Category Archives: News

Blackstone Completes $14.6 Billion Recapitalization of BioMed Realty

Blackstone

New York, November 20, 2020 – Blackstone (NYSE: BX) today announced that Blackstone Real Estate Partners VIII L.P. and co-investors have completed their previously announced transaction to sell BioMed Realty for $14.6 billion to a group led by existing BioMed investors. This transaction is part of a new long-term, perpetual capital, core+ return strategy managed by Blackstone.

Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC served as financial advisor to BREP VIII and completed a “go-shop” process on behalf of BioMed’s selling investors.

Citigroup Global Markets Inc., Deutsche Bank Securities Inc., Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC, J.P. Morgan Securities LLC and Wells Fargo Securities LLC also served as financial advisors to BREP VIII, and Eastdil Secured served as financial advisor to the purchasers. Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP served as legal advisor to Blackstone.

The transaction was announced on October 15, 2020.

About Blackstone Real Estate
Blackstone is a global leader in real estate investing. Blackstone’s real estate business was founded in 1991 and has $174 billion of investor capital under management. Blackstone is one of the largest property owners in the world, owning and operating assets across every major geography and sector, including logistics, multifamily and single-family housing, office, hospitality and retail. Our opportunistic funds seek to acquire undermanaged, well-located assets across the world. Blackstone’s Core+ strategy invests in substantially stabilized real estate globally through regional open-ended funds focused on high-quality assets and Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust, Inc. (BREIT), a non-listed REIT that invests in U.S. income-generating assets. Blackstone Real Estate also operates one of the leading global real estate debt businesses, providing comprehensive financing solutions across the capital structure and risk spectrum, including management of Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE: BXMT).

About BioMed Realty
BioMed Realty, a Blackstone portfolio company, is the largest private provider of real estate solutions to the life science and technology industries. BioMed owns and operates high quality life science real estate comprising 11.3 million square feet concentrated in the leading innovation markets throughout the United States and United Kingdom, including Boston/Cambridge, San Francisco, San Diego, Seattle and Cambridge U.K. In addition, BioMed maintains a premier development platform with 2.3 million square feet of Class A properties in active construction to meet the growing demand of the life science industry.

Contact
Ilana Mouritzen
Ilana.Mouritzen@Blackstone.com
Tel: (212) 583-5776

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KKR Expands Real Estate Industrial Portfolio in Phoenix with a New Acquisition

KKR

November 20, 2020

Investment Increases Phoenix Industrial Footprint to Nearly Two Million Square Feet

NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)– KKR, a leading global investment firm, today announced the acquisition of an industrial distribution property in Phoenix for a purchase price of approximately $32 million. The property takes KKR’s industrial footprint in the Phoenix market to nearly two million square feet.

Built in 2001, the asset is a 32-foot clear height, Class A property located in Phoenix’s Southwest Valley. The property was 100% leased at acquisition to a high quality tenant for approximately five and a half years. KKR acquired the asset from Cohen Asset Management and Cushman & Wakefield brokered the transaction.

“This is an important acquisition for us as we continue to develop and diversify our industrial footprint,” said Roger Morales, KKR Partner and Head of Commercial Real Estate Acquisitions in the Americas. “The Phoenix market fundamentals remain highly attractive and we believe the continued acceleration of e-Commerce penetration will drive demand for state of the art distribution centers like this one.”

KKR is making the investment through its Real Estate Partners Americas Fund II.

Across its funds, KKR owns over 16 million square feet of industrial properties in strategic locations across major metropolitan areas in the U.S. Since launching a dedicated real estate platform in 2011, KKR has grown real estate AUM to approximately $14 billion across the U.S., Europe and Asia as of September 30, 2020. The global real estate team consists of over 90 dedicated investment professionals, spanning both the equity and credit businesses.

About KKR

KKR is a leading global investment firm that manages multiple alternative asset classes, including private equity, credit and real assets, with strategic partners that manage hedge funds. KKR aims to generate attractive investment returns for its fund investors by following a patient and disciplined investment approach, employing world-class people, and driving growth and value creation with KKR portfolio companies. KKR invests its own capital alongside the capital it manages for fund investors and provides financing solutions and investment opportunities through its capital markets business. References to KKR’s investments may include the activities of its sponsored funds. For additional information about KKR & Co. Inc. (NYSE: KKR), please visit KKR’s website at www.kkr.com and on Twitter @KKR_Co.

