Category Archives: News

Breakthrough Energy Catalyst announces $75 million equity commitment in Infinium’s eFuels facility

Breakthrough Energy

The first-of-a-kind commercial-scale Power-to-Liquids eFuels facility is expected to be the largest in North America

Breakthrough Energy Catalyst announced its first project equity investment today in the form of a $75 million equity commitment to Infinium’s Project Roadrunner, subject to the satisfaction of certain closing conditions. Project Roadrunner will convert waste carbon dioxide (CO2) and renewable power into sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and other low-carbon fuels. This first-of-a-kind commercial-scale Power-to-Liquids (PtL) eFuels facility is expected to be the largest PtL eFuels project in North America once operational.

Breakthrough Energy Catalyst funds and invests in first-of-a-kind projects that support the deployment of emerging climate technologies and sustainable aviation fuel is one of Catalyst’s five areas of priority investment. The aviation industry accounts for approximately 2–3% of global greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) annually and faces unique challenges when it comes to reducing emissions. Sustainable aviation fuels offer a critical tool to decarbonize aviation with existing aircraft currently in use around the world. Project Roadrunner will primarily produce Infinium eSAF, a sustainable aviation fuel with the potential to significantly reduce the lifecycle GHG emissions associated with air travel by around 90 percent.

At the core of Catalyst’s work is also uniting companies with stakeholders including investors, offtakers, and governments to enable the funding and build out of first-of-a-kind, commercial-scale projects. With Project Roadrunner, Catalyst and Infinium are bringing together key Catalyst partners in American Airlines and Citi as offtakers to tackle aviation emissions together.

The Catalyst and Infinium announcement includes two groundbreaking agreements with those partners that provide models for effective climate action. First, American and Infinium have agreed to a long-term, firm fuel offtake agreement that will enable further investment in Project Roadrunner. The Catalyst team worked to develop this agreement alongside the American and Infinium teams. Second, American and Citi have separately agreed to transfer the associated emission reductions to Citi to support the scaling of this innovative technology and help reduce a portion of Citi’s Scope 3 emissions from employee travel. These agreements provide one model for how airlines can use offtake agreements to help promising new SAF technologies attract investment dollars.

Mario Fernandez, Head of Breakthrough Energy Catalyst, said, “This project is a landmark achievement for the development of sustainable aviation fuels and the offtake agreement provides a model for the entire aviation industry on how to effect change and support the scale-up of capital-intensive projects.”

Read the full joint press release here.

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Ardian enters into agreement with Ferrovial to acquire a 15% stake in Heathrow

Ardian

This statement should be read in conjunction with Ferrovial’s statement issued November 28th 2023: https://newsroom.ferrovial.com/en/press_releases/ferrovial-announces-agreement-to-sell-stake-heathrow/

Ardian today announces that it has entered into an agreement to acquire a 15% stake in FGP TopCo (TopCo), the holding company of Heathrow Airport Holdings Ltd, from Ferrovial S.A.

Under the terms of the agreement, infrastructure funds managed and advised by Ardian will acquire 15% while Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund will acquire 10% of TopCo concurrently from Ferrovial through separate vehicles.

The UK is a core market for Ardian, which has a 17-year track record of successful infrastructure investments in the country. This investment in Europe’s leading airport and Britain’s aviation hub builds on Ardian’s expertise in aviation, including previous investments in London Luton Airport and significant stakes in six Italian Airports. Heathrow is a strategic asset for the UK economy and plays a key role enhancing global connectivity. It fits with Ardian’s strategy of investing in significant infrastructure in its core markets.

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 Air Carbon, 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.

The transaction is subject to complying with ROFO and full tag-along rights which may be exercised by the other FGP Topco shareholders pursuant to the Shareholders’ Agreement and the Articles of Association of the company. In addition, completion of the acquisition under the agreement is subject to satisfaction of applicable regulatory conditions.

ABOUT ARDIAN

Ardian is a world-leading private investment house, managing or advising $156bn of assets on behalf of more than 1,470 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.

ardian.com

PRESS CONTACTS

ARDIAN

LIZ MORLEY

liz.morley@5654.co.uk+44 (0) 7798683108

BEN THORNTON

ben.thornton@5654.co.uk+44 (0) 7793056329

Categories: News

Waterland sells majority stake in Netrics

Waterland

Zurich – Waterland Private Equity (“Waterland”) is selling its majority stake in Netrics, Switzerland’s leading modern workplace and cloud service provider, to Bregal Unternehmerkapital. The strategic focus on digitizing companies using state-of-the-art technologies will continue under the new ownership structure. The transaction is expected to be completed by the end of the year; financial details will not be disclosed.

