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EQT Credit Opportunities III holds final close at EUR 1.3 billion

eqt

  • EQT Credit Opportunities III holds final close at EUR 1.3 billion, exceeding target
  • Continuation of the successful diligence-led investment strategy deployed by the two predecessor funds
  • Supported by a blue-chip investor base of pension funds, insurance companies, family offices and foundations in Western Europe, the Americas and Asia
  • Approximately 20% of the fund has already been committed

EQT today announces the successful closing of the EQT Credit Opportunities III fund (the “fund”) with total commitments of EUR 1.3 billion, well exceeding its initial target and its predecessor fund.

The fund focuses on medium-term investment opportunities in complex situations via the secondary market and by providing creative capital solutions to companies that are unable to access the capital markets.

Cyril Tergiman, Partner, Investment Advisor to the fund, comments: “Our focus on local sourcing and diligence, supported by EQT’s network of Industrial Advisors, as well as the fund’s ability to invest in a broad range of situations, has been key to our investment approach over the last ten years”.

Andrew Konopelski, Partner and Head of EQT Credit, Investment Advisor to the fund, adds: “Looking ahead, we are excited by the opportunities in the market and believe they play to EQT Credit’s strengths as a due diligence-focused investor. Thanks to the strong support demonstrated by existing and new investors, EQT Credit is well placed to capitalize on these opportunities over the coming years”.

Investors in the fund include a diverse group of European, Asian, North and South American pension funds, insurance companies, endowments, foundations and family offices.

“The outcome of the EQT Credit Opportunities III fundraising is yet another successful development in the growth of the EQT Credit platform, which covers the full range of risk profiles and investor appetites”, says Jussi Saarinen, Partner and Head of Investor Relations at EQT Partners.

Recognized by Private Equity International and Private Debt Investor as European Lender of the Year 2016, EQT Credit has positioned itself as an integrated capital provider across the credit risk spectrum.

The fundraising for the EQT Credit Opportunities III fund has now closed. As such, the foregoing should in no way be treated as any form of offer or solicitation to subscribe for or make any commitments for or in respect of any securities or other interest or to engage in any other transaction.

Contacts:
Andrew Konopelski, Partner and Head of EQT Credit, Investment Advisor at EQT Partners +44 20 7430 5525
Cyril Tergiman, Partner, Investment Advisor at EQT Partners +44 207 430 5554
Carlota Sanchez-Marco, Managing Director, Investor Relations at EQT Partners +34 674 345 701, carlota.sanchez-marco@eqtpartners.com
EQT Press Office, +46 8 506 55 334, press@eqtpartners.com

About EQT
EQT is a leading alternative investments firm with approximately EUR 38 billion in raised capital across 25 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
The EQT Credit platform, which spans the full risk-reward spectrum investing with three strategies: senior debt, direct lending and credit opportunities, has invested approximately EUR 4.0 billion across approximately 150 companies since inception in 2008.

For more information: www.eqtpartners.com/Investment-Strategies/Credit

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Inventure launches its third early-stage venture capital fund

Inventure

Investments in funds – 2017-12-19

Already at the first closing, Inventure Fund III is the largest pure early-stage technology fund ever raised in Finland.

Helsinki, 19th December 2017: Inventure, a Nordic venture capital firm investing in seed and early-stage technology companies, today announces that it has completed a first closing of Inventure Fund III at €110 million. Already at the first closing, Inventure Fund III is the largest pure early-stage technology fund ever raised in Finland.

The first closing of the fund was led by European Investment Fund (EIF), Finnish Industry Investment (Tesi), Elo, Ilmarinen, Nordea Life Finland and other institutional and private investors. The fundraising continues throughout 2018 towards the target size of €135 million.

“Our conviction about the Nordic opportunity is greater today than ever before. By playing our part in building successful tech companies in the Nordics, we hope to contribute to growth and development of the whole region,” says Sami Lampinen, Inventure’s Managing Partner. “Already today, Inventure portfolio companies employ 1350 people. We want to triple this number in the years to come.”

Inventure has been supporting Nordic entrepreneurs over the past twelve years – first, from its headquarters in Helsinki, and lately from the new office in Stockholm. With the new fund, Inventure stays true to its investment strategy of supporting the entrepreneurs as early as possible. The increase in the fund size provides the team with an additional capacity to lead investments not only at seed stage, but all the way through expansion stages.

