Onex Agrees to Convertible Preferred Stock Investment in Emerald

Onex

Toronto, June 10, 2020 – Onex Corporation (“Onex”) (TSX: ONEX) today announced an agreement with Emerald Holding, Inc. (“Emerald” or the “Company”), a leading operator of business-to-business trade shows in the U.S., on a $400 million convertible participating preferred equity (the “Preferred Stock”) investment led by Onex Partners V, Onex’ $7.2 billion fund. Onex Partners has been a significant shareholder of the Company since 2013. As part of the transaction, Onex Partners V will purchase $263.5 million of the Preferred Stock in an initial private placement and Emerald will pursue a rights offering for the remaining $136.5 million to the Company’s other common shareholders. Onex Partners V has agreed to backstop the rights offering, which could increase the Onex group’s total investment in Emerald up to $400 million.

The new capital will significantly strengthen Emerald’s balance sheet, increase liquidity and enable management to focus on executing strategic initiatives as the Company navigates the global COVID-19 pandemic.

“We are extremely pleased to expand our relationship with Onex as they continue to actively support the business and help us position the company for recovery once the impact of COVID-19 is behind us,” said Brian Field, Interim President and Chief Executive Officer of Emerald. “We have continued confidence in our strategic plan and the long-term prospects of our marketplaces. The capital we are raising will substantially aid in our effort to build on the strength of our brands and accelerate new growth opportunities we expect will arise during these uncertain times.”Emerald expects to use the net proceeds from the investment for a combination of debt repayment and general corporate purposes, including organic and acquisition growth initiatives. The investment will also substantially buttress Emerald’s existing liquidity position.

“We believe Emerald has the platform, strategy and management team to deliver strong performance through future periods of economic recovery and create meaningful long-term stockholder value,” said Kosty Gilis, Managing Director at Onex. “With this investment, Emerald’s enhanced liquidity and strong balance sheet will position the Company to pursue many attractive opportunities that will arise in the coming years. We look forward to continuing to work with the management team to create value for all stakeholders.

”The Preferred Stock will be convertible into common stock at an initial conversion price per share of $3.52, which represents a 13% premium to the closing price of $3.11 per share as of June 9, 2020, and a 42% premium to the 30-day volume weighted average price of $2.48 as of June 9, 2020. The liquidation preference of the Preferred Stock will accrete at a rate of 7.0% per annum, compounded quarterly, in-kind for the first 12 quarters following its issuance, and thereafter either in cash or in- kind at the Company’s option.

Together with its existing investment, the Onex group’s pro forma ownership of Emerald, after giving effect to both the initial private placement and the rights offering, will be between 65.9% and 86.8% on an as-converted basis depending on the extent to which other common shareholders participate in the rights offering.

The initial private placement is expected to close later this month. Additional information regarding the transaction and terms of the Preferred Stock will be included in a Form 8-K that Emerald will file with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

About Emerald

Emerald is a leader in building dynamic, market-driven business-to-business platforms that integrate live events with a broad array of industry insights, digital tools, and data-focused solutions to create uniquely rich experiences. As a true partner, Emerald strives to build its customers’ businesses by creating opportunities that inspire, amaze, and deliver breakthrough results. With over 140 events each year, Emerald’s teams are creators and connectors who are thoroughly immersed in the industries they serve and committed to supporting the communities in which they operate.

About Onex

Founded in 1984, Onex invests and manages capital on behalf of its shareholders, institutional investors and high net worth clients from around the world. Onex’ platforms include: Onex Partners, private equity funds focused on larger opportunities in North America and Europe; ONCAP, private equity funds focused on middle market and smaller opportunities in North America; Onex Credit, which manages primarily non-investment grade debt through collateralized loan obligations, private debt and other credit strategies; and Gluskin Sheff’s actively managed public equity and public credit funds. In total, Onex has approximately$32.9 billion of assets under management, of which approximately $6.0 billion is its own shareholder capital. With offices in Toronto, New York, New Jersey and London, Onex and its experienced management teams are collectively the largest investors across Onex’ platforms.The Onex Partners and ONCAP businesses have assets of $45 billion, generate annual revenues of $27 billion and employ approximately 170,000 people worldwide.

