impossible: sales and marketing teams will have a go-to-market operating system that identifies the target accounts that should be engaged every day, week and month based on fit, engagement, and intent data collected in a multitude of ways. They will also have a 360-degree view of the buyers who are making the purchase decisions with accurate contact details, organizational charts, and buying profile insights.

“The combination of DiscoverOrg and ZoomInfo creates the only solution in the market that fully delivers data of the highest quality and quantity to drive sales and marketing efforts,” says ZoomInfo CEO Derek Schoettle. “I’m thrilled that our customers will benefit from the best B2B intelligence platforms coming together.”

“Today, effective sales and marketing relies on data that combines deep insightful context with high-quality broad coverage.  Being able to access that kind of data in a single place is something that every team is looking for,” notes John Donlon, Sr. Research Director at SiriusDecisions, a leading research and advisory firm.

Schoettle will serve in an advisory capacity during the transition, and Schuck will lead the combined organization, which now has almost 15,000 customers and 120,000 active users across the globe.

Both DiscoverOrg and ZoomInfo were recognized by G2Crowd as 2019 Top 100 Software Products and Top 10 Best Products for Sales.  They have also secured multiple consecutive honors on the Inc. 5000 list of the world’s fastest growing private companies.

DiscoverOrg’s investors include TA Associates, The Carlyle Group, and 22C Capital.

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About DiscoverOrg

Whatever your next stage of growth, DiscoverOrg will get you there faster. Growthbound organizations depend on DiscoverOrg’s deep B2B intelligence to drive their sales, marketing and recruiting activities. Our award-winning solutions provide a stream of accurate and actionable company and contact insights that can be used to find, connect with and sell to target buyers and hires more effectively – all integrated into the leading CRM, Sales Engagement and Marketing Automation Tools on the market. DiscoverOrg’s biggest differentiator is the combination of proprietary technology, tools and integrations with a layer of human-verification that allows us to deliver the highest guaranteed accuracy of any B2B provider in the market. Visit www.discoverorg.com

About ZoomInfo

Zoom Information Inc.(ZoomInfo) brings together data and technology to drive the revenue engine. Backed by the most comprehensive business database in the market, ZoomInfo combines user behaviors, business data, and artificial intelligence to streamline the sales workflow and deliver revenue results. For more information, visit www.zoominfo.com, demo our data dashboard, or call 866-904-9666.

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Nordic Capital acquires Orchid Orthopedic Solutions – a world leader in design and manufacture of orthopedic implants

Nordic Capital

  • Orchid is a world leading supplier of design and manufacturing solutions for the rapidly growing global orthopedic implant market
  • As a strategic partner to global orthopedic implant brands, Orchid offers innovative end-to-end manufacturing solutions with industry leading quality standards
  • Nordic Capital to acquire controlling majority holding in Orchid, with Altor retaining a significant minority holding
  • Nordic Capital is excited to support Orchid’s continued investment in product and manufacturing innovation, uncompromised clinical quality and integrated offerings

Nordic Capital Fund IX (“Nordic Capital”) announced today that it has agreed to acquire a majority holding in Orchid Orthopedic Solutions (“Orchid”), from Altor Fund III (“Altor”) who will retain a significant minority holding in the company.

Headquartered in Holt, Michigan, Orchid is a world leader in the design and manufacture of implants to the global orthopedic market. Orchid’s leading offerings span hip, knee, trauma, extremity and spinal implant products, as well as single-use and multi-use complex instruments used in implant related surgical procedures.

As a strategic partner to the leading global medical device OEMs, Orchid offers solutions in product and procedure design and possesses the full range of manufacturing processes required to produce finished, packaged products. The company serves a global customer base from its 12 manufacturing sites in the US, UK, Switzerland and China. Orchid innovates continually to provide differentiated processes yielding unique products, while simplifying its customers’ supply chains, delivering outstanding quality and offering end-to-end solutions benefitting from the broadest implants portfolio in the market.

The orthopedic implant market benefits from strong secular growth driven by larger and increasingly active elderly populations, obesity, medical advancements and increased access to surgical orthopedic care. As a leader in the industry and with Nordic Capital’s support, Orchid is ideally positioned to capitalise on this demand growth while helping its customers become more competitive.

“We are impressed by Orchid’s strong management team and attractive position in the growing orthopedic implant market, and look forward to supporting the company through its next phase of development. Orchid has a unique set of implant manufacturing capabilities across product categories, and is a true innovator simplifying and improving its customers’ supply chains. We are fully committed to supporting Orchid’s growth strategy in close partnership with management,” says Jonas Agnblad, Partner and Co-head of Healthcare at the advisor to the Nordic Capital Funds.

Orchid’s current management team, led by CEO Jerry Jurkiewicz, will continue to lead the company, building on its strong track record of both organic and acquisitive growth.

“We are very proud of what we have achieved in recent years and are very excited to continue this journey with Nordic Capital as our new partner. We are building the Orchid platform with a focus on satisfying our customers with a broad array of innovative implants procedure solutions from a global network of operationally excellent sites. With a great partner like Nordic Capital, I am confident our progress will only accelerate” says Orchid CEO Jerry Jurkiewicz.

Nordic Capital is the pre-eminent European healthcare investor with a strong track-record of successful healthcare investments in North America. Since inception in 1989 the Nordic Capital Funds have deployed more than EUR 6 billion in 27 healthcare platform investments across Europe and North America, supporting active value creation agendas to build industry winners.

The parties have agreed not to disclose financial details of the transaction, which remains subject to customary regulatory approvals. Goldman Sachs and Citi acted as financial advisors to Nordic Capital and Kirkland & Ellis LLP acted as its legal advisor.

 

Media contacts:

Nordic Capital

Katarina Janerud, Communications Manager
Advisor to the Nordic Capital Funds
Tel: +46 8 440 50 50
e-mail: katarina.janerud@nordiccapital.com

 

About Orchid Orthopedic Solutions

Orchid is a world leader in orthopedic medical device solutions, providing design and manufacturing services globally. As a strategic partner, Orchid has the capability of providing entire implant procedure and product design services, as well as, complete single source manufacturing. Orchid has the broadest portfolio in the industry, ranging from design and development through finished goods manufacturing and packaging, improving customers’ supply chains and adhering to the highest quality standards in the industry. Orchid specializes in implants, single use instruments and innovative technologies within joint reconstruction, hips, knees, spine, trauma, extremities and dental. For further information, please see www.orchid-ortho.com


About Nordic Capital

Nordic Capital is a leading European 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, Industrial Goods & Services and Consumer & Retail, and key regions are the Nordics, Northern Europe, and globally for Healthcare. Since inception in 1989, Nordic Capital has invested EUR 13 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 and are advised by advisory entities, which are based in Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Germany and the UK. For further information about Nordic Capital, please visit www.nordiccapital.com

 

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