Category Archives: News

Arkessa acquires Netherlands-based Sim Services

ECI

 

ECI portfolio company, Arkessa, announces today that it has continued its global expansion with the acquisition of Sim Services, a Netherlands-based connectivity services provider. The acquisition will allow Arkessa to strengthen its presence in the Netherlands and will help it reach its goal to ‘future proof’ customers’ connections to the Internet of Things.

Arkessa offers world-wide, world-class cellular connectivity services that make it easy to design, deploy and manage IoT devices securely, efficiently, and at scale, regardless of application or business model. Arkessa provides global coverage, competitive rates, and world-leading technical support, providing a single platform view for customers to order, manage, and connect their smart devices. With offices in the UK, Europe and the US, Arkessa serves multiple vertical sectors, both directly, and through strategic channel partnerships.

Sim Services is an independent provider of IoT connectivity services based out of the Netherlands.  Together with efficient support, short lines of communication and above all fast response times, Sim Services has always differentiated its services by providing the best solutions and support for its clients, with the goal of making IoT connectivity easy.

Andrew Orrock, CEO, Arkessa says: ‘We are delighted to welcome the Sim Services team to the Arkessa Group, and we very much look forward to working together as we continue to fuel our international growth in the IoT market. Rutger and Jeroen lead an expert team that share our values and determination to make IoT connectivity easy to deploy across all sectors, and their team has shown particular strength in delivering the highest level of service and tailored solutions throughout Europe. We welcome their dedication, customer focus, and drive for excellence.’

Rutger Stekelenburg, CEO, Sim Services, says: ‘Our whole team is so excited by this partnership. Arkessa is a natural fit for Sim Services culturally, and in enabling us to offer enhanced capabilities and broader services to our growing customer base. Arkessa offers a global footprint for cellular IoT, and their world-leading LPWAN and eUICC capabilities bring a whole new level of flexibility and coverage to the markets we currently serve, as well as opening up exciting new ones. The team is today as focused as ever on delivering great service to our customers, and we are delighted to join forces with such a dynamic and fast-moving team.

Paul McCreadie, Partner, ECI Partners, says: ‘Arkessa is well positioned to capture the considerable global growth projected in IoT managed services, with billions of connected devices being deployed in the coming decade. ECI is delighted to support Arkessa in making acquisitions which will have a direct positive impact on IoT customers looking for best-in-class connectivity services, anywhere in the world.’

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hey, Leading Payments and e-Commerce Player in Japan, Secures Growth Investment Led by Bain Capital Tech Opportunities

BainCapital

TOKYO & BOSTON, August 4, 2020 – hey, a leading payments and e-commerce platform
in Japan that helps businesses easily create bespoke online stores and process in-store
cashless payments, today announced it secured a Series E investment led by Bain Capital
Tech Opportunities with participation from PayPal Ventures, Goldman Sachs, YJ Capital,
Anatole, and existing investor World Innovation Lab. The funding, along with Bain Capital’s
global expertise with integrated software and payments, will enable hey to accelerate growth
and serve the large and growing number of businesses in Japan who are looking to establish
an online retail presence and accept cashless payments in stores.

In conjunction with the new investment round, hey also announced that it has acquired Coubic,
an emerging consumer-facing reservations platform that will help hey further scale and
diversify into adjacent categories. Financial terms of both private investments were not
disclosed.

Formed in 2018 by the merger of mobile point of sale (mPOS) terminal business Coiney and ecommerce
platform Stores.jp, hey provides end-to-end support for businesses as they create
and maintain personalized virtual storefronts and accept in-person payments. The platform
plays an important role allowing merchants in Japan to engage and transact with current and
prospective consumers at a fraction of the cost of other alternatives in the market.

Japan is the third largest economy in the world with $2.7 trillion in consumer spending, but
cashless payments and e-commerce have historically been underpenetrated compared to
other developed markets. However, interest in both categories is at an inflection point today as
Japan is in the midst of a generational transition to a more modern, digital consumer economy.
Concurrently, COVID-19 has driven an acceleration in consumer and merchant demand for
mobile payment options as a frictionless alternative to cash. Together, these tailwinds have
positioned hey to capture market share through smart investments in product development
and customer service as well as enhancements to its go-to-market, cross-selling, and
acquisition strategies.

“Yusuke and his talented team are at the forefront of developing integrated mPOS and ecommerce
solutions that enable Japanese merchants to engage with and sell to consumers
across the country, even those using legacy payment methods. Their innovative technology
creates a ‘one stop shop’ that drives a more efficient, friendly and cost-effective shopping
experience,” said Darren Abrahamson, Managing Director at Bain Capital Tech Opportunities.
“We are excited to partner with hey to help drive the next phase of growth in existing and
complementary markets, which kicks off with the exciting acquisition of Coubic.”

“hey was formed with a vision to employ our innovative technology platform to foster
connections between Japanese consumers and merchants who have been under-served by ecommerce
solutions in the marketplace. Our 100% growth in gross merchandise value over the
past year and this new partnership with a world class group of investors are key milestones in
realizing that vision,” said Yusuke Sato, President of hey. “Partnering with Bain Capital as well
as PayPal Ventures and leveraging their global platform and deep payments and e-commerce
experience will enable us to meet the growing demand for dynamic, remote shopping
experiences for Japanese consumers.”