Onex shares trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the stock symbol ONEX.

For more information on Onex, visit its website at www.onex.com. Onex’ security filings can also be accessed at www.sedar.com.

Forward-Looking Statement

This press release may contain, without limitation, statements concerning possible or assumed future operations, performance or results preceded by, followed by or that include words such as “believes”, “expects”, “potential”, “anticipates”, “estimates”, “intends”, “plans” and words of similar connotation, which would constitute forward-looking statements. Forward- looking statements are not guarantees. The reader should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements and information because they involve significant and diverse risks and uncertainties that may cause actual operations, performance or results to be materially different from those indicated in these forward-looking statements. Except as may be required by Canadian securities law, Onex is under no obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained herein should material facts change due to new information, future events or other factors. These cautionary statements expressly qualify all forward- looking statements in this press release.

For Further Information

Claire Glossop Irani Director,

Client and Product Solutions 416.362.7711

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Kian Portfolio Exit Announcement — TrueLearn

Kian Capital

Jun 10, 2020

Kian Capital Partners, a middle-market focused private investment firm, is pleased to announce a successful exit from its investment in TrueLearn (“TrueLearn”) through a sale to LLR Partners (“LLR”). Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

 

Headquartered in Mooresville, NC, TrueLearn is a leading provider of virtual learning and exam preparation software for physicians and healthcare professionals seeking Board licensure and accreditation. The Company relentlessly advocates for learners seeking to maximize outcomes across a multitude of healthcare fields, including medical specialties such as General Surgery, Anesthesiology, and OB/GYN, and partners with medical schools and healthcare training programs to promote the highest levels of success. TrueLearn’s innovative platform leverages elements of cognition and data science to help make learning more durable, while providing insightful performance analytics to faculty that can be used to guide teaching.

 

The business was founded in 2008 by Dr. Joshua Courtney, while completing his own Anesthesiology residency. In early 2017, Kian made a minority investment in TrueLearn that enabled Dr. Courtney to regain full control of his business and focus on key growth initiatives to drive the business forward. Since then, Kian has served as a value-added Board member and financial partner to Dr. Courtney and the Truelearn executive team as they’ve successfully executed a winning strategy, resulting in significant growth.

 

“Kian has been a true partner over the last three years, offering insight and flexibility as we shifted our operations to the Charlotte area, bolstered our executive team and attained important growth targets,” Dr. Courtney stated. “It was a huge benefit to have a financial partner I could rely on as we navigated through a tight timeline to close our deal in 2017. Kian’s genuine partnership approach was paramount during an important period in the Company’s history, resulting in a rewarding relationship that has positioned TrueLearn for accelerated growth as we look to serve our customers in new and exciting ways in the future.”

 

E-learning solutions such as those offered by TrueLearn are in high demand as institutions adjust to asynchronous and remote classroom environments. In recent months, TrueLearn has expanded its offerings beyond physician education to adjacent healthcare markets including pharmacy and allied health. This shift has helped meet rising needs of medical schools, residency programs and allied healthcare programs, which seek to train learners in remote settings, while continuing to address the problem of healthcare workforce shortages.

 

“At Kian, we have a flexible investment mandate that allows us to structure investments to meet the unique needs of companies and their founders. We were proud to back Josh and his executive team with a capital solution that helped TrueLearn achieve such success,” commented Matt Levenson, Partner at Kian Capital. “LLR brings valuable expertise in the education, technology and healthcare industries. TrueLearn is well-positioned to take advantage of all the resources and experience that will be available as they grow to the next level. We look forward to developing future partnerships within the e-learning and test prep space.”

 

DC Advisory acted as exclusive financial advisor to TrueLearn.

