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Mutares with successful fiscal year 2023: Net income of Mutares Holding increases to EUR 102.5 million – dividend of EUR 2.25 per share planned

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Mutares
  • Net income of Mutares Holding for fiscal year 2023 increases by 41% to EUR 102.5 million (previous year: EUR 72.9 million); Revenues of Mutares Holding grow by 46% to EUR 103.6 million (previous year: EUR 71.1 million)
  • Dividend planned to increase by 29% to EUR 2.25 per share for fiscal year 2023 (previous year: EUR 1.75)
  • Group revenues increase by 25% to EUR 4,689.1 million (previous year: EUR 3,751.7 million), Group EBITDA at EUR 756.9 million (previous year: EUR 181.5 million), boosted by effects from the transactions
  • Adjusted EBITDA of EUR 3.5 million (previous year: EUR -32.7 million) reflects the progress made in restructuring and developing the portfolio
  • Early refinancing and placement of a new senior secured floating rate bond with a current total volume of EUR 250 million

Munich, March 28, 2024 – Mutares SE & Co. KGaA (ISIN: DE000A2NB650) today published figures for the fiscal year 2023. Mutares recorded significant growth both at Company level (“Mutares Holding”) and at Group level (“Mutares Group”). In addition to continued promising momentum on the acquisition side with 16 completed acquisitions of portfolio companies, Mutares also completed 7 exits in the fiscal year 2023, including the sale of Special Melted Products (“SMP”), the largest exit in the Company’s history to date.

Net income of Mutares Holding grows by 41% to new record level

The net income of Mutares Holding for the fiscal year 2023 increased to EUR 102.5 million, compared with EUR 72.9 million in the previous year. The successful sale of Special Melted Products (“SMP”) made a significant contribution to this result.

The revenues of Mutares Holding result from consulting services to affiliated companies and management fees and increased by 46% to EUR 103.6 million in the fiscal year 2023 (previous year: EUR 71.1 million). The increase is a result of the expansion of the operational consulting business.

The Mutares Group generated revenues of EUR 4,689.1 million in the fiscal year 2023 (previous year: EUR 3,751.7 million). Group EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) in accordance with IFRS amounted to EUR 756.9 million in the fiscal year 2023 (previous year: EUR 181.5 million), boosted by gains from bargain purchases of EUR 727.2 million (previous year: EUR 262.0 million) and the positive contribution from exits in the fiscal year. Adjusted EBITDA, adjusted in particular for the effects of regular changes in the composition of the portfolio, amounted to EUR 3.5 million for the fiscal year 2023 (previous year: EUR -32.7 million) and reflects the encouraging progress made in restructuring and developing parts of the portfolio.

The Group’s cash and cash equivalents amounted to EUR 520.2 million as at December 31, 2023, and thus increased significantly compared to the previous year’s reporting date (December 31, 2022: EUR 246.4 million). As at the reporting date, the equity ratio was 26% compared to 24% as at December 31, 2022.

High transaction momentum with largest exit in the Company’s history

The fiscal year 2023 was once again characterized by a high level of transaction momentum. On the acquisition side, Mutares completed a total of 16 acquisitions in the four segments Automotive & Mobility, Engineering & Technology, Goods & Services and the newly created Retail & Food segment.

Thanks to the balanced maturity and size of the portfolio, the focus is also increasingly on activities on the exit side. In the fiscal year 2023, Mutares completed a total of 7 sales of portfolio companies. Among these, the sale of SMP was the most successful exit in the Company’s history to date with a cash inflow for the Mutares Holding Company of around EUR 150 million.

Dividend proposal of EUR 2.25 per share

Mutares pursues a dividend policy with which the shareholders are to participate directly and continuously in the Company’s success and at the same time the short and medium-term development of Mutares can be driven forward. In the fiscal year 2023, Mutares resolved an annual minimum dividend of EUR 2.00 per dividend-bearing share as part of an update of the dividend policy. In extraordinarily successful fiscal years, the Company will also consider in the future, when proposing the appropriations of profits, the extent to which the remaining retained net profit will also be distributed in the form of a possible bonus dividend. For the fiscal year 2023, the Management Board and Supervisory Board will propose the distribution of a dividend totaling EUR 2.25 per share at the Annual General Meeting on June 4, 2024. This dividend amount consists of a minimum dividend of EUR 2.00 per share in line with the communicated long-term dividend policy and an additional proposed bonus dividend for the fiscal year 2023 of EUR 0.25 per share.

