Advent to acquire significant stake in business;
Bain Capital Ventures and Silversmith Capital Partners to remain shareholders
AUSTIN, TX and BOSTON, MA – December 1, 2021 – Iodine Software (“Iodine” or the “Company”), a leading healthcare AI company, today announced a strategic growth investment from Advent International (“Advent”), one of the largest and most experienced global private equity investors. Advent will acquire a significant stake in Iodine in a transaction that values the business at over $1 billion. Bain Capital Ventures (“BCV”) and Silversmith Capital Partners (“Silversmith”), which invested in the Company in 2018, will remain shareholders. Financial terms were not disclosed.
“Utilizing advancing technology to scale hospital resources, ease administrative burden, and maximize reimbursement is more important than ever,” said William Chan, Iodine’s CEO and co-founder. “We’ve always been committed to building the most powerful, predictive tools available. This investment provides access to capital for expansion and growth strategies so that we can innovate faster and find more ways to empower healthcare leaders to meet with confidence the delicate balance of quality, efficiency, and system financial resilience.”
Iodine Software provides the leading clinical AI solution for highly accurate capture of patient documentation. The Company’s platforms are trusted by more than 800 hospitals and are used by more than 80,000 healthcare providers nationwide.
Iodine’s AwareCDI solution recently received the top overall performance score in the 2021 KLAS Clinical Documentation Improvement Report. The company also recently completed the acquisitions of Artifact Health and ChartWise to broaden its market reach, bolster its portfolio and deliver a comprehensive query transformation solution that solves a critical physician pain point.
“We are pleased to be partnering with Iodine Software as it continues to experience rapid growth across hospitals and health systems,” said Carmine Petrone, a Managing Director on Advent’s Healthcare team. “Iodine’s world-class AI innovation engine and strong customer focus underpin the company’s ability to deliver a best-in-class product with highly differentiated value.” Lauren Young, a Managing Director on Advent’s technology team, added: “With our extensive experience scaling software and healthcare businesses, we look forward to working with Bain Capital Ventures and Silversmith Capital Partners to support William and the entire Iodine team to continue driving innovation and building a leading AI/machine learning-driven revenue cycle management platform.”
This investment will empower Iodine to invest further in its AI engine, CognitiveML, to power new and additional products in other strategic areas of care delivery for health systems.
“We were excited to partner with the founders of Iodine back in 2018 as their first institutional investor, and are even more thrilled to partner with Advent and the Iodine team to support the next phase of growth,” said Jeff Crisan, Managing Partner at Silversmith Capital Partners. Yumin Choi, partner at Bain Capital Ventures, added, “We saw the enormous potential its AI-powered software would provide to hospitals going through digital transformations. With this strategic investment, Iodine will have the opportunity to reach more hospital professionals, resulting in better care for patients across the US.”
Over the past 30+ years, Advent has invested or committed more than $11 billion in 88 technology companies and $10 billion in 51 healthcare companies, including health tech, software and provider businesses.
Deutsche Bank served as exclusive financial advisor to Iodine and Queen Saenz + Schutz PLLC served as the Company’s legal advisors. For Advent, Evercore and TripleTree served as financial advisors and Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP served as legal counsel.
About IodineIodine is an enterprise AI company that is championing a radical rethink of how to create value for healthcare professionals, leaders, and their organizations: automating complex clinical tasks, generating insights and empowering intelligent care. Iodine’s powerful predictive engine complements the skills and judgement of healthcare professionals by interpreting raw clinical data to generate real-time, highly focused, predictive insights that clinicians and hospital administrators can leverage to dramatically augment the management of care delivery – facilitating critical decisions, scaling clinical workforces through automation, and improving the financial position of health systems. For more information, visit: |
About Advent InternationalFounded in 1984, Advent International is one of the largest and most experienced global private equity investors. The firm has invested in over 380 companies in 42 countries, and as of June 30, 2021, had $81 billion in assets under management. With 15 offices in 12 countries, Advent has established a globally integrated team of over 245 investment professionals across North America, Europe, Latin America and Asia. The firm focuses on investments in five core sectors, including business and financial services; healthcare; industrial; retail, consumer and leisure; and technology. After more than 35 years dedicated to international investing, Advent remains committed to partnering with management teams to deliver sustained revenue and earnings growth for its portfolio companies. For more information, visit: Website: www.adventinternational.com |
About Bain Capital VenturesBain Capital Ventures partners with disruptive founders to accelerate their ideas to market. BCV invests from seed to growth in startups driving transformation across industries, from SaaS, infrastructure software and security to fintech and healthcare to commerce and consumer tech. The firm has helped launch and commercialize more than 365 companies, including Attentive, Digital Currency Group, DocuSign, Flywire, Jet.com, LinkedIn, Redis Labs, Rent the Runway, SendGrid, and SurveyMonkey. BCV has $9.2 billion in assets under management with offices in San Francisco, New York, Boston, and Palo Alto. |