Media:
Cara Major or Miles Radcliffe-Trenner
212-750-8300
media@kkr.com

Source: KKR

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Sandbäckens acquires Trisec AB

Segula

Sandbäckens continues its profitable growth journey and strengthens its position in the Östergötland area through an additional acquisition, Trisec AB. The acquired company offers energy-efficient automation solutions for properties and industrial premises.

Trisec is based in Norrköping and employs 14 people, generating a turnover of c. SEK 25m. The company has a broad customer base consisting of property owners, real estate managers and industrial companies with a geographic footprint spread across Östergötland.

“I am very pleased to welcome Jonas Stenbäck and all co-workers to Sandbäckens. Trisec is a successful company with significant competence and experience of meeting customer demand for energy efficient solutions in different types of properties”, says André Roos, Head of Business Development and Head of region East.

For further information, please visit www.sandbackens.se or contact:

Marcus Planting-Bergloo, Managing Partner, Segulah Advisor AB
+46 70 229 11 85, planting@segulah.se

André Roos, Head of Business Development and Head of region East, Sandbäckens
+46 76 000 26 01, andre.roos@sandbackens.se

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MercachemSyncom changes name to Symeres

GIlde Healthcare

MercachemSyncom changes name to Symeres

Nijmegen (The Netherlands) – MercachemSyncom today announced that it will change its name and operate under the registered trade name of Symeres.

The new name reflects the strategic evolution of the company, with the growth of integrated drug discovery and development services, which complement the company’s strong reputation in synthetic discovery and development chemistry. Recent examples of this evolution include the acquisition of ADME-Tox provider Admescope in November 2020 and strategic alliances integrating our services with high-quality CROs in the fields of in vitro biology, biophysics, and structural biology.

The name Symeres (derived from Sy-ncom Me-rcachem res-research) and accompanying tagline “making molecules matter” are derived from the experience and success of the Syncom and Mercachem legacy organizations and their core strengths in innovative research.

Dr. Eelco Ebbers, CEO of Symeres, added,

“The evolution of MercachemSyncom into Symeres is representative of the continuing expansion of the organization and our move into integrated solutions for drug discovery and development services, alongside our strong chemistry-centric services. The most recent example being our acquisition of Admescope. We look forward to continuing our journey with our clients around the world under our new identity, without forgetting the core values of quality, integrity, transparency, and innovation that got us to where we are today.”

For further information, please contact:
Dr. Russell Thomas
Head of Business Development
Symeres
Email: russell.thomas@symeres.com

 

About Symeres
Symeres, formerly MercachemSyncom, is the leading mid-sized European contract research organization offering innovative chemistry, medicinal chemistry, ADME, early process research services, and GMP production to accelerate the drug discovery and development process in a flexible and cost-effective way. Symeres also offers integrated drug-discovery services from hit to clinic via multiple-platform strategic alliances under a single MSA. Working for many pharmaceutical and biotech companies throughout the world, Symeres is recognized for its high-quality products and services and its unprecedented problem-solving capabilities.
For more information, please visit: www.symeres.com.

About Gilde Healthcare
Gilde Healthcare is a specialized healthcare investor managing over €1.4 billion ($1.5 billion) across two fund strategies: venture & growth capital and private equity. Gilde Healthcare’s venture & growth capital fund invests in fast growing companies active in digital health, medtech and therapeutics. The venture & growth companies are based in Europe and North America. Gilde Healthcare’s private equity fund invests in profitable European lower mid-market healthcare companies with a focus on the Benelux and DACH region. The private equity fund targets healthcare providers, suppliers of medical products and service providers in the healthcare market. For more information, visit the company’s website at www.gildehealthcare.com.

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Maxxton and Stardekk join forces in the global hospitality SaaS solutions

Fortino Capital

Maxxton and Stardekk, both established leaders in hospitality software solutions for years, joined forces to create a leading European player. The new group will cover all main segments: holiday parks, vacation rentals, serviced apartments, restaurants, B&B’s and hotels. Majority shareholder Fortino Capital and the management team consider this as an important step in the further international expansion.

Complementary product suites

Maxxton is the leading all-in-one software solution for vacation & short-term rental managers, leveraging on more than 20 years of experience in the industry. The group has grown into a global organisation with customers across the globe, from Europe to the islands of Hawaii. Maxxton is a trusted technology partner for larger companies in the leisure industry such as Roompot, EuroParcs, Siblu and Castle Hospitality Group. Maxxton’s property management system supports all daily business operations from operational and reservation management to financial settlements.

