Category Archives: News

Blackstone completes acquisition of Crown Resorts in the firm’s largest investment to date in Asia

Blackstone

Melbourne, June 24, 2022 – Blackstone (NYSE: BX) today announced that real estate funds and private equity funds managed by Blackstone (“Blackstone”) have completed the acquisition of Crown Resorts Limited (“Crown”) in the largest transaction to date for the firm in Asia Pacific. The transaction comprises three premium resort and casino properties in Melbourne, Perth and Sydney. Blackstone will work with the management team at Crown and its thousands of dedicated employees, as well as their representatives from the United Workers Union and other partner unions, to transform these properties into world-class entertainment destinations and continue Crown’s transformation to operate at the highest standards of compliance, governance, and integrity.

As one of Australia’s largest entertainment groups, Crown makes a major contribution to the Australian economy. Crown’s core businesses include two of Australia’s leading integrated resorts, Crown Melbourne and Crown Perth, as well as Sydney’s latest premium hotel resort and dining precinct at Crown Sydney.

Alan Miyasaki, Head of Real Estate Acquisitions Asia, Blackstone, said: “We are thrilled to become the new owner of Crown, bringing our expertise in hospitality to help the company achieve its full potential as a leading travel and leisure company. We first invested in Crown two years ago, seeing the tremendous underlying potential of the company and its people. We look forward to working with the teams at Crown and applying our experience in owning and operating marquee hospitality brands around the globe with the highest levels of ethics and integrity to create something unique for employees, local communities, and visitors.”

Chris Tynan, Head of Real Estate Australia, Blackstone, said: “This is a great opportunity that plays to Blackstone’s strengths – investing significant capital and resources to rebuild Crown into an iconic destination for travel and leisure that everyone can be proud of. Blackstone has built a strong Australian presence over the last 12 years. We look forward to supporting the local economy, creating jobs, and attracting visitors to Crown’s exceptional properties.”

Steve McCann, Crown Resort’s Chief Executive Officer, said: “Today, Crown emerges as part of the Blackstone family, which is the start of a new era for this great company and its 20,000 team members. Over recent times, Crown has undergone immense transformation, and we know under Blackstone’s ownership, we will realize our vision to deliver world-class entertainment experiences and a safe and responsible gaming environment.

“Australian tourism has entered a recovery phase, and we believe this trend will continue. Crown’s suite of outstanding assets has built a loyal customer base over the past 28 years, and we are excited about the opportunities ahead of us as we revitalize Melbourne and Perth and celebrate the addition of Sydney. With Blackstone’s investment and expertise, we’re confident Crown will cement its place on the global stage as one of the world’s leading owners and operators of integrated resorts,” he said.

Blackstone has built a strong track record in the wider hospitality, travel, and leisure sectors. The firm completed the sale of The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas this year, after transforming the property into one of the most vibrant destinations on the Las Vegas Strip. During its 8-year ownership, Blackstone implemented significant operational changes, developed best-in-class management team, and invested significant capital to renovate 3,000 guest rooms and enhance F&B offerings. In addition, Blackstone owned Hilton Hotels Corporation for 11 years, during which it helped double the size of the company to more than 5,300 properties and 400,000 employees worldwide. Its other recent investments in these sectors include the acquisition of an 8-hotel portfolio across Japan’s top tourist destinations; acquisition of Bourne Leisure, a premier British holiday company; and joint acquisition of Extended Stay Hotels.

For more information, please contact:

Crown Resorts Media Contacts

Danielle Keighery
Chief Brand & Corporate Affairs Officer | Crown Resorts
Danielle.keighery@crownresorts.com.au | +61 400 223 136

Libby Armstrong
General Manager, Crown Foundation & Communications | Crown Resorts
Libby.armstrong@crownresorts.com.au | +61 472 729 434

Blackstone Media Contacts
Ellen Bogard
Blackstone
Ellen.Bogard@blackstone.com | +852 3651 7737

Hayley Morris
MorrisBrown Communications Pty Ltd
Hayley@morris-brown.com.au | +61 407 789 018

About Crown Resorts
Crown Resorts is one of Australia’s largest entertainment companies, owning and operating a suite of world-class integrated resorts. Its property portfolio includes three award-winning resorts in Melbourne, Perth and Sydney, as well as London’s prestigious Crown Aspinalls, a high end, boutique casino in the West End.

For 25 years, Crown Melbourne has been Australia’s leading luxury integrated resort and casino, offering guests a range of exceptional entertainment and event experiences; premium hospitality, dining, spa and retail; and gaming. Crown Perth is Western Australia’s only integrated resort and casino, and features a combined 1188 hotel-room capacity, expansive lagoon and private pools, and 33 bars and restaurants. Crown’s newest property, Crown Sydney, opened in December 2020 setting a new standard in luxury hotel and dining experiences. Crown Sydney is the tallest building in New South Wales, and features 349 hotel rooms and villas, 13 signature restaurants, a VIP, members only casino which is due to open shortly, two pools, a spa, and Crown’s first ever luxury serviced apartment offering.

As one of Australia’s largest hospitality employers, Crown’s properties support the employment of a diverse mix of over 20,000 people.