About Silversmith Capital PartnersFounded in 2015, Silversmith Capital Partners is a Boston-based growth equity firm with $2.0 billion of capital under management. Silversmith’s mission is to partner with and support the best entrepreneurs in growing, profitable technology and healthcare companies. Representative investments include ActiveCampaign, Appfire, Centauri Health Solutions, DistroKid, Impact, Iodine Software, LifeStance Health, Panalgo, Unily, Upperline Health, Validity, and Webflow. The partners have served on the boards of numerous successful growth companies including ABILITY Network, Archer Technologies, Dealer.com, Liazon, Liberty Dialysis, MedHOK, Passport Health, SurveyMonkey, and Wrike. For more information, visit: |
For Iodine Software
Amanda Wratchford
press@iodinesoftware.com
For Advent International
Anna Epstein or Sophia Templin
Finsbury Glover Hering
Adventinternational-US@finsbury.com
For Bain Capital Ventures
Kristi Essick
kristi@archwaypr.com
For Silversmith Capital Partners
Kate Castle
kate@silversmith.com
EQT Infrastructure completes acquisition of Covanta with first ever sustainability-linked LBO financing in the U.S., with specific KPIs to drive progress
EQT Infrastructure to increase investments across Covanta’s business, including upgrading equipment, investing in host communities, and integrating into more sustainable aspects of waste disposal
Covanta appoints new President & Chief Executive Officer, Azeez Mohammed, who brings decades of industrial and energy transition expertise
Covanta releases 2021 Sustainability Report, highlighting continued progress towards ESG goals and increased community engagement
MORRISTOWN, N.J.– November 30, 2021 – Covanta Holding Corporation (“Covanta”), a world leader in sustainable waste and energy solutions, today announced the completion of its $5.3 billion acquisition by the EQT Infrastructure V fund (“EQT Infrastructure”), unveiling its strategy to become the most sustainable provider of waste solutions. Covanta today also announced the appointment of Azeez Mohammed as President & Chief Executive Officer.
Mr. Mohammed will work closely with Covanta’s full team, EQT, and the company’s new Board of Directors to embark on a bold program to generate compelling value for all stakeholders in an increasingly circular economy. As part of this commitment, the deal was completed with the first ever sustainability-linked leveraged buyout (“LBO”) financing in the U.S., featuring environmentally focused KPIs with financial incentives attached to drive meaningful progress.
“I am excited to lead Covanta during this very transformational time,” said Azeez Mohammed, President and Chief Executive Officer at Covanta. “Covanta has been a mainstay in the industry due to its talented team with deep domain experience in the sustainable waste disposal space, robust portfolio of sustainable negative-carbon Waste-to-Energy assets, and growth platform in Covanta Environmental Solutions that provides premium disposal and recycling solutions to broader industrial wastes. Coupled with society’s growing momentum toward decarbonization and pursuit of circular alternatives for managing waste, this creates a compelling value creation story. I look forward to working with our talented team, stellar board, and a growth and sustainable-minded owner in EQT to capitalize on our potential that ensures the preservation of our planet for future generations.”
Strategic Initiatives
Building on Covanta’s strong foundation as a leader in the WTE industry, EQT Infrastructure will increase investments across the business, including:
Alex Darden, Partner and Head of EQT’s US Infrastructure platform said, “EQT has a proven track record of working with purpose-driven companies that are integral to the energy transition and growing circular economy, and we are very excited to partner with Azeez and the entire Covanta team.” Mr. Darden continued, “As the world faces ever-increasing waste challenges, EQT is committed to investing in critical community, operational, and digital technology initiatives to enhance Covanta’s unique ability to provide sustainable, best-in-class solutions. Under EQT’s ownership, Covanta will continue to differentiate its service offerings, with a focus on innovation and sustainable energy.”
First Ever Sustainability-Linked LBO Financing in the U.S.
Covanta’s sustainability-linked financing framework partners its sustainability strategy with its corporate financial strategy. Under the framework, Covanta pledges to meet two long term goals to increase the total WTE processed, as well as waste recycled to reused materials, by 40 percent by 2030. These long-term goals are underpinned by two accompanying KPIs, which must be met by year-end 2025, compared to a 2020 baseline. The company would face significant financial penalties if it fails to meet the following targets:
The KPIs reflect Covanta’s greatest net emissions reduction potential. By leveraging sustainable waste management, Covanta’s facilities generate energy and avoid landfills, which produce methane, a potent greenhouse gas that is responsible for more than a quarter of today’s global warming. Increasing waste recycled or reused optimizes waste output and contributes to the circular economy.
Covanta tracks its long-term sustainability goals and annually publishes a report highlighting its progress and continued commitment to Environmental, Social and Governance initiatives. Alongside today’s closing announcement, Covanta released its 2021 Sustainability Report, which includes 2020 full-year data and in-depth analysis. Reported progress includes reduced greenhouse gas emissions, more waste diverted from landfills and expanded company-wide employee resource groups.