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Silverfin announces investment led by Hg to accelerate international growth

HG Capital

g is a leading software investor with a long history of partnering with businesses in tax and accounting software, investing c.€1.8bn in this sector alone.

London 9th June 2020: Silverfin has announced a significant investment led by Hg, Europe’s leading software investor and expert in the tax and accounting sector. The investment will be used to support the company’s expansion internationally as it responds to demand for its cloud service that consolidates real-time financial data, automates compliance reporting and improves financial planning. Silverfin was founded in 2013 in Ghent, Belgium and now has offices in London, Amsterdam and Copenhagen. The details and terms of the transaction have not been disclosed.

“Our platform is the central nervous system thousands of businesses, and their accounting firms, rely on for efficient and effective financial management and decision making. We consolidate multiple financial data sources into one central data hub. Then we use that data to improve the speed, accuracy and quality of compliance with automation; and financial planning with our data analytics and reporting tools.”

Joris Van Der Gucht, Co-Founder at Silverfin

He added:

“Technology has been driving considerable innovation and change in finance and accounting. The past few weeks have shown how important this digital transformation is. Obviously there’s been a rapid move to remote working. There’s also been a widespread acceptance that cloud technology is key in enabling finance teams to operate whatever the circumstances. Our technology helps with this and much more. Even before today’s challenges, our customers told us Silverfin has made them more efficient and more successful. We’ve made the core reporting work they do easier but we’ve also made it easier to give the advice their businesses really need, particularly now, like financial modelling, risk monitoring, benchmarking and scenario planning.”

Silverfin has more than 650 customers in 11 countries from the leading accountancy firms in Europe and North America including all of the ‘Big 4’.

“We want to bring the benefits of Silverfin to more customers and develop the platform to have an even greater impact on their business transformation. This investment from Hg will help us to accelerate our product development and provide us with invaluable insight into future developments in accounting we can capitalise on. Their considerable international experience in the accountancy sector, and understanding of technology, makes them the perfect partner for us as we begin the next phase in our international growth.”

Tim Vandecasteele, Co-Founder

“After seeing Silverfin in action in our portfolio for a number of years, we were impressed with the technology and the potential it offers the accounting sector. We’re delighted to be able to join and support the Silverfin team as the business continues to scale internationally.”

Joris Van Gool, Partner at Hg

Hg has a long history of partnering with businesses in the tax and accounting software space. Silverfin is Hg’s 14th investment in this sector over the last 15 years, with a total of around €1.8BN of invested capital in this sector alone.

Hg has invested in a minority stake in Silverfin from its Mercury 2 Fund and joins the co-founders who remain majority owners, and existing investors, Index Ventures and SmartFin Ventures.

About Silverfin

Silverfin is the cloud platform that makes accountants successful. It improves the efficiency, competitiveness and profitability of compliance services, and powers the development and delivery of advisory services.

Silverfin takes financial data directly from client systems and hosts it securely in a single cloud Structured Data Hub. Templates then standardise, and automate, accounting workflows and use the data hub to make compliance easy, fast, and accurate.

But that’s only half the story. Leading firms use Silverfin to power their advisory services too. Looking at data and trends, right across the client portfolio is easy and automatic alerts warn of risks or identify opportunities to give advice, or sell additional services.

For further details, please visit the Silverfin website.

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Ardian Growth acquires a stake in Produceshop

Ardian

Paris, June 8th, 2020 – Ardian, a world leading private investment house, announces the acquisition of a stake in ProduceShop, a Swiss e-commerce platform specialized in the production and sale of indoor and outdoor furniture in Europe.

Launched in 2015, ProduceShop has an innovative sales model that allows it to combine prestigious brands with its own brands through analytical tools that anticipate the demands of European customers. With this self-financed growth model, the e-commerce platform has managed to triple its turnover in less than three years by selling more than 50% in very competitive markets such as France, Germany and the UK.
The founders commented: “We have ambitious internationalization plans for ProduceShop. Our development model is unique from a technological point of view; we are a 3.0 e-commerce company. Ardian Growth is the ideal partner for this operation: their experience in e-commerce has made a difference.

Laurent Foata, head of Ardian Growth, added: “The talent and vision of the founders combined with a determined and competent team convinced us right away.”

In addition to providing support thanks to Ardian Growth’s network and know-how in helping growing companies, this partnership aims to accompany ProduceShop in its strategy of conquering and penetrating new international markets.”

Romain Chiudini, Director at Ardian Growth, concluded: “With ProduceShop, we have identified a radically innovative approach to online sales thanks to their data-driven strategy. This confirms our willingness to support the development of ProduceShop towards international and exponential growth, all alongside an extremely talented team.”

ABOUT PRODUCESHOP

ProduceShop is a dynamic and technological E-Commerce, specialized in the production and sale of indoor and outdoor furniture in Europe.
A careful selection of products is made to make it easier for the user to choose online. ProduceShop preselects the best products for value for money, making it easier for the customer to purchase furniture and garden items, accessories, lighting products, swimming pools, toys for children, items for bathing resorts, and much more. This variety of products, together with the attention to quality and design, has allowed our e-Shop to become a leader in the sector with thousands of daily shipments throughout Europe and thousands of customers served.

ProduceShop sells in many major important European countries:

https://www.produceshop.fr/
https://www.produceshop.de/
https://www.produceshop.it/
https://www.produceshop.es/
https://www.produceshop.ch/
https://www.produceshop.pt/
https://www.produceshop.be/
https://www.produceshop.nl/
https://www.produceshop.at/
https://www.produceshopdesign.com/

By the end of 2020, the company will also be in https://www.produceshop.se and in https://www.produceshop.fi

 

ABOUT ARDIAN

Ardian is a world-leading private investment house with assets of US$96bn managed or advised in Europe, the Americas and Asia. The company is majority-owned by its employees. It keeps entrepreneurship at its heart and focuses on delivering excellent investment performance to its global investor base.
Through its commitment to shared outcomes for all stakeholders, Ardian’s activities fuel individual, corporate and economic growth around the world.
Holding close its core values of excellence, loyalty and entrepreneurship, Ardian maintains a truly global network, with more than 680 employees working from fifteen offices across Europe (Frankfurt, Jersey, London, Luxembourg, Madrid, Milan, Paris and Zurich), the Americas (New York, San Francisco and Santiago) and Asia (Beijing, Singapore, Tokyo and Seoul). It manages funds on behalf of around 1,000 clients through five pillars of investment expertise: Fund of Funds, Direct Funds, Infrastructure, Real Estate and Private Debt.

www.ardian.com

LIST OF PARTICIPANTS

Ardian Growth, Paris: Romain Chiudini, Bertrand Schapiro, Olivier Roy

M&A Advisor ProduceShop: Blue Circle Capital AG, Zug (Chiaretto Calò, Paolo Gramaglia)

Legal Advisor ProduceShop: Bernasconi, Martinelli, Alippi & Partners, Lugano (Fabio Alippi)

Legal Advisor Ardian: Giovannelli e Associati (Fabrizio Scaparro, Matteo Bruni, Paola Cairoli, Claudia Raimondi, Ferrante Fontana); Vischer (Gian Andrea Caprez, Christoph Niederer, Seraina Jenny-Tsering).

Financial Advisor Ardian: New Deal Advisors (Antonio Ficetti, Roxana Hanceanu)

Strategic Advisor Ardian: Digital Value (Arnaud de Baynast, Romain Bury)

PRESS CONTACTS

 

ARDIAN
Headland
VIKTOR TSVETANOV

Tel: +44 207 3435 7469
VTsvetanov@headlandconsultancy.co.uk

 

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Tower Arch Capital Completes Its Successful Investment in CTSI

Tower Arch

SALT LAKE CITY and CHANTILLY, Va., June 23, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — Tower Arch Capital LLC (“Tower Arch”) is pleased to announce that it has sold Corbett Technology Solutions, Inc. (“CTSI”) to an affiliate of Wind Point Partners (“Wind Point”).

