CapMan Residential Fund makes its second investment in Sweden through the acquisition of a forward funding project in Ursvik, Sundbyberg
CapMan Residential Fund acquires a forward funding project in Ursvik, Sundbyberg. The project is situated 10 km north of Stockholm city center and comprises 289 rental apartments, an underground parking garage with 85 parking spaces and two small commercial premises. The project is acquired from Reliwe, and the development and construction will be managed by Reliwe and Consto with expected completion in early 2027. Ursvik is a strong location in one of Sweden’s fastest-growing municipalities and offers excellent public transport connections for the residents in the area, ensuring convenient commuting to Stockholm city center and major hubs like Kista, Arenastaden and Bromma.
The acquisition is the ninth investment for CapMan’s pan-Nordic core residential fund. The investment fits well with the fund’s strategy to invest in attractive locations in the largest Nordic cities and in assets with strong sustainability profiles.
The asset will be certified with BREEAM, the Nordic Swan Ecolabel and aims to be EU Taxonomy aligned. It will achieve an EPC rating of level B at minimum and feature both geothermal heating and solar panels. Additionally, the future tenants will be provided with parking spaces equipped with EV chargers in the parking garage and have access to a car and bicycle pool, offering convenient and
eco-friendly transportation options.
“We are excited to secure our second investment in Sweden for our residential fund, marking the first within the Greater Stockholm area. This high-quality project is a fantastic addition to the existing portfolio and aligns well with the fund’s strategy to further expand its presence in Sweden. The strong sustainability profile of the project demonstrates our commitment to responsible investing,” says Pontus Danielsson, Investment Associate at CapMan Real Estate.
Since its inception in 2021, the open-ended core residential fund has successfully raised and invested nearly €1 billion of equity and aims to reach €2 billion by 2026. “We are excited about this investment and look forward to continue expanding our portfolio in Sweden and throughout the Nordics in the years ahead,” comments Magnus Berglund, Partner and Head of CapMan Real Estate Sweden and Norway.
“Our strong focus on asset quality and market selection gives us flexibility in different market conditions. We have built a dedicated investment and operating platform focused on the residential sector that enables us to develop properties at scale. As a developer, we are excited to continue supporting CapMan’s accelerated growth in the years ahead. We are impressed by the operating team at CapMan and look forward to working closely with them while delivering a fantastic residential project in Ursvik,” adds Gurmo Endale, Partner at Reliwe.
CapMan Real Estate manages approximately €4.4 billion in real estate assets, with a team of over 80 professionals located in Helsinki, Stockholm, Copenhagen, Oslo, London and Jyväskylä.
For further information, please contact:
Magnus Berglund, Partner and Head of CapMan Real Estate Sweden and Norway, +46 70 786 68 08
Pontus Danielsson, Investment Associate at CapMan Real Estate, +46 70 385 58 00
About CapMan
CapMan is a leading Nordic private asset expert with an active approach to value creation and €5.7 billion in assets under management. As one of the private equity pioneers in the Nordics we have developed hundreds of companies and assets creating significant value for over three decades. Our objective is to provide attractive returns and innovative solutions to investors by enabling change across our portfolio companies. An example of this is greenhouse gas reduction targets that we have set under the Science Based Targets initiative in line with the 1.5°C scenario and our commitment to net-zero GHG emissions by 2040. We have a broad presence in the unlisted market through our local and specialised teams. Our investment strategies cover real estate and infrastructure assets, natural capital and minority and majority investments in portfolio companies. We also provide wealth management solutions. Our service business includes procurement services. Altogether, CapMan employs around 200 professionals in Helsinki, Jyväskylä, Stockholm, Copenhagen, Oslo, London and Luxembourg. We are listed on Nasdaq Helsinki since 2001. www.capman.com
CapMan Real Estate signs 20-year lease agreement with Nobis in Stockholm
CapMan Real Estate and Nobis Hospitality Group have entered a 20-year lease agreement for a new hotel operation in the Royal Haga project in Stockholm. The historic property Solna Kasernen 1 will become a unique facility with a hotel, restaurant, spa, conference rooms and offices.
The property is located in Hagaparken in Stockholm, offering an excellent location by Brunnsviken with proximity to both nature and the city. CapMan will initiate an extensive refurbishment to create a unique world-class destination hotel, and the facility is expected to open after the summer of 2025. The historic building was constructed between 1917-1922 as a military regiment and has previously been used as office space and for hotel operations. The newer part of the hotel was built in the 1990s and has been renovated in various stages. Kasernen 1 was named after the military activities conducted on the property until the early 1970s.
A destination for all purposes
When renovated, the hotel will have 215 rooms, large social areas, and a fantastic spa facility that will be one of the largest in Sweden with an accompanying wellness club. A high-standard restaurant will also be part of the hotel and open to both hotel guests and the public.
“We are excited to finally announce that Nobis will operate the hotel and attract new visitors to Royal Haga. We look forward to taking the next step for this historic building by offering fantastic facilities for future tenants and visitors. We see enormous potential in the property, combined with its unique and beautiful location in Hagaparken in Stockholm”, says Kajsa Bagler at CapMan.