Bain Capital has deep global investment experience across the payments and e-commerce
sectors, having invested in and added value to a wide-range of companies at all stages of their
growth cycle including Concardis, Finix, Mirakl, Nets, Nexi and Worldpay (acquired by FIS).
The firm has also become a leading investor in Japan since establishing its Tokyo office in
2006, with a portfolio of preeminent technology companies including EmberPoint, Kioxia,
Macromill and Works Human Intelligence. Concurrent with the new investment, Naofumi Nishi,
a Principal at Bain Capital Private Equity in Japan will join hey’s board of directors.

About Hey
Through the development of the online store establishment service STORES, cashless payment
STORES Terminal, and the development of STORES Digital Store Platform, hey supports the
digitization of business. Founded in 2018 by leaders in Japan’s emerging payments and
ecommerce industries, hey’s easily deployed tools create a frictionless shopping, service and
transacting experience regardless of seller size or industry.

About Bain Capital Tech Opportunities
Bain Capital Tech Opportunities (https://www.baincapitaltechopportunities.com/) aims to help
growing technology companies reach their full potential. We focus on companies in large,
growing end markets with innovative or disruptive technology where we believe we can
support transformational growth. Our dedicated, tenured team has deep experience supporting
growing technology businesses—bringing together differentiated backgrounds in private and
public equity investing as well as technology operating roles. We invest behind fundamental
long-term tailwinds as technology penetrates across industries, creating a large and growing
number of investment opportunities. Bain Capital Tech Opportunities focuses on five priority
sub-verticals: Application Software, Infrastructure & Security, Fintech & Payments,
Healthcare IT and Internet & Digital Media.

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Reston’s EverWatch buys BrainTrust, a software and cloud engineering firm

Enlightenment

Reston’s EverWatch, a defense and national security contractor under the Enlightenment Capital umbrella, has made its largest acquisition to date, an Anne Arundel County IT and cloud services firm.

BrainTrust, headquartered in Annapolis Junction, will be merged into an EverWatch office in Columbia, Enlightenment Capital announced. Terms were not disclosed. The BrainTrust founders will join the company and “help lead EverWatch’s continued growth,” the company said.

“The addition of BrainTrust enables EverWatch to continue to aggressively pursue our strategy of combining innovative technical capabilities with the infrastructure and reach of a mid-tier player,” Jason Rigoli, partner at Enlightenment Capital and chairman of EverWatch, said in a statement.

EverWatch was founded in the fall of 2018 after Enlightenment Capital, the Chevy Chase-based aerospace and defense investment firm, merged IEA Corp. and ACES Inc. with two other unnamed companies. BrainTrust is the seventh acquisition for EverWatch, which is led by CEO John Hillen and Chief Growth Officer Fred Funk.

EverWatch has about 400 employees across three offices in Reston, Columbia and Aurora, Colorado. With the addition of BrainTrust, it is expected to rise to about 500 while providing a huge boost to EverWatch revenue.

BrainTrust provides software engineering, machine learning, systems engineering, cybersecurity and other services to the U.S. intelligence and defense communities.

“They bring a devoted team, a culture of innovation and a complementary set of capabilities, all of which will enhance EverWatch’s ability to help solve some of the nation’s most challenging security problems,” Devin Talbott, Enlightenment Capital managing partner, said in a statement.

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Advent International and Cinven complete acquisition of thyssenkrupp’s Elevator Technology business

Cinven

International private equity firms Advent International (“Advent”) and Cinven (together the “Consortium”) have completed the acquisition of thyssenkrupp’s Elevator Technology business (“thyssenkrupp Elevator” or the “Group”) from thyssenkrupp AG (the “Transaction”).

thyssenkrupp Elevator is a leading global provider of elevators, escalators, and other innovative passenger transportation solutions to customers in more than 100 countries worldwide. Headquartered in Germany, the Group has operations in more than 1,000 locations. The Group generated revenues of c. €8.0bn in the financial year 2018/19.

Following strong performance in recent years and reflecting the global nature of the business, the Group has continued to trade well despite the COVID-19 period, showing significant resilience in the face of uncertain economic conditions based on its high levels of long-term contracted service revenues and the strong cash flow generation of the business.

As part of the Transaction, thyssenkrupp AG has reinvested in thyssenkrupp Elevator, acquiring a substantial minority stake, underlining the attractive value creation potential of the business as well as a commitment to Germany and the Group’s employees.

Bruno Schick, Partner and Head of DACH and Emerging Europe at Cinven commented:

“thyssenkrupp Elevator is a compelling investment opportunity with strong, long term growth drivers supported by predictable profit streams and cash flows from multi-year service contracts. It’s a business that has already demonstrated its ability to weather even the most difficult market conditions. Partnering with management and employees, we are committed to adding significant value to this truly outstanding business – including through investing in organic growth and acquisitions.”