Over the past years, Waterland has supported Netrics in its strategic orientation to become the leading partner for the digitalization of companies using cloud and modern workplace technologies. In collaboration with the founders, Waterland initiated the merger of Tineo, nexellent and Netrics as well as the subsequent buy-and-build strategy with the acquisitions of BlueStone Consulting and PageUp. Today, Netrics is a leading player in the Swiss market with over 140 experts and more than 600 customers. The management team will continue to build on this strategy in the new ownership structure and drive it further.

“Waterland was the best possible partner for our strategic realignment,” emphasizes Netrics CEO Pascal Kocher. “Now it’s ‘mission accomplished‘. We are continuing to drive the Group and our strategy forward and want to consistently implement our further development as a leading partner for digital transformation, always at eye-level with our customers.”

Gregor Hengst, Managing Partner at Waterland, says: “Every business is becoming a digital business, and complexity is constantly increasing. This calls for highly professional enablers like Netrics, with whose founders and management team we have developed this shared vision from the beginning. Today, Netrics is ideally positioned to exploit the huge potential in the digital transformation market.” Philippe Moser, Principal at Waterland, emphasizes: “Thanks to the excellent collaboration with the entrepreneurs and the determined implementation of the buy-and-build strategy in the joint partnership, we were able to establish the leading player in the Swiss market.”

About Waterland

Waterland is an independent private equity investment company that supports entrepreneurs in achieving their growth targets. With substantial financial support and industry expertise, Waterland enables its portfolio companies to accelerate growth both organically and through acquisitions. Waterland has offices in the Netherlands (Bussum), Belgium (Antwerp), France (Paris), Germany (Hamburg, Munich), Poland (Warsaw), the UK (London, Manchester), Ireland (Dublin), Denmark (Copenhagen), Norway (Oslo), Spain (Barcelona) and Switzerland (Zurich). It currently manages around fourteen billion euros in equity capital.

Waterland has consistently achieved above-average performance with its investments since it was founded in 1999. The company is ranked fourth globally in the HEC/Dow Jones Private Equity Performance Ranking 2022 and seventh among global private equity firms in the Preqin Consistent Performers in Global Private Equity & Venture Capital Report 2022.

Media contact

Kurt Rossi, Farner Consulting, kurt.rossi@farner.ch

 

About Netrics:

As a partner for digital transformation, Netrics focuses on the topics of cloud and modern workplace. Netrics enables modern, location-independent and secure working through the targeted use of future-oriented technologies and with consideration of the human aspects, thus creating great experiences for employees and customers. The Netrics Group is active throughout German-speaking Switzerland with around 140 experts and a local presence in Bern, Biel/Bienne, Thun and Zurich. Since December 2022, the Netrics Group has also been offering comprehensive consulting services in the areas of collaboration, process digitalization, digital skills development and change management with AliceBlue AG from Basel.

 

Netrics is ISO 27001, ISO 27017, ISO 27018, ISO 9001 and ISO 20000 certified. In addition, Netrics services are audited in accordance with the ISAE 3402 Type 2 standard.

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KKR Acquires Potter Global Technologies

KKR

All Employees to Become Owners in the Company

ST LOUIS, Mo. & NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)– KKR, a leading global investment firm, today announced that investment funds managed by KKR have acquired Potter Global Technologies (“Potter” or the “Company”), a leading manufacturer of fire and life safety equipment, from Gryphon Investors. KKR plans to support the Company in its continued growth organically and through add-on acquisitions. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri, Potter is a trusted global provider of fire safety and emergency communication equipment used by thousands of customers across diverse end markets including education, multi-family, industrial, and healthcare. Potter’s leading products are used for monitoring fire safety systems, detecting fires and other life-threatening events, and notifying and communicating with building occupants and first responders to ensure safe and efficient evacuations and responses.

“For over 125 years, the Potter brand has stood for safety and reliability in the face of potentially life-threatening risks to the thousands of people and institutions around the world who entrust their fire and life safety to Potter. We have been impressed by the Company’s history of innovation and commitment to provide its customers with high-quality, easy-to-use systems supported by incredible customer service,” said Brandon Brahm, Partner at KKR and Co-Head of KKR’s Ascendant strategy. “We look forward to collaborating with Gerry Connolly, the leadership team, and all of the employees at Potter as we embark on this new era in the Company’s growth and develop new ways to serve our customers and protect lives.”