Stardekk provides cloud-based reservation and management systems especially created for small and medium hotels, restaurants and B&B’s. Building on their accumulated experience since 1999, Stardekk, with its core product Cubilis, plays a mission-critical role in the distribution strategy of independent hotels via the online travel agencies.

Jean-Pierre Mampaey, founder of Maxxton and CEO of the Group, explains: “Stardekk and Maxxton anticipate to manage more than 5.000.000 reservations in 2021. The mission of the group is to be and remain European market leader in hospitality cloud solutions by continuing this autonomous growth in conjunction with targeted add-ons. Integration of the cloud solutions and sales activities in the group will get the highest priority to continue the European expansion.”

“Due to the very similar vision and values of professionalism, reliability, quality and excellent service for clients in our common and well-known hospitality industry, we firmly believe that this way of joining forces will be a successful one for all involved and we are looking forward to an exciting and fruitful cooperation.” says Vincent Goemaere, Founder and CEO of Stardekk.

The new group will cover all main segments (holiday parks, vacation rentals, serviced apartments, restaurants, B&B’s and hotels). It employs more than 200 people in The Benelux and around the world.

Growth opportunities

The global hospitality software market offers significant opportunities for cloud-based software providers. Despite the recent negative impact of Covid-19 on global tourism, the pandemic also acted as a positive long-term catalyst for the digitalization of the operators, and boosted domestic tourism.

Fortino Capital will keep supporting the Management in their buy & build strategy. The fragmented hospitality software market offers significant consolidation opportunities, and the enlarged group has the ambition to act as a consolidator.

About Stardekk

Stardekk, a Belgian company, offers a complementary set of award winning in-house cloud based SaaS products for the hospitality industry (hotel software, channel manager, booking engine, internet strategy). Over 3,500 hotel accommodations in 50 countries manage their bookings via the Stardekk software suite. Stardekk is preferred IT Partner for major industry players like Booking.com, Expedia, Google, and AirBnB.

For more information please visit www.stardekk.com

About Maxxton

Maxxton is part of the Maxxton Group and has become the premier property management software for the broader hospitality and accommodation rental sector. Originally a Dutch company, since its formation in 1998, Maxxton has grown into a multinational organization with clients spread across the globe in the vacation rental, serviced apartment and holiday park & campsite businesses. Maxxton’s software-as-a-service solutions are built to simplify the reservation processes for large vacation & short-term rental managers.

For more information, please visit www.maxxton.com

About Fortino Capital

Fortino Capital Partners is a European enterprise software investor, managing a €240m growth private equity fund and two venture capital funds for earlier stage software opportunities. The firm has offices in Antwerp and Amsterdam. Fortino Capital’s investment portfolio includes MobileXpense, Efficy CRM, Odin Groep, Tenzinger, Maxxton,Teamleader, BuyBay, Oqton and iObeya among others.

For more information, please visit www.fortinocapital.com

About ING Belgium

ING Belgium, exiting minority shareholder of Stardekk, wishes to thank Vincent and his team for the successful collaboration in the past 4 years and welcomes Maxxton and Fortino Capital as complementary partners for a great combined future.

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Frankenius Equity increases its ownership in Gina Tricot

Nordic Capital

November 19 2020
Frankenius Equity increases its ownership in Gina Tricot Image

 

Since 2014, Gina Tricot has been successfully developed by the founding family Appelqvist, together with Sätila, Frankenius Equity and Nordic Capital. Today, Gina Tricot is a leading, sustainable fashion company in the Nordic region with a rapidly growing digital business. Frankenius Equity has now acquired Nordic Capital’s ownership in Gina Tricot and will, alongside the other owners, continue to support the company’s development.

“It is very inspiring and exciting to have the opportunity to increase our ownership. Together with Appelqvist Holding and Sätila, I look forward to continuing to develop Gina Tricot based on the company’s market position today. Together with Nordic Capital, we have made significant investments in the company, with a focus on developing a fast-growing e-commerce business, a more sustainable production combined with the launch of several new concepts in the recent years. Gina Tricot stands for both simplicity and passion, both through its design and culture. This is something we will stick to on our continued joint journey “, says Paul Frankenius, Chairman of the Board and co-owner of Gina Tricot.