CTSI is a leading communications solutions provider focused on identifying the specialized needs of its customers to deliver advanced technology solutions that produce positive business outcomes. CTSI designs, installs, and maintains complex audiovisual, sound, safety, healthcare, and education communications technology solutions for clients across multiple end-markets, including corporate, government, healthcare, education, senior living, multi-family residential, and houses of worship.

CTSI CEO Gino Ruta said, “Tower Arch has provided the strategic guidance, capital, and support we needed to continue to scale into a leading communications solutions provider across the mid-Atlantic. Since 2016, we have successfully worked together to grow our leadership team, capabilities, and geographic reach. We have been fortunate to expand CTSI’s scale significantly during our partnership with Tower Arch, and we look forward to continuing CTSI’s positive momentum with Wind Point.”

Ryan Stratton, a Partner at Tower Arch commented, “CTSI’s world class engineering and design capabilities are truly differentiated in the industry and have allowed CTSI to become the go-to provider for complex communications solutions. We have really enjoyed partnering with Gino Ruta and the entire CTSI organization.” Tower Arch Partner David Topham added, “CTSI is representative of Tower Arch’s focus on partnering with and growing family and founder-owned businesses to help them reach their next level of growth and success. We appreciate everything that CTSI’s founder, Chris Corbett, has put into building CTSI’s culture and customer-first focus since the company’s founding 50 years ago, and we are grateful that he trusted us to be stewards of his business. CTSI has found another great partner in Wind Point to continue its next chapter.”

Tower Arch was advised on the transaction by Cowen and Company, LLC, Kirkland & Ellis LLP, and RSM US LLP. The terms of the transaction are not being disclosed.

About Corbett Technology Solutions, Inc.
For over five decades, CTSI has been at the forefront of technology integration and innovation with critical communications, collaboration, audiovisual and security solutions for enterprise, government, healthcare and education customers. With an engineering-driven culture, CTSI delivers best-in-class solutions and services with highly trained, lean-certified user experience practitioners, programmers, technicians, engineers and customer care representatives. CTSI delivers unmatched design, installation, integration, and managed and subscription services that deliver high-quality, end-to-end results tailored to customers’ unique needs and challenges. For more information, please visit https://www.ctsi-usa.com.

About Tower Arch Capital
Headquartered in Salt Lake City, UT, Tower Arch Capital is a lower-middle market private equity fund. Tower Arch focuses on partnering with and growing high-quality family and entrepreneur-owned companies to deliver long-term value for their management teams and investors. Tower Arch brings operational, consulting, and financial expertise to small companies to give them the tools they need to achieve their full potential. Target investments include control positions in entrepreneur and family-owned businesses with revenue between $20 million and $150 million or EBITDA between $5 million and $25 million. For more information, please visit www.towerarch.com.

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Spineart, the fast-growing spinal devices company, welcomes EGS Beteiligungen AG which invests CHF 50 million of growth equity

GIMV

Spineart today announces that it secured a CHF 50 million investment from EGS, which thus becomes a cornerstone investor in the company next to the Management and Gimv, its largest shareholder. These proceeds will be used to implement strategic clinical studies, accelerate Spineart’s organic growth in key markets, seize selective acquisition opportunities and for continued development and launch of superior technologies.

The company was co-founded in 2005 by Jérome Levieux and Stéphane Mugnier-Jacob, who both have over 20 years’ experience in the spine industry and co-lead Spineart (www.spineart.com). Over the past 4 years, Spineart has doubled its sales to reach a worldwide turnover of EUR 66 million in 2019, doubled its staff (+200 employees), strengthened its leadership team, vertically integrated manufacturing operations and increased significantly its profitability.