“thyssenkrupp Elevator is one of the top 4 global Elevator & Escalators players, renowned for innovation and technology with a comprehensive product and service portfolio. Drawing on our deep experience in the industrial and business services sectors along with our global platform, we see significant opportunity to further support the company’s continued growth through product development, R&D and international expansion for the benefit of customers, suppliers and employees,” said Ranjan Sen, Managing Partner and Head of Germany at Advent International.

Peter Walker, CEO of thyssenkrupp Elevator said:

“Our new main shareholders, Advent and Cinven, have already shown huge determination and commitment to the business during the completion of the Transaction. Add to that the clear expertise and strategic vision they showed during the sale process and we know we have found the right partners to work with as we take the company forward as an independent business. There is much for all stakeholders of thyssenkrupp Elevator to be excited about, including the opportunity for growth through geographic expansion and strategic acquisitions. We’ll also have access to focused and substantial financial resources of our owners to achieve this as well as the funding of innovation and R&D. We have every reason to look to our independent future with ambition and optimism.”

About thyssenkrupp Elevator

thyssenkrupp Elevator’s product portfolio includes passenger and freight elevators, escalators and moving walkways, passenger boarding bridges, stair and platform lifts. The Group also has a customised service business that offers maintenance services for its entire product portfolio. The business operates a global sales and service network to ensure optimum proximity to its customers.

The Consortium has a shared investment philosophy of responsibly growing leading businesses and is committed to a long-term value creation plan for thyssenkrupp Elevator.

 

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Ardian announces its acquisition of Finaxy, a french leader in insurance brokerage, from Equistone

Ardian

Paris, July 30th, 2020 – Ardian, a world leading private investment house, today announces that it has acquired a majority stake in Finaxy, a French multi-specialist B2B and B2C insurance broker, from Equistone Partners Europe, a leading European mid-market private equity firm.

Founded in 2009 under the leadership of Erick Berville, Finaxy has become a top 10 insurance broker in France following Equistone’s acquisition of a majority stake in the Group in 2014. With a strategic positioning focused on B2C niches and specific B2B business expertise, the Group has successfully leveraged its know-how to build a third offering dedicated to insurers and bank insurers. Since its inception, the Group has delivered strong organic growth and an active buy-and-build strategy, with 27 acquisitions in France, two of which took place in 2020.

In the current challenging market environment, Ardian Expansion has remained focused on growing companies both organically and through build-ups. With the support of Ardian, Finaxy plans to accelerate its buy-and-build strategy and strengthen its leading multi-specialist positioning.

Alexis Lavaillote, Managing Director in the Ardian Expansion team, said: ”Knowing this sector quite well, we were convinced by Finaxy’s multi-specialist positioning and its potential for organic growth across its three businesses. Under the leadership of Erick Berville, Finaxy has also been a key player in the consolidation of a still fragmented market and we will continue to support and accelerate this external growth policy. We are delighted to support Erick and his teams who, beyond their performance, have demonstrated agility and a strong entrepreneurial culture.”

Erick Berville, Founder and CEO of Finaxy, added: “The Group Management and I would like to thank Equistone for the past six years. This close teamwork has enabled us to achieve common goals while respecting Finaxy’s human and entrepreneurial values, and to smartly position the group for strong and ambitious development. We have chosen to continue this journey with Ardian and we are delighted to welcome them. We share this DNA and it will enable us to pursue and accelerate our organic and external growth momentum. You can’t stop dreaming while you’re on the move.”

Guillaume Jacqueau, Managing Partner at Equistone, concluded: “We are proud to have worked with Finaxy for more than six years and to have played our role as a strategic partner. Finaxy’s teams have done a remarkable job in expanding the product offering and developing new niche markets through organic and external growth. The Group has become one of France’s leading independent brokers and we are convinced that Finaxy is well positioned to continue consolidating its leading position in the future.”

ABOUT FINAXY GROUP

Created at the beginning of 2009 by Erick Berville, FINAXY Group is today one of the French leaders in insurance brokerage. FINAXY Group is one of the leading French insurance brokers and has joined the closed club of the top 75 brokers in the world, positioning itself as a “multi-specialist” broker. Structured around three specialized divisions (Corporate, Consumer (niche markets) and Solutions (major strategic partnerships)), the Group is developing its activity in specific market sectors with high added value. FINAXY Group continues to base its development half on organic growth and half on external growth.

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ABOUT ARDIAN

Ardian is a world-leading private investment house with assets of US$100bn 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 670 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 around 1,000 clients through five pillars of investment expertise: Fund of Funds, Direct Funds, Infrastructure, Real Estate and Private Debt.

ABOUT EQUISTONE

Equistone is an independent investment firm wholly owned and managed by its executives. The company is one of Europe’s leading investors in mid-market buyouts with a strong, consistent track record spanning over 40 years, with more than 400 transactions completed in this period. Equistone has a strong focus on change of ownership deals and aims to invest between €25m and €200m+ of equity in businesses with enterprise values of between €50m and €500m. The company has a team of over 40 investment professionals operating across France, Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland and the UK, investing as a strategic partner alongside management teams. Equistone is currently investing its sixth buyout fund, which held a final closing at its €2.8bn hard cap in March 2018.
Equistone Partners Europe is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and Equistone Partners Europe SAS is duly registered with the Autorité des Marchés Financiers.

