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AAC and management acquire Verasol from Committed Capital and founders

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The management of Verasol Holding B.V. ( “Verasol” ) and AAC Capital ( “AAC” ) today announced the acquisition of Verasol from Committed Capital. Verasol is a successful and fast growing manufacturer of residential verandas, garden rooms and carports in the Netherlands and Germany, with the ambition to become the leading European brand in residential outdoor living. With AAC as a new partner, management of Verasol look forward to accelerate its growth by leveraging on AAC’s extensive experience in brand development and roll-out strategies. The management team of Verasol, led by CEO Cor den Hartogh, will invest alongside AAC.

Verasol develops and produces made-to-order aluminium verandas, garden rooms, window frames, glass sliding systems, carports and accessories under the Verasol brand. The company was founded in 2001 with headquarters in Helmond (The Netherlands) and operates a state-of-art production facility and distribution centre in Wachtendonk (Germany). Over the last years, sales grew double digit supported by the consumer trend to spend more time outside and extend the outdoor season, through extending residential outdoor living space with high comfort levels. The company realizes EUR 25 million in sales and employs ca. 110 employees. Verasol’s distinguishes itself by a complete range of high quality products and related service, at attractive prices. Custom-fit finished products are delivered through selected dealers and own stores, primarily in the Netherlands and Germany.

This is the fifth platform acquisition for AAC’s Benelux focused Fund and fits AAC’s strategy to invest in companies with strong international growth potential.

Cor den Hartogh, CEO Verasol, says:

“Together with Committed Capital and the founder Mr. B. Verhoeven we have successfully expanded our product range and set up a new production facility. AAC’s investment is a validation of the course we have embarked on. In AAC we find a like-minded partner, who shares our ambition for strengthening the Verasol brand and accelerating international growth both in own stores and the dealer network. We have the ambition to become the leading brand in residential outdoor living in selected European countries including the Netherlands, Germany, France, Belgium and the UK. ”

Marc Staal, Chairman at AAC, says:

“We are very excited to have the opportunity to invest in Verasol alongside management. Cor den Hartogh and his team have built a solid business with a broad product portfolio of quality products, lean business processes and dual distribution strategy. We look forward to working with them and using our network and expertise to support the company in its next growth phase”

Albert van der Wal, Partner Committed Capital, says:

“During our investment period we have replaced the founder of Verasol by a new management team. Together with this team we implemented the dual distribution strategy, expanded to Germany, Belgium and France and set up the own production facilities in Germany. This all led to a strong growth of the business. We thank the management team of Verasol for the fruitful and pleasant cooperation and wish Verasol all the best with the new shareholder and the continued growth ambitions.”

Notes to Editors

About Verasol Holding B.V.

Verasol was founded by in 2001 and has grown to become a quality brand for outdoor living. Verasol produces 6.500 garden rooms on an annual basis and employs ca. 110 employees. The company sells a wide range of products in the Netherlands, Germany, France and Belgium through its own store network, selected dealers and distributors.

www.verasol.nl

 

About AAC Capital

With offices in Amsterdam and Antwerp, AAC is a leading Benelux mid-market buy-out firm, which has to-date completed 31 management buyouts. It targets opportunities for majority stakes in profitable, cash-generative companies headquartered in the Benelux. AAC’s deal size is typically between €10 and €150 million, and it is currently investing from its third, Benelux focussed fund. AAC is a growth-oriented investor, with such companies in its portfolio as Desotec, Corilus, Lubbers Transport Group and Hobré Instruments.

www.aaccapital.com

 

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Unison Capital acquires DINAMIX

Unison Capital

It is with great pleasure to announce that on June 1, 2017, Unison Capital Partners IV, LPS and Unison Capital Partners IV(F), L.P. (collectively, “Unison”) have acquired DINAMIX Co., Ltd. (“DINAMIX”).

DINAMIX operates 105 izakayas (Japanese-style bar and restaurant) under some 30 brands, mainly in bustling shopping and entertainment districts. Within the izakaya industry, characterized by a shrinking market due to demographic changes and intensifying competition, DINAMIX has achieved robust growth offering great value for money to customers.

In collaboration with the founder of the business, Unison aims to accelerate the growth of the unique multibrand restaurant operator by offering management resources and capital.

