Category Archives: News

EQT Private Equity to sell Schülke, a sustainability leader in infection prevention and treatment for the healthcare industry

eqt

EQT Private Equity to sell Schülke to the ATHOS Consortium, having acquired the Company in a carve-out from Air Liquide in July 2020. The Company has delivered double digit annual revenue growth and almost doubled EBITDA in its core healthcare business over this time

Under EQT Private Equity’s ownership, Schülke has been repositioned to focus entirely on the healthcare and life science market, while expanding into new geographies and sales channels through five add-on acquisitions

The Company has also established itself as a sustainability leader, for example by launching a pioneering green hospital-grade product line, transitioning to almost 100% green electricity, and signing up to the Science Based Targets initiative

EQT is pleased to announce that the EQT VIII fund (“EQT Private Equity”) has agreed to sell Schülke (the “Company”), a leading provider of infection prevention and treatment solutions for the healthcare industry, to a consortium led by ATHOS, a Munich-based single family office, along with other co-investors such as Bitburger Holding (the “ATHOS Consortium”).

Schülke is a key partner to the healthcare industry with an almost 135-year heritage of developing holistic and mission-critical infection prevention and treatment solutions. It supplies hospitals and other healthcare institutions with high quality disinfectants and antisepsis products. It also sells to the pharmacy and direct patient care channels, as well as the global life science industry. Schülke is headquartered in Norderstedt, Germany, employs approximately 1,200 people, and generates sales in more than 80 countries with market leading positions in Central and Eastern Europe, Australia and Brazil.

EQT Private Equity acquired Schülke in July 2020 with a vision to focus the business portfolio, accelerate growth in core markets, invest in sustainability and innovation, and expand its geographical footprint. Together with the Schülke management team, EQT Private Equity has delivered on this vision. Schülke repositioned to focus entirely on the healthcare and life science market, which included the sale of the Personal Care business and the discontinuation of other non-healthcare related operations. It also expanded its geographical footprint to Northern and Southern Europe and established a direct patient care channel through acquisitions, while investing in innovation including next generation products. As a result, during EQT Private Equity’s ownership Schülke has delivered double digit annual revenue growth and almost doubled EBITDA in its core healthcare business.

Central to EQT Private Equity and Schülke’s partnership has been the delivery of a customer centric sustainability strategy. Through a strategic approach to sustainability, the Company established a pioneering green hospital-grade product line, transitioned to almost 100% green electricity, and signed up to the Science Based Targets initiative, with the target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by up to 40% by 2030. Through this transformation, Schülke has positioned itself as a key partner to its healthcare and life sciences clients in their efforts to make the industry more sustainable.

Matthias Wittkowski, Partner within EQT Private Equity’s Advisory Team, said: “We were excited about Schülke’s purpose and mission critical role in the healthcare industry when we acquired the business, and are even more so today. In close partnership with the management team, we have transformed Schülke from a corporate subsidiary to a high-performing, stand-alone healthcare company. We are proud to have supported the Company in becoming a sustainability leader that today fully lives up to its mission of “protecting lives worldwide”. This again showcases EQT Private Equity’s ability to carve out high-potential companies, drive transformation and position them for long-term success. We believe that the ATHOS Consortium is a fantastic partner for Schülke as it takes the next step on its journey.”

Stefan Kukacka, CEO of Schülke, said: “It has been a pleasure working with EQT Private Equity over the past years. Together we have strategically re-positioned the business, driven organic growth, and pursued an active M&A agenda with five add-on acquisitions. Perhaps most importantly, we delivered on a sustainability transformation strategy to ensure that we live up to our mission and are set up for sustainable growth. We are grateful for the partnership and are now looking forward to building on this momentum under the ownership of the ATHOS Consortium.”

The transaction is subject to customary regulatory approvals. It is expected to close in Q4 2023.

EQT Private Equity was advised by Bank of America, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Deloitte and Bain & Company.

Contact
EQT Press Office, press@eqtpartners.com, +46 8 506 55 334

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Footway raises SEK 20 million in new share issue

Industriefonden

Footway has initiated a targeted issuance of convertible loans totaling 20 million SEK. The assessment of the board is that securing this funding promptly through a targeted share issue is crucial for a successful reconstruction, serving the company’s and all shareholders’ interests. Industrifonden, one of the company’s long-term owners, stands behind this initiative, demonstrating our support and belief in Footway’s future.

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CoreWeave Secures $2.3 Billion Debt Financing Facility led by Magnetar Capital and Blackstone to Meet Surging Demand and Ongoing Expansion of Specialized Cloud Infrastructure to Power AI

Blackstone
  • Debt financing facility led by Magnetar and Blackstone and with strategic participation from Coatue, DigitalBridge Credit, and funds and accounts managed by BlackRock, PIMCO, and Carlyle
  • Funding to purchase compute to serve its customers, while bolstering its talent base
  • Follows recent $421 million Series B funding round

ROSELAND, N.J, – August 3, 2023 – CoreWeave, a specialized cloud provider of large-scale GPU-accelerated workloads, today announced it has secured a $2.3 billion debt financing facility. The funding was led by Magnetar Capital and funds managed by Blackstone Tactical Opportunities (“Blackstone”) with strategic participation from leading asset management firms Coatue and DigitalBridge Credit, and funds and accounts managed by BlackRock, PIMCO, and Carlyle.

CoreWeave is powering the LLM (large language model) and generative AI boom with purpose-built, ultraperformant cloud infrastructure at scale. The new financing will be used to add to its fleet of high-performance compute to serve its customers, open new data centers, and add to CoreWeave’s world class staff.

“AI has the potential to transform the way we engage with technology, power the industries of the future, and make society’s vital services more efficient – as long as the infrastructure is in place to deliver performance at scale,” said Michael Intrator, CoreWeave CEO and co-founder. “CoreWeave is delivering on this unprecedented level of demand with the most reliable, flexible, and highly performant compute resources to lead the industry forward. The new resources from these world class investors are a vote of confidence in our accomplishments to date and validate our future strategy.”

“We are incredibly proud to expand our years-long partnership with CoreWeave through this important transaction that positions the company for long-term growth and success,” said David Snyderman, Chief Investment Officer and Managing Partner at Magnetar Capital. “As AI becomes increasingly integrated into businesses and society at large, CoreWeave is well equipped to meet the world’s increasing need for high performance compute and serve as a value-added provider to each of its customers.”

Jasvinder Khaira, a Blackstone Senior Managing Director, said: “The soaring computing demand from generative AI will require significant investment in specialized GPU cloud infrastructure – where CoreWeave is a clear leader in powering innovation. Blackstone’s investment in CoreWeave aligns perfectly with our focus on AI and digital infrastructure, and takes advantage of our scale and flexibility to offer innovative financial solutions to market leaders.”

Earlier this month, CoreWeave announced a new $1.6 billion data center in Plano, Texas – a milestone as the company continues to aggressively expand its capacity and infrastructure footprint. This company anticipates a fleet of 14 data centers to be in place by the end of 2023.

Last month, CoreWeave unveiled the world’s fastest AI supercomputer built in partnership with NVIDIA, measured by an industry standard benchmark test called the MLPerf. CoreWeave’s publicly available supercomputing infrastructure trained the new MLPerf GPT-3 175B large language model (LLM) in under 11 minutes, which was more than 29x faster than the next best competitor and 4x larger than the next best competitor.

In April, CoreWeave announced it had raised $221 million in Series B funding led by Magnetar Capital with contributions from NVIDIA, Nat Friedman and Daniel Gross. One month later, CoreWeave secured $200 million in a Series B extension, also led by Magnetar Capital.

John Watson, a Managing Director at Blackstone, added: “We believe that CoreWeave’s purpose-built infrastructure will continue to play a key role in supporting the growth of the AI industry and look forward to supporting this technology leader’s expansion moving forward.”

About CoreWeave
Founded in 2017, CoreWeave is a specialized cloud provider, delivering a massive scale of GPU compute resources on top of the industry’s fastest and most flexible infrastructure. CoreWeave builds cloud solutions for compute-intensive use cases — machine learning and AI, VFX and rendering, life sciences, the Metaverse, and real-time streaming — that are up to 35 times faster and 80% less expensive than the large, generalized public clouds. Learn more at www.coreweave.com.

About Blackstone  
Blackstone is the world’s largest alternative asset manager. We seek to create positive economic impact and long-term value for our investors, the companies we invest in, and the communities in which we work. We do this by using extraordinary people and flexible capital to help companies solve problems. Our $1 trillion in assets under management include investment vehicles focused on private equity, real estate, public debt and equity, infrastructure, life sciences, growth equity, opportunistic, non-investment grade credit, real assets and secondary funds, all on a global basis. Further information is available at www.blackstone.com. Follow @blackstone on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram.

Contacts

Blackstone
Matthew Anderson
(518) 248-7310
Matthew.Anderson@Blackstone.com

Categories: News

EQT Exeter Real Estate Income Trust Launches

eqt

EQT Exeter Real Estate Income Trust, Inc. Initial Public Offering Declared Effective by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

EQT Exeter Real Estate Income Trust, Inc. (“EQRT”) today announced its Registration Statement on Form S-11 in connection with its initial public offering of common stock has been declared effective by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. EQRT is offering on a continuous basis up to $5,000,000,000 in shares of its Class S, Class T, Class D, and Class I common stock, consisting of up to $4,000,000,000 in shares in the primary offering and up to $1,000,000,000 in shares pursuant to a distribution reinvestment plan. EQRT is externally managed by Exeter Property Group, LLC (“EQT Exeter”), an affiliate of EQT AB.

EQRT is a newly organized corporation formed to invest primarily in stabilized, income-oriented commercial real estate in the United States, with an emphasis on properties that can leverage EQT Exeter’s scale and long-standing direct leasing relationships with Fortune 1000 companies. EQRT will generally seek to invest approximately 80% in properties with business tenants, such as industrial or life science properties, and approximately 20% in real estate assets with consumer users, such as multifamily or self-storage properties.

Until the release of proceeds from escrow, the per share purchase price for shares of common stock in the offering will be $10.00 per share plus applicable upfront selling commissions and dealer manager fees. Thereafter, the purchase price per share for each class of common stock will vary and will generally equal the prior month’s net asset value (“NAV”) per share, as determined monthly, plus applicable upfront selling commissions and dealer manager fees.

EQTE Brokerage, LLC, member FINRA and SIPC, is acting as the dealer manager for the offering on a best-efforts basis and will engage selected broker-dealers to participate in the distribution of shares to individual investors.

Written copies of the prospectus may be obtained from EQTE Brokerage, LLC, Attn: Jake Sauerteig, Five Radnor Corporate Center, 100 Matsonford Road, Suite 250, Radnor, PA 19087.

For all other inquiries contact pwm@eqtpartners.com.

These statements are based upon EQRT’s current expectations and speak only as of the date hereof. EQRT’s actual results may differ materially and adversely from those expressed in any forward-looking statements as a result of various factors and uncertainties including those relating to future economic, competitive and market conditions and future business decisions by EQRT. EQRT undertakes no obligation to revise or update publicly any forward-looking statements for any reason.

This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or jurisdiction. An offering is made only by the prospectus. This press release must be read in conjunction with the prospectus in order to fully understand all of the implications and risks of the offering of securities to which the prospectus relates. A copy of the prospectus must be made available to you in connection with any offering. No offering is made except by a prospectus filed with the Department of Law of the State of New York. Neither the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the Attorney General of the State of New York nor any other state securities regulator has approved or disapproved EQRT’s common stock, determined if the prospectus is truthful or complete or passed on or endorsed the merits of the offering. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.

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KKR Acquires Majority Stake in Leading Pallet Pooling Platform LEAP India

MUMBAI, India–(BUSINESS WIRE)– KKR, a leading global investment firm, and LEAP India (‘LEAP’ or the ‘Company’), a leading pallet pooling platform in India, today announced the signing of definitive agreements under which funds managed by KKR will acquire a majority stake in the Company.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230801401222/en/

Founded in 2013 by Sunu Mathew, LEAP is a leading pallet pooling platform in India, providing a wide range of innovative and high-quality supply chain solutions, including equipment pooling, returnable packaging, inventory management and movement, transportation, and repair and maintenance, to a diversified and large customer base across e-commerce, consumer durables, beverages, fast-moving consumer goods and automotive. Today, the Company operates a network of 21 warehouses and more than 3,500 customer locations, and manages more than 6 million total assets, including pallets and containers, across India for its customers.

The investment builds on strong macroeconomic tailwinds in India that include a focus on modernizing, automating, and optimizing efficiencies in supply chains and logistics services. In addition, sustainable logistics is expected to play a critical role in driving India’s rapid economic growth over the next 25 years.1 As Indian corporations increasingly look to focus on core operations and sustainably streamline logistics arrangements, there is significant opportunity for platforms such as LEAP to provide high-quality and efficient supply chain solutions.

Ami Momaya, Director, Infrastructure at KKR, said, “We are pleased to invest in LEAP, a standout leader in India’s pallet pooling industry that will play an important role in driving the country’s continued modernization and growth. LEAP is supporting this shift by providing the critical assets needed for the manufacturing, storage, and movement of goods in supply chains and in so doing also helps companies to be better equipped to improve the environmental impact of their operations. The Company has grown rapidly since its founding under the leadership of a talented management team, and we look forward to collaborating closely and leveraging our deep infrastructure experience, operational expertise and global networks to help LEAP achieve its next stage of transformation.”

Sunu Mathew, Founder and Managing Director at LEAP India, said, “From Day One, LEAP’s mission has been to provide quality supply chain solutions to support our clients’ needs and contribute to India’s modernization. We are proud of our growth and grateful for the support received from our strategic partners and investors, including our first investor Mayfield, that have helped us to scale to where we are today. Going forward, we look to tap into KKR’s global expertise to accelerate our growth and deliver impactful solutions to our clients.”

KKR is making this investment as part of its Asia infrastructure strategy. The acquisition of LEAP marks KKR’s latest infrastructure investment in India. Past transactions in the sector by KKR have included Serentica Renewables, a decarbonization platform that seeks to provide complex clean energy solutions for energy-intensive, hard-to-abate industries; Hero Future Energies, a leading independent power producer and the renewable energy arm of the Hero Group; Highways Infrastructure Trust, a roads infrastructure investment trust (InvIT); Virescent Infrastructure, a renewable energy platform in India; and IndiGrid, a leading infrastructure InvIT. The transaction is expected to be completed by Q3 2023, subject to customary pre-closing and closing conditions. Additional details of the transaction are not disclosed.

Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu and Transaction Square acted as LEAP’s advisors and Anagram Partners acted as legal advisor to LEAP. EY and KPMG acted as KKR’s advisors and AZB & Partners and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett acted as legal advisors to KKR.

About LEAP India

LEAP, or Leading Enterprise in Asset Pooling, is a premier provider of sustainable supply chain solutions in India. Specializing in the design, manufacture, and management of wooden pallets, reusable packaging, and containers, LEAP primarily operates in the asset pooling space, offering cutting-edge supply chain solutions to businesses throughout India.

Established in 2013, LEAP’s mission is to provide cost-effective and sustainable solutions that help businesses reduce waste and lower costs while minimizing the environmental impact of their operations. Through its commitment to innovation, integrity, teamwork, customer service, and excellence, LEAP has earned a reputation as a reliable partner for businesses seeking to optimize their supply chain operations.

About KKR

KKR is a leading global investment firm that offers alternative asset management as well as capital markets and insurance solutions. KKR aims to generate attractive investment returns by following a patient and disciplined investment approach, employing world-class people, and supporting growth in its portfolio companies and communities. KKR sponsors investment funds that invest in private equity, credit and real assets and has strategic partners that manage hedge funds. KKR’s insurance subsidiaries offer retirement, life, and reinsurance products under the management of Global Atlantic Financial Group. References to KKR’s investments may include the activities of its sponsored funds and insurance subsidiaries. For additional information about KKR & Co. Inc. (NYSE: KKR), please visit KKR’s website at www.kkr.com and on Twitter @KKR_Co.

1 EY: Envisioning the future of Indian logistics@2047, April 2023: https://www.ey.com/en_in/consulting/transforming-the-future-of-indian-logistics-sector

Media

For LEAP India:
Priti Vinchhi
+91 8657504746
priti.vinchhi@leapindia.net

For KKR:
Wei Jun Ong
+65 6922 5813
WeiJun.Ong@kkr.com

Source: KKR

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KPN ventures invests in global esim marketplace platform airalo

Kpn Ventures

KPN Ventures announced today that it has joined the series B financing round in Airalo, the world’s first and largest eSIM store. Airalo and KPN Wholesale are working together on a partnership to boost growth.

Airalo is a global eSIM marketplace platform for travelers to purchase eSIMs, providing connectivity at local prices. Customers can download an affordable data plan directly on their phone, without the hassle of exchanging a physical SIM card, resulting in a contact-free and seamless experience. Airalo solves the pain of high roaming bills and security issues of unsafe public WiFi networks by providing access to connectivity in over 200 countries and regions. Airalo is on a mission to provide global data connectivity for all travelers around the world with its millions of users already and global team spanning over 44 countries, Airalo is well on track.

“Airalo’s impressive eSIM marketplace platform makes them destined to further grow their global number one positioning in connectivity for travelers” says Michel van Wissen, EVP Wholesale, “We’re very excited to work together and support them in their international successes.”

Airalo receives $60M of funding in the Series B financing round. The round is led by e& Capital with participations from Antler Elevate, Rakuten Capital, Singtel Innov8, Peak XV (formerly known as Sequoia Capital India and SEA), T Capital, Orange Ventures, Telefónica Ventures, Go Ventures, I2BF Global Ventures and others.

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Regional Rail continues its expansion via the acquisition of Clinton Terminal Railroad

3I

3i-backed Regional Rail, a leading owner and operator of short-line freight railroads across North America, has acquired the assets of Clinton Terminal Railroad. Carolina Coastal Railway (CLNA), a subsidiary of Regional Rail, will become the new owner and operator of the Clinton Terminal assets, which will become the Clinton Branch of the CLNA. The acquisition expands Regional Rail’s existing presence in North Carolina, which it built through the acquisition of Carolina Coastal Railway in 2020.

Al Sauer, CEO of Regional Rail, commented:

“We are excited to partner with the team at Clinton Terminal and view this as a natural expansion of our footprint in North Carolina. We believe there are attractive opportunities in the market and look forward to building upon the railroad’s existing operations.”

Bob Lowe, CEO of Clinton Terminal, commented:

“We are proud of what we have built at Clinton Terminal over the years and believe that Regional Rail will be a great steward of the railroad, in addition to a strong partner to our customers going forward.”

Since 2019, 3i and Regional Rail have more than tripled the number of railroads under Regional Rail’s control and expanded the platform across North America. Today, the company provides freight transportation, car storage, and transloading services across the United States and western Canada. In addition to freight rail services, Regional Rail provides railroad crossing signal design, construction, inspection, and maintenance services to a diverse base of short-line and industrial customers via the company’s Diamondback Signal subsidiary.

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Alantra Private Equity portfolio company Health in Code acquires Genologica

Alantra

With this acquisition Health in Code achieves its goal of doubling its size in three years

  • This is Health in Code’s first acquisition since 2020 when it was created through the merger of three leading companies in the clinical genetics sector in Spain: Imegen, Genycell Biotech, and Health in Code
  • Since 2020, Health in Code has delivered organic annual growth of more than 20%
  • Health in Code’s expansion plans include the acquisition of other genomic diagnostics companies in Spain and the rest of Europe

Health in Code, a leading clinical genetic diagnostics company in Spain and an Alantra Private Equity portfolio company, has acquired genetic analysis laboratory Genologica to consolidate its leading position in Spain. Both parties have agreed not to disclose financial details of the transaction.

Founded in Malaga and with a strong presence in Andalusia, Genologica has more than 15 years of experience in genetic analysis for the prevention, diagnosis, assessment, and treatment of hereditary or genetic diseases. Its founders and main executives, Javier, José María and Daniel Porta, will continue to lead Genologica and will join Health in Code’s management team.

Health in Code is the result of the merger of three leading companies in the clinical genetics sector in Spain at the beginning of 2020: Imegen, Genycell Biotech and Health in Code. Alantra Private Equity is the majority shareholder of the Group, which includes among its shareholders the founding partners of the three former companies.

The acquisition of Genologica is the Group’s first add-on since its foundation and is in line with a buy-and-build strategy targeting companies or projects characterized by differentiation and clinical excellence.

Health in Code expects to reach €45m in revenues this year, of which approximately €4m will be contributed by Genologica. This represents an annual growth rate of more than 20% since 2020, doubling the initial size of the Group and demonstrating the sector’s strong growth.

The Group’s expansion plans include the acquisition of other medical genetics companies to complement its portfolio of services and products, as well as the organic development of new international markets based on a differential value proposition and unique technological capabilities. Health in Code currently has operational centers in Valencia, where it is headquartered, La Coruña, Granada and Malaga, employing more than 200 professionals. Last June, Health in Code installed the first NovaSeq X Plus in Spain, reaffirming its position as a leader in sequencing committed to whole genome studies.

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KKR Expands West Coast Presence With New Office In Los Angeles

KKR

NEW YORK & LOS ANGELES–(BUSINESS WIRE)– KKR today announced the expansion of its West Coast operations with the opening of a new office in Los Angeles. Located in Century City, the space will initially support the firm’s real estate, private equity, private wealth and institutional client relationship teams.

Ryan Stork, Partner and Chief Operating Officer of KKR, said, “We have had a significant presence on the West Coast for four decades and we are pleased to grow our footprint in Southern California with the opening of a new office in Century City. We deliberately selected a location that provides flexibility for further expansion to support the needs of our business.”

“Our teams have been spending a lot of time in LA and we have built a strong real estate investment business across the Pacific and Southwestern U.S. Having a permanent presence in LA serves as a natural extension of our existing footprint in Northern California and brings more of our team closer to some of our clients,” said Ralph Rosenberg, Partner and Global Head of KKR Real Estate at KKR.

KKR has approximately 250 employees based in California across three offices. With the Los Angeles office, KKR has offices in 24 cities around the globe, including U.S. offices in New York, Menlo Park, San Francisco, Houston and Miami. In addition, KKR’s real estate investment services platform, K-Star Asset Management, opened a new Dallas office last year.

About KKR
KKR is a leading global investment firm that offers alternative asset management as well as capital markets and insurance solutions. KKR aims to generate attractive investment returns by following a patient and disciplined investment approach, employing world-class people and supporting growth in its portfolio companies and communities. KKR sponsors investment funds that invest in private equity, credit and real assets and has strategic partners that manage hedge funds. KKR’s insurance subsidiaries offer retirement, life and reinsurance products under the management of Global Atlantic Financial Group. References to KKR’s investments may include the activities of its sponsored funds and insurance subsidiaries. For additional information about KKR & Co. Inc. (NYSE: KKR), please visit KKR’s website at www.kkr.com and on Twitter @KKR_Co.

Media
Miles Radcliffe-Trenner
+1 212-750-8300
media@kkr.com

Source: KKR

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Freeman Announces Acquisition of Sparks, a Global Brand Experience Agency

KKR

Sparks to Combine with Freeman’s Agency Business to Create a Leader in Corporate Events, Corporate Exhibits and Brand Experience

DALLAS–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Freeman, a global leader in events, today announced that it has acquired Sparks, a global brand experience agency. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Founded in 1919 and headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Sparks is globally recognized for providing award-winning exhibit and event experiences to a diverse group of Fortune 1000 brands, including Google, Salesforce, Anheuser-Busch InBev, and T-Mobile. Sparks’ proven approach to best-in-class client service, project management, and delivery is designed for and tailored to corporate customers.

Sparks will combine with Freeman’s award-winning agency business, which also caters to major corporate clients, including Amazon, Cisco, and Kohler.

This agency combination will focus on the corporate market and complements Freeman’s industry expertise and operational excellence, positioning the Company to accelerate its growth by meeting the evolving needs of corporate clients and show organizers.

“Our combination with Sparks creates a unique opportunity to accelerate Freeman’s vision to become a leader in the corporate space,” said Bob Priest-Heck, Chief Executive Officer of Freeman. “Sparks, like Freeman, is built by great people, has a long history of success, and is one of the most respected names in the industry. We couldn’t be more excited to have Sparks’ talented team join Freeman at this exciting time for the industry.”

David Sudjian, Chief Executive Officer of Sparks said, “I am thrilled about the immense potential Freeman and Sparks have together. Our exceptional teams are eager to collaborate and leverage our strengths to create extraordinary experiences. The alignment of culture and values between Freeman and Sparks truly sets this combination apart, fueling our ability to deliver remarkable moments worldwide. Together, I am confident we will reach new heights, driven by a shared commitment to excellence.”

“As our 96-year history shows, Freeman continues to be an industry leader because of our ability to understand trends and make bold strategic moves to support our customers’ needs today and tomorrow,” said Carrie Freeman Parsons, Chair of Freeman. “As a family-owned company, we will continue to enhance our capabilities to better support corporate customers – deepening those relationships while also nurturing our longstanding relationships with show organizers. We look forward to delivering outstanding event experiences with the additional support of our strategic partner KKR. “

Financing for the transaction was provided by KKR primarily through KKR Opportunities Fund II and funds and accounts participating in its Strategic Investments strategy.

J.P. Morgan is serving as exclusive financial advisor to Freeman, and King & Spalding LLP is serving as legal counsel to Freeman. Cozen O’Connor is serving as legal counsel to Sparks. Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP acted as legal counsel to KKR.

About Freeman

Freeman is a global leader in events, on a mission to redefine live for a new era. With a data-driven approach and the industry’s largest network of experts, Freeman’s insights shape exhibitions, exhibits, and events that drive audiences to action. The integrated full-service solutions leverage a 96-year legacy in event management as well as new technologies to deliver moments that matter. For more information, please visit https://www.freeman.com/.

About Sparks

Sparks is a live + digital experiential marketing agency. We specialize in creating connection–real human connection–onsite, online or anywhere. Through a thoughtful mix of sound strategy, next-level creative and flawless execution, we create memorable trade show exhibits, live and virtual events, brand activations, and other immersive experiences that deepen relationships, inspire action, and build trust–and we do it all over the world. To learn more about Sparks, visit us at wearesparks.com.

Contacts

Freeman Company
FGS Global
Jared Levy / Mike DeGraff
Freeman@fgsglobal.com

Sparks
Kristy Elisano
kelisano@wearesparks.com

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