Outlook

Against the background of the transactions concluded and signed in the fiscal year 2023, the assumptions regarding further intended transactions in the course of the year and the plans for the individual portfolio companies, the Management Board expects revenues for the Mutares Group to increase to between EUR 5.7 billion and EUR 6.3 billion in the fiscal year 2024.

The annual net income of Mutares SE & Co. KGaA should regularly be in a range of 1.8% to 2.2% of the consolidated revenues of the Mutares Group. Based on expected revenues for the Mutares Group of EUR 6.0 billion on average, the Management Board therefore expects a net income of EUR 108 million to EUR 132 million in the fiscal year 2024. All sources from which the net income of Mutares SE & Co. KGaA is generally fed, namely revenues from the consulting business on the one hand and dividends from portfolio companies and, in particular, exit proceeds from the sale of investments on the other, are expected to contribute to this.

Mutares will publish its Annual Report 2023 on April 11, 2024, and invites analysts, investors and members of the press to a conference call at 2:00 p.m. CEST on this day to provide a deeper insight into the developments of the fiscal year 2023 and the outlook for the fiscal year 2024.

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Metaview’s tool records interview notes so that hiring managers don’t have to

Fly Ventures Logo
Kyle Wiggers@kyle_l_wiggers / 

Illustration of a group of applicants waiting outside a door for a job interview.

Image Credits: lemono / Getty Images

Siadhal Magos and Shahriar Tajbakhsh were working at Uber and Palantir, respectively, when they both came to the realization that hiring — particularly the process of interviewing — was becoming unwieldy for many corporate HR departments.

“It was clear to us that the most important part of the hiring process is the interviews, but also the most opaque and unreliable part,” Magos told TechCrunch. “On top of this, there’s a bunch of toil associated with taking notes and writing up feedback that many interviewers and hiring managers do everything they can to avoid.”

Magos and Tajbakhsh thought that the hiring process was ripe for disruption, but they wanted to avoid abstracting away too much of the human element. So they launched Metaview, an AI-powered note-taking app for recruiters and hiring managers that records, analyzes and summarizes job interviews.

“Metaview is an AI note-taker built specifically for the hiring process,” Magos said. “It helps recruiters and hiring managers focus more on getting to know candidates and less on extracting data from the conversations. As a consequence, recruiters and hiring managers save a ton of time writing up notes and are more present during interviews because they’re not having to multitask.”

Metaview integrates with apps, phone systems, videoconferencing platforms and tools like Calendly and GoodTime to automatically capture the content of interviews. Magos says the platform “accounts for the nuances of recruiting conversations” and “enriches itself with data from other sources,” such as applicant tracking systems, to highlight the most relevant moments.

“Zoom, Microsoft Teams and Google Meet all have transcription built in, which is a possible alternative to Metaview,” Magos said. “But the information that Metaview’s AI pulls out from interviews is far more relevant to the recruiting use case than generic alternatives, and we also assist users with the next steps in their recruiting workflows in and around these conversations.”

Metaview

Image Credits: Metaview

Certainly, there’s plenty wrong with traditional job interviewing, and a note-taking and conversation-analyzing app like Metaview could help, at least in theory. As a piece in Psychology Today notes, the human brain is rife with biases that hinder our judgement and decision making, for example a tendency to rely too heavily on the first piece of information offered and to interpret information in a way that confirms our preexisting beliefs.

The question is, does Metaview work — and, more importantly, work equally well for all users?

Even the best AI-powered speech dictation systems suffer from their own biases. A Stanford study showed that error rates for Black speakers on speech-to-text services from Amazon, Apple, Google, IBM and Microsoft are nearly double those for white speakers. Another, more recent study published in the journal Computer Speech and Language found statistically significant differences in the way two leading speech recognition models treated speakers of different genders, ages and accents.

There’s also hallucination to consider. AI makes mistakes summarizing, including in meeting summaries. In a recent story, The Wall Street Journal cited an instance where, for one early adopter using Microsoft’s AI Copilot tool for summarizing meetings, Copilot invented attendees and implied calls were about subjects that were never discussed.

When asked what steps Metaview has taken, if any, to mitigate bias and other algorithmic issues, Magos claimed that Metaview’s training data is diverse enough to yield models that “surpass human performance” on recruitment workflows and perform well on popular benchmarks for bias.

I’m skeptical and a bit wary, too, of Metaview’s approach to how it handles speech data. Magos says that Metaview stores conversation data for two years by default unless users request that the data be deleted. That seems like an exceptionally long time.

But none of this appears to have affected Metaview’s ability to get funding or customers.

Metaview this month raised $7 million from investors including Plural, Coelius Capital and Vertex Ventures, bringing the London-based startup’s total raised to $14 million. Metaview’s client count stands at 500 companies, Magos says, including Brex, Quora, Pleo and Improbable — and it’s grown 2,000% year-over-year.

“The money will be used to grow the product and engineering team primarily, and give more fuel to our sales and marketing efforts,” Magos said. “We will triple the product and engineering team, further fine-tune our conversation synthesis engine so our AI is automatically extracting exactly the right information our customers need and develop systems to proactively detect issues like inconsistencies in the interview process and candidates that appear to be losing interest.”

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Imerys enters into exclusive negotiations for the sale of its assets serving the paper market

Flacks Group

Imerys today announces that it has entered into exclusive negotiations with Flacks Group for the
contemplated divestment of its assets serving the paper market.
Flacks Group is a US investment firm based in Miami, Florida, specialized in acquisitions of mid-size
corporate spin-offs and carve-outs.

The completion of the contemplated transaction is subject to the fulfillment of customary conditions
for this type of transactions, including regulatory approvals and relevant work council consultations.
The transaction is expected to be completed in the course of 2024.
These activities are operated by approximately 900 employees in 24 plants in the Americas and Asia,
as well as certain locations in Europe. These activities represented about €370m in sales in 2023.
*******
Imerys is the world’s leading supplier of mineral-based specialty solutions for the industry with €3.8 billion in revenue
and 13,700 employees in 54 countries in 2023. The Group offers high value-added and functional solutions to a wide
range of industries and fast-growing markets such as solutions for the energy transition and sustainable construction, as
well as natural solutions for consumer goods. Imerys draws on its understanding of applications, technological
knowledge, and expertise in material science to deliver solutions which contribute essential properties to customers’
products and their performance. As part of its commitment to responsible development, Imerys promotes
environmentally friendly products and processes in addition to supporting its customers in their decarbonization efforts.

Imerys is listed on Euronext Paris (France) with the ticker symbol NK.PA.

Analyst/Investor Relations:
Cyrille Arhanchiague : +33 (0)1 49 55 64 84
finance@imerys.com
Press contacts:
Claire Garnier : +33 (0)1 49 55 64 27
Hugues Schmitt (Primatice) : + 33 (0)6 71 99 74 58

Categories: News

Wide Group acquires Milan-based Assileo Broker SRL

Pollenstreet

Pollen Street today announces that Wide Group has completed the acquisition of Assileo Broker Srl (“Assileo”). Assileo is a Milan-based commercial broker with capabilities across transportation, construction, energy and corporate insurance, with a presence in Milan and Genoa. The business was founded in 2000 by current management, who will remain in the business post completion.

Wide Group is the leading technology-led commercial broking consolidator in Italy, and the acquisition of Assileo will expand both the group’s scale and capability in the Milan market and add a presence in Genoa. Wide has a strong M&A pipeline of potential targets to build on the momentum of this acquisition, driven by a highly fragmented insurance broking market in Italy, with significant potential for synergistic consolidation.

Gianluca Melani, Co-founder & Managing Director of Wide Group, commented:

“We are thrilled to welcome Flavio Sestilli, Michele Leonarduzzi and Giovanni Battista Campo, and all the colleagues from Assileo Broker into the Wide Family. With this operation, we mutually enrich ourselves with a history and expertise in insurance that has been passed down for three generations, along with new synergistic skills that align with the current setup of our operational model. This operation reaffirms the excellence and innovation we aim to offer to our consultants and their respective clients.”

Ian Gascoigne, Partner at Pollen Street Capital, added:

“We are pleased to welcome Assileo to the Wide family. Assileo adds additional specialist insurance expertise, scale and geographic reach to Wide’s offering, and builds on the strong momentum Wide is seeing in its acquisition strategy.”

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ASSA ABLOY acquires Nomadix and Global Reach in the USA and UK

Melker Schorling
ASSA ABLOY has signed an agreement to acquire Nomadix and Global Reach, leading US and UK based providers of Wi-Fi access and engagement platform solutions for the hospitality and commercial real estate industry. The companies offer a comprehensive tech platform of hardware, software and analytics tools to securely connect and engage with customers and devices via Wi-Fi networks.

“I am very pleased to welcome Nomadix and Global Reach into the ASSA ABLOY Group. This acquisition is an exciting technological addition to the ASSA ABLOY Group and will reinforce our current offering within the hospitality business, and provide complementary growth opportunities,” says Nico Delvaux, President and CEO of ASSA ABLOY.

“Nomadix and Global Reach are excellent additions to Global Solutions and will with their strong technical expertise expand our portfolio and end-to-end offering for our hospitality business and adjacent verticals. I look forward to working with the experienced teams to continue the successful journey,” says Stephanie Ordan, Executive Vice President and Head of Global Technologies business unit Global Solutions.

Nomadix and Global Reach were founded in 1998 and have some 120 employees. The main offices are located in Los Angeles and London. Nomadix and Global Reach operate as two separate entities under a central top management and ownership, and will be part of Global Solutions business area Hospitality.

Sales for 2023 amounted to about MUSD 30 (approx. MSEK 300) with a strong EBIT margin. The acquisition will be accretive to EPS from the start.

The acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to close during the second quarter of 2024.

 

For more information, please contact:

Nico Delvaux, President and CEO, tel. no: +46 8 506 485 82
Erik Pieder, CFO and Executive Vice President, tel. no: +46 8 506 485 72
Björn Tibell, Head of Investor Relations, tel. no: +46 70 275 67 68, e-mail: bjorn.tibell@assaabloy.com

About ASSA ABLOY

The ASSA ABLOY Group is the global leader in access solutions. The Group operates worldwide with 61,000 employees and sales of SEK 141 billion. The Group has leading positions in areas such as efficient door openings, trusted identities and entrance automation. ASSA ABLOY’s innovations enable safe, secure and convenient access to physical and digital places. Every day, we help billions of people experience a more open world.

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A1 Electronics joins Metis Group

GIMV

Eindhoven, 27 March 2024 –Metis Group has entered into an agreement with Strukton to acquire A1 Electronics, a provider of electronics manufacturing services, located in Almelo, the Netherlands. With A1 Electronics joining Metis, as per today, the group further strengthens its position in the growing electronics market.

A1 Electronics and its subsidiary Buca Electronics provide electronic manufacturing services focused on the high-mix, low-volume segment, servicing ~100 customers. The current management team consisting of Rudy and Rob Oude Vrielink, and Lamber Voortman, will participate as minority shareholders and maintain their roles as managing directors of A1 to ensure continuity and support further growth of the company.

The mutual strategic-operational collaboration with Metis will enable A1 Electronics to achieve an acceleration of growth and further increase the added value for its customers. A1 complements Metis Group with its very high-mix, low-volume production capabilities, and adds potting and cable assembly capabilities. Whereas Metis’ extensive engineering, technology and higher volume production capabilities will be beneficial for A1’s customers.

Reinier Beltman, CEO of Metis Group, remarks: “Following the launch of the Metis Group earlier this year, we are excited to welcome A1 Electronics to the Group. With over 23 years of experience, A1 Electronics is a very valuable addition. Joining forces will accelerate our joint growth path. We are looking forward to work with Rob, Rudy, Lamber and the team”.

Rudy Oude Vrielink, Managing Director of A1, adds: “We are excited to join Metis Group and are pleased to have found a partner that endorses our philosophy and enables us to provide even more added value to our customers. We look forward to the collaboration with Metis”.

Boris Wirtz, chairman of Metis Group’s Supervisory Board, concludes: “As Supervisory Board we are pleased to welcome A1 to the Metis Group. The acquisition fits perfectly in our buy-and-build strategy which is focused on creating a group of high-quality electronics companies that complement and strengthen each other, whereby we concentrate on realizing synergies through continued knowledge and best-practice sharing”.

About A1 Electronics
Established in 2001, A1 Electronics has developed into a one-stop provider of electronics manufacturing services (EMS). The Company specializes in assembling printed circuit boards and integrated finalized products. Its capabilities include SMT, THT, cable assembly, box-build, testing, potting, logistics and lifecycle management services.

A1 Electronics distinguishes itself through its seamless integration of quality and delivery performance. Its commitment to excellence begins with qualified and skilled personnel, supported by a state-of-the-art machine park that adheres to the latest industry guidelines and certifications.
The company has demonstrated its commitment to social responsibility, notably through its subsidiary Buca Electronics, which exclusively employs individuals with a distance to the labor market.

For more information about A1 Electronics, please visit https://www.a1electronics.nl

About Metis Group
Metis Group is a group of electronics companies that provide development, manufacturing and product life cycle management services to customers in a variety of markets. With a combined revenue of well over EUR 130M+ and a strong and committed workforce of 500+ employees across multiple locations in the Netherlands including Eindhoven, Veendam, Drachten and Almelo; Metis Group is ready to support its partners with high-tech electronics solutions.

For more information about Metis Group and its subsidiaries, please visit https://metis-group.nl

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GDS Holdings (NASDAQ:GDS) Announces Landmark US$587 million Equity Raise for its International Business

Princeville Capital

GDS Holdings (GDSH) Limited, a leading developer and operator of high-performance data centers in China and Southeast Asia, announced that GDSH’s wholly-owned subsidiary, GDS International (GDSI), that acts as the holding company for GDSH’s international data center assets and operations, has entered into definitive agreements with Princeville Capital and other leading international private equity investors including Hillhouse, Rava Partners, Boyu Capital, and Tekne Capital to invest in GDSI’s US$587 million Series A. This transaction is a significant step forward for GDSI in obtaining dedicated financing for the development of its current significant data center pipeline, as well as further international expansion.

 

GDSI was established in 2022, with its corporate headquarters in Singapore. Its portfolio currently comprises 330 MW of data center capacity in service and under construction and a further 340 MW held for future development across strategic locations in, among others, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia. GDSI has secured commitments and reservations from customers for over 200 MW of capacity, of which over 70 MW is already revenue-generating.

 

“I am delighted to announce this landmark capital raising, which is a big step forward in our strategy to obtain dedicated financing for the development of our international business on a standalone basis,” said Mr. William Huang, Chairman and CEO of GDSH and Chairman of GDSI. “Within a short period of time, we have established market-leading positions in the major hub markets of Hong Kong and Singapore-Johor-Batam. We see tremendous opportunities for growth in these markets as well as in other new markets which we are currently evaluating. This equity issue benchmarks the significant value, which we have created for our shareholders. We look forward to additional achievements by our international business, further emulating our success in China.”

 

GDS Announcement: https://investors.gds-services.com/news-releases/news-release-details/gds-announces-landmark-us587-million-equity-raise-its

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Blackstone Life Sciences Announces Collaboration to Support Moderna’s Influenza Program

Blackstone

Blackstone Life Sciences to invest up to $750 million to support innovative mRNA technology

NEW YORK – Blackstone (NYSE:BX) announced today a new collaboration with Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ: MRNA, “Moderna”) through a development and commercialization funding agreement where funds managed by Blackstone Life Sciences (“Blackstone”) will provide up to $750 million to fund Moderna’s influenza (“flu”) program.

“Moderna has demonstrated a remarkable ability to impact human health through mRNA vaccines targeting respiratory illnesses. This landmark collaboration is another example of our long-standing strategy to partner with the world’s leading life science companies to advance their critical path vaccines, medicines and medical technologies to patients,” said Nicholas Galakatos, Ph.D., Global Head of Blackstone Life Sciences.

“Moderna is advancing a broad and diverse pipeline at a pace not seen before in our industry,” said Stéphane Bancel, Chief Executive Officer of Moderna. “Our goal is to launch multiple vaccine products in the next few years and deliver the greatest possible impact to people through mRNA medicines. Achieving this ambition requires substantial investment in late-stage studies and we are excited to welcome Blackstone and their innovative financing model.”

This new collaboration continues Blackstone Life Sciences’ work and support for many of the world’s leading and most innovative biopharmaceutical and medical technology companies. Blackstone seeks to provide customized financing solutions for companies across therapeutic areas to support mission critical scientific innovation and advance important products to patients.

About the Transaction
Under the terms of the agreement, funds managed by Blackstone Life Sciences will provide up to $750 million to fund Moderna’s flu program. If successful, BXLS will be eligible to receive milestones and royalties on resultant flu products. Moderna will recognize the funding as a reduction in research and development expenses and will retain full rights and control of the Company’s influenza program.

More information about Moderna’s flu program pipeline can be found in Moderna’s Vaccines Day press release – being announced concurrently this morning at: https://investors.modernatx.com/. Additional terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

About Blackstone Life Sciences
Blackstone Life Sciences is an industry-leading private investment platform with capabilities to invest across the life cycle of companies and products within the key life science sectors. By combining scale investments and hands-on operational leadership, Blackstone Life Sciences helps bring to market promising new medicines and medical technologies that improve patients’ lives and currently has more than $8 billion in assets under management.

Blackstone Contact
Paula Chirhart
Global Public Affairs
paula.chirhart@blackstone.com
(347) 463-5453

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Orange and MASMOVIL Complete Transaction to Form the Leading Operator in Spain in Terms of Customers

Providence

Paris and Madrid

  • The 50:50 Joint Venture between Orange Spain and MASMOVIL starts operations from today and will bring substantial benefits to Spanish consumers and enterprises.
  • The Joint Venture is expected to generate synergies of more than 490m euros / year from four years after closing onwards.
  • Jean François Fallacher has been appointed non-executive Chairman of the JV and Meinrad Spenger as its CEO.

Orange and MASMOVIL announce today the creation of a new Joint Venture, completing the agreement to combine their operations in Spain . Orange and MASMOVIL’s shareholders each own a 50% stake of the JV, with equal governance rights in the combined entity.

With over 37 million broadband and mobile lines, the new entity becomes the leading player on the Spanish telecoms market in terms of customers, with the ambition to lead the market in talent, user experience, innovation, environmental and social impact, and fiber and mobile coverage. Its formation creates a sustainable player with the financial capacity to continue investing in next-generation networks for the benefit of the market, consumers and enterprises in Spain.

According to revised estimates, the new company is expected to generate synergies of more than 490m euros per year by the fourth year after closing. Based on preliminary closing accounts, the respective proceeds at closing will be approximately €4.4bn for Orange and approximately €1.65bn for MASMOVIL shareholders.

The companies (Orange Spain and MASMOVIL) will operate as a single entity: the accounts of both companies will be consolidated at the level of a newly registered legal entity (the JV). As planned, the new company will be operational from today.

Jean François Fallacher, CEO of Orange France, has been appointed non-executive Chairman of the new company. Jean François, who was previously CEO of Orange Spain between September 2020 and April 2023, has extensive experience of the Spanish market.

The Board of Directors of the Joint Venture has also confirmed the appointment of Meinrad Spenger, CEO of MASMOVIL since 2006, as CEO, and Alberto Castañeda as Secretary of the Board of Directors. Ludovic Pech and Germán López have also been confirmed as CFO and COO, respectively.

“It is a huge honour and an enormous responsibility to serve our more than 30 million customers in Spain. We are going to try hard to ensure that they continue to be the most satisfied clients in our country. With our JV, the Spanish telecom market has now a stronger company with the capacity to innovate and invest and to serve our clients in the residential and business segment as their trustful partner,” said Meinrad Spenger, CEO of the JV.

Christel Heydemann, CEO of Orange, said “Today’s announcement is an important stepping-stone in the deployment of Orange’s long-term strategic plan in Europe. By creating a stronger and more sustainable player, the joint venture launched today will help drive innovation and investment in high-speed broadband and digital services in Spain. This is clearly a positive step forward in our overall vision for a strong and thriving telecoms industry in Europe.”

The advisory teams for the parties include:

  • Lead financial advisors: Goldman Sachs Bank Europe SE to MASMOVIL and Lazard Frères to Orange.
  • Lead debt advisor: BNP Paribas.
  • Joint rating advisors: BNP Paribas and Société Générale.
  • Freshfields to MASMOVIL and Jones Day to Orange, as legal M&A advisors.
  • Freshfields, Latham and Watkins, Perez Llorca and Gide, as competition law advisors.
  • Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, together with Evergreen Legal, as legal counsel to the Borrowers, for all financing matters related to the transaction, and Linklaters as legal counsel to the Lenders.
  • PWC to MASMOVIL and EY to Orange, as Due Diligence partners.
  • Also acted as financial advisors to MASMOVIL: BNP Paribas, Evercore, JP Morgan and Santander.
  • Also acted as joint debt advisor: Rothschild & Co.

About MASMOVIL Group
MASMOVIL Group is one of the most outstanding operators in Spain in terms of growth over the last few years and offers fiber, mobile, TV, and other new services such as energy, health, alarms, or financial services, for residential customers, businesses, and operators.

The Group offers its customers access to the largest FTTH coverage in Spain with more than 29 million marketable households and 3G, 4G and 5G mobile networks to 98.5% of the Spanish population thanks to its hybrid strategy combining its own and third parties infrastructures. MASMOVIL has also launched its 5G services, which are already available in 2,400 cities in Spain. The Group has more than 16M customers. MASMOVIL has been awarded on several occasions as the best broadband and fibre optic operator.

The Group has achieved net zero carbon emissions for scopes 1 and 2 since 2020 -including the Euskaltel Group in the calculation-, positioning it as the first telecommunications operator in Europe to achieve such an achievement and the one with the lowest absolute residual level of emissions. It is the first telecommunications operator in Europe to become a B Corp company and has a strong commitment to creating a positive environmental and social impact.

MASMOVIL Group is also leading sustainability and ESG in Spain achieving 5 ESG ratings in a short period of time with very high standings from prestigious organizations as S&P, Morning Star Sustainalytics, Sustainable Fitch, CDP and Clarity.

MASMOVIL is participated by Cinven, KKR and Providence Equity Partners since November 2020.

 

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Biotech company Arevo raises SEK 75 million

Industriefonden

Swedish biotech company Arevo AB has secured a SEK 35 million investment from investor Industrifonden. Existing owners Navigare Ventures, Fort Knox, Stora Enso and Kempestiftelserna have also injected a further SEK 40 million into the growing business. The capital will be used to scale up the company’s operations and its portfolio of 58 patents built on award-winning research into organic nitrogen uptake in plants by Arevo founder Professor Torgny Näsholm.

Arevo paved the way for expansion with the appointment of Niklas Åström as its new CEO in the autumn of 2023. With experience from his time as CEO of ÅLÖ AB, the company behind Quicke, Åström brings a potent blend of business and agricultural expertise to his current role as he oversees Arevo’s international growth.

“Backing from our established long-term investors for Arevo’s scaling journey empowers us to accelerate the dissemination of our technology and address urgent global needs. Our precision nutrition products not only mitigate nitrogen leakage but also enhance yields and revolutionize agriculture and horticulture practices currently under legislative and financial pressures”, remarked Niklas Åström.

Nitrogen is a critical nutrient for all forms of plant growth, which is why large amounts of mineral fertilizers containing nitrogen are used today. From an environmental perspective, however, mineral fertilizers have many environmental disadvantages, including a production process dependent on natural gas, nitrogen leakage that causes eutrophication, emissions of the difficult-to-degrade greenhouse gas nitrous oxide and reduced biodiversity.

Arevo’s precision nutrition stimulates a plant’s natural ability to utilize water and nutrients, resulting in stronger plants with an increased resistance to drought. Arevo products, which were originally developed for the forestry industry, have already been used to help grow several hundred million forest seedlings. The company’s technology has also been successfully tested on key crops around the world, such as soy, corn, sunflower, potatoes and tomatoes.

With the world’s population expected to reach 10 billion by 2050, the amount of food produced from agriculture needs to increase by 56%* in order to meet increased demand. As available agricultural land is likely to decrease in the future**, the amount of food per hectare must be maximized.

“Addressing the increasing demand for food to sustain our growing population, while simultaneously mitigating the adverse environmental effects of agriculture remains a pressing global challenge – one that is of paramount importance to policymakers and agricultural stakeholders alike. I am eagerly anticipating the broader utilization of Arevo’s products beyond the forestry sector. Arevo can be an enabler in the transition to more environmentally sustainable agricultural practices. It is a Swedish science-based company with immense potential”, stated Anna Haupt, an investor at Industrifonden.
Agriculture currently makes up 38% of the planet’s total land area and contributes approximately 25-30%*** of man-made greenhouse gas emissions. In Europe there is significant regulatory pressure to mitigate this impact, with initiatives such as The European Green Deal and Farm to Fork aiming to reduce nitrogen leakage by 50% and cut pesticide usage in half by 2030. Further environmental improvement measures are also anticipated.

“This investment marks the start of our international expansion into horticulture and agriculture. Our initial focus will be on Europe, where there is a critical need for scientifically proven climate innovations that benefit farmers”, concluded Arevo’s CEO Niklas Åström.

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