Category Archives: News

Tesi becomes a shareholder in software startup Rentle

Tesi

Tesi has converted its convertible loan, made under the Venture Bridge special investment programme that closed for initial investments in March 2022,  into shares of Rentle. Tesi thus became an owner in the company.

Rentle is a Finnish startup that provides the digital infrastructure for consumer rental businesses to set up and run their business.

In the recent seed funding round, the company raised some EUR 4 million in growth funding. Tesi  participated in the round by converting its convertible loan into Rentle’s shares per previously agreed conditions under the Venture Bridge programme.

Additional information:

Samppa Sirviö, Investment Manager, Venture Capital Investments
samppa.sirvio@tesi.fi
+358 50 518 6063

Tesi (Finnish Industry Investment Ltd) is a state-owned investment company that wants to raise Finland to the front ranks of transformative economic growth by investing in funds and directly in companies. We invest profitably and responsibly, together with co-investors, to create the world’s new success stories. Our investments under management total 2.4 billion euros.  www.tesi.fi | @TesiFII

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EQT Private Equity sells its stake in GPA Global

eqt
  • EQT Private Equity has sold its stake in GPA Global, a packaging services provider with operations across North America, Europe, and Asia, to Ontario Teachers’
  • Under EQT Private Equity’s tenure, GPA Global has transformed from an Asia-focused consumer electronics packaging specialist, into a global packaging platform serving a well-diversified mix of customers and end-markets
  • The sale of GPA Global represents another successful exit for EQT Private Equity in Asia and further cements EQT’s overall momentum in APAC

EQT is pleased to announce that the EQT Mid Market Asia III fund (“EQT Private Equity”) has completed the sale of its co-control stake in GPA Global (“GPA” or the “Company”) to Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board (“Ontario Teachers’”).

Founded in 2007, GPA Global is a global packaging services provider. The Company offers a comprehensive suite of end-to-end services across the packaging value chain; including prototyping, design, vendor management, production and supply chain logistics. GPA provides these services to some of the world’s most well-known brands, and has more than 600 customers across the beverage, consumer electronics, healthcare, beauty and jewelry end-markets.

Since EQT Private Equity’s investment in 2017, GPA has substantially expanded its capability set and geographic footprint, and transitioned from an Asian focus into a global platform operating across North America, Europe and Asia. Over the five year period, the Company has grown its operating base from a single office in Asia to 31 global offices and facilities, including four in-house production facilities, and expanded its employee base from around 150 to 2,000 today.

GPA’s expansion has partly been enabled by the successful completion of seven strategic add-on acquisitions. These acquisitions served to diversify the Company’s revenue base, enhance its global manufacturing capabilities, and elevate its ability to deliver a differentiated value proposition to customers.

To support its rapid growth, GPA also invested heavily in building a deep management bench with the appropriate skill-set to help future-proof its operations. This included on-boarding regional heads in North America and Europe following relevant acquisitions in those markets, and also bolstering functional senior leadership in the areas of finance, HR, digital and sustainability.

Tom Wang, Co-Founder and President of GPA said, “GPA has undergone a transformation over the past five years, from an Asia-centric consumer electronics packaging specialist, into its position today as a truly global packaging platform that has a strong market position across a diversified mix of attractive end-markets. EQT has been instrumental in supporting this journey and have been great partners in the development of our business.”

Adam Melton, Co-Founder and CEO of GPA commented, “The growth GPA has achieved over the past five years is a testament to our differentiated value proposition in the packaging market. Our amazing global team bring innovation, customer-centricity and a nimble mindset to help our customers’ unique products shine in a crowded marketplace. Our whole team have enjoyed the partnership with EQT, and are equally excited about our future with Ontario Teachers’.”

David Forde, Managing Director within EQT Private Equity’s Advisory Team, said, “GPA is a great example of how EQT can partner with founder management teams to unlock the full potential of their business, and support their global expansion ambitions. In addition to growing earnings five-fold over the investment period, GPA has also thoughtfully laid the foundations for sustained long-term growth through a continued broadening of its capability set, geographic presence and addressable end-markets.”

Evercore acted as financial advisor to GPA Global and EQT Private Equity on the transaction, and Baker McKenzie as legal advisor to EQT Private Equity.

Contact
EQT Press Office, press@eqtpartners.com, +46 8 506 55 334

EQT is a purpose-driven global investment organization with EUR 77 billion in assets under management as of 30 June 2022, across 36 active funds. EQT funds have portfolio companies in Europe, Asia-Pacific and the Americas with total sales of approximately EUR 29 billion and more than 280,000 employees. EQT works with portfolio companies to achieve sustainable growth, operational excellence and market leadership.