Gina Tricot was founded in 1997 in Borås by Annette and Jörgen Appelqvist with the vision of offering good fashion for little money. In 2014, Nordic Capital and Frankenius Equity joined as co-owners, with the joint ambition to create a competitive platform and to develop Gina Tricot’s e-commerce offering, which has become even more important during the current economic situation. Through a new IT system and a leading omnichannel structure, a very fast-growing digital commerce has been created, both in its own channels and with partners. Today, Gina Tricot has an annual turnover of approximately SEK 2 billion with 1,600 employees. The fashion industry is changing rapidly and the business has been strengthened at all levels to create the best customer experience.

“We are very proud of the fantastic journey we have been on together with all of our employees. Together with Nordic Capital, we have switched to a higher degree of digitalisation over the last few years, and we look forward to becoming an even more modern fashion company. The current position and the opportunities are great”, says Jörgen Appelqvist.

“Nordic Capital invested in Gina Tricot with a clear goal of developing and modernizing one of the Nordic region’s most well-known brands. Since then, Gina Tricot has strengthened its digital and commercial capacity to achieve stable profitability and growth, with ongoing support from Nordic Capital’s expertise in, among other things, digitization and sustainability. Together with Gina Tricot’s passionate employees, we have increased the company’s competitiveness” says David Samuelson, Principal, Nordic Capital Advisors.

The parties have agreed not to communicate financial details.

 

Media contacts:

Gina Tricot & Frankenius Equity

Sanna Franklin
Press Contact
Tel +46 70 863 85 55
email: sanna@cultcommunications.com

Nordic Capital

Katarina Janerud, Communications Manager
Nordic Capital Advisor
Tel: +46 8 440 50 50
email: katarina.janerud@nordiccapital.com

 

About Frankenius Equity

Frankenius Equity is a privately owned investment company with a focus on E-com, retail, medical technology and real estate. The company invests mainly together with operating partners and larger investment companies and currently has around ten investments. For more information visit www.fraq.se

About Gina Tricot

Gina Tricot is a Swedish fashion chain that offers exciting and feminine fashion to women in over 30 countries. The company has 162 stores and 1,600 employees. Our strength is to be able to attract the modern woman, in everything from design to price, quality and sustainability. We have a strong passion for fashion and aim to offer the customer a new and interesting shopping experience. For more information, visit www.ginatricot.com

About Nordic Capital

Nordic Capital is a leading private equity investor with a resolute commitment to creating stronger, sustainable businesses through operational improvement and transformative growth. Nordic Capital focuses on selected regions and sectors where it has deep experience and a long history. Focus sectors are Healthcare, Technology & Payments, Financial Services, and selectively, Industrial & Business Services. Key regions are Europe and globally for Healthcare and Technology & Payments investments. Since inception in 1989, Nordic Capital has invested more than EUR 15.5 billion in over 110 investments. The most recent fund is Nordic Capital Fund X with EUR 6.1 billion in committed capital, principally provided by international institutional investors such as pension funds. Nordic Capital Advisors have local offices in Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Germany, the UK and the US. For further information about Nordic Capital, please visit www.nordiccapital.com

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Exlusive agreement for the acquisition of ALTAÏR GROUP

Eurazeo

Paris, 19th of November 2020

Eurazeo PME, subsidiary of Eurazeo that specialises in investing in medium-sized companies, has signed an exclusive agreement to acquire Altaïr group. The deal would involve Eurazeo PME investing around €115 million in the Group. Eurazeo PME would hold a majority stake alongside Altaïr management and key executives.

Altaïr was founded in 1946 by the Brunel brothers, and is a leading European producer of household and home care products. Operating in a resilient sector that has demonstrated steady growth over the last 20 years, the Group generated around €105m of revenue in 2019 and maintained its growth trajectory despite the ongoing sanitary crisis.

The Group’s offer is built around strong brands with leadership positions in the home care and insect control markets:
• Starwax brands portfolio (Starwax the Fabulous, Starwax Respect etc.) for specialist cleaning products;
• Sinto for multi-material repair and renovation products
• Kapo for insect control.

These brands are mainly distributed through specialized channels and DIY stores in France. Altaïr has also developed a significant presence in Spain (c. 25% of revenue) with the Oro (laundry products and insecticides) and Mistol (dishwashing products) brands.
In addition, the Group sells its products in more than 50 countries (c. 25% of revenue), either through its local subsidiaries in Poland and Benelux or through distributors, mainly in North Africa and Eastern Europe.
The shared ambition of Eurazeo PME and the management team led by Etienne Sacilotto is to accelerate the Group’s development in Europe by a combination of organic growth and buy-and-build acquisitions, and to actively support the Group in its CSR roadmap.
Eurazeo will bring its financial resources, international network and expertise (notably in external growth, digitalisation and CSR) to help the Group accelerate on the transformation plan already initiated by the management team.

