Category Archives: News

True exits data-driven marketing tool Spirable

True

Global sports tech and data company Genius Sports has acquired data-driven marketing tool Spirable.

Spirable is a platform that enables businesses to create, automate, distribute and optimise data-driven video marketing, at scale, and was a trailblazer in facilitating the automated personalisation of video marketing when it was founded in 2015 by brothers Dave and Ger O’Meara.

As the company’s first investor, True has supported Spirable from its early days, providing office space at True’s Innovation Hub in London, as well as support and notably, introductions to leading global retailers, consumer brands and executives from across the True Live Network.

Matt Truman CEO and Co-founder of True said: “We invest in people! Dave and Ger represented everything we look for in people at such an early stage. I am delighted that as their first investors True has been able to play a small part in their huge success over the last five years, through the relevant introductions we’ve made from our unique network and more. We look forward to seeing the business grow from here. For True, this is another significant exit for our growth fund and a strong demonstration of True’s ability to be more helpful to entrepreneurs and management teams.”

Co-founder and CEO of Spirable Ger O’Meara says: “The team at True were early believers in our vision and became our very first investors. They have supported us with funding, sound advice and introductions to major retail brands right along the journey, including DIAGEO and Boots, as well as to growing businesses such as Ribble from their Portfolio. Dave and myself are very grateful for the big role that True has played in Spirable’s journey to date.”

Genius Sports are the official data, technology and media partner to hundreds of organisations globally, and will enhance the Spirable offering through access to official sports data and HTML5 programmatic technology.

Spirable will continue to operate under the Spirable brand, with the same team, innovative product and brilliant service, but with the additional benefit of a world-class data and technology company.  Read more about the acquisition here.

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Audax Private Equity Celebrates 1,000th Add-on Acquisition

Audax Group

Audax Private Equity (“Audax”) today announced that it has completed its 1,000th add-on acquisition across more than 140 platform investments in six industries: business services, consumer, healthcare, industrial services & technology, software & technology, and financial services.

Audax was established over two decades ago with a goal of creating a purpose-built organization with trusted relationships. Audax Private Equity is a pioneer of the Buy & Build strategy, which it has successfully executed over the course of the firm’s six flagship private equity funds and across various market conditions and financial cycles. The firm averages seven add-on investments per each platform investment. Further, the firm contributes extensive capabilities and experience in organic revenue acceleration, operational improvements, and capital market efficiencies.

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Mr Marvis takes the next step with Capital A

Capital-A

The Amsterdam based menswear brand Mr Marvis set-up a partnership with Capital A Investment Partners

The Amsterdam based direct-to-consumer menswear brand, known for its range of colourful men’s shorts and trousers, set-up a partnership with Capital A Investment Partners to accelerate its growth.

Mr Marvis already has seen strong growth in recent years following several successful product introductions. Mr Marvis also saw an increasing appreciation of its slow fashion concept in its home market, The Netherlands, as well as abroad.

“Both the MR MARVIS brand and our products are valued by our customers because of the focus on quality and consistency. Above that, our collection only expands, resulting in customers coming back for the same product as well as for newly launched products. You can expect a lot more from us in the coming years, in all seasons” – Steven Vrendenbarg (Founder)

Together with Capital A, Mr Marvis will further professionalise and further accelerate its growth in Europe following a strategy both Mr Marvis and Capital A fully believe in.

“In order to realise our accelerated growth plan, a solid and reliable investment partner was looked for. We feel fortunate to have found Capital A as such a party. With this collaboration we aim to further accelerate our growth ambitions based on the MR MARVIS legacy.” – David Sipkens (Founder)

“Working with the highly entrepreneurial MR MARVIS team and ensuring a solid financial basis for this fundamentally strong company is a match made in heaven. As an investor, we have a keen interest in fast growing companies led by strong management teams. MR MARVIS is a perfect example of such a setting, and we are delighted and very proud to be able to support them in realising even more ambitious goals in the near future to let this wonderful brand grow.” – Arne Hamers (Capital A)

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The deal-by-deal team enters a partnership with management of 99x

(Oslo, 16 August 2021) A company funded by a group of reputable tech investors and managed by Fredrik Bysveen and Fredrik Kongsli, has entered into an agreement to acquire a majority stake in 99x, a fast-growing software engineering company, to satisfy the growing demand for software developers in Scandinavia and Europe.
99x employs more than 350 software engineers in Sri Lanka and specializes in building high-quality, digital products on behalf of clients in Scandinavia and Europe. 99x has grown steadily since its inception and accelerated its growth with an average annual growth rate of 30 percent in the past three years. The company reported revenues of NOK 106m in 2020.

