Category Archives: News

Archive-IT partners with investor FIELDS group for future growth

Fields Group

Reuver, April 2021 – The Dutch investor FIELDS Group, together with Paul de Meulemeester, acquired the established archiving specialist Archive-IT from successful entrepreneur Joan Westendorff. Sitting COO Paul de Meulemeester will remain with the company as CEO and will further support Archive-IT with its international expansion plans.

Archive-IT is one the Netherlands’ largest independent archiving specialists. The company offers a broad portfolio of services and software for the digitization and archiving of physical and digital data. Archive-IT is active in the Dutch, Belgian, French and German markets and offers archiving services and solutions to hospitals, governments, law firms and multinationals.

In the next few years, Archive-IT expects to grow primarily in its international markets: “We see a strong market transition in France and Germany towards digitization and outsourcing of archives. Through our quickly expanding French operation and a brand-new archiving location in Germany we are perfectly positioned to capitalize on these trends” says Paul de Meulemeester. There are also many opportunities in the Dutch and Belgian market: “In the Netherlands we expect our new software developments in the domain of digital archiving and innovative services in the field of enrichment of unstructured data (“data vitalization”) to create further value for our clients. In parallel we notice an increasing appetite in Belgium for digital archiving solutions”

Joan Westendorff, who founded the company in 2004 using his experience from Jalema, a well-known producer of archiving folders and other archiving and office supplies, proudly steps back from Archive-IT: “I have greatly enjoyed experiencing how Archive-IT has developed into an independent and distinctive player in the archiving market, with an international footprint. Now the time has come to pass the torch. I will close the chapter Archive-IT (known formerly as I-FourC) and start a new chapter. My next chapter will focus on real estate, philanthropy and helping entrepreneurs found new companies. I will remain connected to Archive-IT through the development and financing of the new archiving location near the German border in Bruggen-Bracht.”

Besides organic growth, potential acquisitions are also being considered to accelerate the company’s growth. Rutger Alberink of FIELDS Group: “Especially in Germany and France, we see a fragmented market of archiving specialists. In the case of an acquisition, we expect Archive-IT’s unique software and data services to directly create added value for the clients in the acquired company’s client portfolio.”

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Eurazeo launches the EURAZEO sustainable Maritime Infrastructure Thematic Fund

Eurazeo

Eurazeo is delighted to announce the launch of the Sustainable Maritime Infrastructure thematic fund (the Fund) to finance more environmentally friendly infrastructure and technologies in the maritime sector that support the transition to a low carbon economy. As a consequence, the fund will have the objective of pursuing sustainable development within the meaning of Article 9 of Regulation (EU) 2019/2088 (known as the “Disclosure Regulation”) and will participate directly in the deployment of O+, the Group’s ambitious ESG strategy – one of the pillars of which is the achievement of net carbon neutrality by 2040.

Currently, 90% of the world’s goods are transported by sea. Therefore, the decarbonisation of the maritime sector is crucial to the fight against climate change. To meet this challenge, the Fund will mainly finance three types of infrastructure: ships equipped with advanced technologies that negate or curtail environmental harm, innovative harbor equipment, and assets that contribute to the development of offshore renewable energy.
The Fund will support around fifty European facilities that will back the transition of the maritime economy to become carbon neutral by 2050 and in line with the ambition announced in the European Green Deal. Several renowned sovereign and institutional investors have already confirmed their involvement in the Fund, which has a target size of €300M.

The Fund, which will be managed by Idinvest Partners, offers investors with a limited risk appetite a highly desirable solution thanks to its asset financing operations, which will generate quarterly distributions from rents received on maritime assets. The Fund will directly own these maritime assets to further limit risk. As such, the Fund will benefit from Solvency Capital Requirement of less than 10%.
Since January 1 2020, shipping companies must significantly reduce their emissions under the International Maritime Organisation’s (IMO) new regulation on the reduction of the sulphur content of fuels (to 0.5% from 3.5%). This regulation is part of the IMO’s worldwide strategy and aims to reduce the shipping industry’s total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by at least 50% by 2050, relative to 2008 levels. The Fund will contribute to the reduction of GHGs as well as sulphur oxides (Sox) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) emissions, which are particularly harmful to air quality.

Christophe Bavière, member of Eurazeo’s Executive Board
Eurazeo is particularly proud to present to its investors a solution that meets Article 9 criteria. Many investors are in search for an investment program that has a concrete impact in the decarbonisation and the ecological transition. Eurazeo Sustainable Maritime Infrastructure thematic fund distinguishes itself by a reinforced protection of the capital.
Our new fund is a financing tool that will contribute to the reduction of greenhouse gas and sulphur, reduction measured audited by independent experts, then communicated to our investors. Its implementation, the process of which has been evaluated with full transparency by independent organisations, underlines our aims and ambitions to deploy meaningful funds that provide a response to the environmental and climatic challenges of our time.

