Category Archives: News

Duck Creek Technologies receives $120 million investment from Dragoneer Investment Group, Neuberger Berman, Insight Partners, and Temasek

Apax

Boston – December 9, 2019: Duck Creek Technologies, a provider of SaaS-delivered enterprise software to the property & casualty insurance industry, today announced that four leading investment firms – Dragoneer Investment Group, funds advised by Neuberger Berman, Insight Partners, and Temasek – have invested $120 million in the company.

The Duck Creek suite of SaaS solutions provides insurance carriers with open and highly-configurable applications across core areas of their businesses, such as policy administration, billing, claims, analytics, industry content, distribution management, and reinsurance management – all key to their digital transformations. Duck Creek’s SaaS solutions have been adopted by insurers around the world.

Duck Creek will use the proceeds for continued investment into its business and to repurchase equity from certain existing investors. The new commitment of capital comes as the company continues to invest heavily in product development and international expansion. Duck Creek continues to gain market share, as evidenced by 32% growth in SaaS revenue for the fiscal year ended August 31, 2019 as compared to fiscal 2018.

“The partnership of these new investors with Duck Creek speaks to the momentum we have achieved as the SaaS leader in P&C core systems and the opportunities we see ahead,” said Michael Jackowski, Duck Creek’s Chief Executive Officer. “Our Platform’s ability to deliver real business value has driven our strong operating and financial performance. That success combined with this increased investment will power our growth – particularly through Duck Creek OnDemand, our industry-leading SaaS solution – and international expansion.”

“Duck Creek’s growth has accelerated over the past three years as the insurance industry has embraced its cloud platform. We are very excited about the long-term prospects for the company and its plan to continue to invest in products and people,” said Jason Wright, Partner at Apax Partners. “We are proud of our partnership with Mike Jackowski and the Duck Creek team and are pleased to welcome Dragoneer, Insight Partners, Neuberger Berman, and Temasek as additional investors to support the company’s growth strategy.”

In 2016, Duck Creek was established as a new and independent company when funds advised by Apax Partners, a leading global private equity advisory firm, acquired a majority stake in Duck Creek from Accenture.

J.P. Morgan served as sole placement agent to Duck Creek in connection with this transaction.

This press release is for informational purposes only and shall not constitute, or form a part of, an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities.

About Duck Creek Technologies

Duck Creek Technologies is a leading provider of core system solutions to the P&C and General insurance industry. By accessing Duck Creek OnDemand, the company’s enterprise Software-as-a-Service solution, insurance carriers are able to navigate uncertainty and capture market opportunities faster than their competitors. Duck Creek’s functionally-rich solutions are available on a standalone basis or as a full suite, and all are available via Duck Creek OnDemand. For more information, visit www.duckcreek.com.

About Apax Partners

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 c.$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 Dragoneer Investment Group

Dragoneer is a San Francisco-based, growth-oriented investment firm with over $8 billion in long-duration capital from many of the world’s leading endowments, foundations, sovereign wealth funds, and family offices. Dragoneer has a history of partnering with management teams growing exceptional companies characterized by sustainable differentiation and superior economic models. The firm’s track record includes public and private investments across industries and geographies, with a particular focus on technology-enabled businesses. Dragoneer has been an investor in companies such as Airbnb, Alibaba, AmWINS, AppFolio, Atlassian, Dollar Shave Club, Etsy, Facebook, Netflix, Nubank, PointClickCare, Procore, Slack, Spotify, Square, Uber, and others.

About Insight Partners

Insight Partners is a leading global venture capital and private equity firm investing in high-growth technology and software companies that are driving transformative change in their industries. Founded in 1995, Insight currently has over $20 billion of assets under management and has cumulatively invested in more than 300 companies worldwide. Insight’s mission is to find, fund, and work successfully with visionary executives, providing them with practical, hands-on growth expertise to foster long-term success. Across its people and its portfolio, Insight encourages a culture around a core belief: growth equals opportunity. For more information on Insight and all its investments, visit www.insightpartners.com or follow us on Twitter @insightpartners.

About Neuberger Berman

Neuberger Berman, founded in 1939, is a private, independent, employee-owned investment manager. The firm manages a range of strategies—including equity, fixed income, quantitative and multi-asset class, private equity and hedge funds—on behalf of institutions, advisors and individual investors globally. With offices in 23 countries, Neuberger Berman’s team is more than 2,100 professionals. For five consecutive years, Neuberger Berman has been named first or second in Pensions & Investments Best Places to Work in Money Management survey (among those with 1,000 employees or more). Tenured, stable and long-term in focus, the firm has built a diverse team of individuals united in their commitment to delivering compelling investment results for its clients over the long term. That commitment includes active consideration of environmental, social and governance factors. The firm manages $333 billion in client assets as of June 30, 2019. For more information, please visit Neuberger Berman’s website at www.nb.com.