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LIST OF PARTIES INVOLVED

  • Ardian

    • Alexis Lavaillote, Arthur de Salins, Stéphan Torra, Leslie Parmast

  • Buyers Due Diligence

    • M&A: Raphaël Financial Advisory (Benoit O’Mahony, Maxime Berthoux, Tristan Cossec)
    • Strategic: BCG (Philippe Removille, Benjamin Sarfati, Benjamin Entraygues, Chloélia Auffret)
    • Digital: BCG Platinion (Nicolas Levillain)
    • Financial: KPMG (Benjamin Tarac, Sophie Bougerolle)
    • Tax, legal and social: KPMG (Xavier Houard, Florence Olivier, Albane Eglinger, Frédéric Martineau)
    • Corporate lawyer: Latham & Watkins (Olivier du Mottay, Bénédicte Bremond, Alexandre Magnier)

  • Equistone

    • Guillaume Jacqueau, Grégoire Châtillon, Julie Lorin

  • Seller Due Diligence

    • M&A: Lazard (François Guichot-Pérère, Jean-Philippe Bescond)
    • Seller lawyer: Goodwin (Thomas Maitrejean, Chloé Vu Thien)
    • Management lawyer: Jeausserand (Erwan Bordet)
    • Management Advisor: Callisto (Charles de Rozières, Tancrède Caulliez)
    • Strategic DD: Roland Berger (Christophe Angoulvant)
    • Financial DD: EY (Cyril de Beco, Damien Buot de l’Epine, Sandra Guerin)
    • Legal and social DD: EY
    • Tax DD: Arsene Taxand

PRESS CONTACTS

ARDIAN / Headland

VIKTOR TSVETANOV

VTsvetanov@headlandconsultancy.co.uk +44 207 3435 7469

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Building end-to-end eCommerce and advertising solutions

Gp Bullhound

GP Bullhound acted as the exclusive financial advisor to Orca Pacific on its intended merger with MightyHive, a fully-owned subsidiary of S4 Capital PLC.

Founded in 2008 by John Ghiorso, Orca Pacific is a market leading full-service Amazon agency and boutique consultancy that helps top consumer brands optimize their customer journey and grow their Amazon business through a combination of expertise and industry-leading technology. The company employs over 40 former Amazonians and retail industry experts and partners with clients including Reebok, Uni-ball, Godiva, Del Monte and Kenroy Home.

The deal builds on S4 Capital’s existing Amazon relationship, equipping teams with an end-to-end eCommerce offering, including retail management, advertising, and content on Amazon’s platform,  which can bridge the gap between media, creative, and measurement more broadly to deliver additional expertise and services capabilities for SMB, Mid-Market and Enterprise clients.

John Ghiorso, CEO and Founder of Orca Pacific, said: “By teaming up with MightyHive, Orca Pacific’s existing bench of advanced Amazon experts is now positioned to offer global capabilities, along with expanded data, creative and media solutions to clients. GP Bullhound was invaluable in helping us navigate through this process and we couldn’t be more excited about the new partner we’ve found in MightyHive and S4 Capital.”

Alec Dafferner, Partner at GP Bullhound, said: “Integrating with Orca Pacific will allow MightyHive to offer best-in-class eCommerce and Marketplace solutions to its clients. We look forward to following their progress as they continue to expand their capabilities and offering.”

The transaction is further testament to GP Bullhound’s global expertise in advising category leaders in the Digital Services sector, with 19 transactions completed in this sector in the last 24 months including the majority investment in Jellyfish by Fimalac Group, and the sales of Oliver to You & Mr. Jones and Filter to Merkle, among many others.
Inquiries

For inquiries, please contact:

Alec Dafferner, Partner

ALEC.DAFFERNER@GPBULLHOUND.COM

About GP Bullhound

GP Bullhound is a leading technology advisory and investment firm, providing transaction advice and capital to the world’s best entrepreneurs and founders. Founded in 1999, the firm today has offices in London, San Francisco, Stockholm, Berlin, Manchester, Paris, Hong Kong, Madrid and New York. For more information, please visit www.gpbullhound.com.

GP Bullhound Inc. advised on this transaction.

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iObeya Raises $17 Million to Revolutionize Visual Management and Expand U.S. Footprint With New Seattle Office

Fortino Capital

More than 350,000 workers around the world use iObeya as global demand for enterprise-grade visual collaboration software explodes

July 23, 2020 – MASSY, France – iObeya, a leading provider of Enterprise Visual Management software, today announced that it has raised $17 million in a second round of funding from Red River West with participation from Atlantic Bridge Capital and Fortino Capital Partners, bringing the total raised to date to $20 million. In addition to advancing the development of its platform, the new financing will accelerate the company’s expansion into the United States, including the opening of a Seattle headquarters led by Cisco veteran Tim McCracken. The company also announced that it has recruited Rick Tywoniak, an expert in the field of visual collaboration, as Vice President of Marketing.