About Blackstone
Blackstone is the world’s largest alternative asset manager. We seek to create positive economic impact and long-term value for our investors, the companies we invest in, and the communities in which we work. We do this by using extraordinary people and flexible capital to help companies solve problems. Our $915 billion in assets under management include investment vehicles focused on private equity, real estate, public debt and equity, infrastructure, life sciences, growth equity, opportunistic, non-investment grade credit, real assets and secondary funds, all on a global basis. Further information is available at www.blackstone.com. Follow @blackstone on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram.

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Blackstone and Sixth Street Agree Sale of Kensington Mortgages to Barclays Bank UK PLC

Blackstone

London, 24 June 2022 – Kensington Mortgages (“Kensington”), the fast-growing specialist mortgage lender, has today announced a sale to Barclays Bank UK PLC (“Barclays”). The sale follows an auction process that attracted interest from a broad range of bidders. Barclays is acquiring the business from funds affiliated with Blackstone Tactical Opportunities (“Blackstone”) and Sixth Street, which have jointly owned the business since 2015 during which time Kensington enjoyed an extended period of accelerated growth. The transaction is subject to regulatory approval.

Barclays is acquiring Kensington Mortgage Company Limited (“KMC”), Kensington Mortgage Services Limited (“KMS”) and a portfolio of UK mortgages consisting primarily of mortgages originated by KMC from October 2021 to completion of the acquisition of KMC and KMS (the “KMC Mortgage Portfolio”). The acquisition will allow Barclays to become one of the few major banks with a specialist mortgage offering.

Kensington is a leading UK specialist residential mortgage lender focused on providing mortgages via brokers to borrowers with complex incomes. Using a combination of proprietary technology, data analytics and human insight to design products and make lending decisions, Kensington focuses on the self-employed and those with multiple or variable incomes – segments that major banks often do not serve. The business, which is based in Maidenhead and has around 600 employees, services approximately £8.7 billion of third party and related party mortgages in addition to the KMC Mortgage Portfolio. Kensington originated approximately £1.9 billion* of mortgages in the year ended 31 March 2022.

Under the joint ownership of Blackstone and Sixth Street, Kensington has improved its processes and expanded its product offerings to become a market leader in specialist lending to the self-employed, first-time buyers, older borrowers and customers with multiple sources of income. The business is also recognised in the industry for having a market-leading data and technology platform, which has facilitated profitable growth, product innovation and exceptional loan underwriting performance. The business has grown its originations at a compound annual growth rate of 22% since the acquisition in 2015.

Mark Arnold, CEO of Kensington Mortgages, commented: “This sale marks the start of an exciting new chapter of growth for Kensington. We have a strong track-record in the specialist mortgage space, using our proprietary data and tech platform to innovate and grow, and now is a natural point to bring in a partner who can help us to drive our next expansion phase. As a major UK bank with a broad reach and offering, Barclays is well-placed to support this expansion, whilst the sale will allow it to differentiate itself as a ‘mainstream specialist’ and offer a range of mortgage solutions not available from competitors.”

Matt Hammerstein, CEO of Barclays Bank UK PLC, commented: “The transaction reinforces our commitment to the UK residential mortgage market and presents an exciting opportunity to broaden our product range and capabilities. KMC is a best-in-class specialist mortgage lender with an established track record in the UK market, strong broker and customer relationships and data analytics capabilities. KMC complements our existing UK mortgage business and broker relationships through the addition of a specialist prime mortgage originator and the utilisation of our strong UK funding base. We look forward to KMC management and employees becoming part of the Barclays group.”

Qasim Abbas, Senior Managing Director, Blackstone Tactical Opportunities, said: “Kensington’s success in becoming one of the UK’s leading specialist mortgage lenders is testament to the quality of its products, the resilience of its business model and the excellence of its management team. In particular, their collective strength in harnessing the power of data science and analytics, prudent risk management and always providing their customers with the right product to suit their individual needs has been key to the evolution of their business.  We wish them the very best as they enter an exciting new chapter.”

Michael Muscolino, Partner at Sixth Street, said: “We want to thank management and the entire Kensington team for their dedication and collaboration over the past decade in building the platform into a market leader. Our focus on using data to drive consistent innovation allowed us to create new products and broaden mortgage access while maintaining exceptional underwriting standards. We wish the company great continued success with its new partners at Barclays.”

* Including Retentions, in the year ended 31 March 2022.

About Kensington Mortgages
Kensington Mortgages was founded in 1995. The business was acquired by Blackstone and Sixth Street Partners in 2015, initiating a period of considerable growth and investment. The mortgage servicing business Acenden was also acquired by the same investors and merged with Kensington, creating a broader UK mortgage business.

Since the acquisition, Kensington has more than tripled the number of underwriters it employs and almost quadrupled its origination volumes. Kensington lent £1.9bn* in new mortgages for the year ended 31st March 2022.