More info: www.eqtgroup.com
Follow EQT on LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram

About GPA Global
More info: www.gpaglobal.net

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EQT Mid Market Asia III GPA Global

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Xeneta Raises $80 Million led by Apax Digital

Apax

Investment to Fuel Expansion of Xeneta’s Breakthrough Container Shipping & Air Cargo Market Analytics Platform

Xeneta, the leading ocean and air freight rate benchmarking and market analytics platform, today announced an $80 million investment at a $265 million valuation led by funds advised by Apax Digital, the growth equity arm of Apax, a leading global private equity advisory firm, with participation from NY-based Lugard Road Capital. With this investment, Xeneta will accelerate investments in platform development and continue scaling its global commercial teams. This will support expansion into new markets as companies seek to develop resilient supply chains to counter global trade volatility.

A global pandemic, geo-political uncertainty, and climate-related events have led to an unpredictable market where supply and demand continue to shift, leaving supply chain, logistics, and transportation professionals scrambling for visibility. As organizations undergo efforts to navigate instabilities in the market, access to readily available and actionable freight rate data has emerged as a strategic priority. In this new context, ocean shipping and air cargo transportation costs have been elevated to company board-level discussions. Additionally, in an increasingly data-driven world, procurement, finance, and other corporate functions cannot operate effectively without data that is fit for purpose.

Xeneta stands in stark contrast to other shipping rate and index solutions by providing organizations with the world’s largest, neutral and most accurate data source of real-time, on-demand ocean container and air freight rate market intelligence, whether for long-term contracts or spot trades. The Xeneta platform delivers the one-two punch that modern companies look for in digitizing their overall freight procurement or selling operations by providing access to an unrivaled amount of rate data (with 10 million rates added a month), as well as incorporating advanced analytics and visualization. The all-in-one platform delivers further value by providing data and insights on capacity, reliability, blank sailings, detention and demurrage, dynamic load factor, emissions data, and more.

Xeneta’s novel crowdsourced approach levels the playing field for ocean and air freight buyers and sellers offering benchmarking, tendering, budgeting, planning, and reporting capabilities. Amidst global supply chain and logistics challenges, Xeneta’s intelligence ensures that companies’ cargoes get to where it needs to be, when it needs to be there, all at the right price.

“While global trade tries to get back on its feet after a couple of years of uncertainty, it’s clear that the overall logistics industry requires a re-think of how freight is bought and sold. This new funding will help us accelerate development of our platform and add even more datasets to enrich our expert industry analyses to further drive transparency in the market,” said Xeneta CEO and Co-founder Patrik Berglund. “We are proud to have a renowned global fund like Apax Digital and its expert operational team to work alongside us as we enter our next stage of growth.”

Mark Beith, Partner at Apax Digital, who joins the company’s Board of Directors, said: “Buyers and sellers of freight have been flying blind in a complex and opaque market. Xeneta’s world-leading dataset and cutting-edge platform provide unique access to granular real-time information and insight, enabling data-driven freight sales and purchases. This delivers compelling value for their blue-chip customer base – not just in sales or procurement, but also in budgeting and reporting, and increasingly in ESG monitoring. We’re thrilled to partner with Patrik and the Xeneta team and help deliver their vision.”

Xeneta’s customer portfolio includes amongst others: Electrolux, Unilever, Nestle, Zebra Technologies, Thyssenkrupp, Volvo, General Mills, Procter & Gamble, and John Deere.

About Xeneta

Xeneta is the leading ocean and air freight rate benchmarking and market analytics platform transforming the shipping and logistics industry. Xeneta’s powerful reporting and analytics platform provides liner-shipping and air cargo stakeholders the data they need to understand current and historical market behavior, reporting live on market average and low/high movements for both short- and long-term contracts. Xeneta’s data comprises more than 300 million contracted container and air freight rates and covers more than 160,000 global trade routes. Xeneta is a privately held company with headquarters in Oslo, Norway, with regional offices in New Jersey, USA, Hamburg, Germany, and Copenhagen, Denmark. To learn more, please visit www.xeneta.com.