“99x is a rapidly growing business with extremely high customer satisfaction. Until now, the company’s growth has been organic, without substantial business development presence in Scandinavia. The company’s next step is to build up a stronger presence in Norway, including initiating an active M&A strategy. We are proud of the reputable tech investors we have brought onboard to help 99x accelerate its already strong development,” says Fredrik Bysveen, partner and board member of 99x.

Among the investors that are part of the consortium is Northzone founder Karl Christian Agerup; former CEO of Get, Gunnar Evensen; founder of StartupLab and Founders Fund, Alexander Woxen; and Norwegian investment firm Watrium.

Investor and chairman of 99x, Dag Honningsvåg, reduces his ownership from 20 to 10 percent in the transaction and continues as chairman of the company he has been instrumental in developing in recent years.

“After exploring multiple approaches, we determined the best way forward was to establish a European office and raise additional capital to grow through acquisitions, both in terms of access to markets as well as to add capacity. We already have a large software engineering team, but our objective is to grow this further to offer even greater software development capacity to our customers in Norway and Europe,” says Dag Honningsvåg, chairman of 99x.
99x’s founder and CEO, Mano Sekaram, continues as CEO, board member and shareholder of the company.

“This is a significant milestone for all our employees and for the Sri Lankan IT industry. We can take pride in a Sri Lankan company being able to win the confidence and trust of such reputed Scandinavian investors,” says Mano Sekaram.

Contact:
Fredrik Bysveen, Partner and board member of 99x
Telephone: +47 98 22 85 68

Dag Honningsvåg, Chairman 99x
Telephone: +47 90 74 48 10

The buyer was advised by DLA Piper and PwC.

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Managed cloud services group continues growth: Waterland portfolio company Skaylink partners with BTT Cloud

Waterland

With support from Waterland Private Equity (“Waterland”), the cloud service provider Skaylink continues its growth. BTT Cloud, a leading provider of modern cloud infrastructure services, has partnered with the fast-growing Skaylink. The sellers of the majority share in BTT Cloud is its founder and managing director, who will remain with the company in his current position and will reinvest in Skaylink as well. Further financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.

BTT Cloud, based in Vilnius, Lithuania, is one of the leading European providers of modern cloud infrastructure services. The company supports customers throughout Europe during the implementation, operation and maintenance of private and public cloud environments. Due to continuously developing its proprietary solutions, BTT offers a broadly diversified range of services in the field of semi-automated cloud operation. Particularly in the area of Managed AWS (Amazon Web Services), BTT is one of the fastest-growing specialists. In addition, the company has comprehensive expertise in the Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud platforms.

The partnership enables Skaylink to expand its service capacities in the area of management and migration of cloud infrastructures, opening up an additional, highly attractive market for attracting new talent and expertise. Due to BTT’s know-how in the area of Google Cloud, Skaylink will also be able to support its clients in all three leading public cloud environments, thereby completing its service offering. As a result of the partnership, Skaylink will be able to take the next step in its journey towards becoming the leading provider of managed cloud services for enterprise and SME client based in the German-speaking DACH region.

“There are only a few companies able to operate highly complex cloud infrastructures using a platform-agnostic approach, with Skaylink being one of them. That is why we are very happy to have them as a partner on the way towards becoming the leading managed cloud service provider in Europe”, says Donatas Zaveckas, Managing Director at BTT Cloud.

“In the European market for cloud services, BTT is strongly positioned with an experienced team, which both shares our entrepreneurial ideas and aims to embrace a clear ‘Service First’ culture. We are seeing a number of opportunities to leverage this new partnership to expand our joint customer base and greatly improve our service portfolio through expansions”, says Gerald Jenner, Member of the Executive Committee at Skaylink.