About Temasek

Temasek is an investment company with a net portfolio value of US$231b (S$313 billion) as at 31 March 2019. Our Temasek Charter roles as an investor, institution and steward shape our investment stance, ethos and philosophy, to do well, do right and do good. Our investment philosophy is anchored around four key themes: Transforming Economies; Growing Middle Income Populations; Deepening Comparative Advantages; and Emerging Champions. We actively seek sustainable solutions to address present and future challenges, as we capture investment and other opportunities that help to bring about a better, smarter and more sustainable world. Headquartered in Singapore, we have 11 offices around the world, including New York, San Francisco and Washington, D.C. For more information on Temasek, please visit www.temasek.com.sg

Media contacts

For Duck Creek Technologies

Global Media:
Paul Rechichi, Racepoint Global | +1 617 624 3295 | prechichi@racepointglobal.com

Scott Fitzgerald, Duck Creek | +1 857 327 8255 | scott.a.fitzgerald@duckcreek.com

For Apax Partners

Global Media: Andrew Kenny, Apax | +44 20 7 872 6371 | andrew.kenny@apax.com
USA Media: Todd Fogarty, Kekst CNC | +1 212-521 4854 | apax@kekstcnc.com
UK Media: Matthew Goodman / James Madsen, Greenbrook | +44 20 7952 2000 | apax@greenbrookpr.com

Categories: News

Tags:

EWE sets course for further growth with investor Ardian

Ardian

Transaction comprises 26% of shares in EWE, one of Germany’s largest utility companies, emphasising Ardian’s focus on renewables, telecommunications and networks

Oldenburg / Paris / Düsseldorf, 6 December 2019 – EWE and EWE-Verband today agreed on the transfer of 26% of EWE AG’s shares to Ardian, the world-leading private investment house and long-term infrastructure investor. Once the transaction has been completed, the partners will work together to accelerate EWE’s growth, investing particularly in the strategic areas of renewable energy, telecommunications and networks. EWE and EWE-Verband had been gradually acquiring shares back from former partner EnBW since Autumn 2015 with plans to find a new investor. The closing of the transaction is subject to the approval of the German Federal Cartel Office, which is expected in the first quarter of 2020. The companies are not disclosing the financial details of the transaction. Once the transaction has been completed, the following companies will hold a stake in EWE AG: EWE-Verband, with 74% (59% Weser-Ems-Energiebeteiligungen GmbH, 15% Energieverband Elbe-Weser Beteiligungsholding GmbH) and Ardian with 26%.

Stefan Dohler, Chief Executive Officer of EWE AG, said: “With Ardian, we will have a strategic growth partner with extensive experience in the pan-European infrastructure sector with thinking just as long-term, prudent and sustainable as ours. It was important to us that the new investor supports EWE’s strategic goals and helps us on our path of change and growth with opportunities from its investment portfolio. We know where we intend to go. We continue to make progress with our move towards becoming an innovative solution provider, offering integrated services and products for energy, communication, networked data and mobility. We want to play an active role in shaping the climate-friendly and digitalised future of energy and communications, and set positive standards based on a position of regional strength. With its entrepreneurial approach to this path, Ardian is the strong partner we have been looking for.”

Heiner Schönecke, Managing Director of EWE-Verband, added: “Historically rooted in northwest Germany and with traditionally strong minority shareholders as long-term partners, EWE has grown into a company that has always made a major contribution to regional development. EWE retains close ties to the Ems/Weser/Elbe region via the districts and free cities that are part of EWE-Verband. One aspect that was important to us was that the new investor saw the company’s regional roots and local character as a strength. Ardian also offers access to further growth capital and innovative technologies.”

Bernhard Bramlage, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of EWE AG, added: “Today’s agreement marks the successful completion of the structured process to transfer the EWE shares bought back from EnBW to an investor who supports EWE’s strategic objectives. At every stage of the process, everyone involved from EWE AG, EWE-Verband and the EWE Supervisory Board worked together to achieve a result that would translate into stability and further growth for the company, and I congratulate them on this achievement.”

Mathias Burghardt, member of Ardian’s Executive Committee and Head of Infrastructure at Ardian, added: “As Europe’s leading investor in infrastructure, we make long-term commitments to companies that play a key role in people’s everyday lives and actively promote the energy revolution. With its activities in the areas of energy, telecommunications, networks, data and mobility, EWE is leading the way in efforts to bring about the energy revolution, while at the same time taking into account the needs of all its stakeholders such as customers, employees and the region as a whole. Ardian fully supports EWE’s innovation-focused strategy.”

Benoît Gaillochet, Senior Managing Director in Ardian’s infrastructure team, added: “In addition to our role as co-shareholder, our stated objective is to develop our industrial partnership with EWE in the interest of EWE employees, society and the region. Together, we want to help shape the energy revolution. EWE is the ideal platform to achieve further growth and we look forward to making further investments with EWE.”

Michael Reuther, a Director in Ardian’s infrastructure team responsible for the shareholding in EWE, added: “EWE’s customers will benefit from targeted investments in cutting-edge infrastructure and top-quality products. EWE employees know that their jobs in a climate-friendly company are secure and attractive in the long term. Both the region and society can rely on a sustainable supplier with regional roots, access to growth capital and innovative technologies.”

Ardian is one of the world’s leading independent investment companies, managing US$96 billion in assets for its investors in Europe, South and North America and Asia, including over EUR 10 billion from 90 German pension funds and insurance companies. Its largest investor group in its latest fund, Ardian Infrastructure Fund V, is from Germany, representing more than 20% of the fund volume of EUR 6.1 billion. Furthermore, Talanx insurance group will support Ardian and EWE as a co-investor in Lower Saxony. For Ardian, its investment in EWE is the starting point for its plans to develop a German growth platform based in Düsseldorf, which will be managed by an experienced team of German managers.