Unison Capital, Inc

Contact
Please direct all inquiries concerning this matter to:
Public Relations
Tel: +81-3-3511-3900

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Ferd invests in fast-growing e-commerce company Boozt

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Ferd has taken a new stake in e-commerce. Boozt AB has today completed an initial public offering (IPO) of its shares on Nasdaq Stockholm. Ferd participated in Boozt’s IPO as a cornerstone investor, which means that prior to the IPO process Ferd guaranteed it would subscribe for SEK 200 million. As a result of this investment commitment Ferd now has a 5.8% ownership interest in the company. This is the first time Ferd has participated as a cornerstone investor in an IPO.

Boozt is a leading and fast-growing Nordic e-tailer that sells fashionable clothes online. The company offers its customers a wide range of well-known brands in the mid to premium segment through Boozt.com, an online-based multi-brand store. Well-known brands include Ralph Lauren, Gant, Eton, Ganni etc.

Boozt has a strong position in the online apparel market. The company’s online store has up to five million visits every month and over 860,000 active customers. Boozt.com is aimed at Nordic customers, primarily fashion-conscious women and men aged 25 – 54. Its customers value a convenient shopping experience combined with a high level of customer service, including a consistent user experience across digital platforms, short delivery times and easy returns.

The company’s headquarters is located in Malmö in Sweden, and at the start of 2017 it had 193 employees from 25 countries. The company’s in-house developed IT platform enables the company to manage the customer experience optimally. Handling and distribution is carried out at the automated AutoStore warehouse in Ängelholm with the assistance of 130 AutoStore robots, which enables the company to offer next-day delivery across most of the Nordic region.

Boozt has achieved strong historical growth of approximately 70 % CAGR over the last two years (2014-2016), and generated a positive operating profit in 2016.

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Partners Group invests in Green Tea Restaurant, a leading casual dining restaurant group in China

Partners Group, the global private markets investment manager, has acquired a substantial minority stake in Green Tea Restaurant (“the Company”), a leading Chinese casual dining restaurant chain, on behalf of its clients. The founders continue to hold the remainder of the equity, in order to support the restaurant chain in the next phase of its growth.

Founded in 2008 with the opening of a single restaurant in Hangzhou, Green Tea Restaurant is today one of the best-known casual dining brands in China. The Company has built a chain of 78 wholly-owned restaurants across 19 cities, mainly in shopping malls. Green Tea, the Company’s main brand, serves Chinese fusion cuisine in a traditional dining environment, while Play King, launched in January 2016, serves a more casual Western menu in a youthful, modern setting. The Company employs over 4,500 people and serves around 15 million customers annually.

Partners Group will draw on its long track record of investment in the food and restaurant sectors globally to support the continued rollout of the Green Tea Restaurant brands in China alongside the Company’s management team and its founders. Post-investment value creation initiatives will include projects aimed at enhancing the Company’s marketing strategy and corporate governance framework, as well as optimizing site selection for new restaurants, with help from Partners Group’s Industry Value Creation and Real Estate teams.

Qinsong Wang and Changmei Lu, the Co-Founders of Green Tea Restaurant, state: “Since its inception, Green Tea Restaurant has operated as a family business and we are extremely proud of the rapid growth it has achieved. To keep pace with this growth, we recognize the need to further institutionalize our business and are very pleased to be welcoming Partners Group as a partner into our business. We have been impressed by the firm’s proven track record in the sector and believe our combined experience will allow Green Tea Restaurant to carry out its ambitious expansion plans.”

Following the transaction, Tim Pihl Johannessen, a Managing Director in Partners Group’s Industry Value Creation team, and Sheng Liu, a Senior Vice President in Partners Group’s Private Equity Asia team, will join the Board of Directors at Green Tea Restaurant.

Sheng Liu comments: “Green Tea Restaurant is a well-established brand in a resilient sector supported by a highly experienced team. The Company’s fast roll-out has been supported by secular trends, such as increasing disposable income and urbanization, as well as by the growing number of shopping malls in China and the expansion of the casual dining sector, which is seen as offering value-for-money dining experiences. We look forward to working with the founders and their team to further tap into this attractive growth market.”

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DIF acquires 125 MW solar project in Australia

Sydney, 30 May 2017 – DIF Infrastructure IV is pleased to announce the acquisition of 100% of the 125 MW Clare Solar PV project from Fotowatio Renewable Ventures (FRV), via a 50 – 50 joint venture with Lighthouse Infrastructure.