New President & CEO Azeez Mohammed
Mr. Mohammed brings over 24 years of leadership experience at large global business units, including at major industrial companies. Most recently, he served as Executive Vice President at Bloom Energy where he was responsible for helping countries and customers make the transition from a fossil fuel to a renewable hydrogen economy. Prior to this position, he served as President & CEO of multiple Power & Energy oriented business units within GE including GE Power Conversion, GE Power and GE Energy Services. His scope included P&L responsibilities for units of several billions of dollars, thousands of employees and a large global footprint. He has broad functional expertise in technology, finance, and operations and has worked in dozens of different industry segments, including sustainability sectors such as solar, hydrogen, and electric vehicle charging. He is also a global player having lived and worked in six states in the United States and seven countries worldwide.
Media Contact (Covanta)
Nicolle Robles, Covanta
+1.862.345.5245
NRobles@covanta.com
Media Contact (EQT)
Mathilde Milch
Director, Communications
+1.917.510.6626
mathilde.milch@eqtpartners.com
VISTA, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– KKR, a leading global investment firm, and San Diego-based Westcore, a leading industrial real estate acquisition, development and asset management firm, today announced that Westcore has sold an approximately 197,000-square-foot industrial warehouse (“Vista Commerce”) located in Vista, California to KKR.
This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20211130005990/en/
Westcore sold an approximately 185,000-square-foot industrial warehouse in Vista, California to KKR. (Photo credit: CBRE)
Vista Commerce is located on an all-concrete site and features 14 dock-high doors, six grade-level doors, 27-foot clear height and ample power. The property is 100% leased to a publicly listed healthcare diagnostic testing company.
“We are pleased grow our industrial real estate footprint in Southern California with the purchase of this well-located and fully leased industrial distribution property,” said Ben Brudney, a Director in the real estate group at KKR who oversees the firm’s industrial investments in the United States.
“The interior upgrades to the office area and warehouse space we made provided a highly functional space that attracted a leading healthcare company,” said Westcore Managing Director Hack Adams. “With a high-quality tenant in place and a strategic location in close proximity to high-demand life sciences submarkets, KKR has acquired a valuable asset.”
CBRE represented Westcore in the sale. Westcore acquired Vista Commerce in early 2020 with assistance from CBRE, who also helped secure the lease to the current tenant.
KKR acquired Vista Commerce through its KKR Real Estate Partners Americas III fund.
About Westcore
Westcore is a fully integrated commercial real estate investment company with institutional scale and capabilities that operates with speed, agility and adaptability. Since its founding in 2000, Westcore and its affiliates have acquired and managed more than $6 billion in industrial and office assets, comprised of more than 1200 buildings and totaling over 50 million square feet. In addition to its U.S. headquarters in San Diego, Westcore has regional offices in Los Angeles; Oakland; and Sacramento, as well as satellite offices in London, England; Berlin, Germany; and Vienna, Austria.
About KKR
KKR is a leading global investment firm that offers alternative asset management and 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 The 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.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20211130005990/en/
Media:
For Westcore
Jennifer Whitelaw
TW2 Marketing
jwhitelaw@tw2marketing.com, 619-733-5944
For KKR
Miles Radcliffe-Trenner
212-750-8300
media@kkr.com
Source: KKR
IK Partners (“IK”) is pleased to announce that the IK IX Fund has signed an agreement to acquire Renta Group Oy (“Renta Group”, “Renta” or “the Company”) from Intera Partners (“Intera”), alongside management and employees who will be reinvesting. Financial terms of the transaction are not disclosed.
Renta Group is a full-service machine and equipment rental services company with more than 100 depots across Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Poland. The equipment offered meets a broad range of customer needs across construction, infrastructure and industrial markets. The Company also offers modern site facilities, scaffolding and weather protection services in addition to other site services such as temporary plumbing and heating, ventilation and air conditioning installation and planning.
Renta plays an important role in the enhancement of sustainability within the construction and infrastructure markets by enabling a more efficient and sustainable use of equipment and machinery. Furthermore, Renta prides itself on being a trusted and reliable partner, serving a broad customer base with high-quality machinery and equipment in a timely manner. The Company is leading the industry with its agile approach and significant investment in innovation and digital tools to improve customer experience as well as internal fleet management.
Renta was established in 2015 following the combination of three well-known Finnish companies. Since then, it has grown significantly through the organic growth of its depots, a series of greenfield openings and strategic add-on acquisitions. Today, Renta employs over 1,000 people across Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Poland.
The next phase of the Company’s journey will see IK empowering management to further solidify its position as a champion in the Baltic Sea region and begin to enter continental Europe through further greenfield openings and add-ons while rolling out new digital solutions across all locations. The Group will continue to be led by CEO, Kari Aulasmaa and his team.