“The partnership with BTT Cloud ideally complements the Skaylink service portfolio in the field of Google Cloud, thereby accessing a new, highly attractive market for IT experts. The high-quality standards of BTT’s cloud engineers have convinced us from the very beginning that the company is the ideal strategic expansion for Skaylink”, says Dr. Gregor Hengst, Partner at Waterland.

In 2020, the private equity investment group acquired a majority share in Skaylink. Since, Waterland has supported Skaylink and its managed cloud services platform in their organic and inorganic growth ambitions. In July 2021, the acquisition of root360, a leading German provider of Managed AWS, formed another important aspect of the long-term buy-&-build strategy for Skaylink, which today employs a staff of more than 500 at locations in Germany, Romania, Brazil, with about 70 more now in Lithuania.

Waterland has extensive experience in the fields of digitalization and modern IT infrastructure through its investments in several European countries. In the German-speaking region, Waterland has already invested in companies such as netgo (IT provider), Serrala (payment software), Netrics (cloud and ICT services) and GOD (enterprise IT and software solutions) as well as in Enreach (unified communications solutions), amongst others.

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Their common objective is for Schenk to play an important role in the creation of a sustainable and future-proof logistics network by building on its leading ESG position in the Western European transportation market.

Argoswityu

Papendrecht (The Netherlands), Brussels (Belgium) – 16th of August 2021 – Argos Wityu, a pan-European private equity fund has reached an agreement with Harry and Arjan Schenk to acquire a majority stake in the company that carries their name as its current shareholders. Via this investment, Argos will help the Schenk brothers to realize a stable shareholder and management transition for the company. The acquisition marks Argos’ first investment by Fund VIII and highlights the strong commitment Argos has towards ESG[1] in this Fund.

Since its inception in 1925 by the Schenk family, the company transformed from a sand and gravel transport company into a logistical partner specialized in complex gas and liquid logistical services. With Harry and Arjan Schenk, 3rd generation, taking over the leadership by the end of the 1980s, the company diversified away from a pure road transporter of fuels into a logistical service provider for industrial gases, LNG, chemicals, fuels, lubricants, LPG, bitumen, and liquid food products which require complex handling requirements. In doing so, the group has already anticipated and included in its strategy for a number of years an increasing importance of sustainability and can now claim a market leading position in this respect. Both Argos and the Schenk brothers have taken up a strong commitment to continue to build upon and further enforce Schenk’s position as an enabler of a sustainable logistical world.

Schenk, strategically located in the heart of the ARRRA[2] region, has grown to an organization employing more than 1.600 employees and generating over €200m in revenues. Out of its offices in The Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg and Germany, the company manages a dense network of last-mile connections serviced by a large fleet of 900 modern trucks and tank trailers, on top of providing intermodal services out of its Netherlands offices with its fleet of tank containers. Efficiency and outstanding quality has always been at the heart of Schenk’s services which has resulted in long-term customer relationships in all of its product segments.

Having successfully led the company for over 30 years, Harry and Arjan Schenk look forward to paving the way for a transition in a stable environment while continuing to grow the activity in current and new product segments and adding adjacent logistical services. Harry and Arjan have selected Argos Wityu for their experience in shareholder and management transitions in long-standing family businesses, their strong focus on ESG and to support the company in densifying its network organically and via an international buy-and-build program. They will retain a significant stake in the company and will continue in their roles as co-CEO to ensure continuity until a suitable successor has been identified. The transaction is still subject to the approval of the Dutch market authorities and the works council.

Harry Schenk, co-CEO and shareholder said: “We are convinced that we found a strong partner in Argos Wityu to maintain our market leading position while continuing to shape the ongoing consolidation in the market. Both put us in a strong position for the current energy transition and associated investments. With the help of Argos, we also want to continue to invest in the sustainability of our fleet in the coming years and to continue to provide our customers with the service they are accustomed to. We are delighted to be able to take this new step in the history of our family business together with Argos Wityu, the management team and our employees.”