Developed by FRV, the Clare Solar Farm is located around 35 km south-west of Ayr in Northern Queensland. The 125MW (DC) photovoltaic solar farm is currently under construction and is scheduled to commence operations in late 2017. The project will create up to 200 jobs during construction and when completed will generate enough electricity to power approximately 42,000 Queensland homes, abating nearly 200,000 tonnes of CO2e emissions annually.

Origin Energy, a major Australian energy company, has entered into a long-term contract to purchase 100% of the electricity output and large-scale renewable energy certificates (LGCs) generated by the project.

Project finance has been provided to the project by NAB and SMBC.

RBC Capital Markets and Société Générale were financial advisers to Lighthouse and DIF in relation to the acquisition and King Wood Mallesons acted as legal adviser.

Marko Kremer, DIF’s Head of Australasia added: “This acquisition represents DIF’s third large scale solar PV project in Australia, and we are delighted to further extend our relationship with FRV following the acquisition of the Royalla Solar Farm in 2016”.

DIF Profile

DIF is an independent and specialist fund management company, managing funds of approximately €3.7 billion. DIF invests in infrastructure assets that generate long term stable cash flows, including PPP / PFI / P3, regulated infrastructure assets and renewable energy projects in Europe, North America and Australia. DIF has offices in Amsterdam, Frankfurt, London, Paris, Luxembourg, Madrid, Toronto and Sydney.

For more information, please contact:

Christopher Mansfield, Partner, Head of Renewable Energy
Email: c.mansfield@dif.eu

Allard Ruijs, Partner, Head of Investor Relations & Business Development
Email: a.ruijs@dif.eu

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Ard Group and Verdane partner to develop Mustad globally

Ard Group

Verdane Capital IX invests in Norwegian investment company Ard Group’s portfolio, including O. Mustad & Søn AS, a world leading producer of fishing hooks and fishing related accessories.

Ard Group and Verdane aim to jointly develop the portfolio’s strong companies, and through the transaction, Verdane Capital IX becomes the majority owner in Ard Group portfolio companies O. Mustad & Søn AS and Sunkost AS.

For Mustad, a Norwegian company with roots dating back to the 19th century, the investment marks the next phase of development. John Are Lindstad, with a background from Fenix Outdoor Group/Fjällräven, was appointed CEO of Mustad in April.

Lindstad said: “Mustad is a company with an inspiring history and a 140-year tradition. I am very enthusiastic about leading this great team and company to the next level, with expansion built around Mustad’s globally strong brand.”

As a global leader in fishing hooks, Mustad produces over 1.5 billion hooks per year for recreational and commercial use. The company has 460 employees, and revenues of Nkr 312m in 2016.

Børre Nordheim-Larsen, CEO of Ard Group, added: “I am very pleased to have Verdane on board as the new co-owner. The experience, network and track-record of Verdane is exactly the right match for Mustad and Ard Group. As a new owner and partner Verdane will be instrumental in taking our companies to the next level.”

Arne Handeland, Partner at Verdane Capital Advisors said: “Through the efforts of the employees of Mustad, and owner Ard Group, Mustad has positioned itself with a strong brand-name and considerable possibilities to grow internationally. We are very excited to have the opportunity to play a part in unlocking that potential.”

About Ard Group
Ard Group is a privately-owned investment company with roots going back to 1946. In the last ten years, the company has been geared towards becoming a family office/industrial investment company. Ard Group is owned by a Norwegian private individual, Børre Nordheim-Larsen. More information about Ard Group is available at: www.ardgroup.no

About Verdane
Verdane funds provide flexible growth capital to fast growing software, consumer internet, energy or high-technology industry businesses. The funds are distinctive in that they can invest both in single companies, and portfolios of companies. Verdane funds have €900m under management and have invested in over 300 holdings over the past 14 years. Verdane Capital Advisors has 25 employees working out of offices in Oslo, Stockholm, and Helsinki. More information can be found at: www.verdanecapital.com.

