Category Archives: News

Forbion invests USD 2.3M in seed financing of CoviCept Therapeutics, Inc.

Forbion

in company news

Proceeds used to develop small molecule inhibitor of SARS-CoV-2 and other RNA viruses

Naarden, The Netherlands, and Munich, Germany, January 19 2021 – Forbion, a leading European life sciences venture capital firm, today announces a $2.3m seed investment in newly formed CoviCept Therapeutics, Inc. (“CoviCept”), a California-based company that is developing a small molecule that inhibits the replication of SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) and other RNA viruses.

CoviCept’s lead molecule has a unique mechanism of action that is based on interference of a host cell protein and is therefore expected to have a low risk of viral resistance. It has been demonstrated to inhibit SARS-CoV-2 replication in a relevant mammalian model at a clinically relevant dose. A manufacturing process for the lead compound has been established and it has demonstrated good bioavailability and safety in humans in phase 1 studies.

CoviCept was founded by Sam Tsimikas, Philip Gordts and Jeffrey Esko, all from the University of California San Diego. The Company’s aim is to initiate a first clinical study in the second half of 2021.

Professor Tsimikas, Co-Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of CoviCept, commented: “We are pleased that Forbion has invested in us to support our continued development of a much-needed direct therapeutic option to the COVID-19 pandemic, and other RNA viruses. Forbion will provide the necessary financial and management support to allow the Company to achieve Phase 2 proof of concept data. Forbion’s track record and expertise in supporting the development of early-stage companies make them the ideal partner for CoviCept.”

Sander van Deventer, Operating Partner of Forbion, added: “Our investment in CoviCept is an example of Forbion’s commitment to responsible drug development. RNA viruses such as SARS-CoV-2, SARS-CoV-1, MERS-CoV, Ebola, Dengue, Chikungunya and Zika are the most likely cause of future pandemics. A small molecule like CoviCept’s, that can be stockpiled to be immediately available and that could be used in multiple viruses, is of enormous benefit to global health.”

The board of directors of CoviCept will comprise Sam Tsimikas, Philip Gordts, Jeffrey Esko and Sander van Deventer (Forbion).

-Ends-

For more information please contact:
Forbion contact:
Sander van Deventer, Operating Partner
P: +31 (0) 35 699 30 00

Instinctif Partners for Forbion
Melanie Toyne-Sewell/Phillip Marriage
Email: forbion@instinctif.com
P: +44 (0)207 457 2020

Notes to Editors

About Forbion
Forbion is a dedicated life sciences venture capital firm with offices in The Netherlands, Germany and Singapore. Forbion invests in life sciences companies that are active in the (bio-) pharmaceutical space.
Forbion manages well over EUR 1.7 billion across multiple fund strategies that cover all stages of (bio)pharmaceutical drug development. Forbion’s current team consists of 20 life sciences investment professionals that have built an impressive performance track record since the late nineties with successful investments in over 69 companies.

The firm is a signatory to the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment. Besides financial objectives, Forbion selects investments that will positively affect the health and well-being of patients.
Its investors include the EIF, through its European Recovery Programme (ERP), LfA, Dutch Venture Initiative (DVI), AMUF and EFSI facilities and KfW Capital through the Programme, “ERP – Venture Capital Fonds investments”. Forbion operates a joint venture with BGV, the manager of seed and early-stage funds, especially focused on Benelux and Germany.

For more information, please visit: www.forbion.com.

About CoviCept Therapeutics, Inc.
CoviCept Therapeutics, Inc. is a newly founded company based in San Diego, USA, focused on the development of a small molecule that inhibits the replication and spread of RNA viruses, including SARS-Cov-2.

CoviCept’s lead program
CoviCept is developing a small molecule that targets a host protein that is critical for RNA viral replication and that has shown efficacy in a preclinical model of SARS-CoV-2 infection, and in cell cultures infected with various RNA viruses including Zika and Dengue. The lead molecule has shown good tolerability, availability and biodistribution in humans.