Maarten Meijssen, Partner at Argos Wityu added “We have the utmost respect for the company and organization that Harry and Arjan have developed together with the management team and all employees of Schenk. They have always kept their eyes on long term trends while putting in place an organization that serves their clients with the highest level of quality every day. We feel privileged and consider it a big responsibility to join Harry and Arjan in making a successful transition and will do everything to continue to confirm the strong reputation that Schenk has today. For Argos, this is a unique opportunity to invest in a sustainable future of logistics.”

Argos Wityu team: Gilles Mougenot, Maarten Meijssen, Arne Louwagie, Julie Wouters

Buyer advisors

Legal – Houthoff (Bram Caudri, Ivar Brouwer, Britt Oerlemans)

Financial – Deloitte Transaction Advisory (Corjan Kuip, Bart Beemster, Jens Noppe)

Pension – Deloitte (Frans Heijs, Stella Evers)

Commercial – Arthur D. Little (Martijn Eikelenboom, Marc de Pater)

Tax – JSA Tax (NL) (Ronald Braxhoofden, Ronald van de Merwe, Anne Joritsma) / Finvision (BE) (Philip Haagdorens, Alix Stockman, Aurélie Godschalx) / GKK Partners (DE) (Dr. Michael Hoheisel, Maren Röhr)

Insurance – Aon (Richard Stemerdink, Ingrid van Bussel)

Environmental – Tauw (Hans Nieuwenhuis, Monica Martens)

Seller advisors

Sellside M&A advisor – Nielen Schuman (Ernst Berger, Joost Moelker, Joyce van Luit, Oscar Crolla, Steve Nugteren, Joep Houf)

Financial – PwC (Robert du Burck, Michiel Semeijn, Mathieu Cantarella)

Legal – Loyens & Loeff (Harmen Holtrop, Rob Schrooten, Roos van den Berg)

Debt advisory – Nielen Schuman (Ger van der Linden)

[1] Environmental, Social and Governance

[2] Antwerp Rotterdam Rhein Ruhr Area

Contacts

Media : Cécile Hisette
+ 32 473 36 14 11
info@cecili-z.be

Argos Wityu
Coralie Cornet
Head of Communications
ccc@argos.fund
+33 6 14 38 33 37

Harry en Arjan Schenk
CEO Schenk Tanktransport
info_nl@schenk-tanktransport.eu
+31 78 6442 150

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EQT Private Equity sells Utimaco, a global leader in cybersecurity solutions

eqt
  • EQT Private Equity to sell Utimaco, one of the global leading providers of mission-critical professional cybersecurity and data intelligence solutions for regulated critical infrastructures
  • Together with EQT, Utimaco has executed an impressive innovation, growth and M&A strategy, including five add-ons in the US, UK, Spain, and Germany and transformed into one of the leading integrated European cybersecurity champions with global reach
  • Under EQT’s ownership, Utimaco has close to tripled its revenues and is expected to generate more than EUR 100 million for the fiscal year of 2022

EQT is pleased to announce that the EQT Mid Market Europe fund (“EQT Private Equity”) has agreed to sell Utimaco Verwaltungs GmbH (“Utimaco” or the “Company”) to SGT Capital LLC (“SGT”), a global alternative asset manager with offices in Germany and Singapore.

Headquartered in Aachen, Germany, and Campbell, CA, US, Utimaco is the leading platform provider of trusted cybersecurity and compliance solutions and services. The Company provides on-premises and cloud-based hardware security modules, as well as key management solutions and data intelligence solutions for regulated critical infrastructures. Utimaco has more than 470 employees around the globe and with its focus on protecting data, identities and critical infrastructures against cyber-crime, the Company is a crucial force in contributing to making the world and societies a safer place.

Together with EQT Private Equity, Utimaco has executed an impressive innovation, growth and M&A strategy. In addition to strong organic growth, the Company has completed five strategic add-ons in the US, UK, Spain, and Germany and transformed into one of the global leading integrated European cybersecurity champions with strong capabilities in high-growth areas. Under EQT’s ownership, Utimaco has close to tripled its revenues, while maintaining its unique focus on R&D, innovation, and customer satisfaction.