“We’re very happy to welcome EGS in Spineart’s capital. This new milestone will allow Spineart to write a new chapter of its successful story, by accelerating our expansion in the United States, our first market with more than 40% growth in 2019, and by strengthening our challenger position in Europe. This acceleration will be driven by the release of Spineart’s R&D pipeline, composed of multiple innovative technologies already designed and approved, combined with enhanced market access in strategic markets worldwide” said Jérôme Levieux and Stéphane Mugnier-Jabob, co-founders and co-CEOs of Spineart.

Dominik Sauter, Managing Director at EGS Beteiligungen AG, comments: “We have been impressed by the accelerated growth of Spineart in the last couple of years. Their ability to develop and market new products will also be key for future success. We look forward to be part of the Spineart team and to work with the board and management to further create value for all stakeholders.”

Bart Diels, Managing Partner and Head of Health & Care at Gimv, adds: “Having two longer term oriented, strong financial investors on board, gives Spineart a very solid foundation to continue its successful international growth. Together with EGS, we look forward to further supporting Spineart’s management team in realizing its ambitious growth plans”.

Spineart is a fast-growing Swiss spine company focused on simplifying spinal surgery by designing, developing and promoting safe and efficient solutions to surgeons, operating room teams and patients. Spineart is a pioneer in its field, having introduced unique patented and clinically validated technologies of motion preservation, fusion, minimally invasive surgery and fractures treatment. Spineart markets a complete portfolio combining traceable barcoded sterile packed implants with compact instrument sets, thus promoting greater safety, cost-efficiency, and compliance at the hospital.

Read the full press release:

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Spineart, the fast-growing spinal devices company, welcomes EGS Beteiligungen AG which invests CHF 50 million of growth equity

GIMV

04/06/2020 – 07:30 | Portfolio

 

Spineart today announces that it secured a CHF 50 million investment from EGS, which thus becomes a cornerstone investor in the company next to the Management and Gimv, its largest shareholder. These proceeds will be used to implement strategic clinical studies, accelerate Spineart’s organic growth in key markets, seize selective acquisition opportunities and for continued development and launch of superior technologies.

The company was co-founded in 2005 by Jérome Levieux and Stéphane Mugnier-Jacob, who both have over 20 years’ experience in the spine industry and co-lead Spineart (www.spineart.com). Over the past 4 years, Spineart has doubled its sales to reach a worldwide turnover of EUR 66 million in 2019, doubled its staff (+200 employees), strengthened its leadership team, vertically integrated manufacturing operations and increased significantly its profitability.

“We’re very happy to welcome EGS in Spineart’s capital. This new milestone will allow Spineart to write a new chapter of its successful story, by accelerating our expansion in the United States, our first market with more than 40% growth in 2019, and by strengthening our challenger position in Europe. This acceleration will be driven by the release of Spineart’s R&D pipeline, composed of multiple innovative technologies already designed and approved, combined with enhanced market access in strategic markets worldwide” said Jérôme Levieux and Stéphane Mugnier-Jabob, co-founders and co-CEOs of Spineart.

Dominik Sauter, Managing Director at EGS Beteiligungen AG, comments: “We have been impressed by the accelerated growth of Spineart in the last couple of years. Their ability to develop and market new products will also be key for future success. We look forward to be part of the Spineart team and to work with the board and management to further create value for all stakeholders.”

Bart Diels, Managing Partner and Head of Health & Care at Gimv, adds: “Having two longer term oriented, strong financial investors on board, gives Spineart a very solid foundation to continue its successful international growth. Together with EGS, we look forward to further supporting Spineart’s management team in realizing its ambitious growth plans”.

Spineart is a fast-growing Swiss spine company focused on simplifying spinal surgery by designing, developing and promoting safe and efficient solutions to surgeons, operating room teams and patients. Spineart is a pioneer in its field, having introduced unique patented and clinically validated technologies of motion preservation, fusion, minimally invasive surgery and fractures treatment. Spineart markets a complete portfolio combining traceable barcoded sterile packed implants with compact instrument sets, thus promoting greater safety, cost-efficiency, and compliance at the hospital.