Follow us at:
– twitter.com/ewe_ag
– www.instagram.com/ewe.ag/
– www.facebook.com/eweerleben/
– www.youtube.com/user/EWEinfo
– www.xing.com/company/ewe
– www.linkedin.com/company/ewe-ag/

EWE AG

EWE is an innovative service provider active in the business areas of energy, telecommunications and information technology. With over 8,500 employees and sales of around EUR 5.7 billion in 2018, EWE is one of the largest utility companies in Germany. The company, based in Oldenburg, Lower Saxony, is primarily owned by the local government. It provides electricity to around 1.4 million customers in northwest Germany, Brandenburg, the island of Rügen and parts of Poland, and supplies natural gas to almost 0.8 million customers. It also provides approximately 0.7 million customers with telecommunications services. To achieve this, the various companies in the EWE Group operate over 190,000 kilometres of electricity grid, natural gas grid and telecommunications networks. EWE intends to invest over EUR 1.2 billion in a comprehensive fibre-optic expansion over the coming years, creating the foundation for the digitalisation of northwest Germany.
More information on EWE can be found at:
www.ewe.com

EWE-Verband

The Ems-Weser-Elbe Versorgungs- und Entsorgungsverband (EWE-Verband) is an alliance formed of 21 municipalities in the Ems/Weser/Elbe region. Its core task is to safeguard the energy supply in the alliance’s region. EWE-Verband is the indirect majority shareholder of EWE AG through its investment companies. The alliance was created in 2006 following the merger of Landeselektrizitätsverband Oldenburg (LEV) and Energieverband Elbe-Weser (EEW). As an alliance, EWE-Verband is a public corporation as defined by Sections 7 et seq. of the Lower Saxony Act on Municipal Cooperation (NKomZG). 17 districts and four cities have been part of EWE-Verband since it was founded.
To find out more about EWE-Verband, visit:
www.ewe-verband.de

Ardian

Ardian is a world-leading private investment house with assets of US$96bn managed or advised in Europe, the Americas and Asia. The company is majority-owned by its employees. It keeps entrepreneurship at its heart and focuses on delivering excellent investment performance to its global investor base. Through its commitment to shared outcomes for all stakeholders, Ardian’s activities fuel individual, corporate and economic growth around the world. Holding close its core values of excellence, loyalty and entrepreneurship, Ardian maintains a truly global network, with more than 640 employees working from fifteen offices across Europe (Frankfurt, Jersey, London, Luxembourg, Madrid, Milan, Paris and Zurich), the Americas (New York, San Francisco and Santiago) and Asia (Beijing, Singapore, Tokyo and Seoul). It manages funds on behalf of more than 1,000 clients through five pillars of investment expertise: Fund of Funds, Direct Funds, Infrastructure, Real Estate and Private Debt.
Ardian on Twitter: @Ardian
www.ardian.com

PRESS CONTACTS

EWE
Christian Blömer
T: +49 441 4805 – 1801
Email: christian.bloemer@ewe.de
ARDIAN
Tobias Eberle & Peter Steiner
T +49 69 794 090 -24/-27
Email: ardian@charlesbarker.fr

Categories: News

Tags:

Viking Venture invests in workforce management company tamigo

Viking venture

Viking Venture has completed its first investment in Denmark, enabling Danish software company Tamigo accelerate further growth in Europe.

Since 2006, tamigo has combined a number of employee related tasks into one unified workforce management solution used by over 150,000 users in 18 countries, in particular within retail and hospitality. Employees can easily check in or exchange shifts, payroll automatically receives the correct data to ensure accurate salaries are paid, and management can benchmark across departments and countries.

tamigo differentiates itself among other things by functioning without the need for further adjustments when operating in different countries with different rules and regulations, something especially relevant for international chains. Customers include REMA 1000, Molton Brown, Sitcks’n’Sushi and McDonald’s.

– Large customers have complex needs but are tired of working with heavy systems. As something unique, we can provide a simple cloud solution that can handle all the complexity our customers crave. Especially after GDPR, customers have begun to seriously demand cloud-based workforce management solutions. We have the opportunity to become the dominant European player in workforce management, and with this investment we will have the opportunity to hire skilled, international employees faster to accelerate our growth, says CEO and Founder Jakob Toftgaard, emphasizing that the company consciously chose an investor who focused on the product and the real differences tamigo makes to its users.

tamigo CEO and Founder, Jakob Toftgaard

The first of several investments in Denmark

Viking Venture has invested directly into the company and bought existing shares but remains a minority investor. For the investment fund, having the first Danish company in their portfolio is an important milestone.

– We want to be the leading investor in B2B software companies with subscription solutions across the Nordic region, and there are many interesting companies in Denmark. We have invested in tamigo because we believe in the team, the product and the market. They have achieved impressive results with large European customers who all want to increase their focus on business rather than administrative tasks. The trend we are seeing in Europe means that companies need to plan more flexibly, so that they adapt their staffing as needed without losing control, says Eivind Bergsmyr, Partner in Viking Venture and chairman of tamigo.