Eurazeo is a leading global investment group, with a diversified portfolio of €21.8 billion in Assets Under Management, including €15.0 billion from third parties, invested in over 450 companies. With its considerable private equity, real estate

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

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

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

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Audax Private Equity Completes the Sale of Corsearch to Astorg

Audax Group

Audax Private Equity (“Audax”) today announced that it has successfully completed the sale of Corsearch to Astorg.

Corsearch provides innovative Brand Risk and Performance™ solutions to law firms and enterprise customers. Corsearch’s suite of software and services supports a brand owners’ creation and protection of intellectual property assets using innovative IP clearance tools and online brand protection including counterfeit and piracy solutions. Corsearch has more than 800 employees across Europe, North America and Asia and serves over 5,000 clients around the world including many of the world’s Fortune 100 companies.

Since being acquired by Audax in 2018, Corsearch has undergone a period of transformation, growth, and success:

Completed the carve-out from Wolters Kluwer, invested in new technology infrastructure and streamlined global operations
Completed eight add-on acquisitions globally which expanded the company’s product offerings, added new customers, and vertically integrated key functions
Invested in technology and research & development capabilities to support new product innovation
Tim Mack, Managing Director at Audax, said, “We’re incredibly proud of our partnership with the Corsearch team, their strategic transformation, and consistent customer focus. Over the course of our investment, Corsearch further expanded in online brand protection with cutting-edge solutions that are transforming how companies commercialize and protect their growth. We’re excited to retain a minority investment in Corsearch, and wish the team continued success with Astorg’s support.”

Tobias Hartmann, Chief Executive Officer of Corsearch, commented, “Audax has been an instrumental partner over the last three years, especially following Corsearch’s spin off from Wolters Kluwer into an independent, standalone company. The Audax team leveraged their deep investment expertise, global resources, and operational experience to accelerate our growth plans while enhancing our ability to meet the evolving needs of our global customer base. We thank them for their partnership and look forward to embarking on our next phase of growth with Astorg.”

Harris Williams & Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC served as financial advisors and Kirkland & Ellis served as legal advisor to Corsearch.

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Third largest European plant based producer Vivera acquired by JBS S.A.

Gilde Buy Out
April 19, 2021 Purchase of Vivera, Europe’s third-largest plant-based protein producer thrusts JBS into the plant protein market; the €341 million deal includes 3 manufacturing units and a research and development center in The Netherlands.
São Paulo – JBS, the world’s largest protein company and second-largest food producer, has entered into an agreement to purchase Vivera, Europe’s third-largest plant-based food produced, for an enterprise value of €341 million. Vivera develops and produces a broad range of innovative plant-based meat replacement products for major retailers in over 25 countries across Europe, with relevant marketshare in The Netherlands, the United Kingdom and Germany. The deal includes three manufacturing units and a research and development center located in The Netherlands.
The acquisition of Vivera strengthens and boosts JBS’ global plant-based products platform. Strong growth is expected in this category throughout global markets. The deal will add a brand to JBS’ portfolio that is well-established in consumer preference, strengthening the Company’s focus on value-added products.
Vivera, currently the largest independent plant-based company in Europe, will join other JBS initiatives such as Seara’s, Incrível range, a market leader in plant-based hamburgers, and Planterra, with the OZO brand in the United States.
“This acquisition is an important step to strengthen our global plant-based protein platform”, said Gilberto Tomazoni, Global CEO of JBS. “Vivera will give JBS a stronghold in the plant-based sector, with technological knowledge and capacity for innovation”.
To nurture its entrepreneurial spirit JBS plans to manage Vivera as a standalone business unit with its current leadership team to remain in place. “Joining forces with JBS gives us access to significant resources and capabilities to accelerate our current strong growth trajectory and Vivera brand expansion”, said Willem van Weede, CEO, Vivera.
The deal was approved by the JBS board of directors and will be concluded after approval by the antitrust authorities. full details Read more at: https://gilde.com/news/2021/third-largest-european-plant-based-producer-vivera-acquired-by-jbs

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Divestment of Grand Group and the Grand Hôtel property to FAM

Investor
2021-04-19 08:15

Patricia Industries, a part of Investor AB, and its subsidiary Vectura, have agreed to divest Grand Group and the Grand Hôtel property, respectively, to FAM AB. The transaction includes the hotel operations Grand Hôtel, Lydmar Hotel and The Sparrow Hotel, all located in Stockholm, as well as the Grand Hôtel property.

The total transaction value amounts to SEK 3.9bn, of which approximately SEK 0.3bn for Grand Group and approximately SEK 3.6bn for the Grand Hôtel property. Net proceeds from the transaction are approximately SEK 1.5bn following Vectura debt amortization.

“The management team has done a great job in developing the Grand Group, further improving its customer offering and efficiency. However, we have concluded that the hotel segment does not fit with our investment priorities. Thus, it is a natural step for us to divest to FAM, a new, capable long-term owner who can further develop the Grand Group. The divestment further sharpens the focus in our portfolio”, comments Investor’s CEO Johan Forssell.