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Launch of Franche-China Coorporation Fund

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Eurazeo

BNP Paribas, China Investment Corporation (“CIC”) and Eurazeo are pleased to
announce the launch of the France-China Cooperation Fund with the first close
for 400m€. The Fund will be managed by Eurazeo.

The Fund is being established following plans previously announced in 2019, including a
memorandum of understanding and a subsequent letter of intent signed in the presence of
Presidents Xi Jinping and Emmanuel Macron. The Fund has now held a first close for a total
amount of €400m, underwritten entirely by the BNP Paribas Group, CIC and Eurazeo.
The Fund will seek to invest in French and Continental European companies aiming to open
new pathways for growth in China.

Target companies are expected to be in sectors with significant opportunity in China and where
Eurazeo has an established and strong track record, including advanced industrials, business
services, consumer goods and services, healthcare, and digital technology. The Fund is
actively seeking new investment opportunities alongside Eurazeo’s middle market buyout
strategies, Eurazeo Capital and Eurazeo PME.

The partnership will uniquely draw on the expertise of CIC, BNP Paribas and Eurazeo, namely:
• CIC’s support of the Fund’s investee companies in facilitating their entry into and
development within China;
• BNP Paribas’ deep expertise, local presence and extensive networks of contacts in
France and in Europe;
• Eurazeo’s private equity expertise and recognized ability to grow businesses
internationally, particularly through its local presence in China since 2013.
The initial partners may commit up to an additional €250m to the fund, within a limit of 25% of
the Fund for each of BNP Paribas and CIC. Additional capital may be also raised from third
parties.

Press contacts
BNP Paribas
Sandrine Romano – sandrine.romano@bnpparibas.com – +33 (0)6 71 18 23 05
CIC
Yan Wang – pr@china-inv.cn – +86 (10) 8409 6277
Eurazeo
Havas Paris – Maël Evin – mael.evin@havas.com – +33 (0)6 44 12 14 91

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Global investors buy into record Ardian $19 billion secodaries platform for greater liquidity

Ardian

Ardian’s eight generation world’s largest secondaries platform signals continuing maturity of the market. Secondaries market offers necessary liquidity to investors amid global COVID-19 pandemic.

London/New York June 2nd, 2020. Ardian, a world leading private investment house, today announced that its eighth-generation secondaries platform has attracted $19 billion of commitments from investors globally. The programme, which includes $5 billion of co-investment interests, significantly exceeds the $14 billion raised for Ardian’s seventh generation platform in 2016.

The fundraise highlights how the secondaries market has matured to become an important source of liquidity for investors, including insurance companies, pension funds and family offices, as they look to re-balance private equity portfolios and seek yield opportunities for savers amid the global COVID-19 pandemic.

Ardian has been a pioneer in the development of the global market for the past 20 years. The current fundraise confirms its leadership position.

The Ardian platform attracted 275 investors from nearly 40 countries across the Americas, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East, illustrating the resilience and continued attractiveness of the asset class. Investors comprise major pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, insurance companies, HNWIs and financial institutions.

There was particularly strong growth among Asian, Latin American and Middle Eastern investors, reflecting Ardian’s increasingly diversified and international client base, and strong relationships across the globe. Ardian’s Fund of Funds platform, which covers both primary and secondary fund of funds, now has $53 billion in assets under management, with an exposure to more than 10,000 portfolio companies through 1,600 underlying funds.

Vincent Gombault, Member of the Executive Committee and Head of Ardian Fund of Funds, said: “In the current environment, the secondaries market has a crucial role to play in providing institutional investors with liquidity. It is a vital tool for pension funds and investors in how they allocate investments in private equity.

“While this is another significant milestone in the growth of our Fund of Funds platform, more important is how it highlights the continued development of the secondaries market. It is now a mature market which will only grow in importance for private equity investors in the years to come.”

