Category Archives: News

DIF Capital Partners agrees to sell a portfolio of European PPP assets to Equitix

DIF

DIF Capital Partners (“DIF”) is pleased to announce that DIF Infrastructure III (“DIF III”) and DIF Infrastructure IV (“DIF IV”) have agreed to the sale of their stakes in a portfolio of six European PPP assets to Equitix, a leading UK and European infrastructure fund manager.

The portfolio consists of shareholdings in a number of critical infrastructure projects that DIF invested into as primary transactions: A1/A6 Road, IJmond Sea Lock and N18 Road in the Netherlands; A7 Nord Road and Netz West Rolling Stock in Germany; as well as the KAV Vienna Hospital in Austria. With the exception of IJmond Sea Lock which is currently in the final stages of construction, all of the projects are operational under availability-based contractual structures that are backed by strong public counterparties.

Andrew Freeman, Head of Exits at DIF, said: “We are very pleased with the sale of this well diversified and optimised portfolio of North-Western European PPP assets which represents an attractive exit for our DIF III and DIF IV investors. We believe Equitix is an excellent counterparty and is perfectly positioned to manage the assets until maturity.”

Hugh Crossley, Chief Investment Officer for Equitix, said: “As we continue to diversify and grow our European portfolio, we are always looking out for attractive opportunities to acquire high-quality assets that meet our responsible investment criteria. The DIF portfolio does just this and will allow us to leverage our continental expertise for the benefit of investors in our European Infrastructure Fund.”

DIF was advised on the transaction by Cantor Fitzgerald and PwC (financial), Allen & Overy (legal), PwC (tax & accounting), as well as Atkins and Arup (technical).

Equitix was advised by CMS (legal), Deloitte (tax and accounting) and Arcadis (technical).

Closing of the transaction is subject to the receipt of customary approvals and consents.

About DIF Capital Partners

DIF Capital Partners is a leading global independent fund manager, with €8.5 billion of assets under management across nine closed-end infrastructure funds and several co-investment vehicles. DIF Capital Partners invests in greenfield and operational infrastructure assets located primarily in Europe, the Americas and Australasia through two complementary strategies:

  • Traditional DIF funds, of which DIF Infrastructure Fund VI is the latest vintage, target equity investments with long-term contracted or regulated income streams including public-private partnerships, concessions, utilities, and (renewable) energy projects.
  • DIF CIF funds target equity investments in small to mid-sized economic infrastructure assets in the telecom, energy and transportation sectors.

DIF Capital Partners has a team of over 160 professionals, based in nine offices located in Amsterdam (Schiphol), Frankfurt, London, Luxembourg, Madrid, Paris, Santiago, Sydney and Toronto. For further information please visit www.dif.eu.

Contact: Allard Ruijs, Partner; a.ruijs@dif.eu.

Categories: News

Tags:

Ardian and MCH Private Equity join forces to invest in Logalty, a spanish legaltech company

Ardian

Madrid, April 19, 2021 – Ardian Growth has teamed up with MCH Private Equity, a leading Spanish mid-market private equity firm, to acquire the legaltech company, Logalty. Swen Capital Partner, a long-term investor in MCH, also participated in the transaction.

Founded in 2005, Logalty is responsible for ensuring the legal security of online transactions by providing digital identity and contractual flow solutions with distributed interposition. To meet the highest standards of cyber-security and compliance, Logalty provides large corporates with legal security through effective electronic evidence.

In the last two years, the company has seen 20% growth in sales year-on-year and has doubled its EBITDA. It client base includes some of the leading financial institutions in Spain.

Through this investment by MCH Private Equity as leader of the transaction and Ardian Growth, the group is aiming in 2021 to consolidate its position in its domestic market and accelerate its international development, particularly in Mexico and Portugal. The company aims to develop new technological blocks, expand its offer in the SME market and strengthen its positioning with blue chip customers. In 2020, Logalty maintained its profitable growth, successfully coping an increasing number of data exchanges.

MCH PE and Ardian Growth have enjoyed a close relationship for several years and have highly complementary expertise. Logalty will be able to leverage MCH PE’s deep understanding of the Spanish market, after more than 20 years’ experience transforming leading companies in their respective industries, as well as Ardian Growth’s digital expertise scaling up companies with double-digit growth.