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Swander Pace Capital Sells Kicking Horse Coffee to Lavazza

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Swander Pace Capital Sells Kicking Horse Coffee to Lavazza

Bedminster, NJ (May 24, 2017) – Swander Pace Capital, a leading private equity firm specializing in consumer products companies, has sold Kicking Horse Coffee, Ltd., the #1 organic and fair trade coffee roaster in Canada, to Luigi Lavazza S.p.A. in a transaction valuing the company at C$215 million.  The firm partnered with Co-Founder Elana Rosenfeld in 2012 and made the investment through its Branch Brook Holdings partnership with Jefferson Capital Partners and United Natural Foods, Inc.

During the last five years, Kicking Horse Coffee achieved industry-leading growth across North America and benefited from material investments in its business, particularly sales, marketing, and operations infrastructure.  Consumers in North America continue to seek a better coffee experience, and Kicking Horse Coffee has consistently delivered one for over twenty years, priding itself on offering an exceptional cup of coffee that can be brewed in one’s own home.

“Swander Pace and the rest of the Branch Brook team were the perfect partners for me when I sought help and wanted to grow my business beyond Western Canada.  I was not willing to sacrifice our values, culture, and uncompromising product quality standards,” said Elana Rosenfeld, Co-Founder and CEO of Kicking Horse Coffee. “The expertise they brought to the table was real, introduced in a respectful way, and truly helped us grow.  They also repeatedly demonstrated their integrity and approach to partnership.”

“It has been an absolute privilege to work with Elana, the team, and this incredible brand as we expanded its footprint in stores across North America.  The brand’s success and growth momentum in North America speaks for itself,” added Rob DesMarais, managing director at Swander Pace Capital. “We are now excited to watch the company thrive as it enters this new chapter with Lavazza.”

Linda Boardman, President of Branch Brook Holdings, added further, “We are genuinely pleased by this outcome with Kicking Horse Coffee as it has been a real pleasure to work with such a passionate and committed group of people.  This milestone demonstrates the breadth of resources that our team can bring to the table to capitalize on a company’s strong foundation, accelerate its growth, and create a truly sustainable market position, all while preserving the brand’s quality commitment.”

About Swander Pace Capital 

Swander Pace Capital (SPC) is a private equity firm that invests in companies that are integral to
consumers’ lives. SPC’s consumer industry expertise informs the firm’s strategic approach and
adds value through access to its proven SPC Playbook, senior team, and extensive network. The firm partners with management teams to help build companies to their full potential. SPC invests in businesses across three domains of consumer lifestyles: Food & Beverage, Body & Wellness, and Home & Family. With offices in San Francisco, New Jersey, and Toronto, SPC has invested in more than 45 companies and raised cumulative equity commitments of approximately $1.8 billion since 1996. For more information, visit www.spcap.com.

About Branch Brook

Branch Brook Holdings, LLC represents a strategic partnership formed in early 2012 between Swander Pace Capital, Jefferson Capital Partners, and United Natural Foods, Inc. to make investments in organic, natural, and specialty consumer product companies.  Branch Brook works closely with the owners, founders, and management teams of its companies to provide the capital, resources, distribution support, and strategic guidance they need for its businesses to grow.  Kicking Horse Coffee was the first investment made by Branch Brook.  Subsequently, Branch Brook has made investments in Oregon Ice Cream, which owns the two leading organic ice cream brands in the US (Alden’s and Julie’s), and Reliance, which owns PlantFusion, a leading plant-based protein powder and beverage brand in the natural channel.  Branch Brook represents an extension of Swander Pace Capital and has full access to all of these resources.  For more information, please visit www.branchbrookllc.com.

About Kicking Horse Coffee

Kicking Horse Coffee, Ltd. is based in Invermere, British Columbia (Canada) and celebrated its 20 year anniversary as a company in 2016.  Kicking Horse Coffee remains a pioneer of whole bean and fair trade coffee in Canada and is best known for its distinctive coffee blends and unique brand personality.  The Company was recently named the #10 Best Place to Work in Canada.  For more information, visit www.KickingHorseCoffee.com.

 

 

Media Contact:

Jeff Segvich

LANE, a Finn Partners Company (on behalf of Swander Pace Capital)

Phone: 503.546.7870

jeff.segvich@finnpartners.com

 

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InVivo Group to acquire Baarsma Wine Group

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Paris, Huizen – 23 May 2017. French agricultural cooperative group InVivo Group (www.invivo-group.com) intends to buy a 100% share in the Dutch-based Baarsma Wine Group (www.baarsma.com). The company has reached an agreement to this effect with Baarsma Wine Group’s current shareholders, private equity firm AAC Capital Partners, and the management. Over the next few years, InVivo Group wishes to grow its international wine activities both autonomously and through acquisitions. The intended acquisition will be submitted for approval by the Competition authority. Neither company is disclosing financial details of the transaction.