“Potter’s growth is a testament to the performance of our talented team and to our reputation as a leader in the fire and life safety industry. Our mission to protect people, buildings, and critical infrastructure across the globe underpins everything we do, and we are excited to continue furthering this mission with KKR. We are aligned on Potter’s potential and look forward to continue serving our customers through accelerated new product innovation, superior customer service, and an expanded reach domestically and internationally. Implementing KKR’s equity ownership philosophy, which will make every employee an owner, will be instrumental in achieving our potential and we are looking forward to the exciting growth that all employees together will drive as co-owners in Potter,” said Gerry Connolly, CEO of Potter.

KKR will support Potter in implementing a broad-based employee ownership program to allow all of its employees to have the opportunity to participate in the benefits of ownership of the Company. This strategy is based on the belief that employee engagement is a key driver in building stronger companies. Since 2011, KKR portfolio companies have awarded billions of dollars of total equity value to over 60,000 non-management employees across more than 35 portfolio companies.

Potter is the latest investment for KKR’s Ascendant Strategy, which invests in middle market businesses in North America as part of KKR’s Americas Private Equity platform. Other investments in the Ascendant strategy include Alchemer, 123Dentist, Industrial Physics and a commitment to fund a new executive-led platform designed to acquire and build businesses in the Testing, Inspection, and Certification industry.

Baird and Baker McKenzie served as advisors to KKR.

About Potter:

Potter Global Technologies is the leading independent designer and manufacturer of life safety and emergency communication solutions. Through its various business brands, Potter provides fire suppression, alarm and communications systems, mass notification systems, first responder RF radio communications, and advanced power products. The company motto is “We Save Lives” and their employees appreciate the role they play and value working for a company that is making a difference through protecting people, property and critical infrastructure. Their mission is to make buildings and people safer from fire, natural disasters, and acts of violence. Throughout their longstanding 125-year history of developing industry leading technology, Potter has earned a reputation for best-in-class product quality and customer service. The company is headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri, with sales, engineering, and manufacturing centers in the Americas, Europe, and Asia. Discover more about Potter Global Technologies at www.potterglobaltech.com.

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. For additional information about Global Atlantic Financial Group, please visit Global Atlantic Financial Group’s website at www.globalatlantic.com.

For Potter:
Eric Lauver
ericl@pottersignal.com

For KKR:
Julia Kosygina or Emily Cummings
(212) 750-8300
media@kkr.com

Source: KKR

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BPEA EQT Mid-Market Growth to acquire a majority stake in HRBrain, a fast-growing HR software provider in Japan

eqt

HRBrain is a fast-growing HR software provider in Japan, helping companies manage and engage with talent more effectively through a diversified suite of cloud products

As Japan continues to face talent shortages and increasing regulatory requirements for disclosure of human capital metrics, the demand for solutions to support talent management and employee engagement is growing rapidly

BPEA EQT Mid-Market Growth will support HRBrain’s continued growth by expanding the customer base and support ongoing development of new modules to further enhance its integrated service offering

EQT is pleased to announce that the BPEA EQT Mid-Market Growth Fund (“BPEA EQT Mid-Market Growth”) has agreed to acquire a majority stake in HRBrain (the “Company”), from existing shareholders. The Company’s founder, Hiroki Hori, will remain as a significant minority shareholder and continue as CEO.

HRBrain was established in 2016 to offer software solutions aimed at simplifying and streamlining companies’ performance evaluation processes. Today, the Company’s HR solutions have grown to include comprehensive talent management, employee experience and organization assessment, labor management, AI ChatBot, 360 Reviews, and more. HRBrain is headquartered in Tokyo and has more than 150 employees.

As Japan continues to face talent shortages and increasing regulatory requirements for disclosure of human capital metrics, the demand for solutions to support talent management and employee engagement has been growing rapidly. With an intuitive UI/UX design, flexible module selections, and strong customer support and consulting services, HRBrain has developed a highly diversified customer base, helping more than 2,500 companies in total engage with talent more effectively. Moreover, the Company has best-in-class customer satisfaction and strong retention, particularly from their core target segment of mid to large sized enterprises, with more than 60 percent in annual recurring revenue growth.