Benjamin Hara, member of Eurazeo PME’s Executive Board, said:

We look forward to supporting the management team led by Etienne Sacilotto in its ambitious growth strategy underpinned by the positive underlying consumer trends in the home care sector. The Group has strong development potential thanks to its innovation know-how, the strength of its brands (Starwax, Oro, etc), its track record of operational excellence and a CSR strategy that we will be supporting actively. Altaïr is also a robust platform for a focused consolidation strategy in France and Europe.

Etienne Sacilotto, General Manager of Altaïr, added:

We are confident that this new milestone will enable us to accelerate our development in the years to come. I am grateful to Motion Equity Partners for their continuous support and I am very pleased to welcome Eurazeo PME – I am convinced their financial support and renowned expertise (external growth, digital transformation, CSR…) will be key catalysts in delivering our strategic roadmap. I would also like to thank all our employees for their commitment and I am confident that their steady dedication will continue to drive our success in the service of our customers.

Patrick Eisenchteter, Motion Equity Partners

Since our initial investment in 2016, Altaïr Group has made a great step-up to become a true European leader in branded household care products. We are proud to have contributed to this success alongside the Group’s Management team, notably through Altaïr’s first cross-border acquisition (Oro, Spain) which has significantly strengthened the Group and laid the ground for the current growth project carried-out by Etienne Sacilotto and his team. We are delighted to hand-over to Eurazeo PME, which we believe is the right partner to the Group and its Management team in order to pursue its growth story, both organically and through buy & build.

About Eurazeo
Eurazeo is a leading global investment company, with a diversified portfolio of €18.8 billion in assets under management, including €13.3 billion from third parties, invested in over 430 companies. With its considerable private equity, real estate and private debt expertise, Eurazeo accompanies companies of all sizes, supporting their development through the commitment of its nearly 300 professionals and by offering in-depth sector expertise, a gateway to global markets, and a responsible and stable foothold for transformational growth. Its solid institutional and family shareholder base, robust financial structure free of structural debt, and flexible investment horizon enable Eurazeo to support its companies over the long term.
Eurazeo has offices in Paris, New York, Sao Paulo, Seoul, Shanghai, London, Luxembourg, Frankfurt, Berlin and Madrid.
Eurazeo is listed on Euronext Paris.
ISIN: FR0000121121 – Bloomberg: RF FP – Reuters: EURA.PA

About Altaïr
Altaïr was founded in 1946 by the Brunel brothers, and produces household and home care products: Starwax (premium home care products), Sinto (renovation and repair products), Kapo (insecticides) in France as well as Oro (household products) and Mistol (dishwashing products) in Spain. Headquartered in Wasquehal, Northern France, the Group employs around 380 people and operates two production sites in France (in Noyelles and Aubagne) and one in Spain (in Valencia). With well-established brands and a strong capacity for innovation – launching more than 150 new products per year and developing new concepts and brands – Altaïr is a major European player and market leader.

Homepage

About Motion Equity Partners
Motion Equity Partners is a long-standing mid-market private equity firm with a seasoned team of private equity professionals and more than 25 years of experience in backing French and International SMEs alongside Management teams. Motion Equity Partners has an extensive track record with more than 50 operations realised in France and abroad, actively supporting Management teams aiming at accelerating growth, change and development.

EURAZEO CONTACTS

PRESS CONTACT
PIERRE BERNARDIN
HEAD OF INVESTOR RELATIONS
email: pbernardin@eurazeo.com
Tel: +33 (0)1 44 15 16 76

VIRGINIE CHRISTNACHT
HEAD OF COMMUNICATIONS
mail: vchristnacht@eurazeo.com
Tel: +33 (0)1 44 15 76 44

MAITLAND/amo
DAVID STURKEN
mail: dsturken@maitland.co.uk
Tel: +44 (0) 7990 595 913

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ECI Software Solutions to be acquired by Leonard Green & Partners; Funds advised by Apax Partners to retain minority stake

Apax

19 November 2020

ECI Software Solutions to be acquired by Leonard Green & Partners; Funds advised by Apax Partners to retain minority stake