Andrés Peláez, Senior Partner at MCH Private Equity, comments: “Logalty is the only Spanish player to have penetrated major accounts and managed to maintain long-lasting relationships. It is a very attractive company with great potential in a market that is in the process of consolidation. Together with Ardian Growth, we are confident that we will be able to take the company to new levels of growth.”

Bertrand Schapiro, Director in the Ardian Growth team, added: “Logalty has built an impressive tech platform able to support customers’ growing needs, while simultaneously reaching new markets. We’re delighted to leverage our pan-European footprint and our ecosystem of entrepreneurs to support the management’s ambitious growth strategy.”

Gonzalo Fernandez Albiñana, Managing Director at Ardian Spain completed: “Investing alongside MCH, one of the leading Spanish mid-market funds, with whom we have a long-standing relationship, and whose approach is complementary to that of Ardian Growth, is an exciting opportunity.”

ABOUT LOGALTY

Established in 2005 as the first Spanish Legaltech, Logalty acts as a provider of services for generating proof by interposition in online transactions, ensuring that transactions are secure, unalterable and with full probative value. Since its foundation, the Company has registered +38 million electronic signatures and +25 million certified communications in +147 countries, as well as generating +58 million notarized electronic documents and evidence.

Visit the website

Categories: News

Tags:

KKR Invests in Adopt A Cow

KKR

April 18, 2021

KKR’s latest investment in Asia that supports industry-leading companies enabled by technology

BEIJING–(BUSINESS WIRE)– Leading global investment firm KKR today announced that KKR has invested in Adopt A Cow, a fast-growing, direct-to-consumer dairy company in China that integrates digital solutions into its core operations. Adopt A Cow’s new funding round was co-led by KKR and DCP Capital.

Founded in 2016, Adopt A Cow primarily produces and sells its pure milk, yogurt, cheese sticks and milk power products and has quickly become a trusted high-end dairy brand in China, thanks to its vertically integrated business model covering alfalfa growing, dairy farming, milk processing, and technology-enabled marketing. Over the past five years, the company has become one of the fastest growing direct-to-consumer brands in China, and has accumulated more than 10 million loyal customers.

Adopt A Cow’s focus on product quality and safety, and its well-established digital sales strategy – including partnerships with opinion leaders, Tmall and other prominent ecommerce platforms – position it well to benefit from the rapid growth of China’s millennial and Generation Z populations. These groups are entering their prime consumption years, digitally savvy and increasingly seeking higher-quality goods and services.

Adopt A Cow will use the new funding to accelerate the construction of modernized dairy farms and smart production factories, bring in high-quality Australian dairy cows and further integrate its digital operation platform to enhance efficiency, improve product quality and brand competitiveness. KKR will support the company’s business growth by combining its deep experience investing in China’s technology and consumer sectors with its global industry expertise and network of resources.

“Today marks an exciting new chapter for Adopt A Cow as we accelerate our strategy to bring our high-quality dairy products to more consumers in China,” said Xu Xiaobo, Founder of Adopt A Cow. “KKR has a proven track record of investing in the dairy sector and providing value-added operational support to homegrown technology champions, and we look forward to working with them to take Adopt A Cow to its next level of success.”

“Consumption upgrades and food safety are among the key focused themes for our investments in China. As a traditional industry, the dairy sector in China is going through an exciting period of technological innovation, driven by the fast development of IoT, increasing penetration of Ecommerce and digital marketing, and higher demand for naturally healthy and nutritious products,” said Chris Sun, a Managing Director on KKR’s China investment team. “We are thrilled to be backing Adopt A Cow and its forward-thinking leadership team as the company carries out its disruptive strategy to change the way dairy is produced, marketed and sold to customers.”

“China’s economic growth is benefitting from the expansive and rapid adoption of digital technologies that are bringing convenience into people’s everyday lives,” said Karen Zhang, who leads KKR’s technology strategy in China. “This is creating attractive opportunities to support the innovative Chinese companies, like Adopt A Cow, that are transforming their industries for the digital economy.”

KKR is making its investment from its Asian private equity fund. This investment in Adopt a Cow builds on KKR’s long track record in China’s dairy sector, which includes previous investments in China Modern Dairy and Asia Dairy. This is KKR’s latest investment that supports industry-leading companies enabled by technology. Recent technology-focused investments for KKR in China include Walnut Programming, a children’s programming education company; Huohua Logic, a leading online education platform specializing in mathematics and science for children; and Xingsheng Youxuan, a leading community-based group ecommerce company.