A clear period of growth was initiated with the arrival of Mark Arnold as CEO in April 2018. Under the guidance of the leadership team, Kensington consolidated a number of disparate legacy brands under a revitalised Kensington identity, launched a best-in-class, data and analytics driven and highly scalable integrated technology platform, sharpened its market positioning and launched a range of new and innovative products. These include mortgages for public sector workers, products that reward borrowers for improving the environmental credentials of their home and a new fixed for term mortgage where monthly payments remain fixed for the entire term of the loan.

The business is now clearly established as a leading specialist mortgage lender, with a strong market position as a lender to the self-employed, younger borrowers, older borrowers and those with more complex personal circumstances. The brand has a 4.4-star consumer rating on Trustpilot.

The business has very strong credit controls. Only 19 loans issued by Kensington Mortgages since 2010 have gone into default, with the total cumulative losses on those loans amounting to just £252,000.

About Barclays Group
Barclays PLC is a British universal bank. It is diversified by business, by different types of customer and client, and geography. Its businesses include consumer banking and payments operations around the world, as well as a top-tier, full service, global corporate and investment bank, all of which are supported by its service company which provides technology, operations and functional services across the Group. For further information about Barclays, please visit its website home.barclays.

About Blackstone
Blackstone is the world’s largest alternative asset manager. We seek to create positive economic impact and long-term value for our investors, the companies we invest in, and the communities in which we work. We do this by using extraordinary people and flexible capital to help companies solve problems. Our $915 billion in assets under management include investment vehicles focused on private equity, real estate, public debt and equity, infrastructure, life sciences, growth equity, opportunistic, non-investment grade credit, real assets and secondary funds, all on a global basis. Further information is available at www.blackstone.com. Follow @blackstone on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram.

About Sixth Street
Sixth Street is a global investment firm with over $60 billion in assets under management and committed capital. The firm uses its long-term flexible capital, data-enabled capabilities, and One Team culture to develop themes and offer solutions to companies across all stages of growth. Sixth Street’s London-based presence was formed in 2011 to invest in businesses and assets across Europe. Founded in 2009, Sixth Street has more than 400 team members including over 180 investment professionals around the world. For more information, visit www.sixthstreet.com or follow Sixth Street on LinkedIn.

Kensington Mortgages
Jess Gill
jess.gill@edelmansmithfield.com
+44 (0)7980 684 247

Aidan Holloway
aidan.holloway@edelmansmithfield.com
+44 (0) 7970 936 136

Barclays
Oliver Palca
oliver.palca@barclaycard.co.uk
+44 (0)7880 184 177

Blackstone
Rebecca Flower
Rebecca.Flower@blackstone.com
+44 (0)7918 360372

Louis Clark
Louis.Clark@blackstone.com
+44 (0)7867 930156

Sixth Street
Patrick Clifford
pclifford@sixthstreet.com
+1 (646) 906 4339

Gavin Davis
sixthstreetteam@nepean.co.uk
+44 (0)7910 104 660

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KKR Completes Sale of C.H.I. Overhead Doors

KKR

All employee owners receive significant payouts from their stakes and contribution to C.H.I.’s growth story

 

 

Hear from KKR’s Pete Stavros, Co-Head of Americas Private Equity, and C.H.I. Overhead Doors employees discussing employee payouts and shared ownership

 

NEW YORK & ARTHUR, Ill. – June 24, 2022 – KKR, a leading global investment firm, today announced that KKR has completed the previously announced sale of C.H.I. Overhead Doors (“C.H.I.” or “the Company”), a leader in the garage door industry, to Nucor Corporation.

 

In connection with closing, all 800 C.H.I. employees have received a substantial cash payout – on average approximately $175,000 – on their equity in the Company. With Nucor’s acquisition, C.H.I.’s leadership team, led by CEO Dave Bangert, is expected to remain in place and continue to run the business under the C.H.I. name.

 

“We are tremendously proud of everything the C.H.I. team has accomplished over the past seven years and we believe the Company’s future as part of Nucor is equally bright,” said Pete Stavros, Co-Head of Americas Private Equity at KKR and Founder of the nonprofit Ownership Works. “The substantial cash payouts earned by all C.H.I. employees are a testament to the incredible growth and value they have created by showing up every day and thinking like owners. We want to thank all of the employees, community members and strategic partners who have supported this great outcome and contributed to building a movement for greater shared ownership.”

 

Since 2011, KKR has implemented broad-based employee ownership and alignment programs throughout its portfolio, first throughout KKR’s U.S. Industrials private equity investments and more recently expanding across sectors. To date, KKR has awarded billions of total equity value to over 45,000 non-senior employees across over 25 companies, and has committed to deploying this model in all control investments across its entire Americas Private Equity platform. In April 2022, KKR joined more than 60 organizations in becoming a founding partner of Ownership Works, a nonprofit created to support public and private companies transitioning to shared ownership models.

 

KKR and C.H.I. were advised by Goldman Sachs as lead financial and M&A advisor, UBS as M&A co-advisor, and Kirkland and Ellis as legal advisor on the transaction.