 

Categories: News

Tags:

Motive Partners Acquires Majority Interest in Investment Services Business of Fiserv

Motive Partners

Motive Partners-led investors, including Cannae Holdings, will leverage their combined capabilities and resources to drive substantial value for clients, associates and shareholdersNew York and Brookfield, Wis., December 5, 2019–Motive Partners, a private equity firm focused on technology-enabled companies that power the financial services industry, and Fiserv, Inc. (NASDAQ: FISV), a leading global provider of payments and financial services technology solutions, have entered into a definitive agreement under which Motive Partners-led investors will acquire up to 60% of the Investment Services business of Fiserv. Retaining a 40% equity interest in the business, Fiserv will receive approximately $510 millionin net after-tax proceeds. The Investment Services business is a leading technology provider for key segments of the wealth and asset management industry. Its scalable, integrated platform delivers mission-critical, end-to-end software solutions for the front, middle and back office. As a provider of a premier platform for the industry, the Investment Services business serves a blue-chip customer base in a market with favorable macro trends and the potential to accelerate growth as a standalone business. Going forward, the business will benefit from the experience and expertise of Fiserv, Motive Partners and Cannae Holdings in growing scaled financial technology businesses and will remain committed to delivering market-leading wealth management capabilities through innovative, adviser-centric technology solutions. The newly formed joint venture will continue to be led by Cheryl Nash, President of Investment Services at Fiserv. Upon the closing of the transaction, Rob Heyvaert, Founder and Managing Partner of Motive Partners, will serve as Executive Chairman of the joint venture. William P. Foley II, Executive Chairman of Cannae Holdings,Dun & Bradstreet and Black Knight and Alvi Abuaf, lead Industry Partner for Motive Partners, will also join the Board.

Founded in 1979 as Security APL, the original Investment Services business platform has undergone significant investment and innovation to become an industry leader, including the development of innovative services and the acquisition of additional capabilities.Today, the business is a market-leading technology provider to 7 of the top 10 U.S. broker-dealers, and 9 of the top 12 U.S. retail asset managers. Further, the estimated addressable market for the business is significant, with a U.S. wealth management sector of over $20 trillion of assets under management and an estimated 20 million managed accounts.Motive Partners’ innovation arm, Motive Labs, works with an international network of globally renowned financial institutions, portfolio companies and strategic partners to deliver market-leading innovation services and solutions. As the Investment Services business of Fiserv positions itself as a standalone wealth technology leader, it will partner with Motive’s Industry Partners and technologists to capitalize on the client-centric value creation strategy Motive has developed. The transaction, which is subject to customary approvals and closing conditions, is targeted to close in the first quarter of 2020 and is expected to be slightly dilutive to the adjusted earnings per share of Fiserv in 2020.”We are delighted to be joining forces with Rob and Motive Partners to enhance and accelerate Investment Services’ leadership position,” said Jeffery Yabuki, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Fiserv. “The new joint venture will increase our collective focus on growth and value, while creating more opportunities for clients, associates and shareholders.

““As a leading provider of mission-critical solutions to a growing, blue-chip client base, we look forward to partnering with Fiserv and the Investment Services team inthis joint venture,” said Rob Heyvaert. “The Investment Services business has demonstrated its ability to deliver a compelling solution for its wealth and asset management clients and I am confident that our team at Motive Partners will add significant value through innovation, insights and an expanded network. We are excited to work with the leadership team and key clients to create new solutions for this growing market segment.”William P. Foley II, Chairman of Cannae Holdings, commented: “Fiserv Investment Services has delivered strong growth and powerful solutions for its clients for over 35 years. It is our belief that with positive industry tailwinds and the opportunity presented by wealth-technology innovation, we can continue to deliver superior solutions for our partners around the world. We look forward to delivering on our client-centric strategy and growth ambitions.

”“As the wealth management market continues to grow, so too does our opportunity,” said Cheryl Nash. “To position ourselves best, it is essential to continue to innovate, and Motive Partners’ expertise and focus on value creation will help enable an exciting next chapter for our business and our clients.”

Forward Looking Statements

This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements regarding the expected timing and benefits of the transaction. Statements can generally be identified as forward-looking because they include words such as “believes,” “anticipates,” “expects,” “could,” “should,” or words of similar meaning. Forward-looking statements are subject to assumptions, risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated by such forward-looking statements. The factors that may adversely impact the anticipated outcomes include, among others: the occurrence of any event, change or other circumstance that could give rise to the termination of the transaction agreement; conditions to the completion of the transaction may not be satisfied on the terms expected or on the anticipated timeline; the benefits of the transaction may be different than currently anticipated; and other factors included in “Risk Factors” in Fiserv’s quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2019 and in other documents that Fiserv files with the SEC, which are available at http://www.sec.gov. You should consider these factors carefully in evaluating forward-looking statements and are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such statements. Fiserv assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this news release.

About Motive Partners

Motive Partners is a sector specialist investment firm that is focused on technology enabled companies that power the financial services industry. Based in New York and London and comprised of investors, operators and innovators, Motive Partners brings differentiated expertise, connectivity and capabilities to create long-term value in financial technology companies. More information on Motive Partners can be found at www.motivepartners.com.

About Cannae Holdings, Inc.

Cannae holds majority and minority equity investment stakes in a number of entities, including Dun & Bradstreet, Ceridian HCM Holding Inc., American Blue Ribbon Holdings, LLC and T-System Holding LLC.

About Fiserv

Fiserv, Inc. (NASDAQ: FISV) aspires to move money and information in a way that moves the world. As a global leader in payments and financial technology, the company helps clients achieve best-in-class results through a commitment to innovation and excellence in areas including account processing and digital banking solutions; card issuer processing and network services; payments; e-commerce; merchant acquiring and processing; andthe Clover® cloud-based point-of-sale solution. Fiserv is a member of the S&P 500® Index and the FORTUNE® 500, and is among the FORTUNE Magazine World’s Most Admired Companies®. Visit fiserv.com and follow on social media for more information and the latest company news.