EQT has extensive experience developing strong software businesses on a global scale, with more than 15 software investments globally and over USD 10 billion of equity invested since 2018. BPEA EQT Mid-Market Growth will leverage the firm’s in-house software and digitalization capabilities and global network of industry experts to support HRBrain in its next phase of growth.

Tetsuro Onitsuka, Partner within EQT Japan’s advisory team, commented, “HRBrain is one of the top players in Japan’s Talent Management space, which is backed by strong tailwinds from socially significant issues like a shrinking labor force, a growing shift towards job-based hiring, and a regulatory push to visualize and disclose human capital. We see great potential for further expansion of the company’s impressive product and service offerings, and we look forward to leveraging EQT’s experience in technology and software to support President Hiroki Hori and his employees as we work together to accelerate HRBrain’s organic and inorganic growth.”

Hiroki Hori, CEO of HRBrain, commented, “HRBrain promotes solutions in the HR domain mainly for Japanese companies through SaaS-type software and consulting services. We are pleased to have formed a strong partnership with EQT and work to realize our mission. Together, we will continue to provide unique products that are indispensable to diverse workplaces and solving complex issues in the HR field.”

The transaction is expected to close in Q4 2023.

BPEA EQT was advised by SMBC Nikko, Nishimura & Asahi (legal), and KPMG (financial, tax and ESG). The Company was advised by UBS and Shiomizaka (legal).

Contact
EQT Press Office, press@eqtpartners.com

The information contained herein does not constitute an offer to sell, nor a solicitation of an offer to buy, any security, and may not be used or relied upon in connection with any offer or solicitation. Any offer or solicitation in respect of the BPEA EQT Mid-Market Growth fund will be made only through a confidential private placement memorandum and related documents which will be furnished to qualified investors on a confidential basis in accordance with applicable laws and regulations. The information contained herein is not for publication or distribution to persons in the United States of America. Any securities referred to herein have not been and will not be registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), and may not be offered or sold without registration thereunder or pursuant to an available exemption therefrom. Any offering of securities to be made in the United States would have to be made by means of an offering document that would be obtainable from the issuer or its agents and would contain detailed information about the issuer of the securities and its management, as well as financial information. The securities may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an exemption from registration.

About

About EQT
EQT is a purpose-driven global investment organization with EUR 232 billion in total assets under management (EUR 128 billion in fee-generating assets under management), within two business segments – Private Capital and Real Assets. EQT owns portfolio companies and assets in Europe, Asia-Pacific and the Americas and supports them in achieving sustainable growth, operational excellence and market leadership.

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

About HRBrain
HRBrain is a one-stop cloud-based platform consisting of seven services for streamlining HR operations and centrally managing and utilizing HR data – the company’s flagship HRBrain Talent Management service, as well as Organizational Diagnostic Survey, Pulse Survey, Personnel Evaluation, 360-degree Review, Labor Management, and AI ChatBot for internal use. HRBrain will continue to expand its services in ways that can further contribute to ESG management, the development of human capital, and digital transformation (DX) in the HR space.

More info: www.hrbrain.co.j

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Ardian acquires leading data center platform Verne Global from Digital 9

Ardian

Ardian’s investment will support Verne Global’s management team to deliver an ambitious and sustainable expansion plan across the Nordics
• Ardian will commit significant capital to grow the Verne Global platform while allowing its management team to leverage Ardian’s strong renewables know-how
• Ardian demonstrated again its strong expertise in digital infrastructure with investments across the value chain

Ardian, a world leading private investment house, has signed a binding agreement to acquire 100% of Verne Global, a leading data center platform diversified across the UK and Nordics, from Digital 9 Infrastructure plc (D9).

This acquisition builds on Ardian’s deep expertise in investing and managing assets across the digital infrastructure value chain. Ardian will support the company’s strong management team, led by CEO Dominic Ward, to deliver an ambitious expansion plan in the Nordics, one of the fastest growing regions for data centers supported by low-carbon energy and international connectivity.

Founded in 2012, Verne Global’s Northern European data center platform has experienced significant growth and now includes five data center campuses in London, Iceland and Finland. It provides highly specialised data center services for organisations running high-performance computing (HPC) workloads, notably AI, machine learning and Large Language Models (LLM).

Sustainability is at the heart of the company’s mission to help customers cost-effectively scale their digital infrastructure while reducing their carbon footprint. The majority of its data centers are powered by renewable energy.

Closing of the transaction is subject to the receipt of merger control and foreign direct investment clearance which is expected by the end of Q1 2024.
“Verne Global has pioneered a sustainable approach to data centre management, using renewable energy and re-purposing existing sites to minimise its environmental impact. Ardian’s investment will support the strong management team at Verne Global to deliver an ambitious plan for its next stage of growth. With Ardian’s support, Verne is well positioned to capitalise on global digitalisation trends such as the accelerating use of AI and machine learning.” Gonzague Boutry, William Briggs & Pauline Thomson, Infrastructure team, Ardian

“Verne Global continues Ardian’s strategy of investing in a balanced portfolio of infrastructure with scope for growth and attractive returns. This transaction further illustrates the capability of the Infrastructure team at Ardian to invest in large digital infrastructure assets in Europe. We look forward to working with the management team to deliver on the significant potential of the Verne Global platform.” Juan Angoitia Grijalba & Benoît Gaillochet, Co-Heads of Infrastructure Europe, Ardian

“We are absolutely delighted to become part of the Ardian platform, which has a team with deep expertise in digital infrastructure that will help accelerate our ambitious expansion plans across the Nordics. Verne aims to deliver sustainable data center solutions that enable organisations to cost-effectively scale their digital infrastructure while reducing their environmental impact. We are hugely excited to be working with Ardian and believe that we have the perfect partner to help power our future. “ Dominic Ward, CEO, Verne Global

ABOUT ARDIAN

Ardian is a world-leading private investment house, managing or advising $156bn of assets on behalf of more than 1,470 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.

ardian.com

PRESS CONTACT

ARDIAN

HEADLAND

ardian@headlandconsultancy.com

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Eurazeo and Efeso Partners have signed an agreement to welcome Towerbrook Capital Partners as a reference shareholder in Efeso Management Consultants

Eurazeo

Eurazeo Small-mid buyout1 strategy , together with the Partners of EFESO announce today they have signed an agreement with TowerBrook Capital Partners to become a reference shareholder in EFESO Management Consultants, a leading international consulting pure player in operations strategy and performance improvement. Eurazeo has been supporting the company as a majority shareholder since 2019 and will be reinvesting through its successor fund, as part of a co-control framework with TowerBrook Capital Partners. The EFESO Partners will consolidate their shareholding in the company, with over 65 Partners substantially reinvesting their proceeds. Additionally, there are plans to open the capital pool to more than 100 Principals and Managers. The transaction remains notably subject to applicable regulatory approvals.

Under the terms of this agreement, EFESO Management Consultants would be valued at approximately €450 million. Eurazeo’s invested capital would yield a cash-on-cash multiple of approximately three times and an internal rate of return (IRR) of 24%. Upon closing of this transaction, approximately €90m would be returned to Eurazeo balance sheet net of reinvestment.

Active in 70 countries, EFESO works side-by-side with its clients – from global premier brands to mid-sized organizations, privately-owned growing businesses, and Private Equity – to accelerate their transformation and future-proof their operations, relying both on its consulting services and the group’s one-stop-shop operational excellence SaaS platform, Solvace.

Over the last five years, EFESO has tripled in size, generating over €200m in revenue in 2023. The group has reinforced its leading position across operations strategy and performance improvement, while simultaneously pursuing its international expansion, achieving strong organic growth accelerated by a proven buy & build strategy. These have allowed EFESO to reach critical mass in the DACH and US markets, while reinforcing its positions in key industries as well as Private Equity. EFESO has also significantly strengthened its capabilities in product costing, innovation to industrialization, value engineering and decarbonation.

EFESO Management Consultants’ teams, Eurazeo and TowerBrook share the ambition of further amplifying the group’s international growth, capitalising on its pure player positioning and its growing blue chip client base. Its position as a leading international pure player aims to continue to attract the best talents in the industrial operations world.

This new chapter will aim to further boost the growth of Solvace, EFESO’s fast expanding SAAS scale-up that brings digital power to Operational Excellence.

EFESO will be able to leverage TowerBrook and Eurazeo’s extensive global networks, as well as TowerBrook’s deep sectoral expertise in capital light service providers such as management consultants, technology, network operators, distribution, and outsourcing companies. Eurazeo will be investing approximately €115 million in equity in this new transaction, and more than €290m together with TowerBrook and EFESO Partners.

 

Bruno Machiels, co-CEO of EFESO Management Consultants, declared:

“EFESO grew substantially thanks to the quality of our talents reinforced by new outstanding teams. Our current performance shows that clients value more and more the tangible results we realise and anchor together with them, exploiting our deep expertise. We welcome TowerBrook and Eurazeo as strong partners to continue our growth journey.”

 

Luca Lecchi, co-CEO of EFESO Management Consultants, declared:

“During the last years our passionate consultants (including many new talents and teams) have significantly increased the breadth and the depth of our capabilities to better serve our customers. Together with our current and new financial partners we are excited to further strengthen our position of leading international pure player in operations strategy and performance improvement covering major industrial sectors.”

 

Jean Rollier and Fahd Elkadiri, Managing Directors, TowerBrook Capital Partners, declared:

“We are proud to be investing in EFESO and partnering with Eurazeo and the management team. EFESO’s expertise, its strong positioning in its core markets and the quality of its people and management team were the main factors influencing our investment decision. We are confident there continue to be important growth opportunities for the company, and we very much look forward to supporting the business in its next phase of growth with the full contribution of our global TowerBrook eco-system.”

 

Pierre Meignen, Managing Director – Small-mid buyout, at Eurazeo said:

“We are proud of the strong partnership we have created with EFESO’s management team over the last four years, and we are thrilled to renew this collaboration while welcoming TowerBrook onboard. We see significant opportunities for the group in the coming years, in Europe, the US and Asia-Pacific. We believe EFESO perfectly fits the strategy of Eurazeo PME-IV.”

*************

1 – Part of the Eurazeo Mid Cap company

Information – Individual investors

Eurazeo Investment Manager (EIM) and Eurazeo Mid Cap (EMC) are merging to form Eurazeo Global Investor (EGI)

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Categories: News

Oribi Group and Bouwpas join forces in strategic combination

Main Capital Partners

Oribi Group strengthens its market position as an Identity & Access Management software provider through the strategic acquisition of Bouwpas.

By joining forces with Bouwpas, Oribi will be able to offer a broader range of solutions regarding access control on construction sites, thus strengthening its position in the construction sector, one of the group’s strategic end-markets.

Bouwpas specializes in solutions for registration, access management, onboarding and compliance, responding to safe and fair working on construction sites. Since partnering with software investor Main Capital Partners in 2021, Bouwpas is the Oribi Group’s fourth add-on acquisition.

Bouwpas, founded in 2014 and headquartered in Haarlem, offers a digital platform for labor registration and access control on construction sites. The company has a strong market position within the Dutch construction industry and currently serves a total of more than 70 main contractors as well as numerous subcontractors. With many integrations and partnerships, Bouwpas enables its customers to comply with increasing laws and regulations by means of ID, certificate and access control, among other things. Bouwpas makes the construction site a fairer and safer place, while simultaneously reducing administrative workload and overhead costs.

Leading IAM specialist

Bouwpas’ extensive compliance and access control knowledge and capabilities align seamlessly with Oribi’s existing offering of scalable identity and access management solutions. The combination increases Oribi’s market position in the construction industry where identity and access management has become even more essential in recent years due to increasing security measures and the importance of compliance and data protection.

Earlier this year, Oribi already joined forces with Certwell, a specialist in certificate management in sectors such as construction, energy and logistics. Oribi Group customers are now provided with an even more attractive product offering through the complementary solutions of Oribi and Bouwpas that result in a one-stop shop in identity and access management.

Ivo van Deudekom, Investment Director at Main: “Due to increasing requirements regarding security and compliance, the identity and access management market has been growing strongly for years. We see many opportunities for Bouwpas as part of the Oribi Group to further grow into an even bigger household name within the construction industry. There are also concrete growth opportunities in adjacent markets where there is also a huge demand for access control & compliance solutions driven by laws & regulations, such as infrastructure but also healthcare, for example. Finally, we see commercial growth opportunities in the combination of Bouwpas and Certwell, the company Oribi added to the group earlier this year.”

Daan Verkaik, co-founder at Bouwpas: “Bouwpas has now attained a strong market position within the construction sector, but we are not there yet. We still see vast opportunities for the entire construction sector to become compliant with our scalable solution. We also see great opportunities to expand further, both internationally and in other adjacent sectors. By partnering with Oribi and with Main’s involvement, we can achieve this ambition faster.”