While iObeya was widely used prior to the pandemic — hundreds of thousands of workers already use iObeya every day — the rapid and unprecedented shift to remote work has fueled skyrocketing demand for its platform, which is up by more than 400% since January. iObeya is ideal for large organizations with distributed teams; those that have complex R&D, engineering, and manufacturing processes; and those that utilize Lean and Agile methods. A growing number of forward-thinking multinational companies depend on iObeya for their Visual Management and their visual collaboration including: Airbus, Thales, Volvo, Philips, Cartier, Axa, Eli Lilly and Company, Western Digital, Kimberly-Clark,  Danaher, Sanofi, and many more.

“A decade or more ago, digital whiteboarding tools ushered in an era of visual collaboration. Today, iObeya represents a new vanguard that is poised to define the era of Visual Management,” said Luc-Emmanuel Barreau, Partner at Red River West. “iObeya’s momentum and ‘stickiness’ among leading global brands proves that there is significant — and growing — demand for enterprise-grade visual collaboration solutions that are designed on Lean and Agile principles, that fuel innovation and drive business performance. iObeya’s team has a proven track record and we’re excited to lead this investment as the company expands its global footprint, notably in the U.S.”

Enterprise Visual Management – The Next Generation of Visual Collaboration for Lean and Agile Companies

Companies around the world are increasingly deploying Lean and Agile management methodologies in order to improve overall business performance and competitiveness. Visual Management is a core component of these transformative methodologies, yet many companies find it difficult to scale enterprise-wide: valuable knowledge ends up on Post-It notes, whiteboards, or other information silos such that it cannot be securely stored or shared. Existing visual collaboration and digital whiteboarding tools are limited in enterprise functionality and are ineffective at reproducing a company’s unique Lean rituals and Agile ceremonies at scale, creating disconnectedness across teams and reducing their ability to manage projects effectively. As a result, many companies must either develop their own software in-house, which is both time-consuming and costly, or attempt to piece together multiple tools.

“Today’s workers know that advancing a unified vision and achieving common goals through teamwork — especially when working remotely — is essential. That’s why companies are striving to provide their employees with a human-centric, virtual environment in which they can innovate, grow, and contribute to the success of the business,” said Cyril Daloz, co-founder and CEO of iObeya. “iObeya is an enterprise platform that empowers teams to create secure, configurable virtual rooms to support all their Visual Management practices. Users can share information and ideas, collaborate with colleagues in real time, and track the progress of projects according to Lean and Agile principles. Our solution is particularly well-positioned to lead in these unprecedented times. We look forward to using this new investment to deliver a more visual and collaborative management approach, centered on human values, to large organizations as we expand our business in the U.S. and around the world.”

As the leader in Visual Management for Lean and Agile companies, iObeya is at the heart of business processes and helps businesses achieve operational excellence. iObeya accelerates the deployment of Lean and Agile across large organizations by digitizing all key Visual Management practices: industrial product lifecycle management, manufacturing operational excellence, software design and development, continuous improvement of business performance, and much more.

With the iObeya platform, enterprise users can:

  • Go beyond the limitations of paper and boost innovation with real-time, collaborative, visual workspaces — Each iObeya room, designed to be a digital reproduction of a real-world “obeya” room, is a virtual workspace dedicated to visual collaboration, accommodating up to 200 users and 40 whiteboards. Users and teams enjoy an immersive, co-creation experience with a wide range of fully-configurable digital tools to replicate and enhance meetings that are traditionally conducted with paper, Post-It notes, and whiteboards.
  • Incorporate Lean and Agile principles into business processes — Seamless integrations with Atlassian Jira and Microsoft Azure DevOps help companies unlock the full potential of Application LifeCycle Management (ALM) and strengthen Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe®) ceremonies. iObeya is integrated with Microsoft Office 365, enabling users to directly access their visual workspace from Microsoft Teams. iObeya also contributes to the digital transformation and operational excellence of factories by providing performance management (SQCDP) for Industry 4.0 applications.
  • Increase participation, transparency, and accountability across working groups — With iObeya, teams have a single online location for tracking ideas, progress, and results so that projects stay on track and nothing falls through the cracks. Intuitive activity cards enable users to sort tasks in a variety of ways: by project, deadline, owner, and other configurable views.
  • Leverage cloud-based SaaS or deploy onsite for total data governance — iObeya offers companies the choice to use its secure SaaS service or easily deploy an on-premise version.
  • Ensure the security of corporate data — iObeya is the only Visual Management software to be ISO/IEC 27001:2013 certified by BSI, the leading international security standards organization. This certification confirms that iObeya meets the most stringent level of IT governance by large enterprises.

“Today, more than 10,000 daily users benefit from a single enterprise platform for their Visual Management practices. iObeya allows our teams to be perfectly aligned and to avoid waste all the while benefiting from a significant increase in efficiency for the organization on a global scale: less travel, fewer emails, and above all, more time for product development,” said Philippe Colombo, Head of Knowledge Management and Visual Management at Volvo. iObeya is a must for any global company going through a Lean transformation”.