Florian Funk, Partner within EQT Private Equity’s Advisory Team, said: “Utimaco plays a crucial role in fighting cyber-crime making the world a safer place and we are extremely proud of having supported Utimaco on its mission to create trust in the digital society, as cyber terrorism and data abuse is growing in complexity, sophistication and frequency. We would like to thank all employees for this exciting journey – We are convinced that Utimaco will continue its successful path with its new majority owner and are happy to stay invested as a minority owner.”

Stefan Auerbach, CEO of Utimaco, said: “In the last years, we have built a global platform leader for trusted cybersecurity solutions, providing the highest level of security and compliance to the world’s largest corporates and governments. With EQT’s support, we have been able to transform the business and accelerate growth by making substantial investments. The collaboration with the EQT team and the board has been fantastic, and we would like to thank you all for the great partnership and look forward to the next phase of growth together with SGT.”

Joseph Pacini, Co-Managing Partner of SGT Capital, said: “Utimaco is the clear market leader in global cybersecurity as well as data intelligence solutions and has executed an impressive innovation, growth and M&A strategy. We look forward to working with Stefan Auerbach and the entire Utimaco team as well as EQT Private Equity going forwards.”

The transaction is subject to regulatory conditions and approvals and is expected to close in Q4 2021. The parties have agreed not to disclose the transaction value. EQT Private Equity was advised by Moelis & Company (financial advisor), Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer (legal), PWC (financial, tax) and Strategy& (commercial).

Contact
EQT Press Office, press@eqtpartners.com, +46 8 506 55 334

About EQT
EQT is a purpose-driven global investment organization with more than EUR 67 billion in assets under management across 26 active funds. EQT funds have portfolio companies in Europe, Asia-Pacific and the Americas with total sales of approximately EUR 29 billion and more than 175,000 employees. EQT works with portfolio companies to achieve sustainable growth, operational excellence and market leadership.

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

About Utimaco
Utimaco is a global platform provider of trusted Cybersecurity and Compliance solutions and services with headquarters in Aachen (Germany) and Campbell, CA (USA). UTIMACO develops on-premises and cloud-based hardware security modules and key management solutions as well as data intelligence solutions for regulated critical infrastructures. Utimaco is one of the world’s leading manufacturers in both of these market segments. 470+ employees around the globe create innovative solutions and services to protect data, identities and communication networks with responsibility for global customers and citizens. Customers and partners in many different industries value the reliability and long-term investment security of Utimaco’s high-security products and solutions.

More info: https://www.utimaco.com/

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80 Acres Farms: $160 million funding round secured to expand operations

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Orange Wings Investments

10 August, 2021|80 Acres Farms|Press Release|80 Acres Farms

80 Acres Farms 70k Grow

80 Acres Farms, a vertical farming producer, has secured $160 million in additional funding in a round led by General Atlantic and joined by Siemens Financial Services, the U.S. financing arm of tech company Siemens.

The company intends to use the capital for continued expansion and product development, building from its current footprint of vertical farms that yield a diverse offering of high-quality produce.

Thriving for impact
Mike Zelkind, CEO of 80 Acres Farms, said: “We are proud of what our team has been able to accomplish and enthusiastic about the road ahead. We are also honored to be supported by such a high-caliber group of strategic investors who are enabling us to continue to lead this evolving and fast-growing industry.” Mike said the investment is a quantum leap for the business to build more farms both nationally and globally.

“80 Acres Farms is building an incredibly exciting vertical farming business that provides high-quality produce through innovative practices,” noted Shaw Joseph, Managing Director of General Atlantic.

Mike Zelkind and Tisha Livingston

Shaw said that with global food consumption increasing and growing threats impacting supply chains and food security, there is a pressing need for healthy, fresh and local foods that are grown in more sustainable and cost-effective ways. He added, “We look forward to working closely with Mike, Tisha and the broader 80 Acres Farms’ team as they scale.”

“The new investment positions the company as the leading proven and profitable technology provider prepared for rapid
expansion,” said Tisha Livingston, CEO of Infinite Acres, and Co-founder of 80 Acres Farms. “In addition, this enables 80 Acres to focus on their operational expertise and deep research and development capabilities beyond leafy greens.”