Kari Aulasmaa, CEO of Renta Group, said: “We have had a fascinating journey with Intera to create a modern and leading rental provider in the Baltic Sea region. It’s been a privilege to work with Intera’s team and we are grateful for all their support during the past years. Now it’s time to move on and I warmly welcome the IK team to continue the journey with us. We will have a lot to do in developing our digital and sustainable rental services, together with expanding operations to new geographies. I’m convinced that IK, with their international network, is the perfect partner for Renta as we embark on the next stage of development.”
Alireza Etemad, Partner at IK and Advisor to the IK IX Fund, said: “We are very happy to be partnering with Kari and the team at Renta Group in the next step of their journey. Renta plays an important role in developing and improving the sustainability of construction and infrastructure markets across the Baltic Sea region, with their highly local and digital approach to equipment and machine rental. We look forward to supporting the team in growing their network and developing their digital platform in new and existing markets.”
Christoffer Zilliacus, Partner at Intera, commented: “Renta’s management and Intera joined forces in 2015 and it all started from management’s strong vision of what a modern equipment rental company should look like. Today, Renta is an established and fast-growing player, operating across the Nordics and in Poland, with close to €300 million in revenues. The clarity of the original vision and the professionalism as well as the dedication of the whole Renta team has been fundamental to the success of the Company. It has been a tremendous journey and a true pleasure to support Kari and his highly capable team in building Renta to what it is today. With the support of the IK team, Renta is very well positioned for its next phase of growth, and we look forward to witnessing the company’s continued success.”
Completion of the transaction is subject to legal and regulatory approvals.
IK Partners
Vidya Verlkumar
Phone: +44 (0) 7787 558 193
vidya.verlkumar@ikpartners.com
Vivalto Partners, a management company created in 2021 by Daniel Caille, the founding CEO of Vivalto Santé, announces the closing of the acquisition of Vivalto Santé, the third leading group of private hospitals in France which brings together 50 healthcare facilities and relies on more than 10,000 caregivers and 3,000 practitioners with a turnover of over €1 billion.
Vivalto Partners, as controlling shareholder, is supported in this transaction by the historical institutional shareholders of the group – MACSF, Arkéa Capital, BNP Paribas Développement, Groupe Crédit Agricole, Mubadala and Bpifrance – and welcomes two new partners: IK Partners (“IK”) and Hayfin.
The Group’s dual ownership model – with financial investors and doctors sharing capital and governance – will be strengthened with a target of around 1,000 practitioner-shareholders at the end of a public offering1 to be launched in December 2021.
The employee shareholding, which already brings together 25% of the workforce, through a company mutual fund, will also be expanded, with an objective to enroll at least 35% of employees.
This unique and powerful shared governance gives Vivalto Santé the means to achieve its goals as first “Entreprise à Mission” of the acute care sector. This shall be the backbone of an ambitious sustainable growth journey, supporting patients through their care pathway, in France and internationally, where developments could be initiated.
Daniel Caille, President of Vivalto Partners, said: “With the support of its financial investors and the strong commitment of its practitioner-shareholders, Vivalto Santé enthusiastically contemplates the next steps of its development as an “Entreprise à Mission” in a context of sustained growth. The firm will continue to deploy its centres of excellence and live by its unconditional commitment to care and strong values. I firmly believe that, under this shared governance, Vivalto Santé’s management team will consolidate the group’s position as the benchmark of private hospitals owner and operator on the French market.”
Roger Caniard (MACSF) and Thomas Trideau (Arkéa), on behalf of historical institutional shareholders which reinvest with Vivalto Partners, said: “All the existing investors are proud to have supported this remarkable journey achieved since the creation of Vivalto Santé, with BNP Paribas Développement, the funds of Crédit Agricole group and Arkéa Capital as cornerstone investors. Since 2016, with the strong support of new shareholders (MACSF, Bpifrance and Mubadala), the group has moved up to a new dimension while accentuating its specificities. We are delighted to continue this entrepreneurial adventure in a unique project that brings together practitioners, management and employees.”
Thomas Grob, Partner at IK, added: “We are happy to join the financial round table of Vivalto Santé, a company which combines a great entrepreneurial spirit driven by its founder Daniel Caille, a balanced governance model including medical practitioners and financial shareholders and a strong culture, reflected by its status of “Entreprise à Mission”. This reinforces its competitive advantage and point of differentiation in the private hospitalisation landscape.”
[1] Public offering addressed to the practitioners only
For further questions, please contact:
Vivalto Partners
Yonel Genin – Vivalto Partners – yonel.genin@vivaltopartners.com
IK Partners
James McFarlane – Maitland/AMO – +44 (0) 7584 142665 – jmcfarlane@maitland.co.uk
Acquisition follows unanimous recommendation of Stock Spirits’ board of directors and approval by shareholders
CVC Capital Partners (“CVC”) is pleased to announce the completion of the acquisition of Stock Spirits Group PLC (“Stock Spirits”) by CVC Capital Partners Fund VIII, following the unanimous recommendation of Stock Spirits’ Board of Directors and the approval by the majority of Stock Spirits’ shareholders.