 

About KKR

 

KKR is a leading global investment firm that offers alternative asset management as well as capital markets and insurance solutions. KKR aims to generate attractive investment returns by following a patient and disciplined investment approach, employing world-class people, and supporting growth in its portfolio companies and communities. KKR sponsors investment funds that invest in private equity, credit and real assets and has strategic partners that manage hedge funds. KKR’s insurance subsidiaries offer retirement, life and reinsurance products under the management of Global Atlantic Financial Group. References to KKR’s investments may include the activities of its sponsored funds and insurance subsidiaries. For additional information about KKR & Co. Inc. (NYSE: KKR), please visit KKR’s website at www.kkr.com and on Twitter @KKR_Co.

 

Contacts

Miles Radcliffe-Trenner

212-750-8300

media@kkr.com

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Nordstjernan to invest in Mentimeter AB, a leading player in audience engagement

Nordstjernan

Nordstjernan Growth is investing in Mentimeter, a rapidly-growing SaaS company in the field of audience engagement. Mentimeter offers a solution to build enthusiasm in meetings and engage participants and audiences. Mentimeter’s platform engages people globally; to date, over 200 million individuals have used the product.

 

Nordstjernan will be investing SEK 150 million in Mentimeter. Creades is also coming in as a new investor in the company, and Alfvén and Didrikson – an existing owner – will be investing additional capital.

 

“It is a sign of strength that Nordstjernan Growth – a player with a long-term perspective – has chosen to invest in Mentimeter, and I am looking forward to continuing to build the company together with them,” says Johnny Warström, CEO and founder of Mentimeter.

 

“We are investing in Mentimeter with the ambition of supporting the company in its continued development. We are impressed by what Johnny Warström, Niklas Ingvar and the team have achieved, and we look forward to supporting the company over the long term,” says Nordstjernan’s CEO Peter Hofvenstam.

 

The investment is being made within Nordstjernan’s growth initiative, Nordstjernan Growth, and is the fourth holding in the Growth portfolio.

 

Peter Hofvenstam

President and CEO

Nordstjernan AB

 

 

Questions will be answered by:

 

Peter Hofvenstam, CEO, Nordstjernan

E-mail: peter.hofvenstam@nordstjernan.se

 

Stefan Stern, Head of Communications, Nordstjernan

Mobile: +46 70 636 74 17

E-mail: stefan.stern@nordstjernan.se

 

 

Nordstjernan is a family-controlled investment company whose business concept is to be an active owner that creates long-term value growth. More information about Nordstjernan can be found on www.nordstjernan.se.

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Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust Completes $5.8 Billion Acquisition of Preferred Apartment Communities, Inc.

ATLANTA & NEW YORK, June 23, 2022 – Blackstone (NYSE: BX) and Preferred Apartments Communities, Inc. (NYSE: APTS) (“PAC” or the “Company”) today announced that Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust, Inc. (“BREIT”) has completed its previously announced acquisition of PAC for $25.00 per share of common stock, without interest, in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $5.8 billion. The holders of each series of PAC’s preferred stock will receive the $1,000 per share liquidation preference for each share of preferred stock plus accrued but unpaid dividends thereon, without interest. As a result of the transaction, PAC’s common stock will no longer be listed on any public market.

Joel T. Murphy, PAC’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, said, “Today’s closing of BREIT’s acquisition of PAC marks the beginning of an exciting new chapter for PAC. This outcome, with over 99% of voting stockholders supporting the acquisition, reinforces the merits of this transaction and the value of the hard work our team has done leading up to and throughout this process. I would like to thank the Blackstone team for being so collaborative as we worked together to achieve this result.  We look forward to the next phase for PAC.”

Jacob Werner, Co-Head of Americas Acquisitions for Blackstone Real Estate, said, “We are pleased to complete this acquisition on behalf of our BREIT investors and welcome the talented PAC team to Blackstone. Inclusive of this transaction, approximately half of BREIT’s portfolio comprises residential properties largely located in the West and South regions of the U.S., which are seeing robust demand and stable occupancy. PAC’s portfolio of high-quality multifamily in key SunBelt markets and grocery anchored retail centers is a complementary addition to BREIT’s portfolio of stabilized, income-generating assets, and we look forward to being long-term owners of these properties.”

Jones Lang LaSalle Limited, BofA Securities, Lazard Frères & Co. LLC and Wells Fargo Securities LLC served as BREIT’s financial advisors, and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP acted as BREIT’s legal counsel.

Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC served as PAC’s lead financial advisor. KeyBanc Capital Markets, Inc. and JonesTrading Institutional Services, LLC. also served as financial advisors to PAC. King & Spalding LLP and Vinson & Elkins LLP served as the Company’s legal counsel.

The transaction was announced on February 16, 2022.

About Preferred Apartment Communities, Inc.
Preferred Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE: APTS) is a real estate investment trust engaged primarily in the ownership and operation of Class A multifamily properties, with select investments in grocery-anchored shopping centers. Preferred Apartment Communities’ investment objective is to generate attractive, stable returns for stockholders by investing in income-producing properties and acquiring or originating real estate loans. As of March 31, 2022, the Company owned or was invested in 113 properties in 13 states, predominantly in the Southeast region of the United States. Learn more at www.pacapts.com.

About Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust, Inc.  
Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust, Inc. (“BREIT”) is a perpetual-life, institutional quality real estate investment platform that brings private real estate to income focused investors. BREIT invests primarily in stabilized, income-generating U.S. commercial real estate across key property types and to a lesser extent in real estate debt investments. BREIT is externally managed by a subsidiary of Blackstone (NYSE: BX), a global leader in real estate investing. Blackstone’s real estate business was founded in 1991 and has approximately $298 billion in investor capital under management. Further information is available at www.breit.com.

Contacts

Preferred Apartment Communities, Inc. Contacts

Investors

Preferred Apartment Communities, Inc.
John A. Isakson, Chief Financial Officer
770-818-4109
jisakson@pacapts.com

Paul Cullen, Executive Vice President-Investor Relations
(770) 818-4144
PCullen@pacapts.com

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Florida Food Products (Ardian & MidOcean) acquires Javo

Ardian

Solidifies FFP’s position as one of the world’s largest independent providers of natural food ingredients.
Javo represents the third acquisition completed since Ardian and MidOcean partnership formed less than a year ago.
Addition of Javo further diversifies portfolio of natural ingredients, enhances growth profile, and introduces exciting new products to FFP’s beverage division.

Florida Food Products (“FFP” or the “Company”), one of the world’s largest independent providers of natural ingredients, announced today that it has reached an agreement to acquire Javo Beverage Company (“Javo”) subject to customary closing conditions. Javo is a leading natural extractor of clean label coffee, tea, and botanicals with a focus on beverage applications. Javo is widely recognized for its unique extraction capabilities that facilitate the delivery of exceptional cold brew coffee solutions to industry leading consumer brands, manufacturers, and restaurants.

FFP is a leading innovator, formulator, and producer of naturally sourced clean label ingredients. The Company’s products provide nutrition, improve texture and flavor, extend shelf life, and ultimately provide consumers with clean label and natural products. FFP is one of the largest independent providers of clean label ingredients, and the Company’s portfolio focuses exclusively on natural solutions. Today, FFP’s portfolio of natural ingredients has applications across every segment of the food and beverage industry, along with a rapidly growing presence in the health and wellness category.

In 2021, Ardian, a world-leading private investment house, acquired a majority stake in FFP from MidOcean Partners (“MidOcean”) and established a new partnership to accelerate FFP’s long-term growth objectives. Under this partnership, FFP has completed the acquisition of Comax, T-Bev, and now Javo. With the support of the Ardian and MidOcean teams, FFP has scaled dramatically and has more than doubled over the last year, with revenue approaching $300 million.

The addition of Javo further diversifies FFP’s portfolio, adding a number of exciting new natural ingredients, while significantly enhancing its growth profile. FFP plans to utilize its expanded capabilities to offer innovative solutions that provide consumers great tasting, clean label products with the health attributes and transparency they desire. As part of FFP’s growth plans, the Company continues to expand its talented executive team, accelerate its investment in innovation, and enhance its capabilities and services with new facilities, equipment, and locations.

”We’re ecstatic for Javo to join the FFP platform. Javo’s best-in-class products are supported by a talented team and unique manufacturing capabilities that will drive a series of innovative new product launches. As part of the FFP family, we’re confident that Javo can offer our customers compelling new solutions that build on our deep portfolio of clean label ingredients.” Jim Holdrieth, CEO of FFP

”Our investment in Javo is a testament to the differentiated capabilities and resources that Ardian has brought to the FFP platform. As we move forward, the FFP team will be able to leverage further our extensive experience in the ingredient sector to efficiently evaluate new opportunities and be the buyer of choice for natural ingredient businesses.” Thibault Basquin, Deputy Head of the Ardian Buyout team

”Javo is an impressive organization, which will play a critical role in our continued expansion in the beverage category. Javo’s innovative products complement FFP’s portfolio of natural ingredients and will position the Company for accelerated growth. We intend to continue our strategy of building the world’s largest independent provider of clean label ingredients by expanding our portfolio of best-in-class products, acquiring additional clean label ingredient businesses, and investing in our talented team, advanced facilities, and innovative pipeline.” Christopher Sand, Managing Director in the Ardian Buyout team

”The addition of Javo to the FFP platform is a continuation of the exceptional growth that we have seen since our initial investment in 2018, and further solidifies our position in natural beverage ingredients and solutions. Building upon the solid foundation we have established over the last four years, FFP is poised to dramatically increase its scale as it launches exciting new systems and expands into a series of high-growth adjacencies. We’re thrilled to continue our partnership with Jim Holdrieth, the FFP management team, and Ardian as we progress in this exciting new phase for FFP.” Steven Loeffler, Principal at MidOcean Partners

The transaction is anticipated to close in the third quarter of 2022. Houlihan Lokey acted as the exclusive financial advisor to Javo. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

ABOUT ARDIAN

Ardian is a world leading private investment house, managing or advising $130bn of assets on behalf of more than 1,300 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. We also provide a specialist service for private clients through Ardian Private Wealth Solutions. Ardian is majority-owned by its employees and places great emphasis on developing its people and fostering a collaborative culture based on collective intelligence. Our 900+ employees, spread across 15 offices in Europe, the Americas and Asia, 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.