Categories: News

Tags:

EURAZEO Brands complets investment in Herschel Supply CO.

Eurazeo

Paris, December 5, 2019 – Eurazeo Brands announces the completion of its minority investment in Herschel Supply Co. (“Herschel”), a design-driven global lifestyle brand. Headquartered in Vancouver, Canada, Herschel is known for transforming the classic backpack and offering other timeless accessory products which are sold in over 90 countries. Eurazeo Brands, the division of Eurazeo focused on differentiated consumer brands with global growth potential, has invested $60Min Herschel.Additional capital was provided by a consortium of investors including Alliance Consumer Growth,a leading consumer-focused growth equity firm, and HOOPP Capital Partners, the private capital arm of the Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan.

Eurazeo Brands aims to invest a total of $800 million in high potential North American and European consumer companies across a wide range of verticals including beauty, fashion, home, wellness, leisure and food. The transaction represents Eurazeo Brands’ fifth investment in North America and first investment in a Canadian brand.

About Eurazeo

Eurazeo is a leading global investment company, with a diversified portfolio of €18 billion in assets under management, including nearly €11.9 billion from third parties, invested in nearly 400 companies. With its considerable private equity, real estate, private debt and fund of funds expertise, Eurazeo accompanies companies of all sizes, supporting their development through the commitment of its 235 professionals and by offering deep 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 and Madrid.Eurazeo is listed on Euronext Paris.ISIN: FR0000121121 -Bloomberg: RF FP -Reuters: EURA.PA

About Herschel Supply Co.

Headquartered in Vancouver, Canada, Herschel Supply Co.is a design-driven global lifestyle brand that produces timeless products with utility design. Founded in 2009 by brothers Jamie, Lyndon and Jason Cormack, Herschel’s product range has expanded from backpacks to include luggage, headwear, accessories, apparel and more. Today, Herschel products are sold in over 90 countries with over 9,000 points of distribution worldwide and the support of over 250 employees across offices in Vancouver, New York, Los Angeles, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Ghent and London.

EURAZEO CONTACTS

PIERRE BERNARDIN

Head of Investor Relations

email: pbernardin@eurazeo.comTel: +33 (0)1 44 15 16 76

VIRGINIE CHRISTNACHT

Head of Communications

email: vchristnacht@eurazeo.comTel: +33 (0)1 44 15 76 44

Categories: News

Tags:

Ardian sells CCC to Telus International

Ardian

Geographical expansion, an increasing customer base, and expansion of Non-Voice Services, position CCC as a leading European platform for business process outsourcing services

Berlin/Vienna/Frankfurt, December 5, 2019 – Ardian, a world-leading independent investment house, is selling Competence Call Center Group (“CCC”), one of the leading Business Process Outsourcing (“BPO”) service providers in Europe, to TELUS International, a subsidiary of TELUS Corporation. The closing of the transaction is subject to antitrust approval.

Founded in Vienna in 1998, CCC is today headquartered in Berlin. With more than 8,500 employees, the company offers high-quality BPO solutions in 33 languages. CCC’s range of services includes moderating content, for example on social media platforms, up/cross selling, complaint management and technical support. The Group operates from 11 countries across the DACH region, France, Spain, Eastern Europe, and, Turkey.
Ardian invested in CCC between 2009 and 2013. Since reinvesting in the company in 2017, CCC has increased the number of employees by more than 3,000 to 8,500 and opened in four new locations. The renewed support of Ardian also enabled CCC to further develop as a leader in the German-speaking region and strengthen its European platform for BPO services through its expansion strategy.

The company has expanded its business with new and existing customers, shifting the range of services towards more complex BPO services, which now account for two-thirds of sales, and new geographic markets. With its services, CCC supports fast-growing companies in interactive media services, an example being social media platforms, internet and direct marketing, as well as consumer services and retail.
Christian Legat, CEO of CCC, said: “We would like to thank the Ardian team for their excellent cooperation over the past few years, which has made CCC one of the leading independent European platforms for BPO services. CCC is well-positioned to continue this success story under our new owner TELUS International.”

Dirk Wittneben, Managing Director at Ardian, said: “We are pleased that we have been able to support CCC for a second time in the continuation of its success story.  We have been able to contribute to the company’s development towards more complex non-voice services and to expanding the customer base to include leading industrial and innovative tech companies.”
Marc Abadir, Managing Director at Ardian, added: “We believe the company is in an excellent position to continue to expand and gain market share within the dynamic BPO services market. We wish the company and its employees every success in the years ahead and thank CCC’s outstanding management team once again excellent collaboration.”