”In its two previous funds, the Inventure team has proven the ability to create value in dozens of companies and to generate good financial returns for investors. We are excited to be backing the new fund, and we are looking forward to new success stories rising from the portfolio”, says Tapio Passinen, Investment Director at Tesi.

Having the roots in Finland, the team makes big bets on deep tech – artificial intelligence, internet of things, new materials, virtual and augmented reality. New era of connectivity, future mobility, personalized healthcare, and next-generation UX platforms are key areas Inventure continues investing in.

“With its two prior funds Inventure has established its position as one of the leading early stage VCs in the highly innovative and successful Nordic ecosystem. We are pleased to continue backing a strong local investor like Inventure, which can provide close support to the most promising start-ups both operationally as well as financially”, says Juho Aminoff from the European Investment Fund (EIF).

More information
Sami Lampinen
Managing Partner
sami@inventure.fi
+358 40 520 5295

About Inventure
Inventure is a Nordic venture capital firm investing in seed and early-stage technology companies. Over the past 12 years, Inventure has been working with some of the best entrepreneurs in Finland, the Nordics and the Baltics, supporting innovative start-ups and high-tech companies. Inventure’s team is a great mix of experienced entrepreneurs, industry experts, and investment professionals committed to help start-ups build global success stories. Inventure operates in Helsinki, Stockholm, and Shanghai. For more information, please visit www.inventure.fi.

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Ecolab agrees to acquire minority ownership in Finnish MetGen

Tesi

Ecolab Inc., the global leader in water, hygiene and energy technologies and services has acquired a minority stake in MetGen OY. As part of the acquisition, Ecolab will be granted exclusive distribution rights globally for MetGen’s pulp and paper portfolio, as well as its wastewater enzyme portfolio. This business supplies differentiated custom blended enzymatic solutions to maximize biomass performance for various industries.

MetGen, headquartered in Kaarina, Finland, designs novel enzymatic solutions to improve energy efficiency and speed of processes in industries such as Pulp and Paper, Biofuels and Biochemicals.

“We are glad to welcome Ecolab as an investor in MetGen. Our business goals are fully aligned with Ecolab’s objective to support customers to achieve the best solutions in water technologies for the pulp and paper sector.  MetGen is excited to work together with the Ecolab team to accelerate market growth through the global introduction of innovative, sustainable enzymatic solutions in various business segments,” said Alex Michine, CEO of MetGen.

The investment provides Ecolab with access to innovative custom enzymes to help producers improve machine efficiency, water and energy savings, product quality and profitability. The terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

“We are excited to work with MetGen and implement their innovative products into our offerings to enhance Ecolab’s ability to provide value-added solutions for our customers in the Pulp and Paper Industry,” said Jerome Charton, senior vice president and general manager, Nalco Water global paper, Ecolab’s water management business.


For more information, please contact:
Alex Michine, CEO, MetGen Oy, +358 40 543 3740
skype: alexmichine
www.metgen.com

 

About MetGen Oy
MetGen designs and markets novel enzymatic solutions for the most challenging of industrial conditions to address our customer’s specific challenges. MetGen’s enzymes – MetZyme® – are industrial, highly-active, natural catalysts that accelerate chemical reactions and company uses advances in genetic engineering and microbiology to adapt enzymes to harsh industrial conditions and to handle a variety of lignocellulosic substrates. MetGen aims to be a widely recognized supplier of industrial enzymes, significantly contributing to the economics and sustainability of process industries such as pulp & paper, biofuels and biochemicals. MetGen’s competitive advantage is in tailoring or adapting enzymes to meet customer’s specific needs. www.metgen.com

About Ecolab
A trusted partner at more than one million customer locations, Ecolab (ECL) is the global leader in water, hygiene and energy technologies and services that protect people and vital resources. With 2016 sales of $13 billion and 48,000 associates, Ecolab delivers comprehensive solutions and on-site service to promote safe food, maintain clean environments, optimize water and energy use, and improve operational efficiencies for customers in the food, healthcare, energy, hospitality and industrial markets in more than 170 countries around the world. Follow us on Twitter @ecolab, Facebook at facebook.com/ecolab, LinkedIn at Ecolab or Instagram at Ecolab Inc.