About Adopt A Cow

Adopt A Cow was founded by Xu Xiaobo with a mission of providing high-quality dairy products to consumers through its vertically integrated business model, covering dairy farming, alfalfa growing, farm visits, feed processing, as well as milk processing and sales. Xu Xiaobo built the company’s first large-scale modernized dairy farm in Gucheng, Hebei Province in 2014, before launching the Adopt A Cow brand in October 2016 in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province. Through crossover collaboration, content co-creation and interactive marketing, Adopt A Cow has become a trusted high-end diary brand in China.

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.

Media:
KKR Asia Pacific
Anita Davis
+852 3602 7335
Anita.Davis@kkr.com

Categories: News

Tags:

Hg invests in AUVESY to support the business’ leading position in the growing industrial automation sector

HG Capital

Landau, Germany and London, United Kingdom: 16 April 2021

Hg, a leading global software investor, today announces an investment in AUVESY GmbH (“AUVESY”), a leading global provider of version control and change management software solutions for automated industrial environments.

As part of the transaction, the AUVESY management team will maintain a significant investment in the business whilst the former majority owner Brockhaus Private Equity has fully exited its position. The terms of the transaction have not been disclosed and the transaction is subject to completion.

Founded in 2007 and headquartered in Germany, AUVESY is a provider of version control software for smart production machinery and other industrial Internet of Things (“IoT”) devices. AUVESY manages over 5 million industrial IoT devices across 45 countries, serving over 700 loyal customers.

Software developed by AUVESY enables its customers with automated production facilities and other smart machinery to automatically backup, secure and centralise their machine data and executable code. Customers also benefit from fully-featured change management, detailed change detection, easily comprehensible documentation, and a high degree of user-friendliness. All machine level data is easy to backup and access when needed, simplifying maintenance, and freeing up time for optimising production processes. Downtime is significantly reduced, due to easy and reliable code management, trouble shooting and disaster recovery. The AUVESY software product “versiondog” is in use across a wide range of sectors, including automotive, chemical, energy, food & beverage, pharma and utilities.

AUVESY is the first investment from the Hg Mercury 3 Fund and represents the 8th investment in Hg’s Automation & Engineering cluster focus, including the recently announced agreement with Trackunit. The investment will support AUVESY’s position in a growing sector, which sits an important inflection point as shopfloors and industrial devices are getting increasingly digitalised, requiring version control solutions from a technical, cybersecurity, compliance and, for certain industries, even a regulatory perspective.

“This is positive news for everyone at AUVESY and I thank all my colleagues who have worked so hard to get us to this very strong position. We are delighted to be partnering with a software expert in Hg. We see their operational experience and expertise in areas such as international sales, marketing and M&A being hugely beneficial to the future growth of the firm, all supporting our ‘Never Stand Still’ mission to ensure that our customers around the world experience less down time in their production.”

Dr. Tim Weckerle, CEO of AUVESY

“AUVESY is a highly innovative business, building a leading position in industrial IoT version control software globally. We see significant growth potential in this sector, both across new industry verticals and expansion into additional use cases. AUVESY is incredibly well positioned to benefit from this potential. Its excellent software enjoys high customer satisfaction and loyalty due to the efficiency increase and risk protection it provides.”

Benedikt Joeris, Director at Hg

“Digitalisation at the shopfloor level is an increasing requirement across many sectors right now. As this trend continues, AUVESY is well positioned to enable customers to follow this trend. We see significant room to grow dynamically in the years ahead and look forward to working with the team.”

Markus Reithwiesner, an industry advisor at Hg and serving board member for several companies in the production and industry automation sector, will join AUVESY as Chairman

“As a technology investor focusing on high margin companies in innovation-driven markets, AUVESY was a perfect fit for our investment strategy when we acquired the company from its founders in 2017. After having supported the company in internationalisation by opening offices in the USA and in China, we see a prospering future for AUVESY.”

Marco Brockhaus, founder and Managing Director of Brockhaus Private Equity

For further details:

Tom Eckersley (Hg)
Tom.Eckersley@hgcapital.com
Phone: +44 208 148 5401

About AUVESY

AUVESY is a global leader for data management systems and the company behind versiondog, the world’s leading version control & data management system for automated production. versiondog provides users with comprehensive support for centralised data management and device backup. Specifically developed for industrial automation and designed to work with all data and automation systems, this solution is acknowledged as the world leader in its field.