About Apax and Apax Digital

The Apax Digital Funds specialize in growth equity and growth buyout investments in high-growth enterprise software, consumer internet, and technology-enabled services companies worldwide. The Apax Digital team leverages Apax’s deep tech investing expertise, global platform, and specialized operating experts, to enable technology companies and their management teams to accelerate the achievement of their full potential. For further information, please visit www.apaxdigital.com.

Apax Partners LLP (“Apax”) is a leading global private equity advisory firm. For 50 years, Apax has worked to inspire growth and ideas that transform businesses. The firm has raised and advised funds with aggregate commitments of more than $60 billion. The Apax Funds invest in companies across four global sectors of Tech, Services, Healthcare, and Internet/Consumer. These funds provide long-term equity financing to build and strengthen world-class companies. For more information see: www.apax.com.

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Eurazeo expands its offer dedicated to individual investors with the launch of Eurazeo Principal Investments Fund

Eurazeo

Eurazeo is continuing to expand its range of funds accessible to individual investors with the launch of Eurazeo Principal Investments fund , mainly intended to be distributed through life insurance contracts (unit-linked), yet also available through direct investment. With this novel arrangement, Eurazeo aims to facilitate the access to professional private equity investments by simplifying the subscription process – particularly via unit-linked life insurance policies – as well as lowering the subscription threshold and allowing savers to invest in a portfolio that is committed from its inception.

As soon as it is launched, the fund will be available at AG2R La Mondiale and at Generali, with a minimum investment of €5,000, and then through life insurance policies in the leading French insurers.

For the first time in the history of private equity funds in France, Investors will be able to subscribe via IZNES, a platform that uses a secure blockchain technology. For subscriptions made via our banking and wealth management partners, the minimum investment amounts to €10,000.

Eurazeo Principal Investments will focus on the buyout and growth investment strategies: the fund will accompany around 30 companies in their growth, particularly in the healthcare, tech and financial services sectors, mainly in Europe, but will also have some exposure to US companies seeking to develop internationally. Just like other Eurazeo Funds that are dedicated to individual investors, Eurazeo Principal Investments will co-invest alongside Eurazeo’s institutional strategies. The fund has obtained the Relance label certification (awarded in France to funds that are supporting the post-Covid recovery of their investees) and allows savers to help finance promising SMEs.

After the recent launch of European Real Estate II ELTIF – a fund offering real estate investments – Eurazeo Principal Investments supplements and enhances Eurazeo’s funds offering to individual investors across all of its investment strategies (private equity, private debt and real estate).

Eurazeo Principal Investments has a target size of €250 million and, thanks to the support of the Eurazeo group, is committed to the following six companies at the time of its launch: Premium, I-Tracing, DiliTrust, Altaïr, Cranial Technologies and Scaled Agile.

For more than 20 years, Eurazeo has been committed to making private equity investment accessible to individual investors, and now manages more than €3 billion of assets for more than 100,000 investors. Eurazeo’s funds intended to individual investors are distributed solely by its banking, insurance and wealth management partners.

Luc Maruenda, Partner, Private Wealth Solutions, said:

“As pioneers of the democratization of private equity we are very happy to announce the launch of this new fund today. This shows our desire to innovate for the benefit of savers. The fund’s units will not be listed but will be available as part of unit-linked life insurance policies, allowing investors to give meaning to their savings by helping the financing of high-potential sectors. By continuing to expand our range, we seek to offer new investment opportunities in buoyant sectors and address all types of investors. For investees, the fund also provides new sources of funding to support their growth.”

Benoit Courmont, member of AG2R La Mondiale’s Group Management Committee in charge of retirement savings and wealth management, added:

“In 2017, we decided to offer the first Eurazeo fund to accessible via life insurance policies. Six years later, the appetite of wealth management clients for this asset class continues to significantly grow. As a result, we had no hesitation in deciding to offer the Eurazeo Principal Investments fund from its inception. We were immediately attracted to the idea of offering our wealth management clients this unprecedented opportunity to benefit from institutional strategies that are already committed to existing buyout transactions.”

About Eurazeo

  • Eurazeo is a leading global investment company, with a diversified portfolio of €32.5 billion in assets under management, including nearly €23.4 billion from third parties, invested in 530 companies. With its considerable private equity, venture capital, private debt as well as real estate and infrastructure asset expertise, Eurazeo accompanies companies of all sizes, supporting their development through the commitment of its nearly 360 professionals and by offering deep sector expertise, a gateway to global markets, and a responsible and stable foothold for transformational growth. Its solid institutional and family shareholder base, robust financial structure free of structural debt, and flexible investment horizon enable Eurazeo to support its companies over the long term.
  • Eurazeo has offices in Paris, New York, London, Frankfurt, Berlin, Milan, Madrid, Luxembourg, Shanghai, Seoul, Singapore and Sao Paulo.
  • Eurazeo is listed on Euronext Paris.
  • ISIN: FR0000121121 – Bloomberg: RF FP – Reuters: EURA.PA

EURAZEO CONTACT

Virginie CHRISTNACHT

DIRECTRICE DE LA COMMUNICATION

+33 (0) 1 44 15 76 44

Pierre BERNARDIN

DIR. RELATIONS INVESTISSEURS

+33 (0) 1 44 15 16 76

PRESS CONTACT

David Sturken

MAITLAND/AMO

+44 (0) 7990 595 913

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Coexya, a company supported by Argos Wityu, is to acquire Siris Advisory and Cloudspirit, IT consulting firms specializing in digital

argos wityu

This acquisition will enable Coexya to strengthen its specialist position in customer relations and more specifically in CRM, digital marketing and Enterprise Service Management – ESM – activities.

Coexya, an independent digital leader in consulting, integration and software development, is to acquire Siris Advisory and Cloudspirit, IT consulting firms specializing in digital transformation and experts in CRM, marketing automation and ESM activities around the ServiceNow solution. The transaction will be a strategic merger of the two companies, enabling them to pursue their development. Supported by Argos Wityu since 2020, Coexya is an investment held by the Argos VII fund.

Created in 2017 in Paris, Siris Advisory supports companies in optimising their customer relations and the quality of service experienced. To this end, Siris teams operate on all functional and technical fields (acquisition, loyalty, follow-up, QOS, DATA).
Created in 2019 in Paris by the two founders of Siris, Cloudspirit provides specialized expertise in Service Portal, ITOM, SecOps and CSM modules from ServiceNow. The consolidated activities of the two companies represent a turnover of €7.5m as of 30 June 2022 up 25% from 2021.

The associated founders as well as all the managers and consultants are joining the Coexya Group project to continue the development of these two companies and their expertise in synergy with the other know-how of the Coexya Group.

Since acquisition by Argos in 2020, the group’s objective is an external growth strategy aimed at developing its product division and its international presence. For Coexya, this merger allows the group to strengthen its expertise in customer relations, which today represents 18% of the group’s turnover.

This merger will also allow Siris and Cloudspirit to target larger scope projects and to consolidate their specialist positioning.

Philippe Le Calvé, CEO of Coexya, “We are determined to continue to develop our mutual skills while respecting the common values that we all share, such as commitment and respect The opportunity to continue the development of these two companies with their historical leaders is also an important element in the choice of this merger.”

Boris Bentaalla, director of Siris Advisory and Cloudspirit “We are particularly delighted with this merger. Joining Coexya will allow us to move forward in an accelerated way while keeping our DNA. The commercial synergies are significant, and the strength of the group will support our positions in our sectors of activity”.

Karel Kroupa, Argos Wityu Managing Partner, added, “The merger between Coexya, Siris Advisory and Cloudspirit is right in line with the group’s business development strategy, as employed by Philippe Le Calvé and his team. The group will now be able to use the expertise of the two companies to offer complementary services to its customers.”

Argos Wityu team: Karel Kroupa and Afif Chebaro

Argos Wityu

Coralie Cornet
Head of Communications
ccc@argos.fund
+33 (0)6 14 38 33 37

Coexya

Communications Department
communication@coexya.eu

About Argos Wityu
argos.wityu.fund
Argos Wityu is an independent European investment fund that supports companies undertaking ownership and strategic transitions. It has assisted more than 90 businesses, focusing on accelerating the transformation and growth of mid-sized businesses in close collaboration with management teams. Argos Wityu seeks to acquire majority interests and invest between €10m and €100m with each transaction. With more than €1.4bn under management and over 30 years of experience, Argos Wityu operates from offices in Brussels, Frankfurt, Geneva, Luxembourg, Milan and Paris.

About Coexya
coexya.eu
Coexya has more than 20 years of experience in consulting, integration and software development and is specialised in digital transformation. In 2020, Coexya changed shareholders and with the support of its executives, operational managers and the European investment fund Argos Wityu, became independent of the Sword Group. Coexya’s mission is to support organisations by developing solutions that address the new ways employees and customers use data. Coexya is active in six areas of expertise: customer experience, digital content, health, legal, location intelligence and smart data.
The group serves more than 370 clients and generated turnover of nearly €70m in 2021. Coexya has more than 700 employees based in Lille, Brest, Lyon, Paris and Rennes.

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MiQ Announces Partnership with Bridgepoint

Bridgepoint

NEW YORK, SEPTEMBER 13, 2022 — MiQ, one of the largest global programmatic media partners in the world, today announced a new key partnership with private equity group Bridgepoint. As part of the partnership, Bridgepoint will support MiQ’s existing management team to deliver the next phase of programmatic media solutions, with a focus on continued international expansion and client growth. This investment represents a realization for growth focused private equity firm ECI Partners, who have been partnered with MiQ since 2017, generating a 6.1x return.

Founded in London in 2010 by Gurman Hundal and Lee Puri, MiQ has transformed into a major global player in helping businesses to scale and deliver proven ROI through its media offering, analytical solutions and tech platform. The company turns data into high-performing advertising campaigns and provides real-time insights to drive tangible business change. Bridgepoint was selected due to its cultural and strategic alignment, and its ability to strengthen MiQ’s rapid growth trajectory through its experience in product development strategies and assisting businesses with their global expansion plans.

“Our success is built on revolutionizing the way companies can maximize data, but unique business challenges around data science, analytics and programmatic trading are getting more complex every day,” said Gurman Hundal, co-founder and Global Executive Chairman, MiQ. “Bridgepoint’s proven track record of innovative and scalable investments matches our ambition to move to the next chapter to deliver for our people and clients. We’d like to thank Tom Wrenn and the ECI team for the fantastic support in helping us develop over the past five years, helping us turn MiQ into a truly global business. We look forward to where MiQ is going over the next five years and beyond.”

“The connected and data-driven world continues to change and MiQ will evolve along with it,” said Lee Puri, co-founder, MiQ. “We’re beyond excited to work with Director Charles Welham and Partner and Chief Investment Officer Xavier Robert, as well as the entire Bridgepoint team, in this new milestone in our global growth journey.”

Charles Welham, director of Bridgepoint in London, said: “MiQ is a major global player partnering with some of the world’s leading brands and agencies to deliver high-performing advertising campaigns and drive true business change through data analytics and insights. It offers leading analytics solutions and platforms to companies everywhere and has achieved significant growth over the last few years. Gurman, Lee and the entire MiQ family have cultivated best-in-class processes around innovation, technology and data partnerships, and we look forward to providing the necessary expertise to help maximize the company’s market potential.”

Tom Wrenn, Partner at ECI comments, “It has been an amazing journey with Gurman and Lee, backing them in their ambition to grow MiQ into a global programmatic market leader. Since our investment the team have developed and executed an incredible North American expansion strategy, with over two thirds of group revenue now coming from the US. Delivering a 6.1x return is representative of the fantastic partnership, and Gurman and Lee’s enthusiasm and ambition has made this investment a career highlight. We wish them all the best for the next stage of the MiQ journey.”

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Equistone-backed Acuity Knowledge Partners acquires Cians Analytics, consolidating a leading position in the global financial services outsourcing market

Equistone

Acuity Knowledge Partners (“Acuity”), a leading provider of high-value research, analytics and business intelligence to the financial services sector, today announced the acquisition of Cians Analytics (“Cians”), a provider of high-quality, cost-effective research and analytical support for financial institutions. This acquisition will allow Acuity to offer enhanced support in the field of knowledge process outsourcing (KPO) and help streamline the operations of financial firms globally. The financial terms of the transaction were undisclosed.

  • Acuity Knowledge Partners has completed a 100% acquisition of Cians Analytics, strengthening its position as a global market leader in providing outsourced expertise across research analytics and data to all financial services firms, as well as expanding its product offering
  • Cians Analytics has grown significantly over recent years through existing relationships and new client wins; the transaction will further expand Acuity’s client base of top-tier financial services firms, including but not limited to investment banks, private equity funds and hedge funds
  • “Given our history, shared cultures and service offerings, the opportunity to combine to ultimately provide high-quality services to a larger client base was compelling,” says Robert King, CEO of Acuity Knowledge Partners
  • “The combination of firms will provide both our customers and our employees with the opportunity to grow and benefit from shared expertise and an expanded service offering,” says Anmol Bhandari, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Cians Analytics

Cians Analytics enables investment banks, private equity funds and corporations to do more with their time while significantly reducing operating costs. Its diverse pool of talent, including financial researchers, developers and data scientists, allows the in-house teams of Cians’ clients to better focus on strategic initiatives and increased output. Challenging economic conditions, the migration of finance talent into the technology sector and disruptions in the financial services space have significantly increased demand for these services. Cians’ product offering also includes LeverData, a proprietary data ingestion, validation and management platform which helps customers eliminate the data reliability issues that often plague financial services firms, saving them money, resources and valuable time.

The acquisition represents the first bolt-on transaction made by Acuity since its buyout by Equistone, a leading European mid-market private equity investor, in 2019. Following the acquisition, all Cians employees will join the Acuity workforce, taking its global headcount to over 5500 employees.

“Cians Analytics has proven, throughout the years, that they have a dedication to quality work and best-in-class service to all of their clients,” said Acuity Knowledge Partners CEO, Robert King. “Given our shared cultures and service offerings, the opportunity to combine our teams and provide high-quality services to a larger client base was a compelling one. Post-transaction Acuity will support over 500 banking and financial services firms worldwide. This deal also supports the significant growth we have seen, and continue to target, in key markets such as the U.S.”

“The combination of both firms not only increases the capabilities we can offer to our combined client set, but also allows our employees and customers to have a truly global engagement team and experience,” said Cians Analytics Co-Founder and Co-CEO, Anmol Bhandari. “We often saw each other in engagements and in the marketplace. It ultimately made sense to combine to truly consolidate offerings and clients and to give the customers and employees the best that both firms can offer.”

“This is a win-win situation for our most important stakeholders, our clients and our employees,” said Cians Analytics Co-Founder and Co-CEO, Aman Chowdhury. “Both firms have a history of delivering high-quality services to a discerning and sophisticated client set spread across the globe. While both firms work with similar types of clients, our services and focus areas are often complementary. This sets the combined firm up as the pre-eminent firm in our industry.”

Speaking about the transaction, Tim Swales, Partner at Equistone, said: “Robert and his team have done an excellent job of driving strong organic growth over the past three years. In Cians we recognised an opportunity to supplement that, by supporting the bolt-on acquisition of a company with a similarly strong and highly complementary service offering and client base. By strengthening the product suite available to clients, we believe this transaction has the potential to further accelerate Acuity’s growth over the coming years.”

Cians was advised on the transaction by Grant Thornton, Mayer Brown and Phoenix Legal, while Acuity was advised by BDA Partners (William Blair), Latham & Watkins, AZB Partners and Baker Hostetler.

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Arcus announces its first investment for its newest fund with acquisition of Workdry International Limited

Arcus

London, United Kingdom (12 September 2022) – Arcus Infrastructure Partners (“Arcus”) announces that Arcus European Infrastructure Fund 3 SCSp (“AEIF3” or the “Fund”) has agreed to acquire a c. 83% interest in Workdry International Limited (“Workdry” or the “Company”), with the balance of the shareholding to be held by the current majority owners of the business (the Bright family) and key individuals from the Company’s management team.

The acquisition of Workdry, the UK’s leading leasing provider of water pump and wastewater treatment assets, marks the first investment for the new Fund. Workdry operates through trading brands Selwood and Siltbuster and serves customers across the water utility, large-scale infrastructure and construction sectors. The Company’s assets are critical to managing the maintenance lifecycle of the UK’s water infrastructure network, supporting the UK’s wastewater treatment network through periods of high demand and maintenance, and for general water displacement needs related to large-scale infrastructure and construction projects. In addition to its core asset leasing activities, the Company provides highly specialised services such as surveying, system design, installation and monitoring.

Workdry’s market leading position is supported by its extensive regional footprint, sizeable asset base and deep operating expertise. The Company operates from a depot network of 22 locations, with a fleet of over 5,500 pumps (plus ancillary equipment) and 3,000 modular wastewater treatment systems. Workdry’s c. 550-person employee base, including its solutions engineering team, ensures a highly responsive and unique value-add leasing proposition for its high-quality customer base, which includes the majority of the UK’s water utilities as well as leading engineering, infrastructure and construction firms. Its assets play a key role in the delivery of landmark UK infrastructure projects such as Crossrail, HS2 and Hinkley Point as well as major construction projects across the country.

Richard Brown, CEO of Workdry, said: “Workdry is an incredibly successful business that has grown significantly over the past decade in line with the Board’s plans to deliver the very best in complete water handling and treatment solutions on a regional, national and international scale.”