About Tesi
Tesi (Finnish Industry Investment Ltd) is a venture capital and private equity company that accelerates companies’ success stories by investing in them directly and via funds. Tesi always invests together with other investors, providing them with access to high quality deal-flow in Finland. Our investments under management total 1 billion euros and we have altogether 723 companies in portfolio.
www.tesi.fi / @TesiFII

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Jyri Järvinen new CEO of LEDiL

Ratos

Jyri Järvinen has been appointed as the new CEO of LEDiL, a leading growth company in the global market for secondary optics for LED lighting, as Rami Huovinen hands over the leadership after seven years as CEO. With experience of successfully developing organisations undergoing change, Jyri Järvinen will now lead LEDiL on its continued expansion. He will assume his new position in February 2018.

Jyri Järvinen has more than 20 years of operational and international experience within the ABB Group. Most recently as Group Vice President Industrial Drives and Wind converters. Jyri will take over as CEO of LEDiL on 1 February 2018.

“Under the leadership of Rami Huovinen, LEDiL has implemented a number of growth and innovation strategies in recent years that have contributed to the company’s leading market position. As the company now enters the next stage of its expansion and its organisational and product development, we consider Jyri – with his leadership and operational experience – to be a highly suitable person to lead the company. LEDiL is well positioned to achieve organic growth in several application areas and markets, and Jyri’s experience of global sales development and customer focus will be highly valuable in these efforts,” says Robin Molvin, Senior Investment Director.

LEDiL is a leading Finnish company in the global market for secondary optics for LED lighting. LEDiL products are sold through its own sales force and through agents and distributors in Europe, North America, South America and Asia. Ratos acquired 66% of LEDiL in 2014 and the company has demonstrated continuous growth and a strong operational performance in recent years. Sales for the first nine months of 2017 amounted to EUR 31.1m and the EBITA margin to 30.5%.

For further information, please contact:
Robin Molvin, Senior Investment Director, +46 70 695 50 49
Helene Gustafsson, Head of IR and Press, +46 8 700 17 98

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Latour acquires Hakaser Oy

Latour logo

Investment AB Latour has, through its subsidiary DENSIQ AB, part of Latour Industries, signed an agreement to acquire Hakaser Oy, based in Oulu Finland. Closing will take place with immediate effect.

The acquisition is part of DENSIQ’s strategy to strengthen its position as a supplier of complete solutions within sealing technology as well as to increase the geographical reach in the Nordic countries.

Hakaser is specialized in maintenance and repair of industrial valves for the Finnish process related industries. Hakaser has eight employees and annual sales of approximately EUR 1,4 million.

Krister Seleskog, CEO of DENSIQ AB comments on the acquisition: “With Hakaser we will further strengthen our position as a complete supplier of services, products and engineering within sealing technologies. It will also increase our geographical reach and get us closer to the customer, especially in the northern parts of the region”

“DENSIQ and Hakaser complement each other very well in terms of both range of services and customer focus. With DENSIQ we can continue to expand both our offer as well as our geographical reach”, says Olli-Pekka Keränen current CEO and part owner.

Göteborg, December 19, 2017

INVESTMENT AB LATOUR (PUBL)

Jan Svensson, CEO

For further information, please contact:

Krister Seleskog, CEO DENSIQ AB, +46 720 10 21 40

Maria Elm Olsson, Chairman of the Board in DENSIQ AB, +46 705 08 72 82

DENSIQ AB, with headquarter in Göteborg, has annual sales of almost SEK 150 m and about 60 employees in subsidiaries located in three different countries. DENSIQ AB is part of Latour Industries, which is one of four wholly owned business areas within Investment AB Latour.

Latour Industries AB consists of a number of operating areas, each with its own business concept and business model. The ambition is to develop independent entities, which can eventually become new business areas within Latour.

Investment AB Latour is a mixed investment company consisting primarily of wholly-owned industrial operations and an investment portfolio of listed holdings in which Latour is the principal owner or one of the principal owners. The investment portfolio consists of ten substantial holdings with a market value of about SEK 47 billion. The wholly-owned industrial operations generated a turnover of approximately SEK 8 billion in 2016.

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ZytoService reaches an agreement to acquire Profusio

ik-investment-partners

ZytoService, a leading compounder of pharmaceuticals for patient-individualised infusions, has reached an agreement with GHD GesundHeits GmbH to acquire Profusio, the second largest compounder of cytostatics in Germany. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Founded in 2002, ZytoService is one of the largest industrially organised §13 AMG (“Arzneimittelgesetz”) certified compounders for patient-individualised infusions applied mainly in oncology treatment in Germany. The company is based in Hamburg, where it runs a state-of-the-art compounding facility.

Profusio, a subsidiary of GHD, is the second largest cytostatics compounder in Germany with state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities in Leipzig, Haan and Munich.

“Profusio’s facilities are very well-invested, and they share our high standards of quality, safety, and professional expertise. Together, we will work towards our vision to create an integrated healthcare provider in the German oncology market,” said Enno Scheel, Co-Founder of ZytoService.

“The acquisition of Profusio will strengthen ZytoService’s market position and national footprint, giving us even better opportunities to address the growing demands of the German healthcare market,” continued Thomas Boner, Co-Founder of ZytoService.

ZytoService is owned by the IK VIII Fund, which is advised by IK Investment Partners. Completion of the transaction is subject to customary legal and regulatory approvals.

For further questions:

ZytoService
Thomas Boner, Co-Founder and Co-CEO
Phone: +49 40 600 094 013

Enno Scheel, Co-Founder and Co-CEO
Phone: +49 40 600 094 01

About ZytoService
ZytoService was founded in Hamburg in 2002. ZytoService now employs more than 470 highly-qualified personnel who have undergone pharmaceutical training. All staff are specially trained in GMP-compliant production. With more than 40 licensed pharmacists, ZytoService has outstanding expertise in all areas of oncological pharmacy. For more information, visit www.zytoservice.de

 

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Almi Invest invests in Loxysoft

Almi Invest

Almi Invest invests five million crowns in Ostersund based Loxysoft, which develops and sells support systems for customer service and contact centers. In the issue of a total of ten million is also participating MIC Invest. The money will go to market expansion in the Nordic countries and in the United States.

Loxysoft provides contact-intensive organizations such as banks, telecom operators and insurance companies with support systems for customer service, sales and staffing.

Through one of his focus areas Contact Center Solution targets the company set out to Nordic customers who work with customer service and sales. Loxysoft have the current situation about 250 customers in Sweden and 60 in Norway. The scheduling tool Proscheduler Loxysoft has also entered the US market. A subsidiary has been started and the plan is to bring in far more customers than today about 35th

The solutions offered as Software as a Service (SaaS) and self-operating, but the trend is increasingly toward SaaS.

– Loxysoft has, with Almi Invest Dimensions, come very far, says Christopher Ohman, Investment Manager at Almi Invest. With proprietary products in a growing market, the potential for success great.

Loxysoft now takes in external capital to fund its expansion, mainly in the United States.

– We are very pleased to Almi Invest has chosen to invest in Loxysoft, says CEO Tobias Sjolander. With their capital and expertise behind us, we are ready for further expansion.

 

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Almi Invest sells software company Atollic to STMicroelectronics

Almi Invest

Almi Invest makes an exit and sells its holdings in Jönköping-based software company Atollic. Buyers are STMicroelectronics, one of the world’s largest semiconductor companies.

ST will acquire the entire Atollic 7 million dollars with a potential additional consideration of $ 1 million under certain circumstances.

Atollic develops TrueSTUDIO®, a software development tool for coding embedded in intelligent devices such as televisions, washing machines, camcorders and microwave ovens. There is a great need to create robust and error-free code, the products are difficult to update and can have serious malfunctions in the wrong code. To develop software for embedded systems therefore requires special development tools that address the very qualities that are characteristic of embedded systems.

Almi Invest has been a shareholder in Atollic since the end of 2014 with a stake of about 20 percent. Almi Invest’s share of the purchase price is equivalent to about 2.5 times invested capital.

– We are very pleased with our investment in Atollic said Erik Ydrén, Investment Manager at Almi Invest. The company’s product True Studio is at the forefront it will get very good development of STMicroelectronics.