InVivo Group, with an annual turnover of €6.4 billion and 9,200 employees, has a presence in 31 countries across the globe. Its activities are concentrated within four divisions: Agriculture, Animal Nutrition and Health, Retail and Wine. The wine division, InVivo Wine, already has stakes in various French wine companies and commercial activities in Asia and North America. Representing an annual turnover of approximately €348 million, the focus is on the production and bottling of wines and the market representation of over 23 cooperatives (3500 wine makers). Vinadeis (www.vinadeis.fr), as part to its wine division, has bottling and packaging facilities for wines that, under various brand names, mainly reach the French domestic market. Cordier is developing an outstanding range from Bordeaux with a modern approach and Mestrezat is specialised in Grands Crus wines.

The Dutch-based Baarsma Wine Group is a European leader in wine imports and distribution. The group has an annual revenue of approximately €210 million, 250 fulltime employees and is active in the Netherlands, Belgium, the UK, Switzerland and South Africa. The strength of the company lies in marketing wines nationally and internationally to retail, the hospitality and foodservice sector, specialist stores and in some countries directly to consumers. The product portfolio includes wines of internationally renowned and successful wineries, own brands and private label wines for supermarkets and foodservice companies. In addition to sourcing, distribution, sales and marketing, Baarsma Wine Group also runs its own bottling facility in Zaandam, the Netherlands, and produces and bottles some of its wines in Switzerland and South Africa.

Commenting on the intended acquisition, Mr Bertrand Girard, Managing Director of InVivo Wine, said: ‘InVivo Wine’s strategy is to accelerate its development internationally so as to build access to markets and create added value for the wine industry from grapes to consumers. Baarsma will be a key distribution platform for InVivo Wine in Europe and will perfectly complement existing footholds and those currently in development within the group, especially in Asia and North America. With Baarsma, 80% of InVivo Wine’s current operations will be international, aiming to achieve a turnover of 500 million euros by 2020 on the international scene.’

Mr Cees de Rade, Managing Director of Baarsma Wine Group, looks forward to working with the new shareholder: ‘This acquisition is good news for our people in the first place. We think that Baarsma Wine Group stands to benefit from bringing on board a strategic shareholder who shares our international ambitions. InVivo Wine and Baarsma Wine Group complement each other well in the wine supply chain. Our joint growth plans are very ambitious. However, with our existing suppliers and customers it will mostly be business as usual.’

InVivo Wine and Baarsma Wine Group , subsidiaries included, will continue to operate autonomously and under their own names. There will not be an organisational merger. In the years to come, the expansion outside of France will be driven mainly from the Netherlands, with a leading role for the management of Baarsma Wine Group. Mr Cees de Rade (CEO) and Mr Ed van der Sluijs (CFO), will also become members of InVivo Wine’s Executive Committee, chaired by Bertrand Girard.

Both companies expect to complete the acquisition by early summer.

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Note to the editors:

For further information, please contact:

Baarsma Wine Group                                                        Creative Venue PR

Mr. Cees de Rade – CEO                                                     Mr Frank Witte, spokesperson

holding@baarsma.com                                                       f,witte@creativevenue,nl

Tel. +31 (0) 35 626 1270                                                    Tel. +31 20 4525225

www.baarsmawinegroup.com

 

About Baarsma Wine Group

Baarsma Wine Group is a leading distributor of quality wines, active in the Netherlands, Belgium, the UK, Switzerland and South Africa. Established some 30 years ago in the Netherlands, Baarsma Wine Group has evolved into one of the main players in the European wine market, with a turnover approaching 210 million Euros and over 250 full time employees.