AUVESY has a wide range of customers across the industrial spectrum who use this version control and change management software to safeguard PLCs, CNCs, SCADAs, HMIs, robots, and field devices. versiondog is the go-to solution for safeguarding data and for disaster recovery.

All users of AUVESY’s versiondog software benefit from greater utilisation of plant capacity and a significant reduction of downtime. https://auvesy.com/

About Hg

Hg is a leading investor in software and services, focused on backing businesses that change how we all do business. Deep technology expertise, complemented by vertical application specialisation and dedicated operational support, provides a compelling proposition to management teams looking to scale their businesses. Hg has funds under management of over $30 billion, with an investment team of over 140 professionals, plus a portfolio team of more than 35 operators, providing practical support to help our businesses to realise their growth ambitions. Based in London, Munich and New York, Hg has a portfolio of over 35 software and technology businesses, worth over $60 billion aggregate enterprise value, with over 35,000 employees globally. Visit www.hgcapital.com for more information.

Categories: News

Tags:

Red Collar announces expansion of Oklahoma pet food manufacturing plant

Arbor Investment

FRANKLIN, TN. — Red Collar Pet Foods is adding 85,000 square feet to its Clinton, Oklahoma manufacturing plant. The $5.7 million expansion will be built on the south side of the existing building to help meet the high demand for products. This investment follows a recent expansion of the facility’s packaging capabilities.

“The Clinton plant continues to be one of our fastest growing plants in Red Collar Pet Foods coast-to-coast network” said Greg Wolking, the company’s chief operating officer. “When completed, the warehouse expansion enables capacity for future growth and additional hiring.”

Construction on the new 85,000-square-foot warehouse is set to begin at the end of the year.

“Congratulations to Red Collar Pet Foods and the community of Clinton on this exciting expansion,” said Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt. “Oklahoma is an ideal distribution point for the nation because of our central location and proximity to 88 million customers within a 500-mile radius, and Red Collar’s location in Clinton off of I-40 makes them uniquely capable to capitalize on a great logistical opportunity.”

The current workforce at the Clinton facility is 111. A fourth shift added at the end of 2020 resulted in 20 new hires. Nationwide, Red Collar has almost 800 employees at its headquarters and across its six manufacturing sites located in Orangeburg, South Carolina; Washington Court House, Ohio; Miami, Oklahoma.; Clinton, Oklahoma.; San Bernardino, California and Joplin, Missouri.

“Red Collar Pet Foods is one of thousands of manufacturing operations to find success in our state,” said Scott Mueller, Oklahoma secretary of commerce and workforce development. “We are excited for the new job opportunities this brings to Clinton and look forward to continuing to work with the company to help them meet their goals.”

Red Collar was created December 2018 as a result of Arbor Investments’ acquisition of Mars Petcare’s Exclusive Brands business. In February 2019, the newly rebranded company acquired Joplin, Missouri-based Hampshire Pet Products, a leading manufacturer of baked and cold-formed pet treats.

The company also announced in July 2019 plans to expand its headquarters in Franklin, Tennessee with an investment of $3.65 million. The company projected this investment would add 30 new jobs in the Franklin area by 2024.

https://www.petfoodprocessing.net/articles/14651-red-collar-announces-expansion-of-oklahoma-pet-food-manufacturing-plant

Categories: News

Tags:

Partnership with Cathay Innovation

Cathay Innovation

Cathay Innovation takes minority stake in Seaya Ventures to fuel Co-Investments and startup growth across Europe, North America, Asia and Latin America, giving startups greater access to global funding, knowledge and potential partners.
Today, global venture capital firm Cathay Innovation announced a strategic partnership with Seaya Ventures. By combining Cathay’s global ecosystem of investors, startups and Fortune 500 corporations with Seaya’s unmatched expertise in Southern Europe and Latin America, the partnership creates a stronger and more expansive investment platform that grants more startups access to worldwide resources and the capital they need to scale.

The partnership comes after years of collaboration through six co-investments including leading Spanish companies such as Glovo, Savana, Housfy, Coverfy and Wallbox as well as Paris-based Alma. With a mutual commitment to backing technology companies that bring a positive impact, the collaboration creates natural synergies: Seaya bridges the early-stage pre-Series A and B investment gap in Southern Europe while Cathay Innovation specializes in accelerating early-growth startups on a full global scale. As part of the agreement, Cathay Innovation will take a minority stake in Seaya’s management company.