Benoît Verbrugghe, Member of the Executive Committee and Head of Ardian US, added: “Our latest fundraise is testament to the strength and depth of our global platform, our excellent asset management capabilities, long-term relationships and the consistent returns that we have offered our investors. Over more than two decades, we have built a vast database of funds and underlying portfolio companies, which gives us a unique insight into the private equity sector. Ardian is well placed to take advantage of the secondary market’s increasingly important role in global finance.”

Olivier Decannière, Member of the Executive Committee and Head of Ardian UK, commented: “This clearly demonstrates the confidence in Ardian and the secondaries platform that we have grown and developed over the years. Our ability to offer our investors diversified private equity exposure underpinned by strong returns is more relevant and compelling now than it ever has been.”

ABOUT ARDIAN

Ardian is a world-leading private investment house with assets of US$96bn managed or advised in Europe, the Americas and Asia. The company is majority-owned by its employees. It keeps entrepreneurship at its heart and focuses on delivering excellent investment performance to its global investor base. Through its commitment to shared outcomes for all stakeholders, Ardian’s activities fuel individual, corporate and economic growth around the world.

Holding close its core values of excellence, loyalty and entrepreneurship, Ardian maintains a truly global network, with more than 680 employees working from fifteen offices across Europe (Frankfurt, Jersey, London, Luxembourg, Madrid, Milan, Paris and Zurich), the Americas (New York, San Francisco and Santiago) and Asia (Beijing, Singapore, Tokyo and Seoul). It manages funds on behalf of around 1,000 clients through five pillars of investment expertise: Fund of Funds, Direct Funds, Infrastructure, Real Estate and Private Debt.

PRESS CONTACTS

HEADLAND
TOM JAMES
TJames@headlandconsultancy.com
Tel: +44 (0)78 1859 4991

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IK Investment Partners raises €2.85 billion for its ninth Mid Cap fund

ik-investment-partners

IK Investment Partners (“IK” or “the Firm”), a leading Pan-European private equity firm, is pleased to announce that it has closed its ninth Mid Cap fund, the IK IX Fund (“the Fund”), having reached its hard cap of €2.85 billion. IK’s previous Mid Cap fund, IK VIII, raised €1.85 billion in 2016.

The fundraise attracted significant interest from a high-quality institutional investor base across Europe (60%), North America (30%), Asia (7%) and South America (3%), with over a third of the money raised coming from new limited partners investing in IK funds for the first time.

Reflecting the operational strength of the Firm and its local market footprint with seven offices across Europe, the Fund will continue to invest across its core markets of the Nordics, the DACH region, France and the Benelux. The successful strategy of supporting growing and resilient Mid Cap businesses in the Business Services, Consumer / Food, Engineered Products and Healthcare sectors remains in place.

Christopher Masek, IK CEO, said: “We are grateful for the confidence of our investors in our active approach to transforming European mid-market companies through international reach and sharpened operational capacities. We are confident that the IK IX Fund is well positioned to leverage the strengths and experience acquired over 30 years in this new environment of change and opportunity.”

Mads Ryum Larsen, Head of IR and a Managing Partner, said:
“We are delighted to welcome both new and existing investors to IK IX, our largest ever fund. With our expanded team and on-the-ground expertise in all the markets we operate, we have never been better placed to seek out opportunities and support attractive businesses across Europe.”

Kirkland & Ellis LLP acted as the legal counsel to the Fund.

This press release is not an offer of securities for sale in the United States or any other jurisdiction and interests in the Fund may not be offered or sold in the United States or any other jurisdictions save in accordance with applicable law.

For further questions, please contact:

IK Investment Partners
Mikaela Murekian
Director Communications & ESG
Phone: +44 77 87 573 566
mikaela.murekian@ikinvest.com

About IK Investment Partners
IK Investment Partners (“IK”) is a Pan-European private equity firm focused on investments in the Nordics, DACH region, France, Benelux, and the UK. Since 1989, IK has nearly €13 billion of capital and invested in over 130 European companies. Across its strategies, IK funds support companies with strong underlying potential, partnering with management teams and investors to create robust, well-positioned businesses with excellent long-term prospects. For more information, visit www.ikinvest.com

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