Stock Spirits holds several market-leading positions in the Central and Eastern European alcoholic beverages sector and has a portfolio of products rooted in local and regional heritage. This includes 70 brands across a range of spirits including vodka, vodka-based flavoured liqueurs, rum, brandy, bitters and limoncello. The company currently enjoys leading positions in the Polish and Czech markets.
CVC sees an opportunity to accelerate Stock Spirits’ growth, pursuing opportunities within its existing geographies alongside expansion into complementary new geographies in Central and Western Europe.
CVC funds are long-standing investors in the region where CVC has a dedicated team with a strong track record of advising on investments into high quality businesses such as Zabka, the Polish market leader in modern convenience retail and PKP Energetyka, the sole distributor of traction electricity to all railway customers in Poland.
István Szőke, a Managing Partner at CVC, commented: “We have followed Stock Spirits with interest for a decade, having originally been impressed by its compelling position across a number of key markets as well as its clear potential for growth. We are delighted to have now completed this transaction and look forward to working closely with management in executing on their strategy and significantly boosting the Company’s growth and development.”
Krzysztof Krawczyk, a Partner at CVC, added: “We are excited to start delivering on our plans for Stock Spirits. In addition to capitalising on our local expertise and track record of helping consumer facing companies across Stock Spirits’ core geographies, we will leverage our M&A capabilities to pursue new areas of growth.”
Mirek Stachowicz, Chief Executive Officer of Stock Spirits, commented: “We are delighted to partner with CVC through this next stage of our journey. CVC’s knowledge of the local marketplaces is second to none and, coupled with its demonstrable track record of successful M&A in the region, will position Stock Spirits for long-term growth.”
Investment to Accelerate Growth and Drive Continued SaaS Bookings Momentum in One Identity/OneLogin, the Industry’s Most Comprehensive Unified Identity Cybersecurity Software Platform
New Platform Investment to Drive Robust Buy-and-Build Strategy and Support Quest Customers and Partners through Digital Transformation in Cybersecurity, Data Intelligence, and IT Operations
SANTA MONICA, CA and ALISO VIEJO, CA – November 29, 2021 – Quest Software (“Quest” or the “Company”), a global cybersecurity, data intelligence, and IT operations management software provider, announced it signed a definitive agreement with Clearlake Capital Group, L.P. (together with certain of its affiliates, “Clearlake”) to acquire the Company from Francisco Partners. Patrick Nichols, current CEO of Quest, will continue to lead the Company supported by the existing executive management team. Upon closing of the transaction, Clearlake will become the majority shareholder in Quest. The terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
“We have long admired Quest as a leading identity-centric cybersecurity, data intelligence, and IT operations management software platform and the Company’s software solutions that help secure enterprise IT environments,” said Behdad Eghbali, Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Clearlake. “We are excited to partner with Patrick and Carolyn McCarthy, Quest’s CFO, to utilize Clearlake’s O.P.S.® framework to help the Company strengthen its strategic growth plans including best practices to accelerate cloud/SaaS adoption and support its buy-and-build strategy.”
“IT teams worldwide rely on Quest to help them solve critical challenges that enable business growth and address crucial strategic initiatives. Quest has evolved to become a market leader in identity-centric cybersecurity, data intelligence, and IT operations management and I want to thank Francisco Partners for helping Quest realize this vision,” said Patrick Nichols, CEO of Quest. “Our new partnership with Clearlake will accelerate Quest’s momentum as a leader and innovator as we increase our investment pace in our core product roadmaps, cloud/SaaS offerings, and global presence. We will continue to expand our customer base as computing environments and related management, modernization, and security challenges, become more complex.”
“We are proud of the tremendous progress Quest has made since re-launching as an independent company, and I want to recognize Patrick Nichols and the management team for strong execution,” said Dipanjan “DJ” Deb, Co-Founder and CEO of Francisco Partners. “We have a long and successful track record executing divisional carve-out transactions and are grateful to have had the opportunity to work with the Quest team to create value for the company, its customers, and its partners. We wish the Quest organization well in their new partnership with Clearlake.”
Founded in 1987, Quest Software has built a reputation over three decades as a critical software solution provider for security-sensitive customers and a leader of innovation addressing rapidly evolving risks and security threats. Quest enables today’s edgeless IT ecosystem – across people, applications, and data to endpoints – allowing customers to maintain controls, mitigate and contain security threats proactively, and maintain operational up-time while decreasing costs.
Quest’s key business segments include:
“It has been a pleasure partnering with Patrick and the entire management team at Quest in scaling the business both organically and through strategic acquisitions,” said Brian Decker, Partner and Christine Wang, Principal at Francisco Partners. “Since our partnership with the Company, Quest has evolved to become an innovative leader in the cybersecurity, data intelligence and IT operations management markets delivering significant value to its customers and partners.”
“With a robust portfolio of market-leading software and SaaS solutions alongside a rich history of product innovation, we believe Quest is well positioned to capitalize on emerging growth trends in identity-centric cybersecurity, data intelligence and IT operations management software markets,” said Prashant Mehrotra, Partner, and Paul Huber, Principal at Clearlake. “Now with significant scale and completely independent, Quest is strategically differentiated in the market as a buy-and-build platform and industry consolidator, and we’re thrilled to partner with Patrick, Carolyn and the management team to help Quest accelerate growth organically and through M&A.”
The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2022, pending customary regulatory approvals and closing conditions. Goldman Sachs acted as sole lead financial advisor to Quest. J.P. Morgan also acted as financial advisor and Paul Hastings LLP acted as legal advisor to Quest.
Silicon Valley Tech Investment Bank and Morgan Stanley along with BoA Securities, Barclays, Evercore, and William Blair acted as financial advisors to Clearlake. Sidley Austin LLP acted as legal advisor to Clearlake.
Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley & Co LLC, BoA Securities, Barclays, Credit Suisse, BMO Capital Markets and Citigroup provided committed debt financing for the transaction.
About Quest
Quest creates software solutions that make the benefits of new technology real in an increasingly complex IT landscape. Quest helps customers solve their next IT challenge, from database and systems management to Active Directory and Office 365 management and cybersecurity resilience. Around the globe, managing over 250 million identities, more than 100,000 customers, 15,000 partners and 97 of the Fortune 100 count on Quest to deliver proactive management and monitoring for the next enterprise initiative, find the next solution for complex Microsoft challenges, and stay ahead of the next threat. Quest Software. Where next meets now. For more information, visit www.quest.com.
About Clearlake
Clearlake Capital Group, L.P. is an investment firm founded in 2006 operating integrated businesses across private equity, credit and other related strategies. With a sector-focused approach, the firm seeks to partner with experienced management teams by providing patient, long-term capital to dynamic businesses that can benefit from Clearlake’s operational improvement approach, O.P.S.® The firm’s core target sectors are technology, industrials and consumer. Clearlake currently has approximately $55 billion of assets under management and its senior investment principals have led or co-led over 300 investments. The firm has offices in Santa Monica and Dallas. More information is available at www.clearlake.com and on Twitter @ClearlakeCap.
About Francisco Partners
Francisco Partners is a leading global investment firm that specializes in partnering with technology and technology-enabled businesses. Since its launch over 20 years ago, Francisco Partners has invested in more than 300 technology companies, making it one of the most active and longstanding investors in the technology industry. With more than $30 billion in assets under management, the firm invests in opportunities where its deep sectoral knowledge and operational expertise can help companies realize their full potential. For more information on Francisco Partners, please visit www.franciscopartners.com.
Media contacts:
For Quest: Mariah Gauthier
Highwire Public Relations
951-314-0760
mariah@highwirepr.com
For Clearlake: Jennifer Hurson
Lambert & Co.
845-507-0571
jhurson@lambert.com
For Francisco Partners: Kate Sylvester
Sloane & Company
212-446-1860
ksylvester@sloanepr.com
Blackstone to Maintain Minority Investment in Aqua Finance
Specialist Platform on Track to Originate $2 Billion of Loans in 2021
NEW YORK, Nov. 29, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Athene (NYSE: ATH) and Apollo (NYSE: APO) today announced that Athene has agreed to acquire a controlling stake in Aqua Finance (“Aqua” or the “Company”), a fast-growing consumer lending platform, from funds managed by Blackstone Tactical Opportunities (“Blackstone”) at a valuation of approximately $1 billion. Under the terms of the transaction, Apollo will manage the investment on behalf of Athene. Blackstone would also maintain a minority stake in the Company.
Aqua Finance is a Wisconsin-based specialist lending platform that originates and services consumer loans, primarily for home improvement and water treatment. The Company has strong and growing merchant relationships formed over 30 years and has nearly doubled its annual loan originations since Blackstone first invested in 2018, with originations expected to reach $2 billion in 2021.
“Aqua Finance is an exciting opportunity for Athene to invest in a leading consumer finance platform, to provide capital and expertise to continue to grow the business, and to execute on our strategy with Apollo to invest in high-quality origination platforms,” said Jim Belardi, Chief Executive Officer of Athene.
“We are excited to partner with this new investor group as we enter the next stage of expansion for Aqua. I am proud of the significant progress we have made in establishing Aqua as an industry leader together with Blackstone and look forward to building on that strong foundation in the years ahead,” said Rich Morrin, Aqua’s Chief Executive Officer.
“For more than three decades, Aqua has partnered with merchants to provide flexible consumer lending solutions, and with Athene we look forward to investing in the business and supporting the Aqua team to build on this success,” said Apollo Co-President Jim Zelter. “For Apollo and Athene, Aqua is highly complementary to our portfolio of diversified origination platforms, extending our access to quality consumer loan flow.”
Menes Chee, a Senior Managing Director at Blackstone, and C. C. Melvin Ike, a Principal at Blackstone, said, “We are pleased to have backed Aqua, Rich, and his management team as they built a strong financial technology platform serving customers across the country. We look forward to continuing to support the business and its next phase of growth.”
Aqua Finance has a long history of partnering with merchants across the home improvement and recreational ecosystem to provide dependable and flexible financing solutions to their customers. Through this transaction, the new investor group expects to invest in new technology and innovation to further enhance the merchant customer experience and drive expansion of the network with new and existing partners.
The addition of Aqua Finance will increase Apollo’s current $80 billion annual run-rate of asset origination across its platforms, which span commercial and consumer lending. Apollo’s portfolio of proprietary origination platforms help the firm to originate high-quality, recurring assets for its investors, including Athene.
The transaction is subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions, including certain regulatory approvals, and is expected to close in the first half of 2022. Lazard and Goldman Sachs are serving as financial advisors and Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP as legal counsel to Blackstone and Aqua Finance. Sidley Austin LLP is serving as legal counsel to Apollo.
About Apollo
Apollo is a high-growth, global alternative asset manager. We seek to provide our clients excess return at every point along the risk-reward spectrum from investment grade to private equity with a focus on three business strategies: yield, hybrid and equity. Through our investment activity across our fully integrated platform, we serve the retirement income and financial return needs of our clients, and we offer innovative capital solutions to businesses. Our patient, creative, knowledgeable approach to investing aligns our clients, businesses we invest in, our employees and the communities we impact, to expand opportunity and achieve positive outcomes. As of September 30, 2021, Apollo had approximately $481 billion of assets under management. To learn more, please visit www.apollo.com.
About Athene
Athene, through its subsidiaries, is a leading retirement services company with total assets of $224.4 billion as of September 30, 2021 and operations in the United States, Bermuda, and Canada. Athene specializes in helping its customers achieve financial security and is a solutions provider to institutions. Founded in 2009, Athene is Driven to Do More for our policyholders, business partners, shareholders, and the communities in which we work and live. For more information, please visit www.athene.com.
About Blackstone
Blackstone is the world’s largest alternative investment firm. 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 $731 billion in assets under management include investment vehicles focused on private equity, real estate, public debt and equity, 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 Twitter @Blackstone.
Athene Safe Harbor for Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains, and certain oral statements made by Athene’s representatives from time to time may contain, forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Such statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results, events and developments to differ materially from those set forth in, or implied by, such statements. These statements are based on the beliefs and assumptions of Athene’s management and the management of Athene’s subsidiaries. Generally, forward-looking statements include actions, events, results, strategies and expectations and are often identifiable by use of the words “believes,” “expects,” “intends,” “anticipates,” “plans,” “seeks,” “estimates,” “projects,” “may,” “will,” “could,” “might,” “should,” or “continues” or similar expressions. Forward-looking statements within this press release include, but are not limited to, statements regarding future growth prospects and financial performance. Factors that could cause actual results, events and developments to differ include, without limitation: the accuracy of Athene’s assumptions and estimates; Athene’s ability to maintain or improve financial strength ratings; Athene’s ability to manage its business in a highly regulated industry; regulatory changes or actions; the impact of Athene’s reinsurers failing to meet their assumed obligations; the impact of interest rate fluctuations; changes in the federal income tax laws and regulations; the accuracy of Athene’s interpretation of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act; litigation (including class action litigation), enforcement investigations or regulatory scrutiny; the performance of third parties; the loss of key personnel; telecommunication, information technology and other operational systems failures; the continued availability of capital; new accounting rules or changes to existing accounting rules; general economic conditions; Athene’s ability to protect its intellectual property; the ability to maintain or obtain approval of the Delaware Department of Insurance, the Iowa Insurance Division and other regulatory authorities as required for Athene’s operations; the delay or failure to complete or realize the expected benefits from the proposed merger with Apollo Global Management; and other factors discussed from time to time in Athene’s filings with the SEC, including its annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020, its quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the quarterly period ended September 30, 2021, and its other SEC filings, which can be found at the SEC’s website www.sec.gov.
All forward-looking statements described herein are qualified by these cautionary statements and there can be no assurance that the actual results, events or developments referenced herein will occur or be realized. Athene does not undertake any obligation to update or revise forward-looking statements to reflect changed assumptions, the occurrence of unanticipated events or changes to future operating results.
Contacts
For Apollo:
Investors:
Noah Gunn
Global Head of Investor Relations
(212) 822-0540
IR@apollo.com
Media:
Joanna Rose
Global Head of Corporate Communications
(212) 822-0491
Communications@apollo.com
For Athene:
Investors:
Alex Pelzar
+1 646 768 7316
apelzar@athene.com
Media:
Marcia Kent
+1 515 342 3918
mkent@athene.com
For Blackstone:
Matt Anderson
Matthew.Anderson@blackstone.com
518-248-7310
Source: Apollo Global Management, Inc.
Montagu announces today that it has entered into exclusive negotiations with Quilvest Capital Partners to acquire Eudonet Group.
Based in Courbevoie, France, Eudonet is a developer of CRM software serving 1,200 customers and 53,000 users, across France, the Netherlands, the UK, Belgium, Switzerland and Canada. Eudonet was founded in 2000 and is one of the leading CRM providers for associations, local authorities, and higher education by developing products with a large set of pre-configured functionalities targeting specific customer needs.
Eudonet’s management team has grown the business considerably thanks to a scalable strategy that consists of improving functionalities continuously and replicating the vertical approach in selected sectors such as real-estate through investments in product development and acquisitions.
Antoine Henry, CEO of Eudonet, commented: “We are delighted to be partnering with Montagu and see considerable opportunity ahead for the business. Montagu’s expertise in the technology space and international expansion capabilities will be major assets for our company. This partnership will enable us to further develop the company through significant investments in product development and expansion in new verticals and geographies.”
Antoine de Peguilhan, Director at Montagu, said: “Eudonet is a great example of Montagu’s strategy of partnering with high-quality technology companies in their pursuit of growth. The management team has done a remarkable job at introducing best practices in all functions and processes, resulting in an impressive quality of operations. We believe that Eudonet is a scalable business with a solid technology platform and a strong management team, which can continue to achieve double-digit organic growth and further expand through M&A.”
Pascal Ambrosi, Director at Montagu added: “We were attracted by Eudonet’s core values of humility, collaboration, agility, and performance. Eudonet’s business model puts customers at the heart of everything they do, from innovative product development to efficient and quick product deployment, and customer service. This customer-first approach coupled with targeted acquisitions allowed Eudonet to strengthen its position in existing core verticals, to enter new attractive niches, and to expand internationally. We look forward to supporting the company and its over 200 employees in the next phase of their growth.”
Thomas Vatier, Partner at Quilvest Capital Partners said: “We are honoured to have partnered with the talented Eudonet management team, led by Antoine Henry and Fabrice Vernière, since early 2017. Since that time, Eudonet has considerably accelerated its growth, as a result of significant investments in the product development and deep vertical approach; in addition, over the period, Eudonet completed four add-on acquisitions, strongly expanding its presence internationally. Now more than ever Eudonet benefits from a great runway to accelerate its entrepreneurial development at home and abroad.”
The transaction is subject to the final and definitive agreement between the parties and customary conditions and provisions.
Ratos company Aibel has been awarded another major contract with Equinor valued at more than NOK 4 billion. The contract pertains to engineering, procurement, construction and installation (ECPI) for the partial electrification of the Oseberg Field Centre and Oseberg South. The contract also includes an upgrade of the gas processing capacity at the Oseberg Field Centre. As part of this project, Aibel will continue to play a central role in decarbonising Norwegian oil and gas production.
The contract was awarded following Aibel’s completion of the front-end engineering and design (FEED) of the project, which aims to maximise gas exports from Oseberg and at the same time establish a solution for electrification of the gas compressors. This will reduce CO2 emissions from offshore production by more than 320,000 tonnes per year from 2025.
“The contract was secured only a few days after Aibel was awarded four major Equinor contracts with a total value of around NOK 5 billion. This means that Aibel has signed contracts for almost NOK 10 billion this week. Naturally, as an owner, we are pleased with this development, particularly since Aibel is going from strength to strength in its transformation towards renewables in its order backlog, enabling long-term sustainable value creation,” says Christian Johansson Gebauer, President Business Area Construction & Services, Ratos.
The Oseberg contract means that, for the first time, the share of renewables in Aibel’s order backlog is greater than the oil and gas share. Renewables now account for 60% of the order backlog of approximately NOK 14 billion. This is a milestone in Aibel’s ongoing transformation.
The extensive project execution work will be carried out at Aibel’s offices in Bergen and Stavanger, with support from the offices in Haugesund and Oslo. The project will start up immediately and is scheduled to be ready for production in the summer of 2025 and fully completed in the summer of 2026.
“This week, Aibel has consolidated its position as the leading supplier of solutions for electrification of offshore and onshore production and processing plants. We are proud to play a central role in the work to decarbonise Norwegian oil and gas production. The Norwegian oil and gas industry has an ambition to realise a 40% reduction in CO2 emissions from the shelf by 2030. With this contract, Aibel will be able to make a significant contribution to achieving this goal,” says Mads Andersen, President and CEO of Aibel.
The contracts are conditional upon the customary approval by the authorities.
For further information:
Christian Johansson Gebauer
President Business Area Construction & Services, Ratos
+46 8 700 17 00
Mads Andersen
President and CEO, Aibel AS
+47 982 96 501
About Ratos:
Ratos is a business group consisting of 12 companies divided into three business areas: Construction & Services, Consumer and Industry. In total 2020, the companies have approximately SEK 34 billion in sales. Our business concept is to develop companies headquartered in the Nordics that are or can become market leaders. We enable independent companies to excel by being part of something larger. People, leadership, culture and values are key focus areas for Ratos. Everything we do is based on Ratos’s core values: Simplicity, Speed in Execution and It’s All About People.