ABOUT ARDIAN

Ardian is a world-leading private investment house with assets of US$96bn managed or advised in Europe, the Americas and Asia. The company is majority-owned by its employees. It keeps entrepreneurship at its heart and focuses on delivering excellent investment performance to its global investor base.
Through its commitment to shared outcomes for all stakeholders, Ardian’s activities fuel individual, corporate and economic growth around the world.
Holding close its core values of excellence, loyalty and entrepreneurship, Ardian maintains a truly global network, with more than 640 employees working from fifteen offices across Europe (Frankfurt, Jersey, London, Luxembourg, Madrid, Milan, Paris and Zurich), the Americas (New York, San Francisco and Santiago) and Asia (Beijing, Singapore, Tokyo and Seoul). It manages funds on behalf of more than 1,000 clients through five pillars of investment expertise: Fund of Funds, Direct Funds, Infrastructure, Real Estate and Private Debt.
Ardian on Twitter @Ardian
www.ardian.com

ABOUT CCC

CCC provides Customer Care and BPO solutions at the highest level. The company draws on 21 years of experience in monitoring and moderating content, such as on social media platforms, up/cross selling, complaint management and technical support. With its solutions, the company covers various communication channels ranging from telephone and e-mail to chat and social media. Since 1998, CCC has been renowned for providing high-quality, internationally certified and excellent BPO services in 33 languages for global top brands in the European market from several industries. During this time, it has realized international growth and demonstrated continuous and strong commitment for the BPO industry. In total, more than 8,500 employees provide customers with innovative and international excellent service on all communications levels.
www.yourccc.com

COMPANIES AND PERSONS INVOLVED IN THE TRANSACTION

Ardian Team: Dirk Wittneben, Marc Abadir, Yannic Metzger, Nicolas Münzer
Financial: Deloitte (Egon Sachsalber, Tanya Fehr)
Commercial: McKinsey (Dr. Julian Raabe, Dr. Tobias Eichner)
Legal: Latham & Watkins (Burc Hesse, Dr. Sebastian Pauls), Milbank (Dr. Michael Bernhardt)
Tax: EY (Niclas Hahn)
M&A Advisory: William Blair (Dr. Philipp Mohr)

PRESS CONTACTS

ARDIAN
Headland
Carl Leijonhufvud
CLeijonhufvud@headlandconsultancy.com
D: +44 (0)20 3805 4827
M: +44 (0)7901 853

Categories: News

Tags:

3i portfolio company ACR Capital Holdings signs implementation agreement for the sale of ACR

3I

3i Group plc (“3i”) today announces that its portfolio company ACR Capital Holdings Pte. Ltd. has signed an implementation agreement for the sale of its wholly owned subsidiary Asia Capital Reinsurance Group Pte. Ltd. (“ACR”) to Catalina Holdings (Bermuda) Ltd, an industry leader in the legacy (re)insurance space.

The transaction is subject to the receipt of regulatory and other approvals. Proceeds to 3i are expected to be approximately $155m. The transaction is expected to complete in the first half of 2020.

ACR was established in November 2006 as Asia’s first reinsurer with a focus on providing non-life risk solutions to the pan-Asian region. Headquartered in Singapore, it has a regional presence across Asia, including Singapore, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia and Hong Kong.

During 3i’s investment period, 3i supported ACR’s establishment and creation in Singapore and its subsequent development into an Asia-based reinsurance company with a worldwide client base.

Categories: News

Tags:

Canopy Biosciences Acquires Core Diagnostics

Canopy’s multi-omic immune profiling platform to become available in Core Diagnostics’ CLIA-certified laboratory

ST. LOUIS, Dec. 4, 2019 /PRNewswire/ — Canopy Biosciences, LLC announced today the acquisition of Core Diagnostics, a leading CLIA-certified provider of biomarker analysis services for biopharmaceutical researchers. With the acquisition of Core Diagnostics, Canopy Biosciences will be able to perform its multi-omic immune profiling services in the highly regulated CLIA environment. In addition to NanoString transcriptional profiling, Core Diagnostics also offers histopathology services including immunohistochemistry (IHC) and fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH). The acquisition of Core Diagnostics follows the acquisition of Zellkraftwerk, GmbH, which joined Canopy earlier this year. Both acquisitions were made possible by strategic growth investments from Ampersand Capital Partners.

Edward Weinstein, Ph.D., CEO and President of Canopy Biosciences commented, “By combining multi-omic technologies such as Chip Cytometry, NanoString, and RareSeq, we are building a unique and powerful platform for immune profiling of cells and tissues. Through the addition of Core Diagnostics, this innovative multi-omics platform will now be available to customers in the clinical space in addition to the preclinical and translational customers we already work with.”

K. Balachandran, CEO of Core Diagnostics said, “Core Diagnostics is excited to join Canopy Biosciences. Our customers have been asking us to add services to more comprehensively satisfy their outsourcing needs. In Canopy and Ampersand we have found the partners that will allow us to add to our capabilities and better serve our customers.”

Frank Witney, Ph.D., Operating Partner at Ampersand and Chairman of Canopy added, “With the prior addition of Chip Cytometry to Canopy, we were able to add a technology that bolstered Canopy’s multi-omic approach to immune profiling. Now, through the addition of Core Diagnostics, we are able to bring this innovative platform to a CLIA-certified lab to serve customers in the clinical space.”

About Canopy Biosciences

Canopy Biosciences was formed in 2016 and has rapidly built a comprehensive portfolio of products and services for gene editing, gene expression analysis and regulation, and bioprocessing. Canopy’s gene editing portfolio offers easy-to-use CRISPR kits and full service custom cell line engineering. Canopy has assembled an innovative multi-omic platform for immune profiling, including ultrasensitive DNA sequencing (RareSeq), RNAseq, NanoString gene expression analysis, and multiplexed protein detection in cells and tissue samples via Chip Cytometry. Canopy Biosciences is headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri, and serves researchers at universities, research institutions and biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies worldwide. Additional information is available at www.canopybiosciences.com.