“We are happy to collaborate with CapMan on this project. This hotel facility has a huge potential, and we are looking forward to creating a destination that will offer high-quality experiences”, says Alessandro Catenacci, owner of Nobis Hospitality Group.
CapMan will completely refurbish the property to elevate the hotel to a high international standard. Demolition and reconstruction work has already begun and will resume in full scale after the summer. When acquiring the property in the fall of 2022, CapMan identified investments to make the property more energy-efficient, and this work will continue until the new facility opens to the public. The green transition will enable the building to be certified according to BREEAM In-Use.
CapMan and Nobis plan to present more detailed information about the upcoming destination hotel during the fall of 2024. Further information about the facility will be communicated continuously, including the opening date, official names of the hotel and office, and illustrative concept material for the new operations.
If you are interested in leasing an office with comprehensive services available within the building, please contact Kim Grüneberger at +46 72 161 14 42. For more information, please visit www.royalhaga.se/office.
CapMan Real Estate manages approximately €4.4 billion in real estate assets, with a team of over 80 professionals located in Helsinki, Stockholm, Copenhagen, Oslo, London and Jyväskylä. The property Solna Kasernen 1 was acquired by the CapMan Nordic Real Estate III Fund in 2022.
Magnus Berglund, Partner, Head of CapMan Real Estate Sweden and Norway, +46 707 866 808
About CapMan
CapMan is a leading Nordic private asset expert with an active approach to value creation and €5.7 billion in assets under management. As one of the private equity pioneers in the Nordics we have developed hundreds of companies and assets creating significant value for over three decades. Our objective is to provide attractive returns and innovative solutions to investors by enabling change across our portfolio companies. An example of this is greenhouse gas reduction targets that we have set under the Science Based Targets initiative in line with the 1.5°C scenario and our commitment to net-zero GHG emissions by 2040. We have a broad presence in the unlisted market through our local and specialised teams. Our investment strategies cover real estate and infrastructure assets, natural capital and minority and majority investments in portfolio companies. We also provide wealth management solutions. Our service business includes procurement services. Altogether, CapMan employs around 200 professionals in Helsinki, Jyväskylä, Stockholm, Copenhagen, Oslo, London and Luxembourg. We are listed on Nasdaq Helsinki since 2001. www.capman.com
Today we’re announcing our Series A in Decagon, an AI company powering a new generation of customer operations.
The promise of customer experience automation has been just around the corner for years. We’ve seen the industry go through many transitions from branching scripts to chat widgets, and yet it continues to be a human-in-the-loop process rife with mistakes, latency, and overall poor NPS. Mix together the broadening, global customer base that companies like Rippling, Vanta, and Eventbrite (all current Decagon customers) serve today with each company’s own expanding portfolios of products, and one can appreciate the compounding problem of delivering customer services like support, success, sales, and onboarding. It’s not getting easier.
Decagon flips the problem on its head with an AI-native solution that mirrors human capabilities and accelerates every layer of the customer operations stack. Decagon’s agents don’t just respond to customer inquiries, they proactively analyze conversations to understand insights, file bug reports, synthesize feature gaps, and even take actions on behalf of customers. In turn, engineers get the right bug reports, UX sees real-time visibility issues — and most importantly, customer issues are resolved in a fraction of the time and cost.
We’ve known Jesse and Ashwin for many years, and have seen first hand the intensity and intuition they apply to even the most unique product and company building problems. As second-time founders of both consumer and enterprise startups, they deeply understand what it means to be customer-obsessed. That’s critical, because we’re in an era of software where computer science fundamentals matter again, but founders must stay grounded in real customer problems. The winners won’t just be the ones with the biggest billboards — the winners will blend these new technical forces with deep customer understanding.
We couldn’t be more excited to partner with Decagon to redefine how companies engage with their customers. We’re hiring high-agency, passionate teammates now. Come join us!
LOS ANGELES (June 13, 2024) – Platinum Equity announced today it provided a First-Lien Term Loan to Westfall Technik to refinance existing indebtedness and support future growth of the business.
Westfall Technik is a vertically-integrated manufacturer of injection molded plastic components that primarily serves the healthcare and consumer packaged goods end markets. The company provides design, tooling, molding and assembly capabilities to service the complete lifecycle of molded plastic parts.
“We are pleased to have delivered speed and certainty for Westfall Technik at a time when the market remains complex for middle-market borrowers. We have a lot of experience in the manufacturing and packaging sectors. That industry knowledge combined with Platinum’s partnership-focused approach allowed us to create and underwrite a financing solution that is uniquely tailored to the borrower’s needs.”
Jacob Kotzubei and Louis Samson, Co-Presidents, Platinum Equity
Westfall Technik is owned by Lee Equity Partners and BlackBern Partners.
“We are pleased to have delivered speed and certainty for Westfall Technik at a time when the market remains complex for middle-market borrowers,” said Platinum Equity Co-Presidents Jacob Kotzubei and Louis Samson in a joint statement. “We have a lot of experience in the manufacturing and packaging sectors. That industry knowledge combined with Platinum’s partnership-focused approach allowed us to create and underwrite a financing solution that is uniquely tailored to the borrower’s needs.”