Atollic is now part of the ST, but with continuing operations in Jönköping branded STMicroelectronics Software AB.

– We have worked closely Atollic for years and have seen the value TrueSudio deliver said Michel Buffa, Microcontroller Division General Manager at STMicroelectronics. True Studio will be giving our developers a strong competitive advantage.

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Graphite sells investment in Corbin & King to Minor Hotels

Graphite

Graphite Capital, the leading mid-market private equity specialist, has Today sold its investment in Corbin & King, the leading London-based restaurant group. The sale forms part of a wider transaction in which Minor Hotels, one of the largest hospitality and leisure groups in the Asia -Pacific region, took a majority interest in the group. Minor is best known as the operator of Anantara hotels. In 2012 Graphite provided development finance to fund the company’s expansion. At the time Corbin & King operated two restaurants: the Wolseley which had been open since 2003 and the recently opened Delaunay. Both have continued to grow strongly.

Subsequently Corbin & King opened four more restaurants: Colbert, Brasserie Zédel, Fischer’s and Bellanger. The expansion has been highly successful and the new restaurants have won numerous industry awards. Revenues of the restaurant group have more than trebled and are now more than £45 million.

In 2014, Corbin & King opened The Beaumont, a luxury hotel in Mayfair, to widespread critical acclaim. The Beaumont is regularly rated in the top five hotels in London by TripAdvisor and won the AA’s ‘Hotel of the Year in London’ award in 2016.

Revenues have grown steadily since the opening and the hotel now makes an important contribution to group profits. Employee numbers have increased by over 150per cent since Graphite invested and Corbin & King now employs nearly 900 staff. Graphite senior partner Andy Gray said:

“Chris Corbin and Jeremy King have built a reputation as London’s most successful restaurateurs over the past 35 years. We are pleased to have played an important part in the development of such an iconic business and are delighted that it has shown consistent growth during our investment period. The company is highly profitable and we believe it has found an excellent partner in Minor Hotels.”

Senior partner Andy Gray and partner Omar Kayat managed the transaction for Graphite.

 

Ends

 

 

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Matsmart raises 7.5 MEUR

Northzone

D-Ax and Norrsken Foundation invest in Matsmart, alongside previous investors.

The funding will be used to further expansion in the Nordics and Europe.

Swedish e-commerce company Matsmart sells surplus food that would otherwise be thrown away, due to changes in branding or packaging, seasonality or short expiration dates.

In 2016, Matsmart prevented 706 tonnes of food from going to waste. The company has seen explosive growth, with yearly revenues of €20 million. Matsmart launched in Sweden in 2014, and has since then expanded to Norway and Finland.

CEO Karl Andersson comments: “With this new funding, we will continue to focus on growth. There is still a lot of work to do to solve the issue of food waste, and we see strong interest from both consumers and suppliers. We will also be looking at new markets for further international expansion.”

The new investors add strategic value to Matsmart. D-Ax is the investment arm of the Swedish Axel Johnson Group, and Norrsken Foundation, set up by Klarna founder Niklas Adalberth, focuses on social tech entrepreneurship.

Karl adds: “D-Ax has significant experience in the food and retail sectors, and invest with a long-term view, which suits us perfectly. Norrsken focuses on companies that have a positive impact on humans or the environment, and align well with our vision: a world without food waste.”

Mia Brunell Livfors, CEO at Axel Johnson comments: ”For Axel Johnson, this is a strategic investment: it’s in the food space, it’s an e-commerce proposition, it’s a low cost retailer, and it has sustainability at its core. We look forward to working with Matsmart for the long-term.”

Tove Larsson, Investment Manager at Norrsken adds: “Food waste is an important environmental issue, and we think that Matsmart are tackling it in a smart way. They are addressing the immediate issue of saving food that is going to waste, and in the long term, they are also able to influence the root causes of the problem, by helping suppliers reduce waste, and changing consumer behaviour in relation to best-before dates.”

Matsmart, which was founded by Karl Andersson, Erik Södergren, and Ulf Skagerström, has previously attracted investors such as Northzone, GP Bullhound, Edastra, Inbox Capital, the Avito-founders Jonas Nordlander and Filip Engelbert and Johan Kleber, CEO of Adlibris.

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