Baarsma Wine Group’s strength lies in marketing wines internationally to retail, out-of-home, the hospitality and foodservice sector, specialty stores and in some countries directly to consumers. The product portfolio includes wines of internationally renowned and successful wineries, Baarsma’s own brands and private label wines for supermarkets and foodservice companies. Further reading: www.baarsma.com

About InVivo Wine

InVivo Wine was launched in June 2015, as the fourth hub of InVivo, the leading French agricultural cooperative group. It consists of a group of partners, investors and contributors, the first of which were the 1st French winery cooperative, Vinadeis (€308 million turnover), the Bordeaux firms of Cordier and Mestrezat Grands Crus (€40 million turnover) and 23 members of cooperatives (3500 wine-makers) covering a wine-producing area of 25,000 hectares. The area includes the Bordeaux District, South-western France, Languedoc and Roussillon, the Rhône Valley and Beaujolais, representing the finest production of more than 1.3 million hectolitres of wine. The division’s main objective consists of building a unique global world-wide wine distributor with wine from all most renown origins in top wine consuming countries.

About InVivo

The InVivo group comprises 220 cooperatives bringing together over 300,000 farmers. The Group employs 9,200 people in 31 countries and works in four main activities: Agriculture (seeds, agricultural supplies, international grain trading), Animal Nutrition and Health, Retail, and Wine. It reported revenue of €6.4 billion in FY 2015-2016.

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Summa Equity builds platform for big-data enabled businesses

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Summa Equity establishes Summa Digital – a platform for big data enabled businesses with ground breaking technologies within their respective field. The platform holds three businesses that Summa Equity has added to its portfolio. 

Summa Equity has invested in Swedish IVBAR Institute AB, Norwegian Documaster AS and UK-based Qlearsite Ltd. All three companies are early actors with leading solutions within different areas of big data solutions.

Christian Melby, Partner at Summa Equity said: “The field of data analytics is growing exponentially. Niche markets are developing solutions tailored to the specific needs of businesses and organisations. IVBAR, Documaster and Qlearsite are all pioneers within their respective fields and have succeeded in developing technically sophisticated solutions with strong value propositions for users. We have closely followed the companies’ rapid market traction, the positive feedback received from customers and how the products have proven to be very solid.”

Summa Equity is focused on helping Summa Digital companies in their next phase of development, with funding and support to scale up the businesses for broader roll-out and growth acceleration.

Tommi Unkuri, Partner at Summa Equity, said: “The joint big data platform creates good conditions for synergies in for example go-to-market and development processes. These will be important growth enablers and accelerators.”

IVBAR is a Swedish digital health company that has developed a big data analytics platform, ERA Vision, that enables improved management of healthcare through a focus on patient value. The platform improves transparency and provides unique levels of insight into both health outcomes and resource allocation, and is useful for both payors and providers of healthcare. IVBAR’s solutions have been developed in collaboration with both public and private partners, and the company has succeeded in consolidating vast amounts of highly fragmented healthcare data, enabling a level of insight previously unseen in the system. ERA Vision is used for advanced benchmarking, performance monitoring and calculation of reimbursement.

Tommi Unkuri, continued: “IVBAR addresses fundamentally important topics in the healthcare sector and we believe that IVBAR will have a strong positive contribution to its customers and to patients. IVBAR’s solutions are highly scalable across countries, and the underlying challenges are similar in all healthcare systems. IVBAR has a unique position to provide solutions, based on close collaborations with public health providers in Sweden, its in-depth knowledge of the healthcare system, and a unique digital platform.”

Documaster is a Norwegian digital record management company with core competence on digitization, information management and cloud-based archiving of valuable data. The company has developed a unique technology that addresses an increasing need for efficient and compliant archiving, driven by the rapid growth in digital documentation as well as an increased regulatory focus on record management. The solutions enable organisations to capture, process and preserve data in one single application, where it can easily and instantly be accessed through user-friendly retrieval and search functionality, whilst catering to relevant compliance requirements. The company offers a system agnostic archiving core that is compliant with EU and local regulations.

Christian Melby, said: “Digital documentation is growing at an exponential rate and is rapidly phasing out physical documentation, leaving companies with out-dated, underperforming systems for record management. This is a growing headache for companies and institutions worldwide, and put them at risk of failure to meet regulatory standards. With Documaster’s solutions, organisations are able to regain control of their data. Documaster’s impressive technologies help customers to decommission legacy systems, digitalize paper documents, and gather all records into one application that is user friendly and quick to implement.”

Qlearsite is an early actor in the rapidly growing field of people analytics for human resource management, based in the United Kingdom. The company has developed a technology that is specifically designed to analyse and make predictions about the behaviour of people in a workforce, using both structured and unstructured data. The product suite ranges across data connection and reporting, predictive analysis, and survey analytics, to create a complete toolbox for impactful analysis. The company defines their approach as Organisational Science, using intelligent analytics technologies with data generated by employees to enable corporations to understand the culture within their organisation and get important insights about how to get the best out of their talent base.

Christian Melby continued: “Hiring the right people and making them thrive is a key value driver and crucial for the performance of any business. Companies worldwide are becoming increasingly aware of this strong connection between commercial success and proper management of employees, and thereby the value potential in being able to perform proper analysis on HR data. Qlearsite is at the forefront of this movement with their Organisational Science approach, helping companies to get a deep understanding of what influences their organisation, its people and how to improve performance. Their state of the art solution allows users to perform complete analysis that answers the questions of what, who and why and to make the right priorities in creating stronger organisations, thereby gaining competitive advantages and avoiding unnecessary costs.”

Ends

For more information, please contact:

Christian Melby, Partner, Summa Equity, +47 (0)958 13 277, christian.melby@summaequity.com

Tommi Unkuri, Partner, Summa Equity, +46 (0)70 508 1196, tommi.unkuri@summaequity.com

Jonas Wohlin, IVBAR, +46 (0)708 55 37 00, jonas.wohlin@ivbar.com

Pål Reinert Bredvei, CEO, Documaster, +47 (0)91 10 28 68, prb@documaster.no

Peter Clark, Founder, Qlearsite, +44 (0)77 8866 5434, peter.clark@qlearsite.com

Alex Borekull, Founder, Qlearsite, +44 (0)78 8779 1645, alex.borekull@qlearsite.com 

About Summa Equity

Summa Equity was formed in 2016 by partners with a shared vision of building a leading specialised private equity firm in the Nordic lower mid-market, positioned to capture the investment opportunity provided by the thematic megatrends expected to drive growth over the long term. The Firm focuses on sectors related to four megatrend driven themes: resource scarcity, energy efficiency, changing demographics and tech-enabled businesses. Summa Equity closed its first fund in February 2017 with commitments of SEK 4.5 billion.

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Ratos AB: Ratos divests Nebula to Telia Company

Ratos

Ratos has signed an agreement to divest all of its shares in its subsidiary Nebula – Finland’s leading provider of cloud services to small and medium-sized companies – to Telia Company for EUR 165m (enterprise value). The divestment generates a net exit gain of approximately SEK 500m, an average annual return (IRR) of approximately 37% and a money multiple of 3.3x.

Nebula is a market leading provider of cloud services, managed services, and network services to small and medium-sized enterprises in the Finnish market. The company has approximately 44,000 customers, 90% subscription-based recurring revenue, and industry-leading profitability.

During Ratos’s four years as an active owner of Nebula the company has implemented a number of value-generating strategic initiatives. Two synergistic add-on acquisitions have reinforced its market-leading position among Finnish SMEs. Investments have been made in the company’s product development and its sales & marketing capabilities. The customer base has grown by more than 30% during Ratos’s ownership and the number of employees from 110 to 145. The annual growth rate has been approximately 12%*) since the acquisition in 2013, with sales amounting to EUR 35.2m and an EBITA of EUR 10.6m per rolling 12 months as of 31 March 2017.

“Together with Nebula’s management and our co-investors Rite Ventures, we have focused on continued growth and profitability. Through strategic measures and added resources, we have strengthened the company’s market position. Improved customer offerings have secured strong customer relationships and high customer satisfaction. Nebula is a well-run company positioned for further growth. Following our discussions with Telia Company, which is a logical buyer, we have arrived at a purchase price that takes Nebula’s position and prospects into account. On this basis, we have agreed to sell and believe the time is right to hand over to a new owner. We are convinced that Nebula and Telia Company complement each other well and can benefit from each other’s respective strengths,” says Johan Rydmark, Investment Director at Ratos.

The selling price for 100% of the shares (equity value) amounts to EUR 110m and the enterprise value to EUR 165m. Ratos’s share of the equity value is approximately EUR 78m and the net exit gain totals approximately SEK 500m, calculated on the book value of Ratos’s holding in Nebula at 31 March 2017. Average annual return (IRR) amounts to approximately 37%. Ratos’s holding in Nebula is 73%. The transaction is expected to be completed during the third quarter and is subject to customary merger control filings.

*) The annual growth rate includes the acquisition of Sigmatic.

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