About iObeya

Founded in 2011, iObeya is the enterprise platform dedicated to all Visual Management and collaboration practices. iObeya enables distributed teams to perform their rituals and ceremonies as though face-to-face and in a secure virtual environment, while upholding the principles of Lean and Agile methodologies. More than 350,000 workers around the world use iObeya daily to improve their company’s performance as part of their major strategic Lean, Agile, digital and cultural transformations. iObeya is backed by leading venture capital firms including Red River West, Atlantic Bridge Capital, and Fortino Capital Partners. For more information, please visit iobeya.com.

About Red River West

Red River West is a unique cross-border VC firm which promotes the international take-off of outstanding EU Tech companies by providing significant financial firepower and game changing hands-on support in EU & the US. RRW focuses on highly disruptive growth-stage companies with investment tickets of €5 million to €30 million. RRW was initiated in 2017 by Artemis – the Pinault family holding company – and Alfred Vericel – the co-founder of Purch, a digital media group leader in the U.S.

About Fortino Capital Partners

Fortino Capital Partners is a European enterprise software investor, managing a €240 million growth private equity fund and two venture capital funds for earlier stage software opportunities. The firm has offices in Antwerp and Amsterdam. Fortino Capital’s investment portfolio includes MobileXpense, Efficy CRM, Odin Groep, Tenzinger, Maxxton, LetsBuild, Teamleader, among others. For more information, please visit
www.fortinocapital.com.

About Atlantic Bridge Capital

Atlantic Bridge Capital is a Global Growth Technology Investment Firm with over €950 million of assets under management across seven Funds, investing in Deep Tech growth stage technology companies in Europe and the U.S. The firm has offices and investment teams based in Palo Alto, London, Dublin, Munich, and Paris.

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3i-backed bioprocessing consumables platform acquires Sani-Tech West, Inc., significantly expanding the combined group’s global footprint and market-leading product portfolio

3I

3i-backed bioprocessing consumables platform acquires Sani-Tech West, Inc., significantly expanding the combined group’s global footprint and market-leading product portfolio

3i Group plc (“3i Group”) announces that its single use bioprocessing platform has acquired Sani-Tech West, Inc. (Sani-Tech West and subsidiaries SaniSure® and SureTech), a leading US-based manufacturer, distributor and integrator of single-use bioprocessing systems and components. Sani-tech West’s founder-owners, including majority owner Richard Shor, will remain with and continue to serve as key leaders of the combined business.

Founded in 1991 and headquartered in California, SaniSure® designs, develops, and manufactures single-use solutions for the bioprocessing industry including customized bottle assemblies, aseptic transfer systems, caps, flasks, tubes and clamps. The business has c. 170 employees and operates two facilities in Southern California. Its bottle assemblies provide a means of transfer, storage and sampling for vaccines and biological drugs. The company has longstanding customer relationships including with leading pharma and biotech customers. In addition to its own manufactured products, and unique IP, Sani-Tech West also distributes a variety of other related single-use products to its customers.

SaniSure® has experienced strong growth over the last several years, supporting key customers in the fast-growing biologics market, and in particular customers working on the development and commercialisation of monoclonal antibody, vaccine, and cell and gene therapy modalities with single-use technologies.

With this transaction, the combined platform will have robust manufacturing and cleanroom assembly operations in both North America and Europe, and will offer enhanced supply chain assurance to its customers as a result of its increasingly vertically integrated product portfolio, including PharmaTainerTM bottles and carboys, Cap2v8® solutions, aSURE® fittings, Bio-EaseTM clamps and a wide range of silicone and thermoplastic tubing solutions including Cellgyn® TPE tubing.  These products are offered independently and integrated into custom tube, bottle and bag assemblies that are used by customers in a variety of upstream and downstream applications.  The company will also have unique portfolio of products designed to serve cell & gene therapy applications, such as Mixed4Sure™ stirring solutions, cell perfusion products and other innovative products in development.

Richard Relyea, Partner, 3i commented: “We are excited to partner with Richard and his team, who have built a US market leader in single-use solutions for the biopharma industry.  This represents a transformational combination for both companies, delivering immediate scale and global reach and enhancing our combined product offerings, capabilities and ability to serve our customers.”

Richard Shor, Founder and CEO, Sani-Tech West added: “The combination of Sani-Tech West and the Cellon, Silicone Altimex and TBL segments that make up 3i’s bioprocessing platform has been a goal of mine for years. The companies’ product offerings are highly complementary and together we will continue to bring more novel, innovative solutions to our customers, as well as offering greater supply chain assurance and faster lead times. I look forward to continuing this journey of expanding our combined international footprint and executing our global growth strategy.”

Importantly, the combination of the two businesses will enhance the ability to serve COVID-19 related vaccine and therapeutics production, for both new and existing customers, with global assembly production capabilities and a robust suite of leading products and components. With three key technology platforms – PharmaTainer bottles and caps, elastomeric and silicone tubing, and novel fittings products – the business offers customers end-to-end customised fluid management solutions, from planning and design through scaled production. The business looks forward to continuing to serve its customers in high criticality bioprocessing applications.