RNA viruses and pandemics
RNA viruses such as SARS-CoV-1 (“COVID”), SARS-CoV-2 (“SARS”), MERS-CoV (“MERS”), Dengue, Chikungunya, Zika and Ebola, are considered to be the most likely causes of devastating global pandemics. Vaccination strategies can prevent the spread of these viruses and protect individuals but require a significant lead time before implementation and showing efficacy. Hence, a small molecule that can be stockpiled and used to inhibit viral replication of these viruses would be an integral component of the response to pandemics caused by RNA viruses.

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SPINS Announces Growth Investment Led by Warburg Pincus

General Atlantic

General Atlantic and Georgian also invest in business; partnership to accelerate SPINS’ strategic initiatives and growth opportunities

January 19, 2021

SPINS, a leading wellness-focused data, analytics and technology provider in the U.S., today announced a significant investment from Warburg Pincus, General Atlantic and Georgian. The growth investment will support future strategic initiatives including sales and marketing expansion, retail partner value expansion, new product development, and new vertical expansion. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

For two decades, SPINS has been a passionate advocate for the Natural and Specialty Products Industry. SPINS is committed to laying the foundation for the next generation of growth, providing dynamic data, actionable insights, product attributions, and digital activation solutions. SPINS helped establish a common language across the health and wellness ecosystem for key stakeholders including retailers, brands, distributors and consumers.

“Our mission has always been to increase the presence and accessibility of natural and better-for-you products that help people live their healthiest and best lives and drive sustainable production practices in North America. This mission, combined with our expertise in product intelligence and insights, is leading to more vibrant living for consumers and bigger success of our clients,” said Tony Olson, Founder & CEO, SPINS LLC. “We are beyond thrilled to take our vision to the next level with Warburg Pincus, General Atlantic and Georgian by leveraging their global resources and experience in data and information businesses to enable SPINS to meet the rapidly growing demand for our services.”

“SPINS is the leading provider of omni-channel and retailer-specific product measurement, mission-critical performance data, and unique insights into consumer trends and digital activation. We are incredibly excited to partner with Tony and the rest of the SPINS team,” said Stephanie Geveda, Managing Director, Head of Business Services, Warburg Pincus. “This investment underscores our long-term commitment to strategically investing in market-leading, vertical-specific B2B information services businesses that capture unique data,” added Justin Sadrian, Managing Director, Technology, Warburg Pincus.

“SPINS has developed a highly-differentiated industry platform that serves as a pivotal source for business performance and market information to retail and consumer brands. Supported by Tony’s strategic vision, SPINS continuously innovates on its platform to meet customers’ evolving needs, which has allowed the company to build deep relationships in the wellness retail market,” said Peter Munzig, Managing Director, General Atlantic. “We’re looking forward to working alongside the SPINS team as they continue to expand the reach of their suite of digital solutions to address untapped growth opportunities in the market.”

“SPINS has been on a mission to accelerate the rapidly growing Natural and Specialty Products Industry by providing unique insights to retailers and brands,” said Margaret Wu, Lead Investor at Georgian. “The company’s rich dataset has enabled the team to develop a high-value AI roadmap that will drastically enhance its product intelligence offerings. We are excited to partner with SPINS on this journey and support the team in helping customers realize greater value, faster.”

Jefferies LLC acted as exclusive financial advisor and Reed Smith LLP served as legal advisor for SPINS.

About SPINS

SPINS is a wellness-focused data company and advocate for the Natural Products Industry. Over the past two decades, SPINS’ investments have led to a common language used across the industry as well as laid the foundation for the next generation of innovation, while providing dynamic data, actionable insights, and digital activation solutions that drive growth for our clients & partners and contribute to a healthier and more vibrant America. Learn more at www.spins.com.