www.ardian.com

ABOUT MIDOCEAN PARTNERS

MidOcean Partners is a premier New York-based alternative asset manager specializing in middle-market private equity and alternative credit investments. Since its inception in 2003, MidOcean Private Equity has targeted investments in high-quality middle-market companies in the consumer and business services sectors. MidOcean Credit Partners was launched in 2009 and currently manages a series of alternative credit strategies, collateralized loan obligations (CLOs), and customized separately managed accounts.

www.midoceanpartners.com

ABOUT FLORIDA FOOD PRODUCT

Founded in 1954, Florida Food Products is the world’s largest, independent provider of natural ingredients. FFP formulates and produces innovative clean label fruit, vegetable, and botanical based ingredients serving the food, beverage, and health end markets. The Company’s products offer compelling alternatives to chemically derived ingredients and can enhance such things as taste, texture, shelf life, moisture, and color. The Company operates facilitates across the country and partners with some of the most respected consumer brands, manufacturers, and food service providers. For additional information, please visit Florida Food Products’ website.

www.floridafood.com

Media Contacts

ARDIAN

NEIBART GROUP Rachelle Gaynor

rgaynor@neibartgroup.com +1 631 278 2046

MIDOCEAN PARTNERS

MEDIA RELATIONS: GASTHALTER & CO. Amanda Shpiner / Grace Cartwright

midocean@gasthalter.com +1 212 257 4170

INVESTOR RELATIONS Allison Donohue

investorrelations@midoceanpartners.com

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Ardian-backed AD Education acquires Oktogone Group, a leading player in online education and training

Ardian

AD Education, a leading European higher education platform, announces the acquisition of the Oktogone Group (“Oktogone”), one of the market-leaders in digital education and training, previously owned by its founder, Regis Micheli. This transaction further consolidates AD Education’s leading position in the dynamic sector of higher education in Creative Arts. It also marks an important step for the Group by diversifying into online learning and accelerates its digital capabilities.

Founded in 2002 by Regis Micheli, Oktogone has developed a wide range of online training programs in areas such as Digital, Communications & Marketing and Management. This training is delivered through two platforms: ISCOD, an online school of higher education offering 100% work-study programs, and Visiplus, an online training platform for professionals.

Leveraging on a fast-growing market and recognized brands, AD Education will support Oktogone’s growth momentum and accelerate the launch of new programs. Oktagone will benefit in particular from AD Education’s large portfolio of face-to-face training programs.

With the recent acquisitions such as IMAAT (2021), Asfored (2022) and the European activities of SAE (in progress), Oktogone Group will strengthen AD Education’s position as a leader in higher education in the Creative Arts in full. Its range of services now includes all teaching media (in person, fully digital and hybrid) and is aimed at all audiences.

The deal will also allow AD Education to accelerate the digitalization of its existing courses at a time when students increasingly prioritize online teaching and learning.

”We are thrilled to welcome Oktogone within AD Education. We share common values and the same entrepreneurial DNA. Our complementary offerings and expertise will position the Group as a leader the fast-growing higher education market. We look forward to working with Oktogone and accelerating the group’s digitalization, in France and internationally, notably thanks to their high-quality team and platform.” Kevin Guenegan, Chairman of the AD Education Group

”We are very pleased to join the AD Education Group, which marks the beginning of a new chapter in Oktogone’s development. The mix of in-person and virtual learning, as well as the strong complementary with AD Education’s brand and programs, unlocks exciting opportunities for accelerating our growth in the years to come. This merger is a unique opportunity to create a leader in face-to-face and online education for the creative industries, both in France and in other countries where AD Education is present.” Regis Micheli, Founder of Oktogone

”We are proud to support AD Education and its management team in this new acquisition and to accelerate the group’s development plan, particularly in the digital space. AD Education now offers a diverse and complete range of programs that meet the needs of all learners, whether students or professionals. With Oktogone, the AD Education Group further strengthens its French and European leadership in the private higher education sector.” Emmanuel Miquel, Managing Director in the Ardian Buyout team

PARTIES TO THE TRANSACTION

  • AD Education

    • Kevin Guenegan, Martin Coriat, Benoit Weckx

  • Oktogone

    • Regis Micheli

  • Ardian

    • Emmanuel Miquel, Nicolas Trani, Jean-Baptiste Hunaut, Anouk Daoudal

  • Seller’s advisors

    • Financial advisors: Financière de Courcelles (Martine Depas, Ambroise Boissonnet)
    • Legal corporate advisors: Cygler Avocats (Steve Cygler), Allrights Avocats (Patrice Planes)
    • Financial due diligence: D’Ornano (Claudia Foley, Marc-Olivier Longpré)