Fort Worth, TX, November 19, 2020 – ECI Software Solutions (“ECI”), a leader in cloud-based business management software solutions for small and medium sized companies, today announced that Leonard Green & Partners (“LGP”) will acquire a majority stake in the company from funds advised by Apax Partners and The Carlyle Group. Upon completion of the transaction, funds advised by Apax Partners, which acquired ECI in 2017, will retain a minority stake in ECI. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

ECI is the premier provider of Enterprise Resource Planning (“ERP”) solutions, such as accounting, purchasing, warehousing and inventory management, to more than 22,000 customers globally. Under the Apax Funds’ and Carlyle’s ownership, ECI has experienced rapid growth both organically and through strategic M&A. Since 2017, ECI has made 15 acquisitions, helping it gain significant market share and scale internationally, with sizeable transactions in Europe and Australia consolidating its presence in those regions.

“The ECI team and I have had a powerful partnership with Apax and Carlyle as we have built the company into a leading SaaS business software solutions and services provider,” said Ron Books, ECI’s Chief Executive Officer. “They have been instrumental in the tremendous growth of our company, and we are proud of what we accomplished together. We are excited to welcome LGP as our new partner, and I am confident that this is the right choice for our future – and the future of our 1,700 employees and more than 22,000 customers.”

Usama Cortas, Partner at LGP, said: “We are delighted to be partnering with a mission-driven company like ECI, which is focused on supporting the activities and growth of small to medium-sized businesses around the world. We invest in companies that win with people, have a differentiated culture and are market leaders with multiple ways to grow – and ECI is the perfect example. ECI has built an incredible track record of success, and we are excited to be partnering with ECI Management and Apax to support and accelerate the next phase of the company’s growth.”

Jason Wright, Partner at Apax Partners, said: “We have been proud to partner with Ron Books and the ECI management team over the past three years as they have executed their plan and transformed the Company through investment in products, international expansion and the completion of 15 acquisitions. Importantly, Ron and the team have instilled a unique culture that is customer-centric and employee-friendly. We’re excited about the opportunity to partner with LGP during this next phase of ECI’s growth.”

Steve Bailey, Managing Director at Carlyle, said: “It has been a tremendous journey with Ron and the ECI team and Apax over the years. Carlyle’s strategy is to focus on vertical market SaaS investments or successfully transition software businesses to a SaaS model. Our partnership with ECI is a great example of the latter. Through embracing the opportunity in SaaS, ECI has accelerated its growth while also benefitting from strategic acquisitions. We wish the team every success for the future.”

BofA Securities is acting as lead financial advisor, Barclays as financial advisor, and Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meager & Flom as legal advisor to Apax Partners and ECI. Latham & Watkins LLP acted as legal advisor to LGP.

About ECI

ECI Software Solutions provides industry-specific business software solutions and services, focusing on cloud-based technologies. For 30+ years, ECI has served small to medium-sized manufacturing, wholesale/retail distribution, building and construction, and field service organizations. Privately held, ECI is headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, USA, with offices throughout the U.S., Canada, Mexico, England, the Netherlands, and Australia. For information, email info@ecisolutions.com, visit www.ECISolutions.com or call (800) 959-3367.

About Apax Partners LLP

Apax Partners is a leading global private equity advisory firm. Over its more than 40-year history, Apax Partners has raised and advised funds with aggregate commitments of approximately $50 billion. The Apax Funds invest in companies across four global sectors of Tech & Telco, Services, Healthcare and Consumer. These funds provide long-term equity financing to build and strengthen world-class companies. For more information see: www.apax.com.

About The Carlyle Group

The Carlyle Group (NASDAQ: CG) is a global investment firm with deep industry expertise that deploys private capital across four business segments: Corporate Private Equity, Real Assets, Global Credit and Investment Solutions. With $230 billion of assets under management as of September 30, 2020, Carlyle’s purpose is to invest wisely and create value on behalf of its investors, portfolio companies and the communities in which we live and invest. Carlyle employs more than 1,800 people in 30 offices across six continents. Further information is available at www.carlyle.com. Follow Carlyle on Twitter @OneCarlyle.

About Leonard Green & Partners

Leonard Green & Partners, L.P. is a leading private equity investment firm founded in 1989 and based in Los Angeles. The firm partners with experienced management teams and often with founders to invest in market-leading companies. Since inception, LGP has invested in over 100 companies in the form of traditional buyouts, going-private transactions, recapitalizations, growth equity, and selective public equity and debt positions. LGP primarily focuses on companies providing services, including consumer, business, and healthcare services, as well as retail, distribution, and industrials. For more information, please visit www.leonardgreen.com.

ECI Media Contacts

Wendi Sabo | +1 214 683 9217 | wsabo@ecisolutions.com

Apax Media Contacts 

Katarina Sallerfors | +44 207 872 6526 | katarina.sallerfors@apax.com

Kekst CNC | +1 212 521 4854 | todd.fogarty@kekstcnc.com

Greenbrook | +44 20 7295 2000 | apax@greenbrookpr.com

Carlyle Media Contacts

Brittany Berliner | +1 (516) 404-2369 | brittany.berliner@carlyle.com

Andrew Kenny | +44 7816 176120 | andrew.kenny@carlyle.com

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Two globally leading eyewear manufacturers join forces: Equistone to sell Eschenbach Holding to Inspecs Group plc

Equistone

19 Nov 2020

Funds advised by Equistone Partners Europe (“Equistone”) have agreed to sell their majority stake in Nuremberg-based Eschenbach Holding GmbH (“Eschenbach”). Eschenbach is a German leader in eyewear and low-vision products, offering correction frames and ready-to-wear sunglasses, with further strong positions in Europe and the US. Eschenbach will be an even stronger player together with the British Inspecs Group plc (“Inspecs”), based in Bath and listed in London. The financial terms of the transaction are undisclosed and the transaction remains subject to approval from the relevant competition authorities and fulfilment of conditions precedent.

Founded in 1913, Eschenbach has developed into a global market leader for optical vision aids and one of the globally leading designers of branded glasses and optical products. Eschenbach combines award-winning design with reliable quality, whether with distinctive eyewear brands, magnifying vision aids or binoculars. This commitment to quality and design is also demonstrated by the multiple “Red Dot Awards” that Eschenbach has received for its eyewear collections in the past three years alone. According to Gesellschaft für Konsumforschung (GfK), the largest German market research institute, since the end of 2019, Eschenbach has become a leader in the German market for frames across all price segments.

Equistone (then Barclays Private Equity) acquired Eschenbach from the founding family and a financial investor in July 2007, together with the company’s management team. Since then, Eschenbach’s turnover has increased from an initial EUR 100 million to EUR 143 million in 2019. The strategic sale of its technical optics division in 2014 and the important acquisitions of British eyewear business International Eyewear Limited (2008) and US-based eyewear brand Tura (2009) also fell within this ownership period.

Inspecs was founded by Robin Totterman (CEO) in 1988 and is a designer, manufacturer and distributor of eyewear frames and lenses. The group produces a broad range of frames, covering optical, sunglasses and safety, which are either “Branded” (either under licence or under the Group’s own proprietary brands) or “OEM” (including private label on behalf of retail customers and unbranded). As one of only a few companies that can offer this one-stop-shop solution to global retail chains, Inspecs is well-positioned to continue to take market share in the globally expanding eyewear market. Inspecs customers include global optical and non-optical retailers, global distributors and independent opticians, with its distribution network covering over 80 countries and reaching approximately 30,000 points of sale. Inspecs has operations across the globe: with offices in the UK, Portugal, Scandinavia, the US and China (Hong Kong, Macau and Shenzhen), and manufacturing facilities in Vietnam, China, the UK and Italy.

“The successes we achieved during our partnership, as well as a very positive 2019 financial year and a new five-year growth strategy, form an ideal basis for Eschenbach’s continued, successful development. Joining forces with Inspecs will provide Eschenbach with an additional boost of momentum to reliably strengthen its global market position and to write a new chapter of its success story,” says Dr Marc Arens, Managing Director and Partner at Equistone’s Munich office.

“During our successful partnership, Equistone has always proved to be a reliable and growth-oriented investor and partner for more than a decade,” says Dr Jörg Zobel, CEO of Eschenbach. “Together with Equistone we found in Inspecs the right strategic partner for our new five-year growth vision. We have ambitious goals that we can achieve together in the new group. Our dedication to German engineering and quality and the best combination of design and function will remain key pillars.”

“We have followed Eschenbach’s progress for some time and are pleased to be welcoming Germany’s No.1 eyewear company and its great people into the Inspecs Group. Joining these two industry-leading businesses together will create the sixth-largest eyewear company in the world and enable the enlarged Group to further penetrate key global markets while also diversifying our combined customer and product portfolios. This is an exciting time for the industry and I look forward to working together,” commented Robin Totterman, CEO of Inspecs.