The Westfall Technik financing is led by Platinum Equity’s dedicated credit team, which seeks opportunities to provide debt capital to companies for a variety of uses, including acquisitions, refinancings and recapitalizations.
“Our goal is to serve as a real strategic partner and deploy Platinum’s financial and intellectual capital to add material value for borrowers and their sponsors,” said Platinum Equity Managing Director and Global Head of Credit Michael Fabiano. “We think Westfall is a great fit for our approach. The company has a well-diversified customer base, impressive scale and operates in markets we know well. We are excited to partner with Lee Equity and BlackBern to support Westfall Technik’s growth and evolution.”
Platinum’s credit team targets companies that generally have $15 to $75 million of EBITDA and are primarily based in North America.
“Our credit team is actively looking for additional opportunities to support borrowers and their sponsors as they pursue their strategic objectives,” added Fabiano.
Houlihan Lokey acted as the sole lead placement agent to Westfall Technik.
About Platinum Equity
Founded in 1995 by Tom Gores, Platinum Equity is a global investment firm with more than $48 billion of assets under management and a portfolio of approximately 50 operating companies that serve customers around the world. Platinum Equity specializes in mergers, acquisitions and operations – a trademarked strategy it calls M&A&O® – acquiring and operating companies in a broad range of business markets, including manufacturing, distribution, transportation and logistics, equipment rental, metals services, media and entertainment, technology, telecommunications and other industries. Over the past 28 years Platinum Equity has completed more than 450 acquisitions and debt financings.
CapMan Real Estate announces strategic promotions and new role to bolster Nordic asset management
CapMan Real Estate makes key organisational enhancements including the introduction of a new leadership role to streamline Nordic asset management operations and support continued expansion.
Over recent five years, CapMan Real Estate has experienced substantial growth, with gross asset value under management surging by over €1 billion, reaching approximately €4.4 billion. The pan-Nordic team has also seen significant growth, now comprising nearly 80 professionals. To ensure smooth and efficient operations that support future growth, the company has made key organisational enhancements.
Effective 1 June 2024, Juhani Erke steps into the role of Chief Asset Management Officer (CAMO), overseeing asset management operations across the Nordic region. A CapMan team member since 2005, Erke will continue to serve on the CapMan Real Estate investment committee alongside CEO Mika Matikainen, CIO Torsten Bjerregaard, and COO Ilkka Tomperi. Erke’s extensive background in asset management and his long tenure as Head of Finland made him a perfect fit for this new position.
“CapMan Real Estate’s commitment to a fully vertically integrated business model, complete with an in-house asset management team, has been a cornerstone of our operations. The current expansion necessitates enhanced coordination of asset management activities across the Nordics. I am eager to collaborate with our local teams to foster a more streamlined asset management framework,” stated Erke.
With Erke’s transition to CAMO, Aleksi Konsti will assume the roles of Deputy Head of Finland and Head of Transactions, Finland, starting 1 October 2024. Erke will maintain his position as Head of Finland during the interim period.
Concurrently, CapMan Real Estate has promoted Investment Directors Marcus Lotzman and Hasse Wulff to the newly established positions of Head of Transactions Sweden and Head of Transactions Denmark, respectively, starting 1 June 2024. Their extensive experience and tenure at CapMan are invaluable assets to their new roles.
Magnus Berglund and Peter Gill will continue as Head of Sweden and Norway and Head of Denmark, respectively. Additionally, Anna Rannisto has been promoted to Sustainability Director, effective 1 April 2024. Under her capable leadership, CapMan Real Estate has made significant strides in establishing its sustainability objectives and effectively implementing its strategic plan.
“These strategic appointments and our recent talent acquisitions are instrumental in sustaining our growth trajectory. They enhance our ability to leverage the collective expertise of our Nordic team, fostering greater knowledge exchange and collaboration across CapMan Real Estate’s offices,” added Ilkka Tomperi, COO of CapMan Real Estate.
For further information, please contact:
Ilkka Tomperi, COO, CapMan Real Estate, +358 50 379 1903
Juhani Erke, CAMO and Head of CapMan Real Estate Finland, +358 50 549 5104
About CapMan
CapMan is a leading Nordic private asset expert with an active approach to value creation and €5.7 billion in assets under management. As one of the private equity pioneers in the Nordics we have developed hundreds of companies and assets creating significant value for over three decades. Our objective is to provide attractive returns and innovative solutions to investors by enabling change across our portfolio companies. An example of this is greenhouse gas reduction targets that we have set under the Science Based Targets initiative in line with the 1.5°C scenario and our commitment to net-zero GHG emissions by 2040. We have a broad presence in the unlisted market through our local and specialised teams. Our investment strategies cover real estate and infrastructure assets, natural capital and minority and majority investments in portfolio companies. We also provide wealth management solutions. Our service business includes procurement services. Altogether, CapMan employs around 200 professionals in Helsinki, Jyväskylä, Stockholm, Copenhagen, Oslo, London and Luxembourg. We are listed on Nasdaq Helsinki since 2001. www.capman.com
This statement should be read in conjunction with Ferrovial’s statements issued November 28th 20231 , January 16th 20242 and June 14th 2024, and by Ardian on November 29th 20233.