  • Buyer’s advisors

    • Financial advisors: Eurvad (Charles Guigan)
    • Legal corporate advisors: Willkie Farr & Gallagher (Eduardo Fernandez, Gil Kiener, Sarah Bibas)
    • Legal Financial advisors: Latham & Watkins (Xavier Farde, Carla-Sophie Imperadeiro)
    • Legal structuring advisors: Latham & Watkins (Olivia Rauch-Ravisé, Clémence Morel)
    • Commercial due diligence: BCG (Benjamin Entraygues, Guillaume Darrieus, Julien Vialade)
    • Financial due diligence: KPMG (Guilhem Maguin, Stephane Kuster)
    • Legal due diligence: KPMG Avocats (Benoit Roucher, Julie Brubach)
    • Tax due diligence: KPMG Avocats (Sophie Fournier-Dedoyard, Gauthier Moulins)
    • Social/labor due diligence: KPMG Avocats (Olivier Masi, Christine Piault)

ABOUT AD EDUCATION

Founded in 2009, AD Education is a leading European higher education platform, pure player in the field of Creative Arts and teaching to more than 22,000 students in 15 schools on 66 campuses in France, Italy, Spain, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Netherlands, United Kingdom, Greece. AD Education covers 4 main sub-segments: Design & Graphical Arts, Media & Digital, Audiovisual and Culture & Luxury. Following the acquisition, will expand its presence in online education and will achieve revenues of more than 220 million euros.

ad-education.com

ABOUT OKTOGONE

Oktogone Group is one of the leading players in training and employment in the digital age. The group combines a range of expertise to support employees, students and job seekers in managing their careers. Oktogone also assists companies in developing the skills of their employees through continuous training, internal mobility and recruitment.

oktogone.com

ABOUT ARDIAN

Ardian is a world leading private investment house, managing or advising $130bn of assets on behalf of more than 1,300 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. We also provide a specialist service for private clients through Ardian Private Wealth Solutions. Ardian is majority-owned by its employees and places great emphasis on developing its people and fostering a collaborative culture based on collective intelligence. Our 900+ employees, spread across 15 offices in Europe, the Americas and Asia, 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.

ardian.com

Media Contact

AD EDUCATION

Nadia Bahharalves

nadia.bahharalves@ad-education.com  

ARDIAN

HEADLAND

ardian@headlandconsultancy.com

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3i enters into exclusive negotiations for the sale of Havea Group to BC Partners

3I

3i Group plc (“3i”) today announces that it, and its co-investor Cathay Capital, have entered into exclusive negotiations for the sale of its investment in Havea Group (“Havea”) to funds advised by BC Partners, alongside Havea’s management team. Proceeds to 3i will be at a c.50% uplift to its 31 March 2022 valuation.

Havea is a leading European natural healthcare player featuring a unique consumer/patient-centric approach centered on 5 strategic brands: Aragan, Biolane, Densmore, Dermovitamina and Vitavea. The Group and its brands help consumers prevent and treat common health issues with premium natural healthcare products. Powered by innovation and with a focus on sustainability – both at the core of Havea’s DNA – the company enables consumers to improve their quality of life.

3i invested in Havea in 2017 and supported its transformation to become a leader in its sector and double in size reaching €212 million sales in 2021. During this period, Havea delivered double-digit organic growth and completed 5 acquisitions in 5 years, significantly reinforcing its presence in Italy (largest European food supplements market) and Belgium. In addition, the company simplified its brand portfolio by moving to a consumer/patient-centric approach and implemented a complete multichannel strategy with for example the launch of D2C subscription services.

Nicolas Brodetsky, CEO, Havea, said: “Our partnership with 3i has been very successful. With their active support, Havea has grown substantially and established its leadership position in natural healthcare. We have laid all the right foundations to become the reference player, with a continued focus on improving our consumers’ quality of life with natural products. Partnering with BC Partners, which has extensive experience in fostering portfolio companies’ potential, would be a great opportunity. We share a common vision of the winning strategy to accelerate our development on a larger scale and become the undisputed European leader.”

Rémi Carnimolla, Partner & Managing Director, 3i, added: “The thesis supporting our investment in Havea was to back the global megatrend towards more natural and sustainable healthcare products. Havea benefits from this thanks to its strong innovation culture and willingness to constantly improve and understand the consumer journey. Havea’s tremendous development was made possible by Nicolas and his team. We are proud to have partnered with them; their agility and fantastic entrepreneurial culture will lead them to even greater successes.”

Completion of the transaction remains subject to the information and consultation of the employees’ representative bodies of Havea and to customary regulatory and antitrust approvals. The transaction would be expected to close by Q4 2022.

-Ends-

Download this press release   

 

For further information, contact:

3i Group plc

 

Silvia Santoro

Investor enquiries

 

Kathryn van der Kroft

Media enquiries

  

 

Tel: +44 20 7975 3258

Email: silvia.santoro@3i.com

 

Tel: +44 20 7975 3021

Email: kathryn.vanderkroft@3i.com

 

About 3i Group

3i is a leading international investment manager focused on mid-market private equity and infrastructure. Its core investment markets are northern Europe and North America. For further information, please visit: www.3i.com

About Havea Group

Created in 1975 and headquartered in France (Boufféré / Paris), Havea is a leading European natural healthcare player dedicated to quality of life enhancement by empowering consumers to take care of their health using natural and organic products. Through its 5 strategic brands (Aragan, Biolane, Densmore, Dermovitamina and Vitavea), Havea designs, manufactures and distributes a wide range of products from functional and natural food supplements, to natural baby premium healthcare products. In 2021, Havea employed 800 staff and generated € 212m sales.

About BC Partners

BC Partners is a leading international investment firm with over €20 billion of assets under management in private equity, private credit and real estate. Established in 1986, BC Partners is a pioneer in European private equity, where it has maintained a leading position for over three decades, and has also successfully invested in North America for over a decade. Today, BC Partners executives operate as an integrated team through the firm’s offices in North America and Europe. Since inception, BC Partners Private Equity has completed 113 private equity investments in companies with a total enterprise value of €145 billion and is currently investing its tenth private equity fund. For more information, please visit www.bcpartners.com.

Regulatory information

This transaction involved a recommendation of 3i Investments plc, advised by 3i France

Categories: News

Adelis acquires IT company netIP

Adelis Equity
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The Danish IT company netIP A/S (”netIP”) partners with Adelis Equity Partners (“Adelis”) to support the company’s next growth phase.

netIP, which is a leading and independent one-stop-shop IT provider, has a special focus on IT outsourcing, IT infrastructure, IT security, SharePoint and IT consulting services for Danish businesses. In the past five years, the number of employees has doubled to the current 165 employees based in seven departments in Thisted, Holstebro, Herning, Aalborg, Aarhus, Viborg and Herlev.

“In the past year, netIP has completed a successful turnaround after an unusual financial year of 2020/2021, where Covid-19 made it difficult to make things work together, which i.a. resulted in layoffs of 18 employees. Due to structural changes and the employees’ huge work effort, the management of netIP expects to be able to present an adjusted operating profit of approximately DKK 36 million in the financial year 2021/2022, which ends on 30 June 2022. This  is a significant improvement compared to the previous year”, says Martin Welna at Adelis Equity.

CEO and main shareholder, Martin Kjølhede, has been part of the company since 2000, and in connection with the divestment he wishes to resign from the management to concentrate on the strategic development of the company. Therefore, he continues as a board member and leaves the management to the three current directors, comprising CCO Brian Vesterbæk, CFO Birgitte Lukassen and COO Joakim Halvorsen.

“I am extremely proud on behalf of netIP of what we have created and accomplished together. The time is right to bring a responsible private equity fund such as Adelis on board, which can help build on the company’s strengths by adding competence and experience. Personally, it has been important for me to sell to an investor who wants to preserve and support the existing culture and values. netIP is first and foremost about people, because they are the ones who create the culture, the company and the results”, explains CEO Martin Kjølhede.

Adelis also joins the Board of Directors to support the strategy of growth and expansion of the IT business through strong customer relationships and high employee satisfaction.

“We see great potential in the way in which netIP meets customers at eye level and creates an attractive workplace with motivated and loyal employees. We look forward to building on the company’s strengths and culture. Therefore, neither employees nor customers will experience changes associated with the sale, but they can however expect netIP to become an even stronger organization, ”says Martin Welna at Adelis.

The agreement must now be approved by the relevant authorities before the deal can be considered final.

The transaction price for netIP is approx. DKK 375 million.

For further information:

Martin Welna, Adelis Equity Partners, martin.welna@adelisequity.com, +45 21 99 67 57

Martin Kjølhede, netIP, mkj@netIP.dk, +45 82 19 44 01

About netIP

NetIP is an independent one-stop-shop IT provider of consulting, advisory, security and outsourcing services as well as solutions within infrastructure and SharePoint for Danish businesses. The company consists of 165 people in local branches in Thisted, Holstebro, Herning, Aalborg, Aarhus, Viborg and Herlev. Read more at netip.dk.

About Adelis Equity Partners

Adelis is a growth partner for well-positioned, Nordic companies. Adelis partners with management and/or owners to build businesses in growth segments and with strong market positions. Since raising its first fund in 2013, Adelis has been one of the most active investors in the Nordic middle-market, making 33 platform investments and more than 150 add-on acquisitions. Adelis today manages approximately €2 billion in capital. For more information, please visit www.adelisequity.com

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AURELIUS Equity Opportunities SE & Co. KGaA starts Share Buyback Program 2022 for an amount of up to EUR 30 million

Aurelius Capital

The Share Buyback Programme 2022 is set to buy back 1.000.000 shares, with a volume of up to EUR 30 million. This move follows a completed share buyback programme from November 2021 to May 2022 and the withdrawal of 1.000.000 shares, announced in June 2022. The Share Buyback programme 2022 is to be conducted in the time from July 1, 2022, to June 30, 2023.

“We continuously review various steps we can take to optimise shareholder value. The new share buyback programme seizes our momentum. It follows our latest capital markets measures and is backed by our operational performance. The 2022 Annual General Meeting, held on June 21, provided us with the approval for this additional measure, that we will conduct within the interest of our shareholders. Looking ahead into the financial year 2022, we are confident to navigate a successful course. However, we remain particularly cautious in view of the challenging markets”, states Matthias Täubl, CEO of AURELIUS Equity Opportunities.

AURELIUS will announce further details separately prior to the commencement of the Share Buyback Program 2022.

Categories: News