Combining capital and tech know-how
Jason Thompson, Vice President of Sustainability and Growth Equity at Siemens Financial Services, said, “We are committed to helping scale sustainable vertical farming technology. 80 Acres has demonstrated their ability to build and operate profitable farms.”

According to Jason, Siemens is enthusiastic about the opportunity to support its global expansion with both its capital and technical know-how. Including, their recently established Center of Competence dedicated to supporting companies in realizing their digital transformation.

“We are excited to be partnering with General Atlantic and Siemens to provide growth capital and support to Mike, Tisha and the entire 80 Acres team to help scale their operations within existing and new markets,” said Kayode Akinola, Head of Private Equity Directs at Blue Earth Capital.

New board member
As part of this funding round, Shaw Joseph will join the 80 Acres Farms board. Eli Aheto, former 80 Acres Farms board member, led BeyondNetZero’s contributions to this round. He noted, “I am pleased to be able to continue and grow my support of 80 Acres with this contribution from the BeyondNetZero team. 80 Acres has proven a farm design that is poised to reduce food miles, food waste and the resulting in negative carbon emissions that exist within our food supply chain.”

80 Acres Farms – Romaine

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StatLab Medical Products acquires Pyramid Innovation

Audax Group

StatLab Medical Products (“StatLab”), a leading developer and manufacturer of diagnostic supplies and equipment for the anatomic pathology market, has acquired Pyramid Innovation (“Pyramid”). The acquisition broadens StatLab’s instrument manufacturing capabilities by adding slide and cassette printers. StatLab is a portfolio company of Audax Private Equity and Linden Capital Partners.

Pyramid Innovation was founded in 2013 by Tom Hughes and is based in Sussex, England. Prior to founding Pyramid, Tom and his team developed the first ever automated pathology slide and cassette printers. Today, Pyramid Innovation is a global leader in developing instrumentation that improves the efficiency of pathology laboratory workflow.

“We are excited to welcome Pyramid Innovation into the StatLab family” said Mike Karsonovich, CEO of StatLab. “Partnering with Pyramid positions StatLab as a direct source of high-quality laboratory automation equipment for our U.S. customer base, in addition to expanding our reach into the international market through established channel partners.”

Tom Hughes, Managing Director of Pyramid, adds, “StatLab is an ideal fit as a partner for continued innovation in the field. We look forward to sales of our newly-launched PiSmart Cassette printers and continued investment in the product pipeline – we have more exciting innovations in development to further benefit our customers around the world.”

Pyramid operations will remain in Sussex and continue to be led by Mr. Hughes.

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Herkules IV to sell Beckmann, a market leading backpack company, to Shanghai M&G Stationery Inc.

Hercules Capital
Herkules Private Equity Fund IV (“HPEF IV”) has entered into an agreement to sell Beckmann, a market leading backpack company, to Shanghai M&G Stationery Inc. (“M&G”).
M&G is a Chinese publicly listed stationary company. The agreement was signed on August 3rd, 2021 and the transaction is subject to approval from Chinese authorities. After completion of the transaction, the Beckmann family and management will continue as minority shareholders.

Since 1946, Beckmann has made high-quality ergonomic backpacks from its headquarter in Kristiansand, Norway. Beckmann’s products have received several professional awards and have become the chosen favourite for children and parents internationally. Beckmann offers products and services to consumers in over 20 countries and more than 50% of its revenues now come from international markets.

HPEF IV invested in Beckmann in August 2017. During HPEF IV’s ownership, a commercial and scalable organization has been built.

Over the past four years, Beckmann has more than doubled its size and the growth has primarily come from international markets. In Europe, the growth has been driven by a new sales organization in Germany and Denmark and in Asia, the growth is a result of an ambitious cooperation with Beckmann’s distributors in China and Hong Kong, as well as a solid performance of a new distributor in Taiwan. In Norway, Beckmann has entered several new retailers and successfully extended the product portfolio.

The sellers were advised by E.J. McKay, SEB, DLA Piper, and PwC.

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