Ardian, a world-leading private investment house, today announces that it has entered into a revised agreement to acquire a c. 22.6% stake in FGP Topco Ltd. (TopCo), the holding company of Heathrow Airport Holdings Ltd., from Ferrovial S.E. and certain other TopCo shareholders.
In November 2023, Ardian announced that it had entered into an agreement to acquire 15% of TopCo from Ferrovial. In January 2024, certain shareholders of TopCo (the Tagging Shareholders) elected to exercise their tag along rights in respect of shares representing 35% of the share capital of TopCo.
The parties have been working towards satisfaction of the condition for the sale of the Tagged Shares to be sold alongside Ferrovial’s shares. Following constructive discussions, Ardian has entered into a revised agreement to acquire c. 22.6% of TopCo from Ferrovial and certain of the Tagging Shareholders (together, the Sellers). Under the terms of the revised agreement, infrastructure funds managed and advised by Ardian will acquire c. 22.6% while Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund will acquire c. 15.0% of TopCo concurrently from the Sellers, through separate vehicles. Each of the Sellers will sell a pro rata portion of their shares prior to the transaction and remain as continuing shareholders of TopCo. Following completion of the transaction, the Sellers will retain shares representing 10.0% of the issued share capital of TopCo, in the same pro rata proportions.
Ardian is pleased to have worked closely with the parties to find this revised agreement and reiterates its strong commitment to investing the UK.
Ardian actively supports its assets to accelerate their transformation by leveraging data and new technologies to reduce emissions, creating new, more sustainable revenue sources, becoming more independent and resilient to external shocks, and improving their impact on both local and global environments. Through Ardian AirCarbon, an in-house pioneering solution that supports airports in their sustainability strategy towards net-zero by monitoring their carbon emissions and running simulations on decarbonization trajectories, Ardian aims to accelerate the decarbonization of the whole sector.
Ardian is a world-leading private investment house, managing or advising $166bn of assets on behalf of more than 1,600 clients globally. Our broad expertise, spanning Private Equity, Real Assets and Credit, enables us to offer a wide range of investment opportunities and respond flexibly to our clients’ differing needs. Through Ardian Customized Solutions we create bespoke portfolios that allow institutional clients to specify the precise mix of assets they require and to gain access to funds managed by leading third-party sponsors. Private Wealth Solutions offers dedicated services and access solutions for private banks, family offices and private institutional investors worldwide. Ardian’s main shareholding group is its employees and we place great emphasis on developing our people and fostering a collaborative culture based on collective intelligence. Our 1,050+ employees, spread across 19 offices in Europe, the Americas, Asia and Middle East are strongly committed to the principles of Responsible Investment and are determined to make finance a force for good in society. Our goal is to deliver excellent investment performance combined with high ethical standards and social responsibility.
Through its direct infrastructure investment activities, Ardian has significant experience in owning and operating European airports. In the UK, Ardian was a 49% shareholder of London Luton Airport from 2013 until 2018. During Ardian’s period of ownership, a significant redevelopment of the terminal, transport links and infrastructure was successfully completed in close cooperation with Luton Borough Council. In Italy, Ardian is an indirect shareholder of Milan Linate, Milan Malpensa, Naples and Turin airports alongside their regions and municipalities.
At Ardian we invest all of ourselves in building companies that last.
As part of the expansion, Richard Earnshaw joins as partner to lead new office and FTV’s European investing efforts alongside growing team
NEW YORK & SAN FRANCISCO – FTV Capital, a prominent sector-focused growth equity investment firm with a successful 25+-year track record of investing in financial and enterprise technology, today announced the opening of its London office to serve as the firm’s hub for UK and European investments. FTV also announced Richard Earnshaw has joined the firm as partner to lead and grow the London-based team while deepening the firm’s investing efforts throughout Europe. Located in Mayfair, FTV’s London office joins the firm’s existing offices in New York, San Francisco and Connecticut, representing its first office outside of the United States.
Building on two and a half decades of experience and the firm’s strong investment track record in the region, FTV’s European team will work on deals in collaboration with FTV’s U.S. offices and strengthen its robust pipeline of European investment opportunities. FTV’s current portfolio of European-based companies includes Liberis, ManyPets, Paddle, PeopleCert, True Potential and VikingCloud. Notable exits include Centaur (acquired by Waystone Group in 2022), Egress (signed to be acquired by KnowBe4 in 2024) and WorldFirst (acquired by Ant Financial in 2019).
“We’ve enjoyed a successful history of investing in Europe for many years, supported by our Global Partner Network in the region, and establishing our on-the-ground presence in London is a significant milestone in our growth as we seek to partner with the best entrepreneurs globally,” said Brad Bernstein, managing partner at FTV Capital. “Europe is a promising breeding ground for technology innovation, and we’re excited to bring our flexible growth capital, value-creation resources and vast commercial network to more entrepreneurs to help them scale their businesses to new heights. I’m thrilled to welcome Richard, who we’ve known and respected for a long time, and to work alongside him and our fantastic growing team in London to accelerate FTV’s success.”