“In FAM we have found a great new home for Grand Group. The divestment frees up resources that we will use to continue to develop Patricia Industries and our existing companies. For Vectura, the divestment of the Grand Hôtel property allows more focus on expanding the core business within community services and office premises”, comments Christian Cederholm, Head of Patricia Industries.

Considering the relationship between Investor and FAM, the transaction has been evaluated by a third party. In this case Investor has engaged EY for a fairness opinion of the transaction. The individual Boards of Directors’ decisions have of course been taken without participation of directors who could be assumed to have a conflict of interest.The transaction is expected to be completed, subject to regulatory approval, during the second quarter 2021.

About Patricia Industries
Patricia Industries is a long-term owner that invests in companies and works to develop each company to its full potential. Patricia Industries is a part of the industrial holding company Investor AB, whose main owner is the Wallenberg Foundations.

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Investor, founded by the Wallenberg family in 1916, is an engaged owner of high quality global companies. We have a long-term investment perspective. Through board participation, as well as industrial experience, our network and financial strength, we work continuously to support our companies to remain or become best-in-class. Our holdings include, among others, ABB, Atlas Copco, Ericsson, Mölnlycke and SEB.

For further information:

Viveka Hirdman-Ryrberg, Head of Corporate Communication and Sustainability,
Phone +46 70 550 3500
viveka.hirdman-ryrberg@investorab.com

Magnus Dalhammar, Head of Investor Relations,
Phone +46 73 524 2130
magnus.dalhammar@investorab.com

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IK Investment Partners raises €1.2 billion in three months for third Small Cap fund

ik-investment-partners

IK Investment Partners (“IK” or “the Firm”), a leading Pan-European private equity firm, is pleased to announce that it has closed the IK Small Cap III Fund (“IK Small Cap III” or “the Fund”) at its hard cap with commitments of €1.2 billion. The IK Small Cap III Fund was significantly oversubscribed and allocated exclusively to existing IK platform investors in just three months, having been raised on a fully virtual basis.

The Fund is more than double the size of its €550 million predecessor, IK Small Cap II Fund, and was raised exclusively with the support of existing investors across the IK platform.

IK Small Cap III will continue to employ the same investment strategy focused on growing businesses across IK’s core sectors of Business Services, Healthcare, Consumer and Industrials and will make investments in companies with enterprise values of between €50 million and €150 million. The Fund includes a dedicated Development Capital pool which will focus on investing in smaller companies valued up to €50 million, in line with IK’s original Small Cap I Fund strategy.

IK launched its Small Cap strategy in 2015 and has since made 27 platform investments across two funds. The €277 million IK Small Cap I Fund has realised €425 million of proceeds, including seven full exits at a gross average 3.2x MM and 56% IRR.

IK Small Cap III will continue to support businesses through its active ownership model focused on organic growth, international buy-and-build, professionalisation and operational improvement. The IK Small Cap team of 30 investment professionals located across Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Hamburg, London, Paris and Stockholm will be supported throughout the investment process by IK’s dedicated Operations and Capital Markets teams.

The closing of the Fund follows a period of significant fundraising for IK, which has held a final close on funds with over €4.3 billion of commitments in the last 12 months, reflecting continued investor confidence and support despite the ongoing pandemic. This included the €2.85 billion raised for IK’s ninth Mid Cap fund, the IK IX Fund, in May 2020 and more recently the €303 million final close for IK’s Partnership Fund, a vehicle dedicated to making minority investments in larger, more established businesses.

Kirkland & Ellis International LLP acted as legal counsel to the Fund.

This press release is not an offer of securities for sale in the United States or any other jurisdiction and interests in the Fund may not be offered or sold in the United States or any other jurisdictions save in accordance with applicable law.

Kristian Carlsson Kemppinen, Head of IK’s Small Cap strategy and Managing Partner at IK, said: “Five years after we launched our first Small Cap Fund, we continue to see significant opportunities in high-potential European companies at the lower end of the mid-market. Despite the challenges we have seen throughout the pandemic, IK’s strategy has remained resilient and we are delighted with the continued support from our investors. With our Investment and Operations Teams based on the ground across all our key markets, we are ideally placed to support the transformation of local champions into European and international leaders.”

Pierre Gallix, Head of IK’s Development Capital strategy and Managing Partner at IK, said: “There continue to be a large number of opportunities at the lower end of the small cap market where we see significant potential for IK to support management teams in unlocking potential and realising growth. We have already identified a pipeline of future market leaders who we can support with our capital and expertise as they look to scale up and expand.”

For further questions, please contact:

IK Investment Partners

Maitland/AMO
James McFarlane
Phone: +44 (0) 7584 142 665
jmcfarlane@maitland.co.uk

About IK Investment Partners
IK Investment Partners (“IK”) is a Pan-European private equity firm focused on investments in the Benelux, DACH, France, Nordics and the UK. Since 1989, IK has raised more than €14 billion of capital and invested in 145 European companies. IK supports companies with strong underlying potential, partnering with management teams and investors to create robust, well-positioned businesses with excellent long-term prospects. For more information, visit www.ikinvest.com

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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.

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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

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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

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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.

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