Michael H. Bork, Dr Marc Arens and Julia Lucà led the transaction on behalf of Equistone. Equistone and Eschenbach were advised by Lincoln International (M&A), Ashurst (Legal), E&Y Parthenon (Strategy) and E&Y (Financial & Tax). Inspecs was advised by Livingstone (M&A), Gleiss Lutz (Legal) and KPMG (Financial & Tax).

 

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Symphony Technology Group Acquires Warpwire, Leading Provider of Educational Video Services

Stg Partners

Warpwire marks STG’s third investment into a unified platform following the acquisitions of CadmiumCD and EthosCE earlier this year.

Symphony Technology Group (“STG”), a Palo Alto-based private equity firm focused on investing in the software, data analytics, and software-enabled technology services sectors, today announced that it has acquired Warpwire, a Durham, North Carolina-based educational video management company.

“Warpwire focuses on providing world-class reliability and security to our customers. Our partnership with STG will only increase our capabilities for robust video delivery,” said Warpwire co-founder and CTO Monte Evans.

This acquisition underscores STG’s commitment to building a unique, market-leading software platform offering continuing education, professional development, events, learning and content management solutions to associations, healthcare & life sciences organizations, hospitals, and universities globally. Warpwire marks STG’s third investment in this platform following the acquisitions of CadmiumCD and EthosCE earlier this year.

“The acquisitions of EthosCE, CadmiumCD, and now Warpwire, are the continuation of STG’s vision of a unified technology platform for professional education,” said William Chisholm, co-founder and Managing Partner of STG.

“We’re impressed with STG’s research in this product space, and vision to join and strengthen like-minded teams. As we align with EthosCE and CadmiumCD, Warpwire is energized to continue creating compelling media solutions for our shared client base,” adds Warpwire co-founder and COO Andrew Synowiez.

This acquisition is another step toward STG’s vision to create a purpose-built software platform for association, healthcare, life sciences and university customers to help them manage various continuing education, professional development and learning activities through events and online content for their members.

“We released an integration with Warpwire in March 2018,” said EthosCE founder and CTO Ezra Wolfe. “We look forward to offering Warpwire’s video services in new and unique ways as an additional value-add for clients who use video content as part of their continuing education programs.”

“We are very excited to bring Warpwire into our expanding portfolio of industry-leading products and scale it even further by investing in new solution areas and complementary acquisitions,” said Rushi Kulkarni, Principal at STG.

Benefits of the expanded platform include:

  • Trackable video content and learner usage metrics
  • Low-cost video hosting for continuing education programs
  • Secure video delivery inside a password-protected continuing education environment
  • Ad-free video player environment for CME
  • Multi-camera video recording and playback
  • Multiple closed caption provider options, and manual video captions

A 5-minute demo of the Warpwire integration with EthosCE is available on the Warpwire platform.

About Warpwire

Warpwire is a video delivery platform for leading enterprise and educational institutions whose users require a secure, simple, and reliable system for hosting media content. Founded in 2013, Warpwire’s team has extensive experience custom-integrating media technologies for learning environments in ways that are accessible, flexible, and collaborative.

For more information, please visit www.warpwire.com

About EthosCE

EthosCE is the leading learning management system for medical associations, universities, health systems, and medical education companies. EthosCE is produced by DLC Solutions, LLC. Established in 2001, DLC Solutions develops innovative e-learning solutions to support diverse professional populations.

For more information, please visit www.ethosce.com

About CadmiumCD

CadmiumCD is an event management software company with more than 15 years of experience providing solutions for Meeting Planners, Exhibition Organizers, Education Directors, and Attendees. The company’s award-winning platform is trusted by more than 3,500 meeting professionals worldwide to collect, manage and share content to all event stakeholders.

For more information, please visit www.cadmiumcd.com

About Symphony Technology Group

STG is the private equity partner to market leading companies in data, software, and analytics. The firm brings expertise, flexibility, and resources to build strategic value and unlock the potential of innovative companies. Partnering to build customer-centric, market winning portfolio companies, STG creates sustainable foundations for growth that bring value to all existing and future stakeholders. The firm is dedicated to transforming and building outstanding technology companies in partnership with world class management teams. STG’s expansive portfolio has consisted of more than 30 global companies.

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