With 13 years of experience investing in financial services technology, Earnshaw brings extensive domain expertise in financial software and data to FTV. He joins the firm from Hg, one of Europe’s leading technology-focused private equity firms, with experience investing across Europe and North America. Earnshaw began his career at Deloitte Consulting where he worked on a range of strategy and M&A advisory projects.
“I’m excited to join FTV where we’re not only investing in innovative companies led by great teams to help fuel their growth but also working collectively to transform industries and build the future of technology in Europe,” said Earnshaw, partner at FTV Capital and head of the London office. “FTV’s unique DNA in financial and enterprise technology, combined with its collaborative culture and deep commitment to supporting founders and management teams, makes a material difference for the companies in which it invests. I can’t wait to work alongside the talented and ambitious team at FTV to leverage our sector specialisation, extensive reach into the global financial services and broader enterprise technology ecosystems, and our world-class operational capabilities to help build the next generation of European technology leaders.”
By having investment team members on the ground in Europe, FTV will further deepen its network of European founders, as well as Global Partner Network® executives and investors, which will serve all aspects of FTV’s model. With the London office and Earnshaw’s hire, FTV now comprises nearly 100 professionals, including 14 partners.
“FTV was a true partner in helping Egress scale throughout our entire six-year relationship leading to Egress’ successful signing to be acquired by KnowBe4,” said Tony Pepper, CEO and co-founder of Egress, a London-based cybersecurity company. “No growth journey is ever straightforward, often with numerous twists and turns along the way, and it’s these moments which truly test the strength and depth of any relationship. For tech entrepreneurs looking to accelerate growth and break into new markets, FTV is an exceptional partner.”
This announcement comes on the heels of FTV receiving a series of major recognitions in recent months. In May 2024, FTV was recognized by the HEC Paris School of Business in the 2023 HEC Paris-Dow Jones Growth Capital Performance Ranking as the No. 6 top-performing growth equity firm globally out of 106 firms. The ranking evaluates growth capital firms’ ability to generate returns for their investors with funds raised between 2010 and 2019. FTV has also been named an Inc. Founder Friendly firm for three consecutive years.
About FTV Capital
FTV Capital is a sector-focused growth equity investment firm that has raised $6.2 billion to invest in high-growth companies offering a range of innovative solutions in enterprise technology and services and financial technology and services. FTV’s experienced team leverages its domain expertise and proven track record in each of these sectors to help motivated management teams accelerate growth. FTV also provides companies with access to its Global Partner Network®, a group of the world’s leading enterprises and executives who have helped FTV portfolio companies for two decades. Founded in 1998, FTV Capital has invested in over 140 portfolio companies, including Agiloft, EBANX, Kore.ai, Lean Solutions Group, Luma, Patra and Vagaro, and successfully exited/partially exited companies including Enfusion (NYSE: ENFN), Globant (NYSE: GLOB), InvestCloud (recapitalized), RapidRatings (recapitalized), Strata Fund Solutions (acquired by Alter Domus), Tango Card (acquired by Blackhawk Network) and VPay (acquired by Optum). FTV has offices in New York, San Francisco, Connecticut and London. For more information, please visit www.ftvcapital.com and follow the firm on LinkedIn.
Deventer, June 13, 2024 – 819 Capital Partners has acquired the Touroperating division from ANWB through a buy-out, together with the management team Gert-Jan Bressers and Richard Broekhoven. The new organization will continue under the name Fox Reizen and will continue to develop and execute member trips for the ANWB.
ANWB is shifting its focus in the travel sector to offering a wide range of trips, but will no longer be developing these. The new Fox Reizen organization will continue to do this for ANWB.
Marga de Jager, CEO of ANWB: “We at ANWB are pleased with the privatization. The management knows the company well, which ensures the continuity of the organization. The privatization of the tour operating activities also fits well within ANWB’s strategy to focus more on the needs of our members and to meet those needs. We will continue to offer trips as ANWB, but we no longer want to develop and execute everything ourselves. We ensure a wide range products and services, including sales. In addition to our stores, we have a gateway for all products and services we offer at anwb.nl.”
Gert-Jan Bressers, director of Fox Reizen: “The privatization of the tour operating activities offers plenty of opportunities and makes us even more competitive, agile, and decisive. With the new management and our team, we will continue to focus on developing, selling, and executing beautiful trips in both Europe and beyond. We do this under the brands ANWB and Fox. We are convinced that with our expertise and passion, we will create great experiences for travelers. We look forward to working with our partner 819 Capital Partners to further expand the success of Fox Reizen in the coming years.”
Sven Kempers, director of 819 Capital Partners: “ANWB and Fox Reizen are renowned names in the travel industry. Given the strong management and the new form of cooperation with ANWB, we have great confidence in the future. We are pleased that we have been able to make this management buy-out possible from 819 Private Equity Fund I.”
All employees of the tour operating activities will move to Fox Reizen.
We have acquired Fox Reizen with 819 Private Equity Fund I.
Ardian, a world-leading private investment house, today announced it has entered exclusive negotiations to acquire a majority stake in Alstef Group, a leading provider of automated and robotic solutions for the airport, logistics and parcel sorting markets, alongside the Group’s management team and 260 employee shareholders. As part of this transaction, the founders (Pierre Marol and Jean-Luc Thomé) and Future French Champions, the joint venture between Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) and Bpifrance, will also reinvest in the company.
Founded in 1961 and headquartered near Orléans in France, Alstef Group is an established player in the design, integration and supply of equipment and proprietary software for intelligent handling solutions. For over a decade, the Group has experienced double-digit growth and rapid international expansion, supported by the acquisition of Glidepath, an airport-baggage and parcel-handling company in 2020, and parcel sorting company SNS in 2023. The Group has a global presence, with 16 subsidiaries around the world and systems installed in 93 countries. It is one of the world leaders in airport baggage sorting and has a blue-chip customer base in the intralogistics and parcel sorting markets.
Its collaborative approach is well-suited to complex operational environments and modernization projects. Its commitment goes beyond the provision of solutions: All teams are actively involved in design, planning, procurement and innovation to ensure the optimum delivery of its projects with minimal disruption to existing operations or environmental impact.
Alstef Group’s robust business model is based in particular on its asset-light strategy, its ability to maintain critical systems for its customers over the long term, and its presence in three complementary segments: baggage handling, intralogistics and parcel sorting.
Support from Ardian’s Expansion team will enable the company to accelerate its international development and growth ambitions.
“Alstef Group’s outstanding positioning is underpinned by an excellent management team that has consistently delivered a culture of innovation and a customer-focused approach. This ethos is an asset for continuing to develop the business. We look forward to working with the Alstef Group team to expand the group’s presence and continue its growth in its target markets.” Maxime Sequier, Managing Director Expansion, Ardian
“We are delighted to become Alstef Group’s new partner for the next phase of its development. We have every confidence in the management team and will use our expertise and access to the Ardian platform to support the group’s growth.” Arnaud Dufer, Head of Expansion France and Managing Director, Ardian
“We are delighted to welcome Ardian as a majority shareholder to support us in the next stages of our development. This transaction recognizes the expertise we have developed over more than 60 years and the success of the strategy we have implemented at Alstef Group to date. Ardian’s support will help to accelerate a new chapter in our history as we pursue our international growth ambitions.” Pierre Marol, President and Co-founder, Alstef Group
“It is with great determination that we embark on this new stage in our development, and we are confident that this partnership with Ardian will enable us to achieve our objectives quickly and efficiently. The common values we share, including our commitment, trust, know-how and a sustainable and socially conscious approach to our activities, will be the driving force behind our success. This is the beginning of a fruitful and lasting collaboration that will create value for our employees, our customers and our shareholders.” Nicolas Breton, Alstef Group
“We are delighted to continue our partnership with Alstef Group, whose growth we have supported over the past six years, particularly through its international expansion in New Zealand and the United States. With its new shareholder configuration and talented management, we are convinced that the Group will continue the great adventure initiated by its founders, Pierre Marol and Jean-Luc Thomé.” Antoine Emmanuelli, President, Future French Champions
The completion of the transaction is subject to the legal usual conditions and the approval of the relevant regulatory authorities.
LIST OF PARTICIPANTS
PARTICIPANTS
ALSTEF GROUP: PIERRE MAROL, JEAN-LUC THOMÉ, NICOLAS BRETON, SYLVIE SCHROEDER, LUCILE BERNARD
FUTURE FRENCH CHAMPIONS: ANTOINE EMMANUELLI, SANDRA PEZET, JUSTINE HIGELIN
EXPANSION, ARDIAN: MAXIME SEQUIER, ARNAUD DUFER, DAVID CAHUZAC, LESLIE PARMAST, VICTOR LESENECAL
VENDOR DUE DILIGENCE ESG: SELLERS, COMPANY: PWC (FRANÇOIS THUEUX, ALICE ROBINEAU)
ABOUT ARDIAN
Ardian is a world-leading private investment house, managing or advising $166bn of assets on behalf of more than 1,600 clients globally. Our broad expertise, spanning Private Equity, Real Assets and Credit, enables us to offer a wide range of investment opportunities and respond flexibly to our clients’ differing needs. Through Ardian Customized Solutions we create bespoke portfolios that allow institutional clients to specify the precise mix of assets they require and to gain access to funds managed by leading third-party sponsors. Private Wealth Solutions offers dedicated services and access solutions for private banks, family offices and private institutional investors worldwide. Ardian’s main shareholding group is its employees and we place great emphasis on developing its people and fostering a collaborative culture based on collective intelligence. Our 1,050+ employees, spread across 19 offices in Europe, the Americas, Asia and Middle East are strongly committed to the principles of Responsible Investment and are determined to make finance a force for good in society. Our goal is to deliver excellent investment performance combined with high ethical standards and social responsibility.
At Ardian we invest all of ourselves in building companies that last.
Alstef Group designs, integrates and supports automated turnkey solutions for the airport, intralogistics and parcel markets. Its mission is to create intelligent solutions that not only meet the needs of its customers, but also provide them with the long-term benefits of a tailor-made automated system that is eco-designed, efficient, scalable and innovative.
Alstef Group focuses on developing long-term relationships through close collaboration with its customers and proactively promotes support and maintenance services to ensure the long-term effectiveness and performance of its solutions.
With a local presence in sixteen countries and a wide range of systems installed in 93 countries, Alstef Group has 950 employees. The group generated revenue over €220 million in 2023.
Future French Champions is the partnership between Qatar Investment Authority and Bpifrance, initiated in 2014. Its shareholders are:
– Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) is the sovereign wealth fund of the State of Qatar. QIA was founded in 2005 to invest and manage the state’s reserve funds. QIA is one of the largest and most active sovereign wealth funds in the world. QIA invests across a wide range of asset classes and diverse regions, as well as partnering with leading institutions across the globe to develop a global and diversified investment portfolio, with a long-term perspective that can generate sustainable returns and contribute to the prosperity of the State of Qatar.
More information on: www.qia.qa
– Bpifrance: Bpifrance finances companies – at each stage of their development – with credit, guarantees and equity. Bpifrance supports them in their innovation and international projects. Bpifrance also ensures their export activity through a wide range of products. Consulting, university, networking and acceleration programs for startups, SMEs and ETIs are also part of the offer proposed to entrepreneurs. Thanks to Bpifrance and its 50 regional offices, entrepreneurs benefit from a close, unique and efficient contact person to help them face their challenges.
More information on: www.Bpifrance.fr -https://presse.bpifrance.fr/
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A product and GTM strategy discussion with Kumar Saurabh and Foundation Capital Partner Sid Trivedi in Palo Alto.
Last week AirMDR emerged from stealth to announce its SMB-focused autonomous Managed Detection and Response (MDR) platform and the $5M seed round led by Foundation Capital. We were the first investor in AirMDR and incubated the company in summer 2023. I’ve personally been on the board of directors since inception and worked closely with the team from day zero.
Advances in automation have given AirMDR a chance to level the playing field in cybersecurity, giving small and medium enterprises the same detection and response capabilities as Fortune 2000s. Here’s the story of how the journey began, why we invested, and what’s ahead.
Kumar with Nick (CISO of Scrut Automation and an early customer) at Foundation Capital’s San Francisco office in May 2024.
A massive and unprotected attack vector
SMB executives have long believed that hackers pose a threat only to the largest companies—those with big brands to protect and plenty of capital to pay ransom demands. But this isn’t entirely true. Hackers have recognized that SMBs typically have limited cybersecurity tooling or knowledge and so are much easier targets. During the COVID-19 pandemic, small businesses were attacked at twice the rate of larger organizations.
SMBs have started to recognize that they are the weakest link, and they want to fix this problem. The most recent US Chamber of Commerce Survey from Q1 2024 found that cybersecurity threats are now the biggest concern for SMBs, ahead of supply chain breakdowns, theft, weather, or even another pandemic. Despite this strong demand, there is a significant talent shortage in cybersecurity (3.5M unfilled positions globally), and according to data from the World Economic Forum and Accenture, over half of SMBs don’t have the skills to respond to and recover from cyberattacks.
On the other hand, large companies typically have an internal 24/7 security operations center (SOC) that monitors alerts from across their IT and security tooling to detect threats and respond to them in real time. For a mid-size business of ~1-2K employees to maintain this level of capability you need to build a team of at least a dozen security analysts, detection engineers, and automation engineers. You also need to pay for the necessary software to log alerts, build playbooks, and run orchestration. Even for mid-market enterprises, this can end up costing $1-$3M a year.
This is where managed detection and response (MDR) providers come in. These providers become a mid-market customer’s outsourced security team and augment the in-house SOC for larger enterprises. MDR providers combine technology and human expertise to perform remote threat hunting, monitoring, and response. According to data from Emergen Research, the global MDR market was $4.9B in 2021 and is estimated to grow to $21.9B by 2030. It’s one of the fastest-growing segments in cybersecurity, but it’s mostly powered by services—typically located offshore in lower-wage economies.
Reinventing MDR with a virtual AI analyst
The rise of large language model innovation, supercharged by the launch of ChatGPT in November 2022, started to get me thinking about the opportunity ahead for new cybersecurity innovation. Two areas where I believed we would see significant innovation using generative AI are in a reinvention of detection and response tooling and the opportunity to target SMB cybersecurity. When Microsoft launched Security for Copilot in March 2023, I shared some of my thoughts on startup opportunities publicly on LinkedIn.
Kumar Saurabh saw this post and sent me a note:“This is a super interesting area for me. I do not have a concrete enough plan yet to start executing – but I am seriously exploring that area. My gut tells me that a new product should exist in that space.”
Kumar is no stranger to the detection and response category. He was one of the early employees at ArcSight, which helped to create the SIEM (Security Information and Event Management) market, and where he led the analytics and solutions teams. He eventually rose to become Director of Engineering and stayed right through the company’s IPO. After this journey, in 2010 alongside Christian Beedgen he co-founded Sumo Logic, a cloud-native SIEM platform that provided log management and analytics services. He ran engineering at Sumo and when he left at the end of 2015, half the company reported to him. Even after a successful IPO and thousands of new team members, employees have shared with me that part of the core codebase that runs the search query capabilities at Sumo Logic still comprises the original code written by Kumar. Most recently, Kumar served as CEO and co-founder of LogicHub, a cloud-native SOAR (Security Orchestration, Automation and Response) platform that was acquired by Devo in September 2022.
After some initial brainstorming, we spent a few months discussing how to leverage LLMs within detection and response. Both of us believed that one of the biggest opportunities created by generative AI was to completely reinvent the MDR through automation and target the underserved small and mid-market customer base. We believed a new startup could embed context learned from security-specific events and build on top of existing LLMs. The goal would be to reduce costs while significantly improving response times using a virtual AI analyst for each piece of the platform experience – from onboarding, detection content deployment, playbooks, threat hunting, and response actions.
Most importantly, instead of exposing a virtual analyst directly to the customer, we would leverage the AI analyst internally so that our own human SOC team could train the chatbot over time. This would ensure that customers didn’t have to deal with issues around the quality of responses and hallucinations. For the customer, the entire experience would feel like just another MDR platform, but under the hood, it would be a completely different engine.
A slide from AirMDR’s original May 2023 seed pitch deck, which walked through the reinvention of the MDR platform by augmenting human security analysts with AI.
Once the idea had crystallized into a product vision, we incorporated the company and signed a term sheet to lead the seed round in June 2023. Tae Hea Nahm of Storm Ventures, who was an early investor in Kumar’s last company LogicHub, also joined us as we began this journey.
Assembling the A-team
To go after a big vision in a competitive market, you need a world-class team. Kumar’s first partner in this journey was Anthony Morris who was an early employee at LogicHub and ran their MDR service. With experience working at top-tier SOC teams at Bank of America and Experian, Anthony knows what a good SOC looks like and wants to bring that same experience to SMBs. In fall 2023, Sekhar Sarukkai, the technical co-founder of Skyhigh Networks introduced me to his CPO, Anand Ramanathan. After long careers at Skyhigh, McAfee, Proofpoint, and Cisco, Anand was thinking about his next role and really wanted to go early. We were looking for a product leader and quickly realized that Anand brought the right mix of deep market insight, an execution-focused attitude, and the humbleness to realize what he didn’t know.
One of my former portfolio companies, Attivo Networks, which sold to SentinelOne for $617M in March 2022, also became a key ground for us to recruit talent. Carolyn Crandall, Attivo’s CMO became available in October 2023, and we knew she would be an excellent fit given her experience running marketing orgs at Cisco, Juniper, and Riverbed. Carolyn can make products stand out in the crowd and run focused demand-generation campaigns. And just as we thought things couldn’t get any better, in December 2023, Srikant Vissamsetti, the technical visionary behind Attivo, called me to say that he was thinking about what to do next. Srikant built Attivo’s platform to scale to over 300 customers across 6 continents and ran an engineering team of over 100 employees. This was a hire we couldn’t miss, and I immediately called Kumar. We got to work convincing Srikant to join us as CTO and by the start of the New Year he was all in.
With Kumar, Anthony, Anand, Carolyn, Srikant, and 20 other engineers, we have a dream team that brings enterprise-grade expertise to the SMB market.
With Srikant, Anand, Kumar, and Carolyn at Foundation Capital’s Palo Alto office in June 2024.
Pulling back the curtains
After a year of building, we’re finally ready to share the AirMDR platform publicly. We want to deliver on the promise of quality and speed— something that most human-oriented MDRs have failed to do—while also opening the market to a customer base that previously couldn’t afford a cybersecurity team. Our 24/7 human SOC leverages our virtual analyst (named Darryl) to investigate, triage, respond to, and contain threats. With AirMDR’s automation capabilities, we’ve shown that Darryl can perform tasks in under 5 minutes which would normally take human analysts over an hour to do. AirMDR’s platform supports each company’s business tech stack of choice with over 200 vendor integrations out of the box covering 90% of the integrations a typical customer might require.
We’ve already connected the team with several early customers and advisors like Nick Muy, Chris Castaldo, Assaf Keren, Kane Lightowler, and Mahendra Ramsinghani. This is also the only cybersecurity investment where we fit the customer profile, and I’m proud to say that Foundation Capital is also a paid customer of AirMDR.
We’ve had a long history of investing in novel approaches within detection and response security. From Phantom Cyber (which helped create the SOAR market) to Respond Software (which worked to automate the security analyst role before LLMs) to Anvilogic (which provides enterprises with a multi-platform SIEM architecture) to Permiso (which helps companies manage real-time cloud threats). We believe that AirMDR unpacks another new opportunity and focuses on a customer base we haven’t yet touched—the SMB market. We’re excited for AirMDR to finally bridge the cyber inequity gap. Congratulations, Kumar and the entire AirMDR team.
AirMDR is headquartered in Menlo Park, Ca. If you’d like to try their MDR platform, you can do so risk-free and for a limited-time 40% discount using an exclusive link here.
Published on 6.13.24
Written by Foundation Capital
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