About Core Diagnostics

Core Diagnostics is a California licensed CLIA-certified laboratory offering biomarker analysis and translational research support for studies ranging from early discovery to analyses of Phase III clinical trial samples. Core’s research group works with clients to develop biomarker strategies and assays collaboratively by functioning seamlessly as an extension of their team and executing on their requirements. Taking a technology agnostic approach, Core Diagnostics offer services in histopathology, IHC, FISH, mutational analysis and high-throughput gene expression studies. Core’s laboratory has implemented cutting edge platforms for molecular analysis including the nCounter® Analysis System from NanoString®™ HD System from Fluidigm for gene expression studies, the Allegro™ fluorescent imaging system and Solo™ workstation from Bioview for FISH analysis and the intelliPATH IHC platform from Biocare Medical. For more information, please visit www.corediagnostics.net.

About Ampersand Capital Partners

Founded in 1988, Ampersand is a middle market private equity firm dedicated to growth-oriented investments in the healthcare sector. With offices in Boston and Amsterdam, Ampersand leverages its unique blend of private equity and operating experience to build value and drive superior long-term performance alongside its portfolio company management teams. Ampersand has helped build numerous market-leading companies across each of our core healthcare sectors, including Brammer Bio, Avista Pharma, Confluent Medical, Genewiz, Genoptix, Talecris Biotherapeutics and Viracor-IBT Laboratories. Additional information is available at ampersandcapital.com.

SOURCE Canopy Biosciences

Related Links

http://www.canopybiosciences.com

Categories: News

Tags:

Instructure enters into a Definitive Agreemend to be acquired bij Thoma Bravo

Thomas Bravo

Instructure Stockholders to Receive $47.60 Per Share in Cash; Partnership will Accelerate Innovation and Investment in Long-Term Strategy

SALT LAKE CITY – Dec. 4, 2019 – Instructure (NYSE: INST) today announced that it has agreed to be acquired by Thoma Bravo, LLC, a leading private equity investment firm, in an all-cash transaction that values Instructure at an aggregate equity value of approximately $2 billion. As part of the terms of the agreement, Instructure stockholders will receive $47.60 in cash per share. The price per share represents an 18% premium to the Company’s 3-month volume-weighted average price as of October 27, 2019, the day prior to the Company’s third quarter earnings call at which it announced a strategic review for its Bridge business.

“After a thorough review of strategic alternatives, the Instructure Board of Directors is pleased to reach this agreement,” said Josh Coates, Executive Chairman of the Board at Instructure.

The Instructure management team, led by CEO Dan Goldsmith, will continue to lead the Company in their current roles. Thoma Bravo will support Instructure as it increases investment in education technology innovation and expands internationally.

“Instructure believes the opportunity to become a private Company will provide additional flexibility and position us to invest more strategically to drive innovation for our customers,” said Goldsmith. “We look forward to working closely with all parties to complete this transaction and enter into our next chapter of growth and industry leadership.”

“Instructure’s Canvas product is the gold standard for learning management systems in the global education market,” said Holden Spaht, a Managing Partner at Thoma Bravo. “We are excited to partner with Dan and the senior management team to support continued investment and innovation in the Company’s market leading products and world class customer support.”

Brian Jaffee, a Principal at Thoma Bravo added, “We’ve followed the impressive Instructure growth story for many years and believe Canvas is a highly unique vertical market SaaS leader with exciting scale and future growth potential. We look forward to building on the strong momentum in the business and accelerating growth and product investment both organically and through M&A.”

The members of Instructure’s Board of Directors have unanimously approved the transaction and recommended that its stockholders approve the merger. A special meeting of Instructure’s stockholders will be held as soon as practicable following the filing of a definitive proxy statement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) and subsequent mailing to its stockholders. Instructure’s headquarters will remain in Salt Lake City, Utah, with regional offices across the United States and abroad. Closing of the transaction is subject to approval by Instructure stockholders and certain regulatory and antitrust authorities and the satisfaction of customary closing conditions. The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2020 and is not subject to a financing condition. Upon completion of the acquisition, Instructure will become wholly-owned by Thoma Bravo.

The agreement includes a 35-day “go-shop” period expiring on January 8, 2020, which permits Instructure’s Board of directors and advisors to solicit alternative acquisition proposals from third parties. Instructure will have the right to terminate the merger agreement to enter into a superior proposal subject to the terms and conditions of the merger agreement. There can be no assurance that this “go-shop” will result in a superior proposal, and Instructure does not intend to disclose developments with respect to the solicitation process unless and until it determines such disclosure is appropriate or is otherwise required.

J.P. Morgan Securities LLC is serving as the exclusive financial advisor to Instructure and Cooley LLP is serving as its legal advisor. Kirkland & Ellis is serving as legal advisor to Thoma Bravo.

Additional Information and Where to Find It
The Company intends to file with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) and furnish to its stockholders a proxy statement on Schedule 14A, as well as other relevant documents concerning the proposed transaction.  The proxy statement will contain important information about the proposed Merger and related matters.  Investors and security holders of the Company are urged to carefully read the entire proxy statement when it becomes available because it will contain important information about the proposed transactions. A definitive proxy statement will be sent to the stockholders of the Company seeking any required stockholder approvals.