Henk de Kort, CEO at Oribi: “The combination between Oribi and Bouwpas is another milestone in our growth and expands our position as a leading provider of identity and access management solutions. We are very excited about the collaboration with the Bouwpas team, with whom we will be working in the coming years. We can’t wait to better serve our customers’ needs for identity and access management solutions.”

We see many opportunities for Bouwpas as part of the Oribi Group to further grow into an even bigger household name within the construction industry.

– Ivo van Deudekom, Investment Director at Main

About

Oribi Group

The Oribi Group offers modern solutions that allow identities of, for example, visitors, customers and employees to be securely and efficiently verified and the corresponding authorizations then managed. With offices in Oisterwijk and Houten, Oribi has over 50 employees serving a total of more than 500 customers. About half of these are municipalities, but Oribi also serves customers in multiple sectors including the flex industry, education, construction and healthcare.

Bouwpas

Bouwpas was founded in 2014 and is based in Haarlem. The company offers a digital platform ‘Bouwpas’ for labor registration and access control on construction sites, which enables contractors to easily comply with laws and regulations. The Bouwpas software works in three domains (fair, safe and access) and is currently offered to more than 70 main contractors within the construction industry.

Categories: News

New Mountain Capital Announces Majority Growth Investment in Broadcast Music Inc. (BMI)

New Mountain Capital

Leading Growth-Oriented Investment Firm to Accelerate BMI’s Growth Plan to Drive Increased Distributions and Enhanced Services for its Affiliates

BMI Affiliates to Receive $100 Million of Sale Proceeds Following Transaction Closing

New York, NY – November 21, 2023 – New Mountain Capital, LLC, (“New Mountain”) a leading growth-oriented investment firm with over $45 billion in assets under management, announced today that it will lead a shareholder group to acquire Broadcast Music Inc. (“BMI”), the world’s largest performing rights organization (“PRO”). Headquartered in New York, BMI protects the rights of and advocates for more than 1.4 million songwriters, composers and music publishers (“affiliates”). BMI secures royalties for its affiliates by offering licenses to businesses for the performing rights in 22.4 million musical works. Mike O’Neill, BMI’s President & CEO, will continue to lead the company, along with his leadership team, following the closing.

New Mountain will acquire the company from the shareholders who own BMI today. New Mountain has also reserved additional capital to fund growth investments, new ventures and technology enhancements to help accelerate BMI’s long-term plan to maximize distributions for its affiliates and improve the service it provides to songwriters, composers and publishers.

As part of the agreement, and in recognition of the creativity of the songwriters, composers and publishers they have had the privilege to represent, BMI’s current shareholders will allocate $100 million of the proceeds of the sale to affiliates shortly after the transaction closing. The allocation of those funds, while not a distribution of royalties, will be in keeping with the company’s distribution methodologies, which are based on performance levels over a set period of time. BMI will work to finalize an equitable payout plan for this allocation in the coming months.

“Today marks an exciting new chapter for BMI that puts us in the best possible position to stay ahead of the evolving industry and ensure the long-term success of our music creators,” said Mike O’Neill, BMI President & CEO. “New Mountain is an ideal partner because they believe in our mission and understand that the key to success for our company lies in delivering value to our affiliates. We are excited about the many ways New Mountain will accelerate our growth plan, bringing new vision, technological expertise and an outstanding track record of strengthening businesses, all of which will help us build an even stronger future for BMI and our songwriters, composers and publishers.” He added, “I would also like to thank the BMI Board of Directors and BMI’s shareholders for their excellent stewardship and unwavering support of our creative community since the company’s founding in 1939.”

“BMI has been a trusted guide and champion of music creators from the beginning, and we are privileged to work with the company and its 1.4 million affiliates to build on that incredible legacy,” said Pete Masucci, Managing Director at New Mountain. “There are numerous growth opportunities ahead for BMI with significant potential to generate more value for the work of its songwriters, composers and publishers. We look forward to working together alongside Mike and his team to capitalize on those opportunities for the benefit of all BMI stakeholders.”

“While the music industry has undergone a technology-driven transformation over the past two decades, music infrastructure, including the performing rights ecosystem has been slower to transform,” said Mike Oshinsky, Director at New Mountain. “There is tremendous opportunity to modernize this critical part of music infrastructure and ensure that long term royalty collections for songwriters, composers and publishers continue to grow. With our support, BMI is ideally positioned to drive this transformation as the only PRO in the world to combine an open-door policy to all music creators with the innovation and commercial drive of a for-profit business.”