 

“Delivering the next steps in our growth required new and experienced investors to enable us to scale up while continuing to deliver the quality assets and services that our customers associate with our Selwood and Siltbuster brands. The team at Arcus shares our values, vision and commitment to outstanding provision of mission-critical assets and services, and their investment will enable us to deliver on those ambitions, building on all we have achieved to date to strengthen our position as a European leader in water and wastewater asset leasing and integrated solutions.”

Jordan Cott, Arcus Partner and Head of Logistics & Industrials Origination, who led the transaction, said: “We have spent significant time reviewing value-add industrial asset leasing businesses in Europe, and Workdry stood out as a key target not only due to its strong management team and market leading position but also given its strong fit with Arcus’ infrastructure investment strategy. The Company’s essential role for its customers has become even more important given increasingly stringent regulation and public scrutiny with respect to the UK’s water and wastewater infrastructure. We look forward to partnering with the Bright family and Workdry’s very strong senior management team in delivering the next phase of growth for the business.”

 

Commenting on the acquisition, Ian Harding, Managing Partner and Head of Origination at Arcus said: “We are extremely pleased to announce our investment in Workdry, a significant announcement for Arcus as we make our first investment in our new Fund. Workdry represents a strong fit with the AEIF3’s investment strategy of targeting mid-market, value-add infrastructure businesses. As with many Arcus investments, we are delighted to be partnering with a business with such an extensive operating history and are looking forward to developing the business further in this essential UK industry.”

Arcus was advised by Lincoln (M&A and Financing), Santander (Financing), LEK (Commercial), WSP (Technical), Macfarlanes (Legal), PWC (Financial, Tax and IT), and AON (Insurance).

About Arcus

Arcus Infrastructure Partners is an independent fund manager focused solely on long-term investments in European infrastructure. Arcus invests on behalf of institutional investors through discretionary funds and special co-investment vehicles and, through its subsidiaries, currently manages investments with an aggregate enterprise value of EUR c.19bn (as of 30 June 2022). Arcus targets mid-market, value-add infrastructure investments, with a particular focus on businesses in the digital, transport, logistics & industrials, and energy sectors.

Arcus Media Contacts:

Debbie JohnstonE: debbie@sprengthomson.com

T: +44 7532 183811

 Callum SprengE: callum@sprengthomson.com

T: +44 7803 970103

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EQT Growth closes above target, making it the largest first-time growth fund based in Europe

eqt

EQT Growth raises EUR 2.2 billion in fee-generating AUM, with total commitments of EUR 2.4 billion

Final close above EUR 2 billion target underlines attractiveness of EQT Growth’s thematic and active approach to investing in European growth-stage tech firms

Record final close positions EQT Growth to help take leading tech companies to the next level, supported by the global power of EQT

EQT is pleased to announce the final close of EQT Growth (the “Fund”) above its EUR 2 billion target, raising EUR 2.2 billion in fee-generating assets under management (AUM) and total commitments of EUR 2.4 billion1. As the largest first-time growth fund based in Europe2, the raise underlines the strong investor demand for EQT Growth’s thematic investment strategy and active approach to unleashing sustainable growth in Europe and Israel’s leading technology companies.

EQT Growth was launched to support fast-growing technology companies, especially in Europe and Israel, as they continue to scale. Having invested in technology for nearly three decades, EQT sees the large opportunity for a growth investor with European roots and local expertise and capabilities to help elevate the region’s tech innovators to the world stage. Investment in European technology companies has grown vastly, increasing from around USD 20 billion in 2017 to over USD 100 billion in 20213, but European-based investors only made-up 30 percent of investors in growth-stage rounds in 20214.

The strategy seeks to invest around EUR 50 million to EUR 200 million, backing strong management teams of companies supported by secular macro trends primarily within four tech sub-sectors: enterprise, con/prosumer, health, and climate. It explores opportunities at the point where companies have achieved product-market fit and are taking the next step to scale. The Fund, which still has over two-thirds of capital available, has made seven investments to date and already includes some of Europe’s most innovative companies in its portfolio, such as Epidemic Sound, Mambu and Vinted.

With a team based in five countries across Europe, EQT Growth’s local presence ensures direct access to many of the continent’s most-established tech hubs. The diverse team has extensive investing and operating experience, which makes it well positioned to actively collaborate with CEOs and management teams on their company’s growth journey. When combined with a focus on sustainability – initiatives include requiring portfolio companies to set greenhouse gas emission reduction targets validated by the Science Based Targets initiative – EQT Growth is a very attractive partner for companies committed to long-term, responsible growth.

EQT Growth’s value-add approach is enhanced by Motherbrain, EQT’s proprietary AI driven investment platform that is designed to enhance every decision in the investment process. It also benefits from EQT’s broad suite of inhouse experts, which includes dedicated digitization, sustainability and capital markets teams.

Marc Brown, Partner and Head of EQT Growth’s Advisory Team, said: “The speed at which the European and Israeli tech ecosystem has developed over the past decade is a testament to the number of innovative, young companies that call the region home. However, a lack of growth-stage capital and European investors with scale-up expertise has meant that many of these firms have gone elsewhere when embarking on the next step of their journey. With this fund, EQT Growth has the experience, expertise and now capital to change this. We’re excited to actively partner with a select group of Europe and Israel’s tech champions to help drive them to the world stage.”

The Fund is backed by a global and diverse group of investors including pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, asset managers and high-net-worth individuals from across Europe, Asia, North America and the Middle East.

Per Franzén, Head of Private Capital and Deputy Managing Partner at EQT, said: “Closing the largest ever first-time growth equity fund raised in Europe clearly illustrates the demand for EQT’s active ownership approach and thematic investment strategies. In a strong vote of confidence for our multi-strategy approach, the fund received support from a significant portion of investors in existing EQT funds. We are honored by their ongoing support and look forward to continuing to earn their trust.”

Notes to editors

1Total commitments include funds raised from EQT employees and the EQT Network, which are not fee-generating.
2 Source: Preqin database.
3Source: Atomico, State of European Tech Report, 2021.
4Growth-stage rounds defined as EUR 50 million plus raised. Source: EQT Motherbrain.

Contact
Finn McLaughlan, finn.mclaughlan@eqtpartners.com, +44 77 1534 1608
EQT Press Office, press@eqtpartners.com, +46 8 506 55 334

About

About EQT

EQT is a purpose-driven global investment organization with EUR 77 billion in assets under management as of 30 June 2022, across 36 active funds. EQT funds have portfolio companies in Europe, Asia-Pacific and the Americas with total sales of approximately EUR 29 billion and more than 280,000 employees. EQT works with portfolio companies to achieve sustainable growth, operational excellence and market leadership.

More info: www.eqtgroup.com
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Audax Private Equity Announces Acquisition of DISA Global Solutions

Audax Group

Audax Private Equity (“Audax”) announced the acquisition of DISA Global Solutions, Inc. (“DISA” or the “Company”), a leading tech-enabled provider of employee screening, compliance, and workplace health & safety solutions, from Court Square Capital Partners. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Headquartered in Houston, Texas with operations across the U.S., DISA specializes in providing a comprehensive suite of employee testing, screening, and compliance management solutions to a diverse set of end markets. The Company differentiates itself through its proprietary consortium model, speed and quality of its full suite of testing and screening services, direct-lab network, and leading proprietary technology database & customer platforms. DISA remains focused on growing organically and through acquisition, and is seeking add-on acquisitions that help to expand its geographical footprint, enter into new end-markets, and strengthen its core existing service portfolio.

John Peterson, CEO of DISA, commented, “We are thrilled to be partnering with Audax as we enter an exciting new chapter in our history. This investment will help DISA accelerate growth and expand its employee screening, compliance, and workplace health & safety solutions offerings to customers. Partnering with Audax will enhance our ability to continue doing what we do best – providing trusted solutions to our clients.”

“We are excited to work with John and the management team at DISA. Under their leadership, the Company has differentiated itself in a large and highly fragmented market by establishing a broad portfolio of comprehensive and best in class solutions. These solutions are critical in helping DISA’s customers deliver a safer workplace for both their employees and the environment,” said Young Lee, Managing Director at Audax Private Equity. “We look forward to leveraging our prior experience and working with John and the rest of the management team’s leadership to drive growth both organically and through strategic M&A.”

Beau Thomas, Managing Director at Audax Private Equity, added, “DISA is a distinguished leader in the employee screening, compliance, and workplace health & safety solutions space. We look forward to supporting the Company through investments in technology, innovation, and talent to help accelerate the platform’s growth in both existing and new verticals and to continue to provide best in class solutions for its customers.”

Harris Williams served as financial advisor to Audax and Piper Sandler and Stifel served as financial advisors to the Company. Ropes & Gray served as legal counsel to Audax and Dechert served as legal counsel to the Company.

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