About Warburg Pincus

Warburg Pincus LLC is a leading global private equity firm focused on growth investing. The firm has more than $56 billion in private equity assets under management. The firm’s active portfolio of more than 190 companies is highly diversified by stage, sector, and geography. Warburg Pincus has been a long-time, active investor in vertical-specific data and information businesses, with investments including, Reorg Research, Intelligent Medical Objects, RS Energy, CAMP Systems, Gordian Group, Interactive Data Corporation, and TurnItIn. Warburg Pincus also has significant experience investing across the food and food retail technology value chain, with investments including, Certified Sciences, GA Foods, and Grubhub Seamless, Salsify, and Trax. Warburg Pincus is an experienced partner to management teams seeking to build durable companies with sustainable value. Founded in 1966, Warburg Pincus has raised 19 private equity funds, which have invested more than $86 billion in over 910 companies in more than 40 countries. The firm is headquartered in New York with offices in Amsterdam, Beijing, Berlin, Hong Kong, Houston, London, Luxembourg, Mumbai, Mauritius, San Francisco, São Paulo, Shanghai, and Singapore. For more information please visit www.warburgpincus.com.

About General Atlantic

General Atlantic is a leading global growth equity firm providing capital and strategic support for growth companies. Established in 1980, General Atlantic combines a collaborative global approach, sector specific expertise, a long-term investment horizon and a deep understanding of growth drivers to partner with great entrepreneurs and management teams to build market-leading businesses worldwide. General Atlantic has more than 175 investment professionals based in New York, Amsterdam, Beijing, Greenwich, Hong Kong, Jakarta, London, Mexico City, Mumbai, Munich, Palo Alto, São Paulo, Shanghai and Singapore. For more information on General Atlantic, please visit the website: www.generalatlantic.com.

About Georgian

Georgian is a fintech company investing in high growth software companies that harness the power of data in a trustworthy way. At Georgian, we’re building a platform to provide a better experience of growth capital to software company CEOs and their teams. Georgian’s platform is designed to identify and accelerate the best growth-stage software companies, taking an intelligent, data-first approach to solving the key challenges CEOs face as they grow their businesses. Based in Toronto, Georgian’s team brings together software entrepreneurs, machine learning experts, experienced operators and investment professionals. For more information, visit https://georgian.io/.

Media Contacts

Mary Armstrong & Emily Japlon
General Atlantic media@generalatlantic.com

Michael Erwin
SPINS merwin@spins.com

Sarah McGrath Bloom
Warburg Pincus Sarah.Bloom@warburgpincus.com

Katie Schiefer
Georgian katie@georgian.io

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EURAZEO invests in PPRO, leading local payments infrastructure platform

Eurazeo

Paris, 19 January 2021 –
Eurazeo, through Eurazeo Growth, announces a €55 million investment in PPRO, the most trusted infrastructure provider in the cross-border alternative payments space. Eurazeo Growth is co-leading this round of €153 million, alongside Sprints Capital and Wellington Management among other investors.

After Younited Credit, Wefox, Thought Machine and Tink, PPRO is Eurazeo Growth’s fifth investment in the Fintech sector and a testament to Europe’s innovation engine for financial services.
Headquartered in London, PPRO employs over 300 employees spread across 9 offices globally. The Company offers a payments infrastructure platform and value-added services that allow its customers and their underlying merchants to access over 150 alternative payment methods through one single API, while offloading the intricate complexities and massive costs of providing choice of payment method to local consumers.

Today, the Company counts 130 customers, fuelling cross-border e-Commerce growth for some of the world’s leading payment service providers such as Alipay, Mollie, PayPal, WorldPay, Citibank and Mastercard Payment Gateway Services. In addition, it serves 30 select enterprise customers with proprietary payment platforms including Adobe and Microsoft.
Capitalising on its market leading position, the Company doubled its year-on-year transaction volume in the fourth quarter of 2020, expanded its global team by 60% in the last twelve months, and developed new strategic partnerships with local payment methods in high-growth markets like Indonesia and Singapore. The funding will fuel PPRO’s continued global expansion and support the development of its innovative border-free payment technology and services.

Yann du Rusquec, Partner at Eurazeo Growth, states:
«We have been impressed by the level of maturity and ambitiousness of the organisation, Simon and his team have demonstrated throughout our interactions. Their local payment expertise is second to none, as recognised by some of the most influential players within payments. We are experiencing first hands the opportunities and challenges the ongoing innovation in payments provide to our marketplace and e-Commerce businesses across our portfolio. Sitting at the intersection of e-Commerce, cross-border trade and the growing adoption of alternative payment methods, PPRO is poised to continue its fast growth and build out its leadership position. Sharing PPRO’s partnership mindset, we are thrilled to be joining their journey alongside existing and new investors Citi Ventures, HPE, PayPal, Sprints and Wellington.»

Simon Black, CEO of PPRO, comments:
«I am so proud of what the PPRO team has accomplished. Beyond securing the support of prestigious investors like Eurazeo, Sprints, and Wellington and achieving a milestone valuation, we’ve enabled our customers to grow at record numbers during what has been a tough time for many. By giving businesses the ability to offer payment choice, we’ve helped give people around the world better access to goods and services that improve their lives. This investment will help us deliver the highest performance possible for companies leading the global payments industry.

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

PIERRE BERNARDIN
HEAD OF INVESTOR RELATIONS
mail : pbernardin@eurazeo.com
Tel : +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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bonify acquires loan brokerage software from Joonko AG

Mouro Capital

Berlin-based fintech bonify, Germany’s leading credit rating platform, has acquired the credit brokerage software of Joonko AG. With this acquisition, bonify optimises the distribution and brokerage of consumer loans on its online platform.

With the acquisition of the credit brokerage software, bonify is taking consumer lending to a new level. “By integrating Joonko’s technology, bonify users can apply for a loan and realise long-held dreams faster and easier than ever before”, commented Dr. Andreas Bermig, co-founder of bonify. “The process, starting with the loan comparison and ending with the signing of the contract, takes place completely digitally in just a few minutes”. The new loan brokerage software is expected to be in place as early as spring 2021.

Lending gets faster, easier and completely digital

Anyone who has ever applied for a loan in Germany knows how inconvenient and lengthy the process can be. Discussions and appointments with the bank, the submission of documents such as proof of salary and creditworthiness, as well as the cumbersome verification on site or via PostIdent procedure unnecessarily drag out the application. With the digital account view, the process is optimised and digitalised. “A large part of the more than one million bonify users have already linked their bank account with their own bonify account. The connection enables us to suggest credit offers to our users that are perfectly tailored to their financial situation”, explains Bermig.

The use of the new technology eliminates the need to upload, print and send in documents. Identification and signing are conveniently carried out online. Thanks to the Videoident and eSign processes, the loan application can be completed in just a few minutes from the comfort of your home. All that is needed is an official identification document, such as an ID card, and a video camera. The loan is paid out a few days after the loan agreement has been processed.

bonify – Forteil GmbH | Reichenberger Straße 124 | Aufgang B-5 | 10999 Berlin presse@bonify.de | +49 30 346 466 709

About bonify

The FinTech start-up bonify enables consumers to gain transparency on both credit score and on financial situation. bonify enables users to check their credit score online at any time and free of charge. In addition, bonify offers various financial management tools for the analysis and optimisation of their financial situation. Based on this, users receive product offers tailored to their own creditworthiness – including loans and offers for gas, electricity, or DSL internet. Other free products include ‘tenant information’ for finding accommodation and ‘FinFitness’ for assessing and actively improving financial health. bonify was founded in Berlin in 2015 and is managed by Dr. Gamal Moukabary (Founder), Dr. Andreas Bermig (Founder), Raj Cheemakurti (CPTO), Frank Stowasser (VP Marketing) and Sarah Schuster (VP Growth & Customer Engagement). The startup currently employs more than 30 people from over 15 nations. Renowned investors such as Experian, Santander InnoVentures, Mosaic Ventures, Ribbit Capital, Index Ventures and DN Capital as well as the founders of Zalando and Raisin have so far invested in bonify. bonify is an account information service approved and supervised by the German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin). Learn more at ​www​.bonify.de.

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FPE Capital portfolio company IWSR completes the strategic acquisition of Wine Intelligence

FPE Capital

FPE Capital LLP (‘FPE’), the specialist software and services growth investor in UK SMEs, announces that IWSR, the leading B2B data and information provider to the global drinks industry, has acquired the wine consumer research and insights expert, Wine Intelligence. The combined offering provides the industry with robust insight into consumption trends, consumer insights and growth opportunities for the global beverage alcohol sector.

Backed by FPE Capital in 2018, IWSR and its core Global Database has cemented its position as a unique source of data and insight for the largest global drinks brands. FPE Capital Managing Partner David Barbour commented

 

Since our investment, the team at IWSR has driven hugely impressive organic growth, including through the Covid pandemic, proving its criticality to its clients. The addition of Wine Intelligence enhances the coverage and product range of the combined group, including the creation of a world-class consumer insights division focused exclusively on the global beverage alcohol industry.

 

Founded in 2002, Wine Intelligence conducts projects on behalf of wine businesses in more than 35 global markets.

 

As Covid reshapes consumer behaviour and beverage alcohol drinking occasions, industry stakeholders are looking for a deeper understanding of the consumer attitudes driving the market,

 

remarks Mark Meek, CEO of IWSR.

 

Our vision is shaped by our clients, and this acquisition is a tremendous opportunity for us to expand on our existing offerings and work with the Wine Intelligence team to provide the industry with access to comprehensive consumer insight across all categories of the drinks industry, including beer, wine, spirits and the ready-to-drink sector.

 

 

We are delighted to join the IWSR family after nearly 10 years of our organisations working together on behalf of our client base,

 

says Lulie Halstead, CEO of Wine Intelligence.

 

I share Mark’s vision of us building a world-class and comprehensive offering of data and consumer insights to support the global beverage alcohol sectors, which we are uniquely positioned to do.

 

Advisers on the acquisition included Johnson Carmichael (financial and tax due diligence) and Stephenson Harwood (legal).

 

Media inquiries:

David Barbour

Managing Partner, FPE Capital LLP

020 3912 8800

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ECI announces investment in CIPHR

ECI

We’re delighted to announce our investment in CIPHR, a leading UK provider of HCM solutions. The investment will support CIPHR to accelerate its ambitious growth and development plans.

CIPHR is a specialist provider of Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) HR, payroll, recruitment and learning software which connects businesses with their employees via an online platform, CIPHR Connect.

The business’ marketplace offering allows its proprietary HR software to be integrated with customers’ existing tools, taking the strain out of HR admin and improving data accuracy. CIPHR supports 300,000 employees across 50 countries globally, with customers including the Met Office, Natural History Museum and Volkswagen.

The investment marks ECI’s fifth investment in 2020. ECI’s previous investments in the SaaS space include Mobysoft, CPOMS, and Fourth.

Chris Berry, CEO, CIPHR comments: “We’re absolutely delighted to be working with ECI as our investment partner for the next stage in CIPHR’s journey. Through our people management platform, CIPHR Connect, we have established ourselves as the UK’s leading mid-market provider of SaaS HCM for organisations who want to integrate their people management software with other, best-of-breed technologies. We have ambitious plans to develop new solutions, broaden our partner offering, cultivate and expand our team of outstanding people, and continue to deliver exceptional products and services that help our customers to manage the entire employee lifecycle more effectively. Our partnership with ECI will help CIPHR to realise these goals.”

Stephen Roberts, Partner at ECI, said: “CIPHR is a high growth business whose services have only become more vital over the course of 2020. We are excited by the opportunity that CIPHR has to strengthen its position in the HCM market, both organically and through M&A. The management team is highly experienced with a proven track record of achieving growth and developing innovative solutions to meet the increasingly complex demands of mid-market organisations. As an experienced software investor, we’re delighted to partner with Chris and the team and look forward to supporting them over the next stage of CIPHR’s journey.”

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inRiver Acquires Detail Online and Powers the Only “Digital-First PIM” Solution

Verdane Capital

Advanced analytics capabilities help solve the revenue challenges industrial manufacturing, retail, and e-commerce teams face in 2021

CHICAGO and MALMÖ, Sweden – – (January 18, 2021) –– inRiver, the solution that empowers organizations to deliver revenue-driving product information management (PIM) across every customer touchpoint, today announced the acquisition of Detail Online, an AI-powered analytics solution to help brands monitor product information across multiple online channels. The acquisition helps power the only digital-first PIM™ solution that drives faster time-to-market and better buying experiences by leveraging the insights needed to optimize content performance and remedy channels or products that are underperforming in real-time.

Commerce today needs to be faster and more agile than ever before to beat the global competition. The acquisition of Detail Online means inRiver’s solution helps bring to life compelling product stories for highly customized products, obtain actionable guidance on what influences buying decisions, and adapt quickly to implement insights.

The Detail Online solution also delivers insights into critical elements including out of stock issues and poor product visibility that impact the ability to sell. Both B2B and B2C organizations can now turn product information into strategic assets to drive revenue.

 

“The addition of Detail Online is an exciting move for our two organizations and offers exceptional analytics capabilities to the inRiver solution,” said Thomas Zanzinger, CEO, inRiver. “We are building a new generation of a product information management solutions to help our customers generate revenue.”

“We are excited about joining the inRiver team,” stated Joakim Gavelin, CEO, and co-founder, Detail Online. “The world of digital commerce is changing faster than ever before and engagement intelligence plays a significant role in understanding how and where to sell more products. The combined solution helps to solve tomorrow’s commerce challenges.”

The acquisition brings the number of global inRiver employees to more than 240 and provides an entry into the APAC region. The combined organization will further strengthen global customer service and support to serve customers worldwide.

 

About inRiver

inRiver empowers organizations to deliver revenue-driving product information at every touchpoint. inRiver’s digital-first PIM™ enables organizations to bring compelling product stories to life for highly customized purchases, obtain actionable guidance on what influences buying decisions, and then quickly adapt to put insights into action. inRiver helps B2B and B2C organizations turn product information into strategic assets to drive revenue for over 1,500 brands and 500 customers globally. Headquartered in Malmö, Sweden, inRiver has offices in Chicago and Amsterdam. For more information, visit inRiver.com

 

About Detail Online

Detail Online helps brand manufacturers take control of their product visibility in online reseller channels worldwide. Detail Online’s AI-powered technology audit reseller activity and takes the guesswork out of digital merchandising by delivering insights that are granular, highly accurate and immediately actionable. Detail Online do daily audits at 1000 retailer websites and Marketplaces globally, across 76 countries. Headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden, with a large Technology Centre located in Davao in the Phillipines. For more information, visit Detail Online.

 

Press contacts

For US
Erika Goldwater
Erika.goldwater@inriver.com
+1 617 407 3578

For EMEA
Katja Doemer
Katja.doemer@inriver.com
+49 151 52846868

 

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Olinn, a European professional equipment management group backed by Argos Wityu, announces the acquisition of Rentys, a specialist in operational leasing based in Belgium.

Argoswityu

This acquisition enables Olinn to become a leading provider of operational leasing in Belgium, with nearly 800 customers and 40 million euros of technological assets under management.

Neuilly-Sur-Seine, France, 18 January 2021 – Olinn, a specialist in equipment management and financing solutions (sourcing, operational leasing, stock management, fleet management, refurbishment, recycling) in the IT, mobile telephony, vehicle, medical equipment, and manufacturing sectors, announces the acquisition of Rentys, an independent leader in operational leasing based in Belgium.

Founded in 2001 by Christophe Maréchal, Rentys has enjoyed regular growth while expanding into IT operational leasing for the Private Business and Public Institution market and has already funded more than 150 million euros’ worth of technological equipment.

This acquisition is part of the Group’s development strategy and will turn Olinn into a leading provider of operational leasing in Belgium, with nearly 800 customers and 40 million euros of technological assets under management.

Olinn currently has 200 employees generating nearly €175m in turnover and managing more than €500m of assets in Europe. To build a closer partnership with its customers, Olinn has expanded its geographic coverage throughout France, and has added six European subsidiaries in Belgium, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Germany, Italy and Spain.

Arnaud Deymier, President of the Olinn Group: “With Rentys, the Olinn Group is gaining expertise that is unmatched in Belgium, as well as strong relationships with partners, customers and financial institutions. Combining our offerings and skills will allow us to sustain both companies’ activities, increase our visibility, and create the conditions for strong growth, thanks to our dynamic and dedicated team.”

Christophe Maréchal, CEO of Rentys: “We are very happy to be joining the Olinn Group. Combining our respective skills will allow us to quickly provide new solutions and new services to all our customers. Like many of our colleagues in Europe, we realised that we needed to enter a new phase to consolidate our position and continue our development. The idea of joining forces with Olinn arose naturally.”

Karel Kroupa, Managing Partner at Argos Wityu, concludes: « The combination of Rentys and Olinn is fully in line with the Group’s European development strategy as led by Arnaud Deymier and his teams. This will enable clients to benefit from the complementary offers and skills of the two companies. »

– – –

Argos Wityu team: Karel Kroupa, Thomas Ribéreau, Vincent Yacoub

List of advisors

Olinn advisors
Legal: August Debouzy (Julien Aucomte, Olivier Moriceau, Laure Khemiri, Leslie Ginape, Maxime Legourd), Deloitte (Werner Van Lembergen, Jean-Philippe de Vinck)
Financial: Deloitte (Hrisa Nacea, Thibault Guglieri, Charline Borsus, Davy Simonneau, Armelle Bosset)
Tax: Deloitte (Wim Eynatten, Mathieu Henderikx), Arsene (Franck Chaminade, Charles Dalarun)
M&A : Degroof Petercam (Frédéric Hébrard, Florent De Liedekerke)

Seller advisors
Legal: Koan Law (Pierre Willemart – Elisabeth Bousmar)
M&A et Financier : PWC (Xavier Suin – Rodrigue Platteau – Guillaume Desrues – Célestin François – Quentin Janssens)

Contact Argos Wityu
Coralie Cornet
Communications Director
ccc@argos.fund
+33 1 53 67 20 63

About Argos Wityu
argos.wityu.fund

Argos Wityu is an independent European investment fund that supports companies in the transfer of business ownership. It has assisted more than 80 entrepreneurs, focusing its investment strategy on complex transactions with emphasis on transformation, growth, and close collaboration with management teams. Argos Wityu seeks to acquire majority interests and invest between €10m and €100m with each transaction. With €1bn under management and 30 years of experience, Argos Wityu operates from offices in Brussels, Frankfurt, Geneva, Luxembourg, Milan and Paris.

About Olinn
www.olinn.eu
Olinn, a European professional equipment management group, supports the development of companies and public bodies by thinking globally and sustainably.
Olinn remains involved during the entire life cycle of the equipment and offers solutions that incorporate sourcing, financing and associated services, including restoration and reconditioning.
With Olinn, companies combine performance with responsibility by choosing appropriate technology beachyspharmacy.com investment strategies rooted in a CSR approach.
With 200 employees, 60 of whom are disabled, the company generated revenues of €165m in 2019.
The group operates in 7 European countries with a network of 18 areas covering France, Switzerland, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Italy and Spain.
Almost 4,500 customers currently use the group’s comprehensive services.
Each year, Olinn has:

  • €450m of assets (IT, Mobile, Medical, Industrial, and Vehicles) under management,
  • more than €2bn of equipment financed,
  • 180,000 smartphones under management
  • fleet of 4,500 vehicles
  • 250,000 items of IT equipment reconditioned annually, saving 31Mkg of greenhouse gases.

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InfraRed Capital Partners completes acquisition of UK urban logistics portfolio

InfraRed Capital Partners

Last-mile acquisition adds to existing portfolio of assets located within short drive-times of key urban centres

InfraRed Capital Partners Limited (“InfraRed”), on behalf of the InfraRed Urban Logistics Income Fund (“IULIF”), has completed the acquisition of an eight asset urban logistics portfolio (“the Portfolio”) from NW1 Partners and Marchmont Investment Management for £50.8m.

IULIF targets high quality urban logistics assets located within a 20 minute drive-time of the UK’s top 10 city centres. The Fund is looking to capitalise on the growing imbalance between supply and demand for last-mile and urban servicing industrial assets in city fringe locations. This is the third acquisition for IULIF during the COVID-19 pandemic and represents further progress in the aggregation of an attractive income-focused portfolio for the benefit of the Fund’s investors.

The 261,000 sq ft portfolio includes six assets located within and around London’s M25 motorway, with the remaining two assets located in Manchester’s Trafford Park and Birmingham’s Fort Park. The largest tenants in the portfolio are DHL and Hermes, providing IULIF with further exposure to leading e-commerce and third-party logistics operators to complement its existing occupiers. The acquisition also improves the diversification and resilience of the Fund’s income profile.

Trafford Park, Manchester

Dean Harrison, Investment Director at InfraRed Capital Partners, commented:

“Over the past year, the COVID-19 pandemic has undoubtedly accelerated changes in consumer shopping habits; driving the trend towards e-commerce related industrial space. This transaction is representative of InfraRed’s ongoing commitment to capturing the outperformance expected from the urban logistics sub-sector, and we expect that these assets will continue to benefit from strong occupational demand as this trend towards internet shopping continues. InfraRed is looking to expand its urban logistic holdings in the UK and Western Europe throughout 2021 with substantial capital remaining available for deployment.”

Knight Frank, Dentons, Ernst & Young, WSM and Paragon acted for InfraRed.

DTRE, Jones Day, Osborne Clarke and Malcolm Hollis acted for NW1 Partners and Marchmont Investment Management.

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Longship divests HRP AS

Longship

Longship Fund I (“Longship”) has as of January 15th, 2021 together with Founder Helge Rustand and the employees divested 100% of the shares in HRP AS and its subsidiary HR Prosjekt AS (“HRP”) to the Swedish investment company Broviken AB.

HRP is a leading Norwegian Project Management company, specializing in overseeing and managing construction and infrastructure projects. In 2020 HRP had consolidated revenues of approx. NOK 485 million, and EBIT of approx. NOK 56 million and a total of 410 employees. HRP is headquartered in Oslo and has offices in all major Norwegian Cities.

“The management team of HRP, as well as their dedicated employees, have proven their ability to meet and exceed the ambitious targets that were set upon Longships investment in 2017, and is now the leading project management company in Norway. We have thoroughly enjoyed supporting HRP through a challenging transformation, and are pleased with the results”, says Bernt Østhus lead partner for Longships investment in HRP.

“We have had a great co-operation with Longship. They have been a committed and trusted partner for the management of HRP, and an excellent sparring partner in defining and supporting the execution of our strategy. With that said, we are also excited to join forces with Broviken and I am looking forward to continuing to grow HRP”, says Jan Arild Kingswick, CEO of HRP.

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

Founder Helge Rustand and management reinvested a significant portion of the sales proceeds into the new ownership of HRP AS.

Longship was advised by Alpha Corporate Finance and Lawfirm Wiersholm.

For more information, please contact:

Bernt Østhus, Partner, Longship AS
+47 93 44 99 10
bernt.osthus@longship.no

Jan Arild Kingswick, CEO, HR Prosjekt AS
+47 97 51 53 61
jak@hrprosjekt.no

About Longship

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

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