Investors and security holders of the Company will be able to obtain a free copy of the proxy statement, as well as other relevant filings containing information about the Company and the proposed transaction, including materials that will be incorporated by reference into the proxy statement, without charge, at the SEC’s website (http://www.sec.gov) or from the Company by contacting the Company’s Investor Relations at (866) 574-3127, by email at Investors@instructure.com, or by going to the Company’s Investor Relations page on its website at https://ir.instructure.com/overview/default.aspx and clicking on the link titled “SEC Filings.”

Participants in the Solicitation
The Company and certain of its directors, executive officers and employees may be deemed to be participants in the solicitation of proxies in respect of the proposed Merger.  Information regarding the interests of the Company’s directors and executive officers and their ownership of Company common stock is set forth in the Company’s annual report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC on February 20, 2019 and the Company’s proxy statement on Schedule 14A filed with the SEC on April 8, 2019. Other information regarding the participants in the proxy solicitation and a description of their direct and indirect interests in the proposed Merger, by security holdings or otherwise, will be contained in the proxy statement and other relevant materials to be filed with the SEC in connection with the proposed Merger.  Free copies of these documents may be obtained, without charge, from the SEC or the Company as described in the preceding paragraph.

Notice Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This communication contains forward-looking information related to the Company and the acquisition of the Company.  Forward-looking statements in this release include, among other things, statements about the potential benefits of the proposed transaction, the Company’s plans, objectives, expectations and intentions, the financial condition, results of operations and business of the Company, and the anticipated timing of closing of the proposed transaction.  Risks and uncertainties include, among other things, risks related to the ability of the Company to consummate the proposed transaction on a timely basis or at all, including due to complexities resulting from the adoption of new accounting pronouncements and associated system implementations; the satisfaction of the conditions precedent to consummation of the proposed transaction; the Company’s ability to secure regulatory approvals on the terms expected in a timely manner or at all; disruption from the transaction making it more difficult to maintain business and operational relationships; the negative side effects of the announcement or the consummation of the proposed transaction on the market price of the Company’s common stock or on the Company’s operating results; significant transaction costs; unknown liabilities; the risk of litigation and/or regulatory actions related to the proposed transaction; competitive factors, including competitive responses to the transaction and changes in the competitive environment, pricing changes, sales cycle time and increased competition; customer demand for the Company’s products; new application introductions and the Company’s ability to develop and deliver innovative applications and features; the Company’s ability to provide high-quality service and support offerings; the Company’s ability to build and expand its sales efforts; regulatory requirements or developments; changes in capital resource requirements; and other business effects, including the effects of industry, market, economic, political or regulatory conditions; future exchange and interest rates; changes in tax and other laws, regulations, rates and policies; and future business combinations or disposals.

Further information on these and other risk and uncertainties relating to the Company can be found in its reports on Forms 10-K, 10-Q and 8-K and in other filings the Company makes with the SEC from time to time and available at www.sec.gov.  These documents are available under the SEC filings heading of the Investors section of the Company’s website at https://ir.instructure.com/overview/default.aspx.

The forward-looking statements included in this communication are made only as of the date hereof.  The Company assumes no obligation and does not intend to update these forward-looking statements, except as required by law.

ABOUT INSTRUCTURE
Instructure helps people grow from the first day of school to the last day of work. More than 30 million people use the Canvas Learning Management Platform for schools and the Bridge Employee Development Platform for businesses. More information at www.instructure.com.

ABOUT THOMA BRAVO, LLC
Thoma Bravo is a leading private equity firm focused on the software and technology-enabled services sectors. With a series of funds representing more than $35 billion in capital commitments, Thoma Bravo partners with a Company’s management team to implement operating best practices, invest in growth initiatives and make accretive acquisitions intended to accelerate revenue and earnings, with the goal of increasing the value of the business. Representative past and present portfolio companies include industry leaders such as ABC Financial, Blue Coat Systems, Deltek, Digital Insight, Frontline Education, Global Healthcare Exchange, Hyland Software, Imprivata, iPipeline, PowerPlan, Qlik, Riverbed, SailPoint, SolarWinds, SonicWall, Sparta Systems, TravelClick and Veracode. The firm has offices in San Francisco and Chicago.

 

Categories: News

Tags:

Imcheck Therapeutics raises USD 53 million, Gimv increases its investment in the immuno-oncology space

GIMV

04/12/2019 – 06:45 | Portfolio

In a Series B financing round of USD 53 million, Gimv is increasing its investment in French ImCheck Therapeutics (www.imchecktherapeutics.com), an emerging player in the field of cancer and auto-immune immunotherapies. The round was co-led by Pfizer Ventures (NYSE: PFE) and Bpifrance and joined by new investors specialized in life sciences. Gimv and other existing shareholders also participated for a significant portion of this raise.

The proceeds of the Series B will be used to fund the initial clinical trial for ImCheck’s first-in-class monoclonal antibody ICT01, to further expand the company’s broad pipeline of immunomodulators targeting the butyrophilins super-family and to bring additional immuno-oncology antibody programs into the clinic.

Bram Vanparys, Partner in Gimv’s Health & Care platform, about this new phase: “Imcheck has made significant progress since our investment in its Series A. We are very proud to have complemented Imcheck’s existing investors syndicate with a mix of reputable US and EU investors. Gimv’s significant participation in this Series B shows our firm belief in the impact Imcheck’s pipeline can have in the oncology and autoimmune space.”

Categories: News

Tags: