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Investor has increased its ownership in Electrolux, intends to convert A-shares to B-shares

Investor

2018-10-30 17:41

Today, Investor AB has purchased additional B-shares in Electrolux AB. Following these purchases, Investor holds 7,420,771 A-shares and 41,779,039 B-shares in Electrolux.

Thereby, Investor has achieved an ownership exceeding 30 percent of the votes based on the registered number of shares in Electrolux.

Investor intends to, within four weeks, utilize the right to convert A-shares into B-shares, after which Investor’s share of the votes in Electrolux will once again be below 30 percent.

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Gimv enters into exclusivity with Cerea Capital II to become majority shareholder of La Comtoise alongside the company’s Chairman and founder

GIMV

 

Gimv will acquire a majority interest in La Comtoise, alongside Michel Vanhove and the management team, to support the company in its growth and international expansion

Antwerp (BE) / Louhans and Paris (FR), 30 October 2018, 7:30am – Created in 1994 in Louhans (Saône-et-Loire) by Michel Vanhove, La Comtoise develops and supplies tailor-made cheese solutions to industrial food processing groups, which are integrated into prepared foods such as breaded escalopes (cordons bleus), grilled ham and cheese sandwiches (croque-monsieur), sandwiches and hamburgers. Backed by Cerea Capital II and Unigrains since 2015, La Comtoise has achieved impressive growth to reach a turnover of EUR 33 million with a headcount of 37 people.

La Comtoise is positioned in the buoyant and resilient snacking and processed food segments and has been on a steady growth path for a number of years. With top-quality R&D capabilities and efficient production facilities, it develops tailored products for existing and prospective customers capable of adapting to the most demanding requirements in terms of organoleptic properties, while meeting the highest standards of production processes.

Gimv’s investment comes at a time when the company is doubling its production capacities to 24,000 tonnes a year. La Comtoise is keen to step up its growth with the development of new solutions, notably in cheese sauces. It will thus address a new clientele, particularly out-of-home catering. Drawing on the French expertise in cheese production, which is recognised all over the world, La Comtoise intends to strengthen its international presence. It will benefit from the support of Gimv, which has an extensive business network across Benelux and DACH countries.

Michel Vanhove, Chairman of La Comtoise: “In an effort to bolster our development and strengthen our leading position, we are expanding our production capacity to meet strong demand and accelerate in new segments and export markets. Gimv appears to us as the right partner to achieve this, given the scale of its European network and its insight into the strategic challenges we face in our industry.”

Anne Caron, Gimv Partner and Guillaume Bardy, Principal: “We are very enthusiastic to work with Michel Vanhove and his teams in order to take La Comtoise to the next level. This deal fits perfectly into the investment philosophy of our Connected Consumer platform, which has a good knowledge of the agri-food sector, having invested in this area across France and Europe. Gimv will make all its resources available to actively support La Comtoise in its development in new market segments as well as internationally.”

Antoine Peyronnet, Managing Director of Céréa Capital: “We are very proud to have accompanied Michel Vanhove and his team since 2015. The company’s steady growth is fuelled by its capacity to innovate and expand internationally.  Now that it has taken on a new dimension, La Comtoise is in an ideal position to pursue its development with the support of Gimv.”

The deal is expected to be completed by the end of 2018.

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EQT Credit completes financing to support Veritas Petroleum Services

eqt

EQT Credit, through its Mid-Market Credit investment strategy, is pleased to confirm its support for Veritas Petroleum Services (“VPS” or the “Company”) with the commitment of a USD 95 million senior secured facility to refinance existing debt and a committed acquisition facility to back the Company’s future growth plans.

Carved out from DNV and owned by IK Investment Partners, VPS is the leading provider of marine fuel testing and bunker quantity surveys, with broad global coverage via five laboratories.

Andrew Cleland-Bogle, Director in EQT Partners’ Credit team and Investment Advisor to EQT Mid-Market Credit, commented: “VPS is the largest marine fuel testing provider globally. EQT Credit was particularly attracted by the Company’s exceptional quality offering and impressive track record of profitability that IK and the management team have achieved. We would like to thank EQT’s Industrial Advisors who, as former senior executives in the testing, inspection and certification sector, provided key support and insight to the EQT Credit deal team throughout the due diligence process.”

Paul Johnson, Partner in EQT Partners’ Credit team and Investment Advisor to EQT Mid-Market Credit, added: “VPS offers market-leading technical advice to the shipping industry and is a well-placed consolidator within its industries. EQT Credit looks forward to supporting VPS and its management team as the Company continues to execute on plans for acquisitions and expansion under IK’s ownership.”

Contacts
Paul Johnson, Partner at EQT Partners, Investment Advisor to EQT Mid-Market Credit, +44 203 372 9424
Andrew Cleland-Bogle, Director at EQT Partners, Investment Advisor to EQT Mid-Market Credit, +44 208 432 5420
EQT Press Office, +46 8 506 55 334, press@eqtpartners.com

About EQT
EQT is a leading investment firm with approximately EUR 50 billion in raised capital across 27 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 Credit
EQT Credit invests through four complementary strategies: Senior Debt, Mid-Market Credit (direct lending), Core Value and Credit Opportunities. Since inception, EQT Credit has invested in excess of EUR 5 billion in over 160 companies. EQT Credit’s direct lending strategy seeks to provide flexible, long- term debt capital solutions to medium-sized European businesses, across a wide range of sectors. These businesses may be privately-owned corporates seeking alternative funding to grow or be the subject of private equity-led acquisitions or refinancings.

More info: www.eqtpartners.com/Investment-Strategies/Credit

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Omada A/S to receive strategic investment from CVC Capital Partners’ Growth Fund and GRO Capital

CVC and GRO partner with management team to further accelerate product innovation, partner network expansion and marketing efforts.

Omada A/S (“Omada” or the “Company”), a global leader of identity governance and administration (“IGA”) software and services, today announced that CVC Capital Partners’ Growth Fund (“CVC Growth Partners” or “CVC”) and GRO Capital (“GRO”) have agreed to become new majority shareholders and provide further capital into the Company to accelerate growth.

CVC Growth Partners and GRO will partner with Omada’s management team to further accelerate Omada’s product innovation, grow its partner network in North America and Europe, enhance sales and marketing efforts, as well as continue expanding its strong position in Europe and building greater depth in the North American market.

Omada is headquartered in Copenhagen, Denmark, with over 270 employees across offices in Europe and North America. The Company helps its customers globally to govern and control users’ access rights to enterprise systems and data, reduce risk of accidental or wrongful data access, and ensure compliance with regulation (such as GDPR) as well as industry-specific legislation.

Omada’s software platform, the Omada Identity Suite (“OIS”), is a best-in-class next generation IGA solution. OIS, together with the Company’s unique best practice process framework for identity management and access governance, enables enterprises to manage identities and govern their access on an ongoing basis across heterogeneous IT systems, including major IT vendor platforms delivered on-premises and in the cloud, and a number of legacy and modern applications. The demand for Omada’s offerings has been increasing globally along with customer awareness of potential solutions to their complex identity governance challenges, and the Company has grown revenues at a compounded annual growth rate of over 40% for the last 2 years.

“We are excited about the partnership with CVC and GRO and we look forward to working with them to fulfil our joint vision to serve the majority of enterprises of the world with our strong Identity & Access Governance solution”, said Morten Boel Sigurdsson, CEO and founder of Omada. “CVC and GRO represent a unique combination of competencies that will support our expansion in North America, Europe and other markets. The need for IGA solutions is rapidly increasing across markets as more and more organisations realise the need for a flexible IGA solution to protect them from hacking, insider threats, increased compliance requirements and the consequences of GDPR.”

“The increasingly complex IT world and more stringent compliance requirements globally will continue to drive strong demand for Omada’s next generation identity governance solution, as the Company has proven its ability to successfully solve complex problems for its customers”, said Sebastian Kuenne, who leads CVC Growth Partners in Europe. “Omada represents an exciting opportunity and is a perfect fit for our growth fund, which focuses on high-growth software and technology-enabled business services companies. We, together with GRO, are thrilled to partner with Morten and the entire executive team to expand Omada’s offering and global presence.”

“We have followed Omada for close to a decade and are very impressed with the product and their blue-chip customer base. This investment is perfectly aligned with GRO’s strategy of investing in outstanding technology companies and helping accelerate their growth”, said Morten Weicher, partner at GRO Capital. “Morten Sigurdsson has built a very strong team and assembled a deep bench of highly skilled and ambitious individuals operating in a unique culture of teamwork, delivery, and customer service.”

With the entrance of CVC and GRO, C5 Capital (“C5”) will no longer be shareholders in Omada. “We are pleased to have contributed to the growth of Omada since 2015”, said Andre Pienaar, managing partner and founder at C5 Capital.

Morten Weicher, Sebastian Kuenne, Lars Dybkjær (Managing Partner of GRO Capital), and John Clark (Managing Partner of CVC Growth Partners) will join Omada’s board of directors.

Closing of the transaction is anticipated to take place in December 2018, and is subject only to mandatory competition approvals.

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Altas Partners to Acquire Tecta America

Altas Partners

OCTOBER 29, 2018

Altas Partners to Acquire Tecta America from ONCAP

Toronto, ON and Rosemont, IL – October 29, 2018 – Altas Partners (“Altas”), a long-term oriented investment firm, today announced it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Tecta America Corporation (“Tecta America” or the “Company”) from ONCAP, the mid-market private equity platform of Onex (TSX:ONEX). Tecta America is a national leader in commercial roofing services in the U.S. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Tecta America is the nation’s premier commercial roofing contractor, employing more than 3,000 roofing professionals and operating across more than 60 locations from coast to coast. The Company provides a comprehensive set of commercial roofing services to national and local customers across a spectrum of industries and end markets. Tecta America’s full suite of value-added roofing services includes installation, replacement, repairs and maintenance, new construction, disaster response and advanced sustainability options.

“We are thrilled to partner with Altas as we continue to execute on our growth opportunities – both organically and through selective acquisitions. Furthermore, we’re excited to leverage the firm’s support and expertise as we continue to focus on delivering best-in-class service to our customers and being the employer of choice in the roofing industry,” said Mark Santacrose, President and CEO of Tecta America. “We greatly value the support and commitment ONCAP provided throughout its ownership, as well as its confidence in our people and our future.”

“Tecta America’s strength as a national company with deep local relationships has enabled its evolution into the largest commercial roofing contractor in the U.S.,” said David Brent, a Partner at Altas. “This opportunity is an excellent fit with our long-term investment strategy and approach of partnering with outstanding management teams. We look forward to supporting the team at Tecta America as it continues to provide its customers with exceptional service and capitalize on the significant growth opportunities that lie ahead.”

“We’re proud of everything we accomplished together with Tecta America. During our ownership period, we worked closely with Tecta management to enhance the Company’s acquisition capabilities and strengthen the business’ operating performance. We wish the Tecta America team all the best as they continue to execute on their proven growth strategy,” said Edmund Kim, a Principal at ONCAP.

The transaction is expected to close during the fourth quarter of 2018, subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals.

About Altas Partners

Altas Partners is an investment firm with a long-term orientation focused on acquiring significant interests in high-quality, market-leading businesses in partnership with outstanding management teams. Key elements of the firm’s approach include prudent capital structures, active ownership through strategic and operational support and an emphasis on sustainable value creation. Altas invests on behalf of endowments, foundations, public pension funds and other institutional investors.

For more information: http://www.altaspartners.com.

About Tecta America Corporation

Tecta America is the nation’s premier commercial roofing contractor with more than 60 locations from coast to coast. Tecta America’s unyielding commitment to quality, expertise, and professionalism have helped it become the industry leader in commercial roofing. Providing installation of all types, replacement, repairs and maintenance, new construction, disaster response, sustainability options and more, Tecta America offers the responsiveness of a local roofing contractor backed by the resources and stability of a national provider.

For more information: http://www.tectaamerica.com.

About ONCAP

ONCAP is the mid-market private equity platform of Onex. In partnership with operating company management teams, ONCAP invests in and builds value in North American headquartered medium-sized businesses that are market leaders and possess meaningful growth potential.

Onex is one of the oldest and most successful private equity firms. Through its Onex Partners and ONCAP private equity funds, Onex acquires and builds high-quality businesses in partnership with talented management teams. At Onex Credit, Onex manages and invests in leveraged loans, collateralized loan obligations and other credit securities. Onex has more than $33 billion of assets under management, including $6.8 billion of Onex proprietary capital, in private equity and credit securities. With offices in Toronto, New York, New Jersey and London, Onex and the team are collectively the largest investors across Onex’ platforms. Onex shares trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the stock symbol ONEX.

For more information: https://www.oncap.com or https://www.onex.com.

Media Contacts:

Altas Partners
Sard Verbinnen & Co.
Andrew Cole / Julie Rudnick
(212) 687 8080

Tecta America Corporation
Robin Hollerich
rhollerich@tectaamerica.com
(248) 220 1467

Onex
Emilie Blouin
Director, Investor Relations
(416) 362 7711

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ONCAP to Sell Tecta America to Altas Partners

Onex

Toronto, Ontario and Rosemont, Illinois October 29, 2018 – Altas Partners (“Altas”), a long-term oriented investment firm, today announced it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Tecta America Corporation (“Tecta America” or the “Company”) from ONCAP, the mid-market private equity platform of Onex (TSX: ONEX). Tecta America is a national leader in commercial roofing services in the U.S. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Tecta America is the nation’s premier commercial roofing contractor, employing more than 3,000 roofing professionals and operating across more than 60 locations from coast to coast. The Company provides a comprehensive set of commercial roofing services to national and local customers across a spectrum of industries and end markets. Tecta America’s full suite of value-added roofing services includes installation, replacement, repairs and maintenance, new construction, disaster response and advanced sustainability options.
“We are thrilled to partner with Altas as we continue to execute on our growth opportunities – both organically and through selective acquisitions. Furthermore, we’re excited to leverage the firm’s support and expertise as we continue to focus on delivering best-in-class service to our customers and being the employer of choice in the roofing industry,” said Mark Santacrose, President and CEO of Tecta America. “We greatly value the support and commitment ONCAP provided throughout its ownership, as well as its confidence in our people and our future.”

“Tecta America’s strength as a national company with deep local relationships has enabled its evolution into the largest commercial roofing contractor in the U.S.,” said David Brent, a Partner at Altas. “This opportunity is an excellent fit with our long-term investment strategy and approach of partnering with outstanding management teams. We look forward to supporting the team at Tecta America as it continues to provide its customers with exceptional service and capitalize on the significant growth opportunities that lie ahead.”
“We’re proud of everything we accomplished together with Tecta America. During our ownership period, we worked closely with Tecta management to enhance the Company’s acquisition capabilities and strengthen the business’ operating performance. We wish the Tecta America team all the best as they continue to execute on their proven growth strategy,” said Edmund Kim, a Principal at ONCAP.
The transaction is expected to close during the fourth quarter of 2018, subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals.

About Altas Partners
Altas Partners is an investment firm with a long-term orientation focused on acquiring significant interests in high-quality, market-leading businesses in partnership with outstanding management teams. Key elements of the firm’s approach include prudent capital structures, active ownership through strategic and operational support and an emphasis on sustainable value creation. Altas invests on behalf of endowments, foundations, public pension funds and other institutional investors.
For more information: http://www.altaspartners.com.

About Tecta America Corporation
Tecta America is the nation’s premier commercial roofing contractor with more than 60 locations from coast to coast. Tecta America’s unyielding commitment to quality, expertise, and professionalism have helped it become the industry leader in commercial roofing. Providing installation of all types, replacement, repairs and maintenance, new construction, disaster response, sustainability options and more, Tecta America offers the responsiveness of a local roofing contractor backed by the resources and stability of a national provider.
For more information: http://www.tectaamerica.com.

About ONCAP
ONCAP is the mid-market private equity platform of Onex. In partnership with operating company management teams, ONCAP invests in and builds value in North American headquartered medium-sized businesses that are market leaders and possess meaningful growth potential.
Onex is one of the oldest and most successful private equity firms. Through its Onex Partners and ONCAP private equity funds, Onex acquires and builds high-quality businesses in partnership with talented management teams. At Onex Credit, Onex manages and invests in leveraged loans, collateralized loan obligations and other credit securities. Onex has more than $33 billion of assets under management, including $6.8 billion of Onex proprietary capital, in private equity and credit securities. With offices in Toronto, New York, New Jersey and London, Onex and the team are collectively the largest investors across Onex’ platforms. Onex shares trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the stock symbol ONEX.

For more information: https://www.oncap.com or https://www.onex.com.
For further information:
Altas Partners
Sard Verbinnen & Co.
Andrew Cole / Julie Rudnick
+1.212.687.8080
Tecta America Corporation
Robin Hollerich
rhollerich@tectaamerica.com
+1.248.220.1467
Onex
Emilie Blouin
Director, Investor Relations
+1.416.362.7711

 

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Ratos AB: CEO Peter Nilsson to leave Speed Group

Ratos

Peter Nilsson is stepping down from his role as CEO of Ratos’s subsidiary Speed Group. The company’s CFO, Anders Appelqvist, has been appointed Acting CEO until a permanent CEO has been recruited.

Outgoing CEO Peter Nilsson was initially a member of Speed Group’s Board of Directors before taking over as CEO in autumn 2016. Peter is now leaving the company and Anders Appelqvist, who currently serves as the company’s CFO, has been appointed Acting CEO. Anders will take office effective immediately and the process to recruit a permanent replacement has begun.

“During his time as CEO, Peter has contributed to Speed Group’s substantial growth. Under Peter’s leadership, the company has become a national supplier of logistics services through the acquisition of Samdistribution in Stockholm and the first third-party logistics (3PL) supplier in the Nordic region to invest in an Autostore system. Since Speed Group’s focus has now shifted from growth to consolidation and profitability-enhancing measures, Peter is now leaving the company and Anders is taking over as Acting CEO,” says Christian Johansson Gebauer, Director at Ratos and responsible of Speed Group.

Ratos became the majority owner of Speed Group in 2015. The company is now a national supplier of logistics services and services for staffing, recruitment and education, with strong growth in an attractive underlying market. Speed Group has approximately 1,200 employees and sales of SEK 673m for the rolling 12-month period ending 30 September 2018.

For further information, please contact:

Christian Johansson Gebauer, Director, +46 8 700 17 00

Helene Gustafsson, Head of IR and Press, Ratos, +46 8 700 17 98

Financial calendar from Ratos:
Year-end report 2018                                     15 February 2019
Annual General Meeting                                 8 May 2019

Ratos owns and develops unlisted medium-sized companies in the Nordic countries. Our goal as an active owner is to contribute to long-term and sustainable business development in the companies we invest in and to make value-generating transactions. Ratos’s portfolio consists of 12 medium-sized Nordic companies and the largest segments in terms of sales are Construction, Industrials and Consumer goods/Commerce. Ratos is listed on Nasdaq Stockholm and has approximately 12,300 employees.

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Midlothian Capital Partners acquires PGL in £467m deal

Midlothian

London, 26 October, 2018

Midlothian Capital Partners (“MCP”) and a consortium of investors have agreed to acquire HB Education Limited (“HB Education”) – the holding company for PGL – for a value of £467 million.

HB Education is the UK’s leading outdoor education and study travel group. The market leading company provides residential adventure and study trips for schools, youth organisations and young people through the PGL brand, along with educational travel tours for schools and further/higher education students through NST, EST and Studylink. In addition, Travelplus (Germany) offers language travel and gap year experiences.

The vendor was Cox & Kings, the longest established travel company in the world.

This is Midlothian’s third consumer sector deal in the past two years following the £210m acquisition of Dobbies Garden Centres from Tesco in 2016 and the £110m purchase of Park Leisure, the holiday home operator, in 2017.

MCP received financing support through funds managed by Ares Management Ltd. The existing HB Education management team will stay in post and plan to expand the business both in the UK and internationally. It currently owns 26 Regional Activity Centres in the UK, France, Spain and Australia.

The company was founded in the late 1950’s by Peter Gordon Lawrence, initially providing canoe trips on the River Wye.  In 2007 it was acquired by Holidaybreak plc and merged with NST to create the leading experiential learning programme business in the UK. It was acquired by Cox & Kings in 2011.

Midlothian’s Neil Currie is Chairman-designate of HB Education. He said:

“HB Education is an industry-leading operator within both the residential outdoor activity and educational travel sectors. PGL is a much-loved brand among teachers and students and has created lasting, happy memories – including many among our own families.

We are delighted that the existing management team, led by CEO John Firth and CFO Peter Churchus, have agreed to remain with the company and partner with us. They have led HB Education impressively through its most successful growth period and their focus on customer satisfaction and team culture is a key reason for our interest in the group.”

Andrew Bracey of MCP, said:

“This transaction follows our recent acquisitions of Dobbies Garden Centres and Park Leisure and further demonstrates the strength of our network and operating model, as well as our ability to build close relationships with principals. PGL/HB Education adds another highly relevant and customer-focused business to our portfolio – crucial attributes within a rapidly changing consumer sector.”

Aidan Clegg of MCP, said:

“Cox & Kings have been excellent owners of the company, a pleasure to deal with and we look forward to continuing our relationship following the transaction.”

John Firth CEO of HB Education, said:

“We are delighted that MCP has been chosen as the next owner of our company. We feel that MCP’s values align strongly with those of our staff and customers and we look forward to partnering with them as we open a new chapter in our long history of excellence and growth.”

Mike Dennis, Co-Head European Credit at Ares, said:

“We are delighted to have the opportunity to work with MCP and HB Education on this transaction. This is our third transaction with MCP and based on their significant experience in related sectors through their existing portfolio investments, we are confident that MCP represents a strong and appropriate partner for the company as it enters the next phase of its development”

Peter Kerkar, Group CEO of C&K, said:

“We are delighted that the education business has found a home with Midlothian as we are certain that they will continue to invest and develop the education business.”

Advisers to MCP include: Rothschild (financial), Slaughter and May (legal), and EY (accounting and tax).

Advisors to Cox & Kings include: Eversheds Sutherland (legal) and Baird (financial) and Axis Capital

Advisers to Ares include: Dechert LLP (legal)

ENDS

Contact:

Montfort Communications

Nick Miles 07739 701634

James Olley 07974 982302

 

About Midlothian Capital Partners

Midlothian Capital Partners is a consumer-focused investment company. The three founders of MCP (Andrew Bracey, Aidan Clegg and Neil Currie) have more than 70 years combined experience in consumer facing businesses in corporate finance, private equity, research and business management. The three founders will all join the board of HB Education.

About Ares Management, L.P.

Ares Management, L.P. is a publicly traded, leading global alternative asset manager with approximately $121.4 billion of assets under management as of June 30, 2018 and 18 offices in the United States, Europe, Asia and Australia. Since its inception in 1997, Ares has adhered to a disciplined investment philosophy that focuses on delivering strong risk-adjusted investment returns throughout market cycles. Ares believes each of its three distinct but complementary investment groups in Credit, Private Equity and Real Estate is a market leader based on assets under management and investment performance. Ares was built upon the fundamental principle that each group benefits from being part of the greater whole. For more information, visit www.aresmgmt.com.

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KKR To Invest in Epic Games

KKR

trategic investment partners include KKR, ICONIQ Capital, Smash Ventures, aXiomatic, Vulcan Capital, Kleiner Perkins, and Lightspeed Venture Partners

CARY, N.C.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Epic Games is pleased to announce it has received an investment of approximately $1.25 billion from KKR, ICONIQ Capital, Smash Ventures, aXiomatic, Vulcan Capital, Kleiner Perkins, and Lightspeed Venture Partners.

This investment creates powerful partnerships with highly strategic investment firms and individuals at the forefront of technology, entertainment, professional sports, esports, and live events.

These investors join Tencent, Disney and Endeavor as minority shareholders in Epic, which continues to be controlled by founder and CEO, Tim Sweeney.

“We’re excited to partner with the finest minds in the financial, sports, and entertainment communities. This reinforces Epic’s position of leadership in real-time 3D technology, and accelerates our ability to improve the way people play, work, and interact with the world,” said Sweeney.

“Epic Games has fundamentally changed the model for interactive entertainment under the company’s visionary leadership,” said Ted Oberwager of KKR. “Alongside a special group of investors, we are thrilled to support Epic’s dedicated employees and the passionate community of players and developers that lies at the heart of everything that Epic Games does.”

The Raine Group and Guggenheim Securities, LLC are acting as financial advisors to Epic Games. Smith Anderson is acting as legal advisor to Epic Games.

About Epic Games

Founded in 1991, Epic Games is the creator of Fortnite, Unreal, Gears of War, Shadow Complex, and the Infinity Blade series of games. Epic’s Unreal Engine technology brings high-fidelity, interactive experiences to PC, console, mobile, AR, VR and the Web. Unreal Engine is freely available at unrealengine.com. For more information, visit epicgames.com and check out @EpicGames.

Contacts
Epic Games
Dana Cowley
Dana.Cowley@epicgames.com

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Horizon-backed Wireless Innovation acquires Rock Seven and YB Tracking

Horizon Capital

Wireless Innovation, a specialist Machine-to-Machine (M2M) and Internet of Things (IoT) connectivity and communications provider, backed by Horizon Capital, today announces the acquisition of Rock Seven Mobile Services Limited and YB Tracking Limited.

Founded in 2008, Rock Seven and YB Tracking provide connectivity and hardware, which enable customers to track assets and IoT devices in remote and hazardous locations utilising the Iridium satellite network. The business has demonstrated significant growth, expanding sales by 200% over the last two years, and will allow the enlarged group to access new fast-growing markets in the M2M sector.

Richard Searle, CTO of Rock Seven said, “We are excited to be joining with Wireless and taking advantage of the exciting opportunities being part of a larger group will bring. Having Horizon Capital’s backing will allow us to continue our innovation and expansion in this rapidly growing market.”

The acquisition of Rock Seven and YB Tracking will add considerable scale to the Wireless Innovation platform, which itself has continued its double-digit organic growth rate, expanded internationally, increased its workforce and significantly enhanced its underlying connectivity end points.

Commenting on the acquisition, Phil Rouse, CEO at Wireless Innovation said, “Welcoming Rock Seven and YB Tracking into the group enables us to significantly strengthen our product and services offering, commercial experience and technical ability. In addition to this, Rock Seven and YB Tracking share our customer-focused and entrepreneurial culture which will continue as Nick Farrell, Richard Searle and Andrew Jackson drive the success of Rock Seven and YB Tracking whilst enhancing the offering of the group.”

Luke Kingston, Partner at Horizon Capital said, “It’s been a transformational year for Wireless Innovation both in terms of organic and now acquisitive growth. At the time of our original investment we made a significant capital commitment to Phil and the team in executing their ambitious strategy and we look forward to continuing to support them with further acquisitions. We are pleased to have completed a deal so soon after Horizon Capital’s launch.”

Wireless Innovation were advised by Deloitte, Dow Schofield Watts, Latitude Consulting, Harrison Clark Rickerbys and Forward Corporate Finance.

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