Growth Plan to Accelerate Value for Affiliates

New Mountain’s motto is “building great businesses,” and it brings to BMI significant experience partnering with management teams to grow and add value to the benefit of all constituents. The firm has added or created nearly 69,000 jobs, net of job losses across all of its current and past portfolio companies, has invested over $7 billion into research and development, software, and capital expenditures and generated an estimated $79 billion of enterprise value gains.

New Mountain’s growth investment in BMI will accelerate the company’s ambitious value creation plan, which has three core tenets:

  1. First, to continue to grow cash distributions for its affiliates, as it has always done.
  2. Second, to invest in next generation technology platforms and new service offerings that will improve royalty collections, enhance BMI’s customer service, and deliver the best possible experience for its affiliates.
  3. Third, to add new revenue streams driven by organic growth investments and M&A opportunities, with an initial focus on improving general licensing royalty collections, international partnerships and new service offerings. New growth investments will create additional opportunities for distribution income for its affiliates.

New Mountain’s investment does not change the distribution targets previously communicated, which is the same approach the company followed in calendar year 2023 and which it will follow moving forward. For the calendar year, BMI targeted a payout of 85% of its licensing revenues and delivered +11% growth in cash distributions to affiliates over 2022’s distributions, which were reflective of the company’s prior not-for-profit model.

The transaction is subject to approval by BMI shareholders and customary regulatory approvals and is expected to close by the end of Q1 2024. Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC served as financial advisor to BMI and Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP served as its legal advisor. Moelis & Company served as financial advisor to New Mountain, and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, LLP served as its legal advisor. As part of New Mountain’s investment, CapitalG will also invest a passive minority stake in BMI.

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About New Mountain Capital

New Mountain Capital is a New York-based investment firm that emphasizes business building and growth, rather than debt, as it pursues long-term capital appreciation. The firm currently manages private equity, credit and net lease investment strategies with over $45 billion in assets under management. New Mountain seeks out what it believes to be the highest quality growth leaders in carefully selected industry sectors and then works intensively with management to build the value of these companies. For more information on New Mountain Capital, please visit https://www.newmountaincapital.com/.

About BMI
Celebrating over 80 years of service to songwriters, composers, music publishers and businesses, Broadcast Music, Inc.® (BMI®) is a global leader in music rights management, serving as an advocate for the value of music. BMI represents the public performance rights in over 22.4 million musical works created and owned by more than 1.4 million songwriters, composers, and music publishers. The Company negotiates music license agreements and distributes the fees it generates as royalties to its affiliated writers and publishers when their songs are performed in public. In 1939, BMI created a groundbreaking open-door policy becoming the only performing rights organization to welcome and represent the creators of blues, jazz, country, and American roots music. Today, the musical compositions in BMI’s repertoire, from chart toppers to perennial favorites, span all genres of music and are consistently among the most-performed hits of the year. For additional information and the latest BMI news, visit bmi.com, follow us on X and Instagram @BMI or stay connected through Broadcast Music, Inc.‘s Facebook page. Sign up for BMI’s The Weekly™ and receive our e-newsletter every week to stay up to date on all things music.

Media Contacts

BMI

Liz Fischer

lfischer@bmi.com

New Mountain Capital

Josh Clarkson/Aiden Woglom/Anne Hart

Pro-newmountain@prosek.com

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Strong results confirm strategy of value creation through growth

GIMV
  • The positive growth of our companies and value creation via exits lead to strong portfolio return of 13.3% in the first half of the year
  • Sustained growth of portfolio to more than EUR 1.6 billion
  • Net profit of more than EUR 150 million increases the equity value per share to EUR 51.3

CEO Koen Dejonckheere about these half-year results:

“The first half of the current financial year proves the success of our strategy of value creation through growth. After a cautious recovery in the second half of the previous year, our companies again realize a strong growth in the first half of 2023. They clearly are fulfilling their role as the leaders and innovators of our economy. Thanks to decreasing input prices, our companies have succeeded in recording double-digit growth in profitability. Moreover, Gimv has also achieved significant capital gains via exits in challenging market conditions. As a result, we are reaping the benefits of a successful execution of our growth strategy.

The strong portfolio result has produced a significant net profit, leading to an increase in Gimv’s equity to over EUR 51 per share.”

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