International interest in the European technology ecosystem is rapidly rising from investors and startups alike. According to Pitchbook, 2020 was a record year for the European technology ecosystem which drew €43 billion in venture capital deal value with two-thirds of the total coming from cross-border investment. By infusing Seaya Venture’s regional expertise and network into Cathay’s global ecosystem, the goal is to further coalesce the investment landscape and empower entrepreneurs with greater access to global funding, knowledge and potential partners to fuel startup growth. In addition, the partnership will enable Seaya Ventures to broaden its investment focus beyond Southern Europe to become a reference early-stage European investor.

Based in Madrid, Seaya Ventures has invested in some of the most prominent startups emerging from Southern Europe and Latin America, including Spain’s first two unicorns: ridesharing company Cabify and on-demand delivery app Glovo (Cathay Innovation also co-led its 2017 Series B). On the other hand, Cathay has backed breakout companies across the world from US digital bank Chime to France’s crypto leader Ledger and China’s e-commerce giant Pinduoduo. Importantly, the firm counts some of the world’s largest corporations as investors and strategic partners in its fund, including Bpifrance, BNP Cardif, Groupe ADP, Groupe SEB, Michelin, Valeo, Sanofi, Accor, L’Oreal, BioMerieux, CMA-CGM, Kering, Unilever and Pernod Ricard.

Beatriz Gonzalez, Founder and Managing Partner, Seaya Ventures: “At Seaya Ventures, we are thrilled to partner with Cathay Innovation on our joint mission to support and scale emerging startups to market leaders and have long been aligned both culturally and philosophically — demonstrated by our strong co-investment track record. Spain’s startup landscape, along with many other Spanish speaking countries, is becoming increasingly more global. As we’ve seen within our portfolio, such as Glovo and Wallbox, the region is drawing more capital from cross-border investments as companies are rapidly expanding to international markets. With its global reach and unique corporate ecosystem across sectors, our partnership with Cathay will enable greater opportunity for startups to access global funding and potential partners, expand internationally and become European leaders.”

Mingpo Cai, Founder, Chairman and CEO, Cathay Capital: “Seaya Ventures has played a critical role in the rising startup and technology landscape in Spain and across many Spanish speaking countries. We are extremely fortunate to count Beatriz and the entire team as trusted and knowledgeable partners that not only represents another bridge across continents, cultures and knowledge from Europe to China, the US, Africa, Latin America and beyond, but breaks the imaginary borders separating investment firms. At Cathay Capital, we believe that all people driving innovation forward – whether that’s entrepreneurs, investors or leading corporate executives – need to learn and work together to build the extraordinary companies that will lead the transformation towards a more digital, sustainable and equitable world.”

Jacky Abitbol, Managing Partner, Cathay Innovation: “With the globalization of technology, venture capital has expanded across the world yet is still largely siloed by region, limiting the support and access to knowledge firms can provide startups. This is precisely why we built our global platform, to help entrepreneurs everywhere grow and lead, whether that be in their home markets or on the global stage. After many years of working with the talented Seaya team, we’re honored to formalize our partnership that will further strengthen our platform throughout Southern Europe and Latin America, boost collaboration across the landscape and—above all else—bring greater value to the mission-driven entrepreneurs looking to make a greater impact on global communities.”

 

Cathay Innovation

Cathay Innovation is a global venture capital partnership, created in affiliation with Cathay Capital, investing in startups at the center of digital revolution across North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia and Africa. Its global platform unifies technology investment across continents, investors, entrepreneurs and leading corporations to accelerate startup growth with access to new markets, invaluable industry knowledge and introductions to potential partners from the start. As a multistage fund with over $1.5 billion assets under management and offices across San Francisco, New York, Paris, Shanghai, Beijing and Singapore, Cathay Innovation partners with visionary entrepreneurs and startups positively impacting the world through technology. To learn more, please visit www.cathayinnovation.com or follow us on Twitter @Cathayinnov.

 

About Seaya Ventures

Seaya Ventures is a leading European & Latin-American Venture Capital firm based in Madrid, Spain, investing in exceptional entrepreneurs who are building global technology companies. Since raising its first fund in 2013, Seaya manages an aggregated volume of €300M across three early-stage funds. Seaya Ventures accelerates startup growth by working with the founders to enhance their strategic vision, putting at their disposal its global platform, its strong network of founders, investors and corporates, as well as Seaya’s experience in scaling leading companies such as Glovo, Cabify, Wallbox, Clarity, Clicars and Savana. For more information, please visit www.seayaventures.com.

Categories: News

Tags:

KKR to Acquire Ensono

KKR

April 14, 2021

Exciting chapter begins for Ensono with a new investor to drive continued growth

DOWNERS GROVE, Ill., April 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — Ensono, a leading hybrid IT services provider, and KKR, a leading global investment firm, today announced that KKR has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Ensono from Charlesbank Capital Partners and M/C Partners. The new investment follows multiple years of strong performance by Ensono, including robust growth in 2020 and its recently completed acquisition of Amido, a UK-based cloud native consultancy.

Ensono provides a comprehensive suite of services that help enterprises manage, optimize and modernize their IT systems across mainframe, cloud and hybrid infrastructure. Charlesbank and M/C Partners acquired the company in 2015 as a corporate carve-out. Since rebranding as Ensono in 2016, the company has achieved impressive growth in new clients and revenue. Ensono will benefit from KKR’s deep technology experience and global resources to help it achieve new heights as it continues to establish itself as a leading managed service provider to medium and large enterprises.

“As we embark on our next chapter with KKR, Ensono will continue to provide clients with transformational solutions that help them operate for today and optimize for tomorrow,” said Jeff VonDeylen, CEO of Ensono. “Our initial investors played an important role in helping us establish our business and brand and funding our growth.  With the support of KKR, we will continue to grow and invest in our future as we drive innovation to meet the changing needs of our clients. We are fortunate to be in an industry where the need for our services has not only grown but diversified into exciting new areas of potential growth.”

“Digital transformation across industries is driving an increased need for comprehensive service providers to help simplify IT infrastructure management for enterprise clients,” said Webster Chua, Partner at KKR. “Ensono is a proven leader in delivering hybrid solutions for clients with complex IT environments, and we are thrilled to support the Ensono team on its next phase of growth and development.”

“We are proud that our investment enabled Jeff and his outstanding management team to achieve their ambitious vision of establishing Ensono as a global leader in hybrid IT,” added Michael Choe, Managing Director and CEO of Charlesbank Capital Partners, and Gillis Cashman, Managing Partner of M/C Partners, in a joint statement. “We are thrilled about Ensono’s new investment from KKR and look forward to seeing its success continue as the company adds to its portfolio of innovative service options.”

KKR is making the investment primarily from its Americas XII Fund. The investment adds to KKR’s experience helping to grow leading global technology businesses, including GoDaddy, Internet Brands, Epicor, BMC, Optiv, Calabrio and 1-800 Contacts.

The transaction is expected to close within the next 60 days, subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions. Financial terms were not disclosed.

UBS Investment Bank and Guggenheim Securities, LLC are serving as financial advisors to Ensono. Morgan Stanley & Co LLC and RBC Capital Markets, LLC are serving as financial advisors to KKR. Goodwin Procter LLP is providing legal counsel to Ensono and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP is serving as KKR’s legal counsel.

About Ensono
Ensono helps IT leaders be the catalyst for change by harnessing the power of hybrid IT to transform their businesses. We accelerate digital transformation by increasing agility and scalability through infrastructure modernization and migration to public cloud. Our broad services portfolio, from mainframe to cloud, is powered by an award-winning IT insights platform and is designed to help our clients operate for today and optimize for tomorrow. We are certified experts in AWS and Azure and recognized as Microsoft Datacenter Transformation Partner of the Year. Ensono has over 2,400 associates around the world and is headquartered in greater Chicago. Visit us at www.ensono.com.

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.

About Charlesbank Capital Partners
Based in Boston and New York, Charlesbank Capital Partners is a middle-market private investment firm with more than $15 billion of capital raised since inception. Charlesbank focuses on management-led buyouts and growth capital financings, as well as opportunistic credit and technology investments. The firm seeks to build companies with sustainable competitive advantage and excellent prospects for growth. For more information, please visit www.charlesbank.com.

About M/C Partners 
M/C Partners is a private equity firm focused on small and mid-size businesses in the communications and technology services sectors. For more than three decades M/C Partners has invested $2.2 billion of capital in over 130 companies, leveraging its deep industry expertise to understand long-term secular trends and identify growth opportunities. The firm is currently investing its eighth fund, partnering with promising companies and empowering strong leaders to accelerate growth, optimize operations, and build long-term value. For more information, visit www.mcpartners.com.

Media Contacts:
Ensono
Bridget Devine
Bridget.devine@walkersands.com

KKR
Cara Major or Miles Radcliffe-Trenner
media@kkr.com

Charlesbank
Maura Turner
mturner@charlesbank.com

SOURCE Ensono

Related Links

http://www.ensono.com

Categories: News

Tags:

Gimv partners with Apraxon to support the company’s growth ambitions

GIMV

14/04/2021 – 07:30 | Portfolio

Gimv has completed its investment into the Apraxon Group, a leading homecare provider focusing on wound care services in Germany. This transaction is part of a joint growth plan with the company’s founder and CEO Oliver Pokrzewinski, who will continue to be an important shareholder in the company. 

Apraxon, (Hofbieber (DE) – apraxon.com), offers high quality wound care for (mostly elderly) people suffering from chronic wounds in a homecare setting. Typical wound indications include decubitus, diabetic foot or ulcus cruris. In providing this service, the company acts as an intermediary between patients, doctors, nursing services or homes and insurance companies.

Due to its high degree of specialization, Apraxon continuously provides high quality medical care and is able to tailor the treatment process according to each patient’s individual needs. In a market with steadily increasing patient numbers, primarily driven by demographic change, specialized medical care is gaining in importance. Services provided are reimbursed by health insurance companies, for whom Apraxon has been a reliable partner for many years.

“I am convinced that Gimv is the right partner to realize the company’s growth ambitions and expand Apraxon’s footprint in Germany,” explains Oliver Pokrzewinski, Managing Director and CEO of Apraxon. 

”Thanks to Apraxon’s clear commitment to quality, highly qualified nursing staff and strongly digitised and scalable processes, we believe that Apraxon is the right platform to build a true leader in the German wound care market. We are very much looking forward to supporting Mr. Pokrzewinski and the entire Apraxon team in realising their ambitious growth plans,” says Philipp v. Hammerstein, Partner at Gimv in the Health & Care team in Munich.

The new investment marks Gimv’s fifth acquisition in the German-speaking healthcare market over the last four years. Gimv currently has 23 participations in companies in the healthcare and life sciences sector. This acquisition further underpins Gimv’s position as one of the most active European investors in the healthcare industry and its ambition to positively contribute to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals of good health and well-being. The Gimv portfolio also includes several clinic and practice groups, as well as medical technology and biotech companies

Categories: News

Tags:

Longship divests Norian to ECIT

Longship

Longship Fund I (“Longship”) has as on April 13th, 2021 divested 100% of its shares in Norian Topco AS and its subsidiaries (“Norian”) to the Norwegian accounting and IT company ECIT AS. The management team will continue to work in Norian, and will retain an ownership stake in Norian as well as reinvest part of the proceeds in ECIT. Norian is the second exit from Longship Fund I in 2021.

Norian is a BPO service provider within accounting, payroll, and automation. In 2020 Norian had consolidated revenues of NOK 265 million, and 550 employees. Norian is headquartered in Norway and is present in Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Germany with nearshore centers in Poland and Lithuania.

Norian was a carve-out of the accounting services business from OpusCapita Group Oy in 2017. During the ownership period of Longship, the company has been transformed into a leading BPO player in the Nordics with a significant improvement in EBITDA in 2020 compared to the pro-forma accounts of the business for 2017.

“The management team of Norian, together with their dedicated employees, have delivered on the ambitious strategy set out in 2017. We have enjoyed supporting Norian through a challenging carve-out and transformation process resulting in a significantly improved competitive position. Norian has become a differentiated BPO-player combining low-cost, high competence nearshore resources with a significant in-house robotics and automation competence”, says Espen Stenumgård, partner for Longships investment in Norian.

“Together with Longship we have transformed a loss-making business unit of a large corporation into a leading player in the industry. Longships’ engagement and understanding of both the soft and hard aspects of a service business has certainly enhanced our development. It has been a true partnership that has created a robust and profitable company positioned for further growth. We are now looking forward to continue the journey with the ECIT group”, says Knut Anders Opstad, CEO of Norian.

Longship is a transformational growth investor, developing successful and promising lower mid-market companies into mature growth businesses with institutional and strategic value. We aim to create a scalable platform for sustainable growth and profitability in our portfolio companies, and support them on their accelerated growth journey. Longship is targeting excess return from its transformational approach.

 

For more information, please contact:

Espen Stenumgård, Partner, Longship AS
+47 992 44 678
espen.stenumgard@longship.no

Knut Anders Opstad, CEO, Norian Topco AS
+47 917 86 843
kao@norian.no

 

About Longship:

Longship is a Norwegian private equity investor established in 2015 by an experienced team of investment professionals. Longship invests in companies with significant growth potential in the Norwegian lower mid-market, and are applying a transformational growth approach, organically and through M&A. The investment team currently consists of eleven professionals, making it the leading player in the Norwegian lower mid-market. Longship closed its second fund in November 2020 with commitments of NOK 1.7 billion.

Categories: News

Tags:

Centralpoint to be acquired by Dustin

Altor

otla BV (“Rotla”) – a company controlled by Altor Fund IV and Kool Active B.V. – has entered into an agreement to divest Centralpoint Holding B.V. (“Centralpoint”), the market leading IT value added reseller in the Benelux region to Dustin Group AB (“Dustin”). Dustin is a leading online IT partner serving the Nordic region and the Netherlands.

Centralpoint had revenues of about EUR 700m in 2020 and offers IT hardware, software, services and solutions to SMB, mid-market, enterprise and public sector customers. “We are proud of the journey with Centralpoint where we in our strong partnership with Jordy Kool and together with a strong management team, have created the market leading IT value added reseller in the Benelux region.” says Stefan Linder Chairman of the Board of Rotla and Partner at Altor. “We are now excited to have found a great new home for Centralpoint in Dustin, that complements Centralpoint’s offering in the Benelux region perfectly”.

“I’m proud of having led Centralpoint from its creation in 2017 and of the truly great company we have built. Through the hard work of our exceptional employees, we have solidified our position as the leading IT value added reseller in the Benelux region. In Dustin we have found a strong next owner with an ambition to further expand the offering to our customers and to accelerate growth in the Benelux region, organically and through acquisitions. The two companies complement each other perfectly and together we are ready to keep on building on our leading position. I’m excited to enter into the next phase of growth with Centralpoint.” says Luuk Slaats, CEO of Centralpoint.

“With Centralpoint we become the leading IT-partner in the Benelux region, continuing to build on our strategy of combining hardware and software sales with an attractive service offering to offer complete IT solutions. We see great potential in building on Centralpoint’s strong position within large corporate and public sales, combined with our current portfolio of offerings towards small and medium sized businesses and with that continuing to scale our online sales.” says Thomas Ekman President and CEO of Dustin.

Closing of the acquisition is subject to compliance with works council proceedings and customary closing conditions, including merger control clearance from the Dutch competition authority.

Jefferies International acted as exclusive financial advisor to the seller.

For more information please contact:
Tor Krusell, Head of Communications at Altor, Tel: +46 70 543 87 47

About Centralpoint
Centralpoint, headquartered in the Netherlands with presence in Belgium, has revenues of about 700 million EUR and employs ca 600 people. Centralpoint is the market leading IT value added reseller that provides hardware, software, services and solutions to SMB, mid-market, enterprise and public sector customers in the Benelux region. Centralpoint adopts a customer centric approach and works vendor independently.

About Altor
Since inception, the family of Altor funds has raised some EUR 8.3 billion in total commitments. The funds have invested in excess of EUR 4.2 billion in more than 60 companies. The investments have been made in medium sized companies in Northern Europe with the aim to create value through growth initiatives and operational improvements. Among current and past investments are Byggmax, CTEK, Eleda, Navico, OX2, RevolutionRace, Rossignol, SATS, and Trioworld. For more information please visit www.altor.com

About Dustin
Dustin is a leading online IT partner serving the Nordic region and the Netherlands. Dustin offers approximately 255,000 products with related services to companies, the public sector and private individuals. Dustin Group currently employs about 1,700 people, had sales of approximately 13.2 billion SEK for the financial year 2019/20 and has been listed on the Nasdaq Stockholm since February 2015. Dustin has its headquarters in Nacka Strand just outside central Stockholm.

Author: Katarina Karlsson
Date: 2021.04.13
Categories: News

Categories: News

Tags: