Category Archives: News

Genstar Capital Acquires Prometheus Group for Over $1 Billion

Franciso Partners

Partnership with Management to Continue Strong Growth Trajectory

SAN FRANCISCO — Genstar Capital, a leading private equity firm focused on investments in targeted segments of the software, industrial technology, healthcare, and financial services industries, announced today the acquisition of Prometheus Group from Francisco Partners for over $1 billion. Eric Huang, Chief Executive Officer and founder of Prometheus, will remain a significant shareholder in the company, and Francisco Partners will retain a minority investment.

Prometheus is an industry leading provider of comprehensive and intuitive plant maintenance operations and optimization software. Its solutions utilize data analytics to deliver a uniform experience across the platform and are trusted by the largest asset-intensive companies in the world operating in the oil & gas, chemical, pulp & paper, mining & metals, and utilities industries. Founded in 1998 and based in Raleigh, NC, the company has a global operating footprint and customer base and has over 300 employees.

Eli Weiss, Managing Director of Genstar, said, “We have invested extensively in software solutions providers similar to Prometheus, and their reputation as a leader in the plant maintenance technology sector is well deserved. Eric and his team have built an integrated easy-to-use platform, and their solutions help transform plant maintenance operations. Prometheus aligns well with our previous investments, and we are excited to work with Eric and his team to help further expand the solutions portfolio and target acquisitions that will broaden the company’s suite of services.”

“We have an unwavering focus on integrating all aspects of plant maintenance and operations and delivering hard dollar ROI for our customers,” remarked Eric Huang, founder and CEO of Prometheus Group. “With Francisco Partners’ support and shared vision, we scaled the business significantly and expanded our platform to solve an even broader set of our customers’ critical pain points. We are very excited to continue that journey with Genstar leveraging their industrial technology expertise.”

“We are proud to have partnered with the Prometheus team in building out a unified platform for operational excellence through both organic growth and M&A,” said Petri Oksanen, Partner at Francisco Partners. “We look forward to continuing the relationship and seeing Prometheus further build on its heritage of innovation.”

Lazard served as financial advisor to Prometheus Group. Genstar Capital was advised by Irell & Manella LLP, Francisco Partners was advised by Paul Hastings, and Eric Huang was advised by Holland & Knight.

About Prometheus Group

Prometheus Group is a leading global provider of comprehensive and intuitive plant maintenance operations and optimization software, with a broad platform of solutions addressing the unique idiosyncrasies and requirements of heavy asset operators. Prometheus’ interconnected platform allows changes to be communicated in real-time across an organization, improving manpower efficiency and driving production uptime. For more information on Prometheus Group, please visit: www.prometheusgroup.com.

About Francisco Partners

Francisco Partners is a leading global private equity firm that specializes in investments in technology and technology-enabled businesses. Since its launch over 19 years ago, Francisco Partners has raised over $14 billion in committed capital and invested in more than 200 technology companies, making it one of the most active and longstanding investors in the technology industry. The firm invests in opportunities where its deep sectoral knowledge and operational expertise can help companies realize their full potential. For more information on Francisco Partners, please visit: www.franciscopartners.com.

About Genstar Capital

Genstar Capital is a leading private equity firm that has been actively investing in high quality companies for over 30 years. Based in San Francisco, Genstar works in partnership with its management teams and its network of strategic advisors to transform its portfolio companies into industry-leading businesses. Genstar currently has approximately $17 billion of assets under management and targets investments focused on targeted segments of the software, industrial technology, healthcare, and financial services industries. For more information on Genstar, please visit: www.gencap.com.

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Ampersand Capital Partners to Acquire Vibalogics GmbH

Vibalogics will expand capabilities to meet rapidly growing demand for development and manufacturing of complex viral products

CUXHAVEN, GERMANY and WELLESLEY, MA – May 29, 2019 – Vibalogics GmbH, a contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) focused on complex live biological products, is being acquired by Ampersand Capital Partners, a private equity firm specializing in growth equity investments in the healthcare sector. Ampersand’s growth investment will be used to expand Vibalogics’ capabilities to meet rapidly growing industry demand for the development and manufacturing of complex viral products.

Vibalogics offers process development, manufacturing and fill & finish of products for biopharmaceutical companies involved in the development of oncolytic viral therapies, gene therapies, and vaccines. With a specific focus on viruses, live bacteria, and aseptic processing, the company’s 50 employees work in full compliance with international GMP standards in a BSL-2 classified state of the art, 27,000 sq. ft. (2,500 m2) facility in Cuxhaven, Germany.

Stefan Beyer, Ph.D., CEO of Vibalogics commented, “With the benefit of Ampersand as our partner, Vibalogics will now strengthen and expand its position in the US and European markets while further investing in additional process development and GMP manufacturing capabilities. The partnership solidifies Vibalogics’ existing presence in the biologics manufacturing space and will allow the company to continue to exceed our customers’ expectations by facilitating the development of innovative therapeutic approaches that significantly improve the treatment of patients suffering from cancer and genetic disorders. We are very pleased to have Ampersand on board as we take Vibalogics through to its next phase of growth.”

David Anderson, General Partner at Ampersand said, “Vibalogics is a leading company in its field. Given the exciting developments within the complex virus market this is an excellent time for an investor with deep experience in the viral vector contract manufacturing sector to partner with the company. We are looking forward to working with the team at Vibalogics to accelerate and continue its success in delivering cutting edge therapies to patients in need.”

About Vibalogics GmbH

Vibalogics is a contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) with facilities in Cuxhaven, Germany, providing process development and GMP manufacturing services. Founded in 2002, the company is recognized as a leading service provider within the live biologics development and manufacturing industry. For more information, please visit www.vibalogics.com.

About Ampersand Capital Partners

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

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Black Mountain Systems Announces Acquisition by Vista Equity Partners

Vista Equity

SAN DIEGO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Black Mountain Systems, LLC (“Black Mountain”), the leading provider of innovative workflow software solutions to credit investors and alternative asset managers, announced today that it is being acquired by Vista Equity Partners (“Vista”), a leading investment firm focused on enterprise software, data and technology-enabled businesses.

“Black Mountain has long been the standard-bearer for process management and portfolio monitoring solutions in its field”

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Vista’s investment in Black Mountain will help drive the software company’s continued growth domestically and internationally, while also providing new capital to invest in the development of Black Mountain’s state of the art platform and tailored solutions for data aggregation, process management, and business reporting.

“We’re thrilled to become a part of the Vista family and look forward to the myriad of ways that their investment will help us grow our company, better serve our customers, and expand our team,” said Black Mountain founder and co-CEO Kevin MacDonald. “We look forward to working with them as we enter this next chapter.”

“This investment is a significant milestone for our company, our employees, and our customers,” said Black Mountain co-CEO Andy Horwitz. “We’ve already established ourselves as the market leader in workflow software for credit, structured credit, and alternative asset managers and now we have a partner in Vista who will help us leverage and build upon that leadership position with financial and intellectual capital to accelerate our growth.”

Black Mountain’s software and data aggregation capabilities provide mission critical solutions and valuable insights to a customer base that includes 50 of the top 100 Collateralized Loan Obligation managers, leading private debt funds, commercial banks and alternative asset managers, representing more than two trillion dollars in total assets under management.

“Black Mountain has long been the standard-bearer for process management and portfolio monitoring solutions in its field,” said Robert F. Smith, Founder, Chairman and CEO of Vista Equity Partners. “We’re looking forward to working with this talented and innovative company to push it even further ahead of the competition, unlocking new value for both customers and stakeholders.”

Black Mountain’s current investor, Stone Point Capital LLC (“Stone Point”), acquired the software company in 2015. Stone Point will exit its partnership with Black Mountain upon its sale to Vista, which is subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals.

“We thank Andy Horwitz, Kevin MacDonald and the Black Mountain team for an outstanding partnership,” said Chuck Davis, CEO of Stone Point. “Black Mountain has achieved significant growth in revenue and profitability since our investment in 2015, and we wish the company much continued success under Vista’s ownership.”

Jefferies LLC served as the exclusive financial advisor to Black Mountain, and Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP was the company’s legal advisor. SunTrust Robinson Humphrey acted as financial advisor to Vista, and Kirkland & Ellis served as Vista’s legal advisor.

About Black Mountain Systems

Black Mountain is a software company that offers highly configurable solutions including portfolio management, trade order management, compliance, research management, investment accounting, performance attribution, customer relationship management, investor reporting, enterprise data management and data warehousing. Clients consist of many of the world’s leading investment managers, credit funds, hedge funds, private equity, direct lenders and banks who use the company’s platform to manage all varieties of loans, fixed income, alternatives, derivatives, equities, and FX. Black Mountain’s software can be configured to model any business process, store any data, integrate with any system, and provide transparency for all of the above in any format. For more information about Black Mountain visit: www.blackmountainsystems.com

About Vista Equity Partners

Vista Equity Partners is a U.S.-based investment firm with offices in Austin, Chicago, New York City, Oakland, and San Francisco and more than $46 billion in cumulative capital commitments. Vista exclusively invests in enterprise software, data, and technology-enabled organizations led by world-class management teams. As a value-added investor with a long-term perspective, Vista contributes professional expertise and multi-level support towards companies to realize their full experience in structuring technology-oriented transactions, and proven management techniques that yield flexibility and opportunity. For more information, please visit www.vistaequitypartners.com.

About Stone Point Capital

Stone Point Capital LLC is a financial services-focused private equity firm based in Greenwich, CT. The firm has raised and managed seven private equity funds – the Trident Funds – with aggregate committed capital of approximately $19 billion. Stone Point targets investments in companies in the global financial services industry, including asset and wealth management; advisory, broker-dealers and merchant trading; banking institutions; HR benefits and employer services; insurance underwriting; insurance distribution and services; managed care and healthcare services; outsourcing and technology; real estate finance and services; and specialty finance and non-bank lending. For more information, please visit www.stonepoint.com.

Contacts

For Black Mountain Systems:
Liz Speier
lspeier@blkmtn.com

For Vista Equity Partners:
Alan Fleischmann
vista@laurelstrategies.com
202-776-7776

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Aurelius subsidiary GHOTEL Hotel & Living opens Hotel in OSNABRÜCK

Aurelius Capital

  • GHOTEL will operate the hotel under the Holiday Inn brand name
  • 30th Holiday Inn in Germany

Munich, May 29, 2019 – Hotel operator GHOTEL hotel & living (www.ghotel.de), a subsidiary of AURELIUS Equity Opportunities SE & Co. KGaA (ISIN DE000A0JK2A8), has opened a modern 4-star Holiday Inn hotel in Osnabrück, Germany. The hotel is operated under franchise for the InterContinental Hotels Group under the Holiday Inn brand, and is the 30th Holiday Inn in Germany. The new hotel is centrally located, close to the Osnabrück main railway station and just 33 kilometers from the Münster/Osnabrück airport. This four-star property has 158 modern guest rooms, three professionally fitted-out conference rooms and a spa area.

Mario Maxeiner, Managing Director Northern Europe, said: “Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Express are strong brands in the midscale segment that are tremendous growth drivers for us, not just here in Germany, but Europe-wide. The two brands are so successful because we continually work to make them ever more attractive, for guests as well as owners. With the GHOTEL Group we are delighted to have another strong partner who is as committed to the Holiday Inn brand as we are.”

Jens Lehmann, CEO of the GHOTEL Group, added: “The Osnabrück Holiday Inn fits perfectly in our portfolio. With this property we are continuing our growth course and strengthening our partnership with IHG.”

 

ABOUT GHOTEL

GHOTEL hotel & living is an expanding hotel and apartment building chain with 14 properties in several cities in Germany including Kiel, Hanover, Göttingen, Koblenz, Munich, Würzburg, Essen, Ludwigsburg and Neckarsulm. These business hotels with modern conference rooms are marketed under the GHOTEL hotel & living and nestor Hotels brands, and the franchise brands Accor and InterContinental Hotels Group. Under the GHOTEL living brand, GHOTEL hotel & living also operates “temporary residence” apartment buildings in Bonn and Munich. GHOTEL hotel & living is headquartered in Bonn, and since December 2006 has belonged to the AURELIUS Group.

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Bain Capital Double Impact and Rodeo Dental & Orthodontics Partner to Deliver Best in Class Patient Experience and Access to Care

BainCapital

FORT WORTH, TX, and BOSTON – May 29, 2019 – Bain Capital Double Impact, the impact investing business of Bain Capital, today announced an investment in Rodeo Dental & Orthodontics, a premier group-practice provider of specialty dental services to families throughout the state of Texas. The partnership and investment by Bain Capital Double Impact will enable Rodeo Dental to rapidly expand patient access — regardless of means — to high-end, oral health care services in Texas and beyond. Financial terms of the private transaction were not disclosed.

Rodeo Dental & Orthodontics was founded in 2009 by Dr. Saam Zarrabi, Fellow and Diplomate Dr. Yahya Mansour, Board Certified Pediatric Dentist – Dr. William Dunklin, Orthodontist – Dr. Brian Dugoni, & Dr. Raffy Kouyoumdjian. Since inception, the Rodeo Dental founders have been focused on their mission of “Giving Every Family the Key to Access High-End Dental Care”. Today, Rodeo delivers on this promise with its award-winning, comprehensive team of dentists and specialists that include board certified pediatric dentists, orthodontists, endodontists and oral surgeons. Rodeo hosts over 250,000 annual patient visits, across 21 large group practice locations. The more than 50,000 5-star Google & Facebook reviews from its patients are a testament to the company’s fun, engaging, and educational experience. Moreover, Rodeo’s Creative Services and Software Development teams have created new types of original art productions, technologies, and applications that evoke positive feeling and unique, one-of-a-kind patient experiences.

“We are excited to partner with Bain Capital Double Impact to expand access to high-end dental care for families across the nation,” said Dr. Zarrabi, Executive Chairman of Rodeo Dental & Orthodontics.  “They share our vision of providing education, access to specialists, affordable services, and a high-end patient experience that boosts smile confidence and celebrates peak moments of pride and dental accomplishment with a commitment of giving back to the communities we serve. At Rodeo, we believe the large group practice model that integrates all dental specialties under one roof is poised to become one of the many great dental platforms to lead the future. We are proud of the amazing contributions of our dentists and team members in shaping an incredible practice culture that delivers outstanding patient care.”

Bain Capital has deep investing experience across the healthcare services sector, having invested in and added value to companies such as HealthDrive, Arosa+LivHome, Aveanna Healthcare, Beacon Health Options, HCA, Surgery Partners, and Waystar (formerly Navicure and ZirMed).

“Rodeo Dental’s founders, together with CEO Ben Rouse, have done an exceptional job building a high-end, scalable, and cost-effective service dedicated to improving the health of families and children across Texas,” said Deval Patrick, a Managing Director at Bain Capital Double Impact.  “We are inspired by Rodeo’s mission-driven team, its collaborative culture, and the passion, energy, and Smile DNA its professional doctors and staff bring to work every day to ensure the best outcomes for each patient.”

“The linkage between oral health and children’s educational trajectory as well as mental wellbeing is well documented,” said Peter Spring, a Managing Director at Bain Capital Double Impact. “By partnering with Rodeo Dental, we have the opportunity to create a national pediatric dental platform that is focused on improving the overall health of every child.”

“The Rodeo Dental and Double Impact mission statements were cut from the same cloth,” said Rouse. “Both have built-in needs to do social good and are intent on finding creative ways to help more people.  Rodeo’s mission, core values, internally developed technology and patient-centric platform are massively scalable and powered by our unique company culture.  We are humble – yet excited to leverage the expertise, resources, and strategic advice inherent in Bain Capital Double Impact.”

Committed debt financing for the transaction was provided by THL Credit. Houlihan Lokey provided financial advice to Rodeo Dental & Orthodontics. Kirkland & Ellis and Dykema provided legal representation to Bain Capital Double Impact.  Choate, Hall, and Stewart served as legal representation to Rodeo Dental.

About Rodeo Dental & Orthodontics
Rodeo Dental & Orthodontics is one of the fastest growing, multi-specialty dental groups in the country.  Born in the Fort Worth Stockyards, the company’s team of 100+ award-winning doctors provide a full range of general dentistry, orthodontics, endodontics, oral surgery, and board-certified pediatric dental services in 21 Rodeo locations throughout the state of Texas.  Rodeo fuels its brand reputation by providing a high-end Patient Experience. Rodeo has the largest production stages in the healthcare industry, with themed lobbies, upscale audio/visual equipment, and colorful window graphics that set the mood and experience backdrop.  Additional color, music, fashion, and team vibe are mixed in to create an interactive pop art experience that sparks emotion and fuels one-of-a-kind interactions that patients share and remember.  Patients are fanatical about the Rodeo brand and have submitted over 50,000 5-Star Google & Facebook reviews.  The dentists and the company have won numerous awards including Best Place to Work in Fort Worth two years in a row.  For more information, visit www.rodeodental.com.

About Bain Capital Double Impact
Bain Capital Double Impact (www.baincapitaldoubleimpact.com) is the impact investing strategy of Bain Capital, a leading global private investment firm. Bain Capital Double Impact utilizes Bain Capital’s proven, deep diligence, value-added approach to build great companies that deliver both competitive financial returns and meaningful, measurable social and environmental good. Bain Capital Double Impact focuses on health & wellness, sustainability, and community building to create long-term value and meaningful impact at scale. Its goal is to enable the next phase of financial and impact growth for our partner companies, which are solving critical social problems, and doing so profitably. We believe that our value-added approach, experienced team, and broad platform expertise will help our partner companies to thrive.

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OpenSesame Raises $28 Million in Growth Equity Led by FTV Capital

FTV Capital

elearning Leader Expands Machine Learning Curation to Revolutionize How Employees are Trained

Portland, Oregon — OpenSesame, the elearning innovator providing the world’s most comprehensive online catalog of curated employee training courses, today announced it raised a $28 million growth equity round led by FTV Capital. OpenSesame will use the proceeds to continue enhancing its machine learning-driven curation tools, expand its course offerings, and scale its sales and marketing functions to serve businesses worldwide. This funding round includes participation from existing investors including Altos Ventures. As part of the transaction, FTV partner Chris Winship will join the OpenSesame board of directors.

As workforce training rapidly shifts from classroom to online delivery, OpenSesame is disrupting the standard elearning model by curating the most comprehensive catalog of over 20,000 elearning courses from hundreds of the world’s top publishers and helping companies ensure the success of their training programs. OpenSesame helps businesses around the world find courses, map them to core competencies, sync them with a company’s learning management system (LMS) to increase utilization and improve learning & development (L&D) programs.  OpenSesame has flexible buying options to meet every training need, and the technology platform is simple to integrate and use. Leveraging machine learning and expert advisors, OpenSesame helps curate the best variety of courses for evolving enterprise training requirements, driving employee engagement and increasing elearning utilization. OpenSesame serves a wide range of clients, including governments and Global 2000 companies in services, manufacturing, technology, and highly regulated industries such as financial services and health care.

“Our goal is to make elearning accessible, convenient, and meaningful to all EnerSys employees.” said Drew Krajewski, director of global training & development for EnerSys, a Fortune 1000 OpenSesame customer. “Actual customer service of this caliber is a rarity, and OpenSesame does it right. We don’t consider OpenSesame a vendor. They’re our partner.”

“Based on FTV Capital’s long and successful enterprise SaaS investment track record, we are excited to have them lead our Series C funding,” said Don Spear, CEO of OpenSesame. “This investment coupled with their extensive network of strategic advisors will help OpenSesame to continue to rapidly grow and innovate to meet the constantly evolving training needs of our customers as they prepare their employees for the future of work.”

“Enterprises spend over $30 billion annually on external learning content and programs to maintain a highly skilled, competitive workforce, as well as to comply with complex regulatory requirements,” said Chris Winship, FTV Capital partner. “OpenSesame is capitalizing on key trends that are transforming the workplace, including a more mobile workforce, evolving millennial preferences and behaviors, and the rapid adoption of enabling technologies such as cloud and collaboration. We are extremely impressed with the OpenSesame management team, the market leading solution they have built and their outstanding growth trajectory, and we are excited to join forces in this next phase of growth.”

About OpenSesame

OpenSesame helps develop the world’s most productive and admired workforces. With the most comprehensive catalog of elearning courses from the world’s top publishers, we are here to help you every step of the way, from finding courses, mapping them to your core competencies, syncing them with your LMS to increasing utilization and improving your L&D programs. Not only will you have the flexibility of multiple purchasing options from OpenSesame, you’ll find it simple to use and administer your e-learning courses. To learn more, visit www.opensesame.com.

About FTV Capital

FTV Capital is a growth equity investment firm that has raised over $2.7 billion to invest in high-growth companies offering a range of innovative solutions in three sectors: enterprise technology & services, financial services and payments & transaction processing. FTV’s experienced team leverages its domain expertise and proven track record in each of these sectors to help motivated management teams accelerate growth. FTV also provides companies with access to its Global Partner Network®, a group of the world’s leading enterprises and executives who have helped FTV portfolio companies for two decades. Founded in 1998, FTV Capital has invested in 108 portfolio companies. FTV has offices in San Francisco and New York. For more information, visit www.ftvcapital.com.

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ECI announces investment in Send For Help

ECI

Send For help is the largest lone worker protection service in the UK, Europe and globally. It has three brands; Skyguard, Guardian24 and People Safe

 

Send For Help Group, encompassing Skyguard, Guardian 24 and Peoplesafe

ECI is delighted to announce our investment in Send For Help, the world’s leading provider of lone worker protection. The partnership will support the company’s growth strategy and internationalisation.

Founded in 2010, Send For Help operates under its three subsidiary brands, Skyguard, Peoplesafe and Guardian 24. The company protects more than 150,000 lone workers in the UK and Ireland with it’s innovative personal safety devices and mobile phone apps, all linked to a dedicated Alarm Receiving Centre (ARC), staffed 24 hours a day. Users can request help at the touch of a button through their device or app’s ‘SOS’ function. Highly trained ARC staff will offer them assistance and escalate to the appropriate emergency service, providing a faster response than 999. Customers include NHS trusts, local authorities, utilities and major corporations.

The company has achieved rapid growth and success, becoming one of only a handful of businesses to be named in The Sunday Times Fast Track 100 list on three consecutive occasions and gaining recognition from the Financial Times as one of Europe’s fastest growing businesses.

Send For Help ranked in the Financial Times 1000 Fastest Growing Companies in Europe

With an estimated 8 million lone workers in the UK, 23 million in the US and 30 million Europe, the lone worker protection market in Europe and America is forecast to double from £105 million per annum to £226 million by 2021 according to research by analysts Berg Insight.

Send For Help has recently appointed Richard Houghton, former co-founder of Xchanging, as Chairman.

Tom Wrenn, Partner at ECI Partners, said: “Send for Help is just the type of business that ECI wants to work with- offering an excellent service to clients, enjoying a leading position in a growing market, and boasting a highly effective management team. We look forward to working with James and his team to help them realise the next stage of their growth plan.”

James Murray, CEO of Send for Help, said: “ECI have a strong track record of partnering with technology-enabled support service providers and we’re delighted to be working with Tom and the broader ECI team. We have ambitious growth plans to build on our number one market position by reaching ever more customers in the UK and abroad, and helping them to keep their employees safe.”

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Gimv invests in German energy storage specialist Smart Battery Solutions

GIMV

28/05/2019 – 07:30 | Portfolio

Gimv has acquired a majority stake in Smart Battery Solutions GmbH (SBS) based in Kleinostheim near Frankfurt. With Gimv’s support, the company aims to continue its strong growth path in the highly dynamic battery market, to increase its workforce, and to expand its production capacity.

Smart Battery Solutions (https://smart-battery-solutions.de/) was founded in 2010 by four industry experts and today employs 50 people. The company develops, manufactures and sells lithium-ion battery systems in the low voltage segment up to 60 volts. The product range covers the entire value chain, from the customer-specific assembly of externally produced batteries to the development and production of intelligent energy storage systems and charging technologies. SBS has also developed a number of proprietary battery management systems that control the operation and safe usage of battery systems.

Smart Battery Solutions’ product range is used in a variety of eMobility applications, including e-bikes, e-scooters, watercraft and drones. Furthermore, the company’s products can be found in stationary solutions such as constant power supply devices. The company’s strength lies in its ability to adjust quickly to individual customer and application-specific requirements with regard to form and features of the respective battery pack.

Last year, the Financial Times listed SBS among the 1,000 companies from 31 European countries with the highest annual sales growth between 2013 and 2016. Focus Money magazine ranked SBS as the number one company in its sector in 2018 for German growth champions.

Ronald Bartel, Partner, responsible for Gimv’s Smart Industries platform in the DACH region, says: “We are pleased to support Smart Battery Solutions and its founding team on their ambitious growth trajectory. The company operates in a highly dynamic market environment with strong demand. SBS is known by its customers for its agility, flexibility, and high degree of technological competence to meet even the most complex customer requirements. The company is an excellent fit for our Smart Industries platform, in which we aim to support technology-oriented companies with above-average growth ambitions to develop into market-leading positions in their niches.

The founders and senior managers of Smart Battery Solutions add: “Gimv is the ideal partner for us to support our growth plans in the future. Gimv will not just provide growth capital, but also its wide experience in accompanying technology companies in expansion. Together with Gimv, we will identify further solutions for new battery applications, establish new customer groups, as well as sales channels in other European countries. We are keen to stay at the forefront of the fast-growing battery market with our Made in Germany products.”

No further financial details will be disclosed.

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LiveU Announces Majority Investment from Francisco Partners to Accelerate Growth

Franciso Partners

Enables LiveU to focus on long-term strategy and advance its business objectives

HACKENSACK, New Jersey — LiveU, the leader in live IP video solutions, is pleased to announce that Francisco Partners, a global technology-focused private equity firm, together with co-investor IGP Capital, have acquired LiveU from its existing shareholders to accelerate further the company’s global expansion. With support from its new investors, LiveU will continue the company’s strong growth momentum.

LiveU is democratizing live video by providing high quality live video solutions for TV, mobile, online and social media with its innovative portable devices and cloud services. With over 3,000 customers in 130+ countries, LiveU’s technology is the solution of choice for leading broadcasters, sport organizations, news agencies, online and social media.

Samuel Wasserman, CEO and Co-Founder of LiveU, said, “We are delighted to have Francisco Partners, a firm with an established track record, as our new majority owner. This will allow us to focus on our long-term strategy and growth objectives, benefiting our customers, partners and employees. I would like to take this opportunity to thank our previous shareholders Canaan Partners, Viola Ventures, Pitango Venture Capital, and Lightspeed Venture Partners for their valued support along the way, and contribution to our success.”

“We have made tremendous progress in delivering on our promise to establish LiveU as the clear market leader in providing live video streaming solutions for TV, digital and social media,” added Wasserman. “This could not have been possible without the tireless efforts of our amazing employees developing and driving superior technology solutions that contribute to LiveU’s current market position.”

“We are extremely excited to be partnering with LiveU as the company enters the next chapter of its growth story,” said Eran Gorev, Senior Operating Partner at Francisco Partners. “LiveU is already recognized as the industry leader, and we look forward to partnering with IGP Capital and LiveU’s management team to further enhance the company’s solutions, grow the customer base and advance its strategic goals.”

Mario Razzini, Principal at Francisco Partners, added, “The broadcast and media industries are in a period of rapid change and LiveU is distinctively positioned to help customers capitalize on this opportunity with its strong market position and unmatched product innovation and performance.”

IGP Capital General Partner Assaf Harel, added, “We are thrilled to join Francisco Partners in backing the company and its talented team of professionals. LiveU is uniquely positioned in the global broadcast and media markets and we’re excited to support the company with new investment initiatives and future growth prospects.”

Goldman Sachs acted as exclusive financial advisor to Francisco Partners.

About Francisco Partners

Francisco Partners is a leading global private equity firm that specializes in investments in technology and technology-enabled businesses. Since its launch over 19 years ago, Francisco Partners has raised over $14 billion in committed capital and invested in more than 200 technology companies, making it one of the most active and longstanding investors in the technology industry. The firm invests in opportunities where its deep sectoral knowledge and operational expertise can help companies realize their full potential. For more information on Francisco Partners, please visit www.franciscopartners.com.

About IGP

Israel Growth Partners (IGP) is a private equity investment firm established with a mission to provide growth capital to Israeli-related technology companies. With $500 million in AUM, IGP seeks to partner with exceptional companies and management teams who are eager to accelerate their growth and to reach category leadership and significant position in their respective markets. For more information visit www.igpcapital.com.

About LiveU

LiveU is driving the live video revolution, providing live video streaming for TV, mobile, online and social media. Let your audience become part of your story with high-quality and flawless live video, transmitted from anywhere in the world, through the use of our patented bonding and video transport technology. LiveU creates a consistent bandwidth and a reliable connection so you can acquire, manage and distribute high quality remote live broadcasts over IP. Our broad portfolio of products sets the industry standard for live video production. From backpacks to smartphones, and satellite/cellular hybrid to external antenna solutions, LiveU offers a complete range of devices for live video coverage anytime, anywhere. In addition, LiveU offers extensive cloud-based management and video distribution solutions. With over 3,000 customers in 130+ countries, LiveU’s technology is the solution of choice for global broadcasters, online media, news agencies and social media. For more information, visit www.liveu.tv, or follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Youtube, LinkedIn or Instagram.

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Antares Leads Financing to Support CenterOak Partners’ Merger of Service Champions and Moore Home Services

Antares

CHICAGO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Antares announced today that it served as lead left arranger and is acting as administrative agent for a senior secured credit facility to support the merger of Service Champions and Moore Home Services by CenterOak Partners.

“With a solid management team, a focus on customer service and a leading market position, the newly formed company is well positioned for continued growth.”

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Headquartered in Orange County, CA, the merger of Service Champions and Moore Home Services creates one of the largest residential HVAC contractors on the West Coast. Service offerings include residential heating and air conditioning repair and replacement, plumbing, solar and electrical services.

“We are pleased to have Antares lead the financing for this transaction as we form one of the leading providers of home maintenance and repair services across Southern and Northern California,” said Randall Fojtasek, managing partner with CenterOak Partners. “Given our longstanding relationship with Antares and their knowledge of the sector, we were confident in their ability to execute with speed and certainty.”

“We are pleased to support CenterOak as they put their experience and resources to work for this newly formed company,” said Doug Koch, managing director with Antares. “With a solid management team, a focus on customer service and a leading market position, the newly formed company is well positioned for continued growth.”

About Antares

With approximately $24 billion of capital under management and administration as of December 31, 2018, Antares is a private debt credit manager and leading provider of financing solutions for middle-market private equity-backed transactions. In 2018, Antares issued nearly $25 billion in financing commitments to borrowers through its robust suite of products including first lien revolvers, term loans and delayed draw term loans, 2nd lien term loans, unitranche facilities and equity investments. Antares world-class capital markets experts hold relationships with over 400 banks and institutional investors allowing the firm to structure, distribute and trade syndicated loans on behalf of its customers. Since its founding in 1996, Antares has been recognized by industry organizations as a leading provider of middle market private debt, most recently being named the 2018 Lender of the Year by ACG New York. The company maintains offices in Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York and Toronto. Visit Antares at www.antares.com or follow the company on Twitter at www.twitter.com/antarescapital. Antares Capital is a subsidiary of Antares Holdings LP., collectively (“Antares”).

Contacts

Antares Capital
Carol Ann Wharton
475-266-8053
carolann.wharton@antares.com

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