-Ends-

 

Download the press release  

 

For further information, contact: 

3i Group plc

Silvia Santoro

Investor enquiries

 Tel: +44 20 7975 3258

Email: silvia.santoro@3i.com
Kathryn van der Kroft

Media enquiries

 Tel: +44 7721 886 304

Email: kathryn.vanderkroft@3i.com

 

About 3i Group

3i is an investment company with two complementary businesses, Private Equity and Infrastructure, specialising in core investment markets in Northern Europe and North America.

3i’s Private Equity team provides investment solutions for growing companies, backing entrepreneurs and management teams of mid-market companies with an EV typically between €100m – €500m. We back international growth plans, providing access to our network and expertise to accelerate the growth of companies across the consumer, industrial, healthcare and business and technology services industries.

For further information, please visit: www.3i.com

 

About Sani-Tech West

Founded in 1991, Sani-Tech West, through its business units SaniSure® and SureTech, is a leading manufacturer, marketer and distributor of products and components used in the manufacture of pharmaceutical and biotech drugs. Based in Camarillo, CA, the Company operates out of two facilities: a 28,000 sq. foot manufacturing plant with 2,200 sq. foot ISO Class 7 validated clean room, which also houses the Company’s offices, and a 43,000 sq. foot facility with a 5,500 sq. foot ISO Class 7 validated clean room and 2,500 sq. foot controlled environment for fabrication.

 

Regulatory information

This transaction involved a recommendation of 3i Corporation, a US wholly owned subsidiary of 3i Group.

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IK Investments Partners has reached an agreement to sell Aposan to Santé Cie group

Ardian

Lyon / Cologne / Hamburg / Paris / Frankfurt, 27nd July 2020 – Santé Cie Group, a leading company in the French home medical assistance (HMA) market – offering medico-technical equipment, consumables and services to patients at home – announces the acquisition of a majority stake in APOSAN, a leading German pharmaceutical homecare provider and ophthalmic compounder. The stake will be acquired from the IK Small Cap I Fund, which is advised by IK Investment Partners. The acquisition is welcomed by Ardian, Group HLD, UI Gestion and Santé Cie’s management team who welcome APOSAN’s management team as a future minority shareholder in the Group. Santé Cie is majority-owned by Ardian.

Founded in 1991, APOSAN is a leading specialised homecare provider in the field of outpatient parenteral antibiotic therapy, one of the fastest growing segments in the German home care market, as well as parenteral & enteral nutrition and ophthalmic injectables, covering the full homecare value chain from pharmaceutical compounding to care delivery. APOSAN is headquartered in Cologne, Germany, and serves over 15,000 patients per year.

In recent years, APOSAN has continued its successful growth strategy by rolling out its offering and new treatment areas to a growing patient base whilst investing significantly into its production capacity expansion, sales force and homecare specialists and increasing awareness of the advantages for patients, medical employees and healthcare systems of outpatient care in its core market segments.

Santé Cie’s internationalisation strategy is founded on a very attractive, well-managed and highly recognised platform in Germany. Santé Cie and APOSAN will build on their existing expertise and complementary offers to expand outpatient therapy indications and services. The Group will continue to innovate to improve the efficiency of care pathways in the face of new challenges posed by connected healthcare and telehealth.

Larbi Hamidi, Chairman of Santé Cie, said: “APOSAN boasts an entrepreneurial management team, highly-skilled employees and it represents a perfect addition to Santé Cie’s business. Its prime focus on perfusion and nutrition segments pairs exceptionally well with ours and we are impressed with the way APOSAN’s management has been able to build such a strong platform through autonomous growth. We at Santé Cie are very much delighted at the prospect of working together with APOSAN’s management and its employees, and supporting them in the next stage of their development through accelerating the company’s growth strategy.”

Rainer Schmitz, CEO of APOSAN, commented: “APOSAN has achieved strong growth over the past years and has made substantial investments in the Company. We would like to take this opportunity to thank IK Investment Partners for all their support, which enabled APOSAN to grow and expand its market position and offering. We now look forward to working with Santé Cie to further build on this success.”

Anders Petersson, Managing Partner at IK Investment Partners, said: “APOSAN has truly become the undisputed leader in the German pharmaceutical homecare market since we first partnered with the

Company in 2016. It has been a pleasure working with APOSAN and its dedicated management team and we wish them all the best on their continued journey.”

Nicolas Darnaud, Managing Director within the Ardian Buyout team in Paris, said: “We are extremely proud to support Santé Cie in its first acquisition, which marks the beginning of the company’s international growth journey. APOSAN has an excellent track record and its performance stood out during the Covid-19 pandemic. We believe that the complementary nature of Santé Cie’s and APOSAN’s offers will enable the development of new and efficient solutions in the European homecare market.”

Alexander Friedrich, Managing Director within the Ardian Buyout team in Frankfurt, added: “This acquisition in one of our core sectors highlights Ardian’s multi-local approach and our strategy to support the development of companies into undisputed leaders in their respective markets, widening their offering and geographic reach with transformational add-on acquisitions.”

The joint company will serve more than 180,000 patients annually, with revenues of €300m+ and 1,850+ employees throughout France and Germany.

The transaction remains subject to antitrust approval.

ABOUT APOSAN

Founded 1991 in Cologne/Germany, APOSAN is a leading niche pharmaceutical homecare provider. It covers the homecare value chain from individualised pharmaceuticals production through its own cleanroom facilities, enabling the provision of custom infusions and nutrition bags, to educating patients via its German wide network of nurses who train and support patients at home. Moreover, APOSAN produces patient-individual ready-to-use AMD (age-related macular degeneration) injectables used in ophthalmic surgeries.

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ABOUT SANTÉ CIE GROUP

Created in 2016, Santé Cie is the third largest home healthcare provider in France, through its two operating networks Elivie and Asdia. With the trust of healthcare professionals, the company supports over 160,000 home care patients, both children and adults, across France every day. It covers a wide range of therapeutic segments including perfusion, nutrition, insulin therapy, the treatment of Parkinson’s disease, respiratory assistance and wound treatment and healing. By means of a medical prescription, the Elivie and Asdia teams set up all equipment required at home for the care of patients with chronic or acute illnesses. By ensuring the home care pathway, training and patient support and monitoring, the teams provide solutions to simplify and secure patient care at home, in constant contact with prescribers and in coordination with their entourage and all participants in the care chain (pharmacists, nurses, physiotherapists, etc.). Santé Cie has over 1,700 employees across 80 agencies throughout France, through its Elivie and Asdia networks.

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ABOUT IK INVESTMENT PARTNERS

IK Investment Partners (“IK”) is a Pan-European private equity firm focused on investments in the Nordics, DACH region, France, Benelux, and the UK. Since 1989, IK has raised nearly €13 billion of capital and invested in over 130 European companies.
Across its strategies, IK funds support companies with strong underlying potential, partnering with management teams and investors to create robust, well-positioned businesses with excellent long-term prospects.

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ABOUT ARDIAN

Ardian is a world-leading private investment house with assets of US$100bn 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 670 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 around 1.000 clients through five pillars of investment expertise: Fund of Funds, Direct Funds, Infrastructure, Real Estate and Private Debt.

LIST OF PARTIES INVOLVED

  • Sellside

    • IK Investment Partners: Anders Petersson, Ingmar Bär
    • M&A advisor: Alantra (Wolfram Schmerl, Christopher Jobst)
    • Legal and tax advisor: Renzenbrink & Partner (Ulf Renzenbrink, Marc Kotyrba)
    • Commercial advisor: Alvarez & Marsal (Georg Hochleitner)
    • Financial advisor: Ebner Stolz (Claus Bähre)

  • Buyside

    • Ardian: Yann Bak, Nicolas Darnaud, Alexander Friedrich, Nicolas Kassab, Matthias Straessle, Maxime Debost
    • Santé Cie: Larbi Hamidi, Alexandre Binetruy, Rémi Masson Regnault
    • Legal advisor: Weil, Gotshal & Manges (Barbara Jagersberger, Benjamin Rapp)
    • Commercial advisor: LEK (Stefan Schrettle)
    • Financial, tax and IT advisor: Eight Advisory (Murat Deniz, Jan Ole Burchert, Marc Bernstein)
    • Regulatory advisor: Clifford Chance (Peter Dieners)
    • Insurance advisor: Euro Transaction Solutions (Jürgen Reinschmidt)

PRESS CONTACTS

IK Investment Partners

Charles Barker Corporate Communications GmbH TOBIAS EBERLE

Tobias.Eberle@charlesbarker.de +49 69 79 40 90 24

ARDIAN / Headland

VIKTOR TSVETANOV

VTsvetanov@headlandconsultancy.co.uk +44 207 3435 7469

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CVC Credit Partners closes Apidos XXXIII CLO Fund

CVC Credit Partners has closed CLOs in both the U.S. and Europe in the last month

CVC Credit Partners (“CVC Credit”) is pleased to announce that it has closed Apidos XXXIII, a Collateralized Loan Obligation (“CLO”) fund totalling $400 million. This is the second CLO fund CVC Credit has closed in the last month, following the closing of Cordatus XVII in June. Together these funds total $720 million (€630 million) of new issuance and increase CVC Credit Partners global CLO asset under management to approximately $15.8 billion.

Adipos XXXIII, was arranged by Goldman Sachs and is CVC Credit’s second new-issue to close in the U.S. in 2020. As with previous Apidos CLOs, the fund is primarily comprised of broadly syndicated First Lien Senior Secured Loans.

Cordatus XVII is a €290 million European focused CLO arranged by Natixis. This was CVC Credit’s first European CLO closed in 2020, having completed three in 2019. European CLO assets under management now stand at c.$6.3 billion.

Gretchen Bergstresser, Global Head of Performing Credit at CVC Credit Partners, said: “Pricing and closing two CLOs in such quick succession is a great result, and all the more impressive in the context of the challenging economic conditions of the past few months. Both U.S. and European raisings have been a real team effort with our New York and London based teams working simultaneously across both CLOs.

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