Category Archives: News

ONCAP Acquires Walter Surface Technologies

Onex

Toronto, Ontario and Montreal, Quebec September 20, 2018

– ONCAP today announced it has purchased a majority stake in Walter Surface Technologies (“Walter” or the “Company”), in partnership with the existing management team. The Walter Group will retain a minority interest in the Company.

Walter is a leading provider of innovative solutions for the metal working industry. Its premium, consumable metal working solutions include abrasives, tooling, power tools, chemical solutions and welding process solutions. The Company sells its portfolio of products to a diverse array of end markets, including metal fabrication, transportation, construction, energy, mining, forestry and lumber, food and pharmaceuticals. Walter was founded in 1952 by Walter Somers and, over the past 30 years, his son Pierre Somers led the Company and expanded it internationally.
“Walter is committed to creating the best performing products and offering innovative, safe, user-friendly and environmentally conscious solutions to its customers,” said Gregory Baylin, a Managing Director with ONCAP. “The Company’s dedication to excellence and strong workforce are what attracted us to the business. We’re thrilled to partner with the management team and the founding family to build upon the entrepreneurial spirit and vision Walter and Pierre Somers created.”

“ONCAP’s Canadian roots and outstanding investment track record make it an ideal partner for us,” said Marc-André Aubé, the newly-appointed Chief Executive Officer of Walter. “Together, we’ll continue to focus on providing the best solutions to our customers to improve their productivity and make their jobs easier and safer. ONCAP’s support will help us grow both organically and through strategic add-on acquisitions.”
“This transaction is the logical step to take Walter to new and exciting heights. The Company is in great hands with Marc-André and the management team we’ve worked hard to build,” said Pierre Somers, the retiring Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Walter and the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Walter Group. “We’re excited to remain a minority shareholder and watch the Company’s growth during this next chapter. The Walter Group will now turn its focus to expanding our investing activities.”
The investment was made by ONCAP IV, Onex Corporation’s (TSX:ONEX) $1.1 billion fund. The terms of the transaction are not being disclosed.

About ONCAP
ONCAP is the mid-market private equity platform of Onex. In partnership with operating
company management teams, ONCAP invests in and builds value in North American
headquartered medium-sized businesses that are market leaders and possess meaningful growth
potential. For more information on ONCAP, visit its website at www.oncap.com.
Onex is one of the oldest and most successful private equity firms. Through its Onex Partners
and ONCAP private equity funds, Onex acquires and builds high-quality businesses in
partnership with talented management teams. At Onex Credit, Onex manages and invests in
leveraged loans, collateralized loan obligations and other credit securities. Onex has more than
$33 billion of assets under management, including $6.8 billion of Onex proprietary capital, in
private equity and credit securities. With offices in Toronto, New York, New Jersey and
London, Onex and the team are collectively the largest investors across Onex’ platforms. Onex
shares trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the stock symbol ONEX. For more
information on Onex, visit its website at www.onex.com.

About Walter Surface Technologies
Walter Surface Technologies provides innovative solutions for the global metal working
industry. From high performance abrasives, power tools and tooling to industrial parts washing
systems, cleaners, degreasers and lubricants Walter focuses on helping its customers work better.
Founded in 1952, the Company is established in 7 countries throughout North America, South
America and Europe. International headquarters is in Montreal and U.S. headquarters is located
in Windsor, Connecticut. Key certification and awards include ISO 9001: 2008, Wall Street
Journal Award; Deutscher Material Preiz; American Eagle Award; CleanTech Cleaning
Technology Award. For more information, please visit www.walter.com.

About Walter Group
For more than 60 years, the Walter Group of Companies has been guided by a strong
entrepreneurial spirit that has been passed down from one generation to the next. Leveraging its
unique position, the Group has evolved into a flourishing ecosystem of companies driven by
entrepreneurship and innovation. Over the years, the Walter Group has been investing and
supporting growth through Walter Financial, a private investment firm targeting both private and
public markets, with permanent capital base and long-term investment horizon. Among its
strategies, Walter Financial has allocated over C$240 million to its two dedicated internal private
equity firms, Walter Capital Partners and newly created Walter Global Asset Management. For
more information, please visit www.waltergroup.ca.

For further information:
Onex
Emilie Blouin
Director, Investor Relations
Tel: +1.416.362.7711
Walter Surface Technologies
Stephanie Boucher
Marketing Communications Manager
E: SBoucher@walter.com
Walter Group
Carl Vallée
HATLEY Strategy Advisors
Tel: +1.514.316.7089
2

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CVC Capital Partners announces majority interest investment in UnitedLex

Senior team has fully reinvested to further company’s mission to drive innovation in the legal marketplace

CVC Capital Partners (“CVC”) today announced that funds managed by CVC will make a majority interest investment in UnitedLex, the pioneer of enterprise legal services for the world’s leading corporations, law firms, and universities. The transaction is subject to customary regulatory approvals. The UnitedLex senior leadership team has fully reinvested in the transaction to further the company’s mission to lead the revolution of the practice of law and legal services delivery and to drive innovation in the legal marketplace.

The investment represents one of the largest transactions to date with any legal services provider. It comes on the heels of UnitedLex closing deals worth $1.5 billion in total contract value over the last 18 months.

Founded in 2006, UnitedLex provides enterprise legal services to its clients, which include more than 25% of the Global Fortune 500, across 18 countries. UnitedLex’s year-over-year growth has been purely organic, enabling a singularity of culture focused on delivering significant client value and providing its professionals a unique home to extend the current boundaries of client solutions through the “art of the possible.” The company has created a one of a kind legal services platform: a consulting, technology, and resource solutions company; an international law firm constellation; and a law firm resource platform – all focused on the areas of contracts and commercial transactions, litigation, intellectual property, consulting, and compliance.

Daniel Reed, CEO of UnitedLex, said, “I am very pleased to welcome CVC as our partner in what marks an important milestone in UnitedLex’s evolution. As Europe’s largest private equity firm with current and past portfolio companies such as Breitling, AlixPartners, and Formula 1, CVC has the geographic reach, sector expertise, scale, and significant capital that will undoubtedly help us expand our technology development and provide clients with unique financial structuring as part of our industry-changing solutions.”

Siddharth Patel, Senior Managing Director at CVC, commented, “UnitedLex has a multi-billion-dollar opportunity ahead of it, with legal services being one the few remaining verticals that is early in the penetration curve of technology, consulting, and solution delivery. UnitedLex continues to innovate with game-changing engagements with the world’s leading companies. Now is the perfect time for us to provide significant capital to enhance its growth and scale, the beginnings of which we’ve already seen in its impressive financial performance, customer wins, and pipeline of opportunities.”

Amit Soni, Managing Director at CVC, added, “We are excited to partner with UnitedLex and its excellent management team and to provide necessary capital to pursue both strategic acquisitions in a consolidating space, as well as transformational client wins. We have known the company for many years and have been impressed by its consistent track record of growth and ability to design and deliver unique solutions in the enterprise legal space.”

 

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HOLLAND VENTURE invests in LIVASSURED to support further development of the nightwatch

A groundbreaking detection system for nocturnal epileptic attacks
 
Amsterdam, 20 September 2018 – Investment company Holland Venture invests with Oost NL and Health Innovations Fund in LivAssured, which developed the revolutionary NightWatch in collaboration with neurologists and patient associations. The NightWatch supports  the care task of parents and healthcare professionals by giving off a warning in the event of a heavy night-time epileptic seizure. Because of the NightWatch, help can be provided quickly and adequately, reducing the risk of medical complications. The investment enables further development and the international roll-out of the NightWatch. With the investment in LivAssured, Holland Venture officially launched the Holland Venture Healthcare Innovation Fund II.

Annually, about 100,000 Dutch people must deal with epilepsy. A severe attack requires medical attention in approx. 30% of cases. Most of these attacks occur at night and often go by  unnoticed, leading to serious medical complications. Because of this parents often experience night-time stress. Research among the parents of the patients of epilepsy clinic Kempenhaeghe shows that about 60% of the parents are actively looking for a solution. Healthcare professionals also benefit from an adequate detection system to improve the quality of care and to ease the care task.

Conceived by neurologists, advised by epilepsy associations.

To solve this problem LivAssured, founded in 2013, developed the NightWatch in cooperation with institutions Kempenhaeghe, Sein, UMC Utrecht, and the Epilepsy Fund. The detection system consists of a bracelet that the patient wears around his upper arm at night. It uses a unique combination of heart rate and motion analysis, where the device recognizes movement patterns and changes in heart rate with a high degree of accuracy. A smart algorithm assesses whether these signals indicate an epileptic seizure. In the case of an epileptic seizure, the NightWatch sends an alarm to the healthcare professional or parent. This could prevent that an epileptic lead to more damage, hospitalization or even death.

Healthcare return
According to a longitudinal study at epilepsy institutes Sein and Kempenhaeghe, the NightWatch detects 9 out of 10 clinical urgent attacks and alerts emergency workers in time. That is more than a huge improvement compared to alternative products that are currently on the market. The results of this study will be published shortly. The NightWatch is currently being used to great satisfaction by a growing group of Dutch families and in care institutions.

Jan-Frens van Giessel, Investment Director by Holland Venture. ‘The safety for patients isn’t the only thing which increases due to the NightWatch, it also relieves the care task of parents and healthcare professionals. It realizes a huge impact in the care of a very vulnerable group of patients and their attendants. This explains why the investment in LivAssured fits perfectly within our investment focus, where we aim to reduce healthcare costs while increasing the quality of care. We foresee enormous (international) growth opportunities for the company and are proud to be able to contribute to its development.’

Jeroen van den Hout, CEO LivAssured, add to this: ‘We can set the next steps with the knowledge and capital of Holland Venture. With this investor, LivAssured gets a strong partner with experience in the healthcare sector and enable us to further develop the NightWatch and achieve our international growth ambitions.’

LivAssured is the first investment of the Healthcare Innovation Fund II (HVZI II) of Holland Venture.

With her recently started second Healthcare Innovation Fund, Holland Venture provides growth capital to promising Dutch entrepreneurs in the healthcare market. The fund, with a size of 14 million euros, has set itself the goal of building a portfolio of around 10 investments within the segment’s devices, diagnostics, and digital health.
About Holland Venture
Over the past 35 years, Holland Venture has invested in more than 130 Dutch SMEs in a responsible and successful manner. With a clear investment strategy, Holland Venture is active in the growth markets of both healthcare and technology. The experienced and involved investment team knows what entrepreneurship is like. With the joint goal of achieving growth, Holland Venture strives for an open, sustainable and professional relationship with the management teams of the companies in which she invests. Holland Venture is supported by a broad network of successful healthcare and technology entrepreneurs.

 

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Drillinginfo Acquires Oildex Expanding Capability by Integrating Financial Automation Solutions

The combination of decision support with operations automation will create unmatched benefits for customers in multiple market segments

Austin, Texas (September 18, 2018) – Drillinginfo, the leading energy SaaS and data analytics company, has acquired Oildex, the largest oil & gas financial automation software firm in North America. This combination will transform the way the industry connects, collaborates, and automates data exchange for financial transactions and field operations.

“By acquiring Oildex, we immediately expand our E&P and Oilfield Services base and reach across the energy value chain with Oildex’s full suite of financial automation solutions for automating invoicing, payments, field tickets, and data exchange. Oildex is a leader in managing relations between operators and their valued mineral rights owners, which enables us to accelerate our growth priority in the large mineral owner market. Our common core customer base and approaches to platforms in the cloud spark an immediate synergy,” said Jeff Hughes, CEO and President of Drillinginfo.

“Drillinginfo has a reputation for enabling energy companies to gain efficiencies and understand competitive positioning,” added Craig Charlton, CEO Oildex, an Accel-KKR portfolio company.  “They have evolved beyond just focusing on upstream activity to driving value creation for customers across multiple oil & gas market segments. Together we will be able to apply more of our problem-solving capabilities to help the oil & gas industry,” said Charlton.

The Oildex network excels at enabling seamless and secure collaboration across business partners, automating critical business processes, and eliminating the high cost and errors associated with handling paper. Drillinginfo’s vast store of current and historic industry data combined with built-in analytics will complement these capabilities in a way that no other combination could.

Additionally, solutions for oilfield services (OFS) are an area of rapid innovation and growth for both companies. Combining Drillinginfo’s powerful OFS mobile app with Oildex’s OpenTicket and the broader suite of Oildex’s field services management tools will provide an unmatched end-to-end SaaS platform for oilfield services. Drillinginfo will connect workflows from lead generation to job delivery and payment processing, reducing costs, improving resource utilization, and increasing productivity and transparency to make better business decisions. This incredible combination for oil & gas service providers is scalable and can serve the needs of customers ranging from small regional businesses all the way to global OFS companies.

Minerals represent a growth area for both companies’ solutions, which will only get stronger as a result of the combination. In today’s “cash is king” market environment, operators are increasingly outsourcing non-core services like owner relations, including check stub processing, call centers, and payments. This frees up precious resources and sharpens focus on their actual competitive advantage—drilling better wells.

“We aim to provide a decision support platform combined with financial automation that adds far more value than simple process efficiency within any one segment or function,” added Hughes. “The extensive and growing network of industry participants will create a multiplier effect of value for every business served. We couldn’t be more excited.”

Oildex is hosting its annual User Conference September 18–20 in Park City, Utah.

The Oildex team will join Drillinginfo and add their teams from downtown Denver, Houston, Calgary, Austin, and Tennessee, along with several remote location team members. This marks the first acquisition Drillinginfo has made after Genstar Capital purchased a majority stake in the company from Insight Venture Partners in July 2018.

About Drillinginfo

Drillinginfo delivers business-critical insights to the energy, power, and commodities markets. Our state-of-the-art SaaS platform offers sophisticated technology, powerful analytics, and industry-leading data. Our solutions deliver value across upstream, midstream and downstream markets, empowering exploration and production (E&P), oilfield services, midstream, utilities, trading and risk, and capital markets companies to be more collaborative, efficient, and competitive. Drillinginfo delivers actionable intelligence over mobile, web, and desktop to analyze and reduce risk, conduct competitive benchmarking, and uncover market insights. Drillinginfo serves over 3,500 companies globally from its Austin, Texas, headquarters and has approximately 675 employees. For more information visit drillinginfo.com.

About Oildex

Oildex, an Accel-KKR portfolio company, is transforming the way the oil and gas industry connects, collaborates and automates. More than 1,100 operators, 74,000 registered service providers, dozens of financial institutions and millions of mineral rights owners use the Oildex Network to seamlessly and securely collaborate with their business partners, automate critical business processes, eliminate the high cost and errors associated with the handling of paper, and obtain access to key data to make more informed business decisions. Oildex is headquartered in Denver and has offices in Calgary; Houston; Austin; Fayetteville, Arkansas, and Tennessee. Learn more about Oildex at www.oildex.com.

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MEDIA INQUIRIES:

Contact: Jon Haubert
303.396.5996

 

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Folmer Equity Fund II invests in Europlan Engineering Oy

Folmer

Folmer Equity Fund II Ky, a fund managed by Folmer Management Oy, is making an
investment in marine sector by acquiring a majority stake in Europlan Engineering Oy. As
part of the transaction, Hermann´s Finland Oy, a company specialized in demanding interior
solutions, becomes a wholly-owned subsidiary of Europlan Engineering group.

Europlan Engineering Oy, founded in 1990, is a leading Finnish marine technology project management company.
The core business of Europlan Engineering Oy consists of challenging turn-key projects for both domestic and
international clients. The company provides solutions for global cruise ships, superyachts and construction industry.
The company’s project management capabilities as well as its flexible network of subcontractors enable large-scale
global projects. The estimated revenue of the company for the current fiscal is ca. 55 MEUR.
The current owner and Managing Director of the company, Jari Savola, will continue as the Managing Director and
minority shareholder of the company with 40% equity stake. Moreover, the previous owner of Hermann´s Finland Oy,
Heikki Nieminen, will stay with the company.

“I wanted a partner that will ambitiously pursue the company to the next level through all aspects of the company. With
the large global orders in the backlog, we need particularly high standards as a company. We look forward continuing
to exceed the expectation levels of our clients”, says Jari Savola, The Managing Director of Europlan Engineering Oy.
“The prevailing megatrend of growth within the cruise ship industry provides us tailwind. Moreover, considering the
business climate, the opportunity to expand into new business segments is attractive”, says Sami Tuominen, the
Managing Director and Partner of Folmer. “Europlan Engineering Oy consists of group of experienced special talents
of the Finnish marine industry. Hermann´s Finland Oy offers exceptional production engineering capabilities. Together
the companies make a globally-recognized pioneer”, adds Johanna Marin, the Investment Director and Partner of
Folmer.

For more information:
Managing Director, Partner Sami Tuominen, Folmer Management Oy, tel. +358 40 708 4905,
sami.tuominen@folmer.fi
Managing Director, Europlan Engineering Oy, jari.savola@europlan.fi

Europlan Engineering Oy is a project management company providing its domestic and global clients with turn-key
solutions. The company services its clients within global cruise ship, superyacht and construction industry.
www.europlan.fi

Hermann´s Finland Oy is a production engineering company that specializes in demanding interior solutions. The
key competencies of the company are craft work, creative design and know-how in modern manufacturing methods.
The production of the company is built on IT-based design techniques and rigorous modelling. www.hermanns.fi
Folmer Management Oy is a Finnish private equity company investing in Finnish SMEs. Folmer creates value through
active development work. Folmer provides companies with support and professional experience – a requirement for
success. www.folmer.fi

Folmer Equity Fund II Ky benefits from the support of the European Union under the Equity Facility for Growth
established under Regulation (EU) No 1287/2013 of the European Parliament and the Council establishing a
Programme for the Competitiveness of Enterprises and small and medium enterprises (COSME) (2014-2020).
Businesses can contact selected financial institutions in their country to access EU financing: www.access2finance.eu.

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Cignal announces refinance and expansion of financing facility to €65m

InfraVia

Funds will support portfolio development and expansion of tower network
• Bank of Ireland leads lenders alongside AIB
• Backed by infrastructure investor Infravia Capital Partners

Cignal, Ireland’s fastest growing provider of telecommunications infrastructure, has today announced it has refinanced and expanded its financing facility, which will provide funding to support the expansion of its network of telecoms and broadband communications towers.

Cignal’s acquisition of Coillte’s tower portfolio in 2015 was supported by an initial €31.5m facility. This is now being refinanced and expanded to €65m, providing additional funding to be invested in new telecoms and broadband communications towers to address coverage blackspots throughout Ireland.
Bank of Ireland, who have been a lender to Cignal since the company was set up in 2015, acted as lead arranger for the new facilities along with AIB who are now a joint lender to the business.
Cignal recently announced that it had spent €15m on acquiring and building new telecoms and broadband communications towers in the past 18 months, giving it a portfolio in over 500 key locations across urban and rural Ireland.

Cignal’s CEO Colin Cunningham said:
“We are very pleased to have refinanced and enlarged our banking facility to ensure that we have capital to support our expansion plans. Having invested €15m in acquisitions and new tower developments in the past 18 months, the new bank facility will support the next phase in our growth plans’’

Cignal’s Chairman Donal O’Shaughnessy said:
‘’This development shows our commitment to provide valuable infrastructure to help provide telecoms and broadband services to local communities. The support shown by both Bank of Ireland and AIB has provided us with a flexible and enlarged facility thus ensuring we can continue to build telecoms infrastructure in the areas where it is needed most.’’
Maurice Healy, Director, Corporate Banking, Bank of Ireland said
“Lending to high quality Irish infrastructure assets is an attractive proposition and we are delighted to act as lead arranger in this enlarged lending facility for Cignal. Given the clear demand for enhanced and expanded mobile and broadband coverage across Ireland we are very comfortable with the expansion plans that Cignal have outlined to us, which will help improve coverage and speeds for mobile and broadband users across Ireland.”
The refinancing has been supported by its majority shareholder Infravia Capital Partners, a specialist infrastructure investor managing over €4bn in assets. In Ireland Infravia has acquired hospital group the Mater Private and nursing homes operator CareChoice.

Infravia Partner, Bruno Candes said:
“Infravia Capital Partners are delighted that these new facilities are now in place to support the continued growth trajectory of Cignal since we invested to support the Coillte transaction in 2015. The Cignal team have a clear roadmap to build its portfolio of towers and Infravia and both Bank of Ireland and AIB have shown their commitment to supporting this expansion”

Cignal now has 18% of the Irish market for infrastructure supporting mobile, fixed wireless broadband communications and broadcast services, with a customer base that includes all the main mobile services providers in Ireland, the emergency services and FM radio stations. Cignal is committed to further investment in the construction of new towers, and acquisitions as the market continues to consolidate.

For further information, please contact:
• Doug Keatinge, Murray, +353-1-4980379 / +353-86-0374163 / dkeatinge@murraygroup.ie

About Cignal
Cignal is Ireland’s newest provider of telecommunications infrastructure. It launched its business in 2015 with the acquisition of a portfolio of 400 tower from Irish state forestry company Coillte, and through further acquisitions and expansion now has a portfolio of over 500 towers. Cignal specialises in maximising the efficient use of tower infrastructure through hosting the equipment of multiple operators on its sites, thereby reducing costs for users and reducing the proliferation of unnecessary towers. Cignal’s main shareholders are specialist infrastructure investor Infravia Capital Partners and telecoms infrastructure veteran Donal O’Shaughnessy who also serves as Chairman of the company. The company has ambitious plans for further investment to expand its network and improve mobile and broadband coverage throughout Ireland in areas poorly served today. www.cignal.ie

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Nordic Capital has sold its remaining holding in Saferoad

Nordic Capital

SEPTEMBER 17 2018
Nordic Capital has sold its remaining holding in Saferoad ImageNordic Capital has divested its remaining shares in Saferoad Holding ASA (“Saferoad”), a European leading provider of road safety and infrastructure solutions.

“Nordic Capital acquired Saferoad a decade ago; since then the company has gone through a substantial expansion and is now positioned for further growth,” says Olof Faxander, Operating Partner, advisor to the Nordic Capital Funds.

At the time of the acquisition in 2008, Saferoad had 1,300 employees in 10 countries and the company was mainly focused on Scandinavia and Eastern Europe.  Since then Saferoad has made several add-on acquisitions and entered new markets. Today, there are 2,800 employees in more than 20 countries across Europe. During Nordic Capital’s ownership period, Saferoad’s revenue has grown from EUR 285 million (2007) to EUR 610 million (2017).

The company was listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange in May 2017 and now the journey will continue under different ownership, as Nordic Capital’s remaining holding was sold to FSN Capital V on September 11, 2018, in connection with a voluntary cash offer to acquire all of the shares in Saferoad.

Saferoad’s business comprises of road signs and technical traffic products, road marking, roadway illumination, road railings and bridge parapets, and rock and tunnel securing. The company plays an important role at various stages throughout new road construction projects and the maintenance or upgrades of existing roads.

“To summarise, Saferoad has transformed into a European market leader in the attractive road safety and infrastructure solutions space. With support from Nordic Capital working closely with the management team, the company has followed a strategy of accretive acquisitions in a fragmented space and a focus on operational improvements. Saferoad has gone far and will now continue its journey further,” says Olof Faxander.

 

Media contact:

Nordic Capital

Katarina Janerud, Communications Manager
Advisor to the Nordic Capital Funds
Tel: +46 8 440 50 50
e-mail: katarina.janerud@nordiccapital.com

 About Saferoad:

Saferoad is a leading supplier of road safety and road infrastructure solutions in Europe. The Group offers a broad range of innovative and high-quality products and solutions to those who own, build and maintain roads. Saferoad is organised in two main business areas, Road Safety  and Road Infrastructure and has approximately 2800 employees. The company design, manufacture and deliver products and solutions that improve the road safety and road infrastructure standards and the Group has leading positions in several markets across Europe, combining strong responsiveness to customer needs through an extensive local presence and a cost-effective supply chain. Saferoad Group has its roots in the North Western part of Norway where operations started back in 1947. Today, the Group has expanded its activities to more than 20 countries in Europe. For further information about SafeRoad please visit www.saferoad.com

About Nordic Capital

Nordic Capital is a leading private equity investor in the Nordic region with a resolute commitment to creating stronger, sustainable businesses through operational improvement and transformative growth. Nordic Capital focuses on selected regions and sectors where it has deep experience and a proven track record. Core sectors are Healthcare, Technology & Payments, Financial Services, Industrial Goods & Services and Consumer & Retail, and key regions are the Nordics, Northern Europe, and globally for Healthcare. Since inception in 1989, Nordic Capital has invested EUR 13 billion in over 100 investments. The most recent fund is Nordic Capital Fund IX with EUR 4.3 billion in committed capital, principally provided by international institutional investors such as pension funds. The Nordic Capital Funds are based in Jersey and are advised by advisory entities, which are based in Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Germany and the UK. For further information about Nordic Capital, please visit www.nordiccapital.com

 

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ARDIAN GROWTH invests in software publisher IWD

Ardian

Paris, 17 September 2018 – Ardian, a world-leading private investment house, today announces its acquisition of a minority stake in IWD through a capital increase. This global technology company offers innovative 2D, 3D and virtual reality software through its various businesses and supports luxury brands in their retail and merchandising strategies as well as in their training programs.

Founded in Paris in 2000 by Gabriel Becker and Nicolas Martin, IWD controls the entire life of the product, from its creation to its enhancement at the point of sale. The firm enables brands to build, communicate and analyze their merchandising strategies. Having established itself as a leading player in the French market with a global reach, IWD stands out with a diversified portfolio of loyal customers made up by more than 300 brands. The company’s international expansion began in 2007, with the opening of its office in New York. It continued in 2017 with the opening of two more offices in Los Angeles and Singapore, allowing IWD to build closer relationships with its international clients. Today, the company has more than 50 employees worldwide.

Ardian is partnering with IWD to support the company’s organic growth and potential acquisitions. The initial focus will be on strengthening IWD’s offering and broadening its customer portfolio, particularly through expansion into new markets.

Nicolas Martin, co-founder of IWD, commented: “Thanks to its strong digital experience and excellent track record in France and internationally, Ardian Growth stood out as our preferred partner to support our development. We really look forward to collaborating with the Ardian team to continue our growth journey.”

Gabriel Becker, co-founder of IWD, added: “In order to accelerate our development and consolidate our leading market position, we have entered a new stage of growth, which will involve targeted acquisitions and expansion of our offer into more markets. For this new stage, Ardian is the natural partner thanks to its proven ability to provide expert support across international markets and expertise in areas relevant to our strategic challenges.”

Frédéric Quéru, Director at Ardian Growth, added: “The management of IWD has great expertise in digital and retail, which has allowed the company to become a leader in its market, as evidenced by its long-term relationships with major luxury brands such as Dior, Estée Lauder, Shiseido and L’Oréal. We look forward to working with IWD on its expansion strategy acquiring new customers and rolling out its offer to new markets.”

ABOUT IWD

Founded in 2000 by Gabriel Becker and Nicolas Martin, IWD is one of the leading merchandising software publishers that collaborates with more than three hundred leading brands such as L’Oreal, LVMH, VF Corp, Chanel, Nespresso and Shiseido.
The company, based in Paris, New York, Los Angeles and Singapore, has forged strategic partnerships with mostly international players.

ABOUT ARDIAN

Ardian is a world-leading private investment house with assets of US$71bn managed or advised in Europe, the Americas and Asia. The company is majority-owned by its employees. It keeps entrepreneurship at its heart and focuses on delivering excellent investment performance to its global investor base. Through its commitment to shared outcomes for all stakeholders, Ardian’s activities fuel individual, corporate and economic growth around the world. Holding close its core values of excellence, loyalty and entrepreneurship, Ardian maintains a truly global network, with more than 530 employees working from fourteen offices across Europe (Frankfurt, Jersey, London, Luxembourg, Madrid, Milan, Paris and Zurich), the Americas (New York, San Francisco and Santiago) and Asia (Beijing, Singapore, Tokyo). It manages funds on behalf of around 700 clients through five pillars of investment expertise: Fund of Funds, Direct Funds, Infrastructure, Real Estate and Private Debt.
Ardian on Twitter @Ardian
www.ardian.com

LIST OF PARTICIPANTS

IWD: Nicolas Martin, Gabriel Becker
Legal Advisor: Solferino (Bernard-Olivier Becker, Camille Chastagnier)

Ardian: Frédéric Quéru, Louise Gros
Legal, Fiscal and Social Advisor: Lamartine Avocats (Gary Lévy, Cindy Nlem, Raphaël Saulneron)
Financial Advisor: Next ! Financial Advisory (Hervé Krissi, Romain Bardou, Victor Reveret)

PRESS CONTACTS

ARDIAN
HEADLAND
Carl Leijonhufvud
cleijonhufvud@headlandconsultancy.com
Tel: +44 020 3805 482

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CapMan Growth Fund successfully exits Fluido Oy

CapMan Growth Fund successfully exits Fluido Oy

– the Finnish growth company becomes part of an international technology frontrunner

CapMan Growth Fund has, together with its other owners, signed an agreement on selling its holdings of Fluido Oy, the leading Salesforce partner in the Nordics, to Infosys, a global technology company. Fluido will continue to operate as an independent company. The acquisition is the first exit for the CapMan Growth Fund, established in 2017. The fund held a 29 per cent stake in Fluido, with the investment providing significant returns.

Fluido is one the largest and longest tenured independent Salesforce Platinum Consulting Partners in Europe. The company provides consulting, development and integration services tailored to clients’ needs, supporting clients in digitalising their business and creating excellent cloud services experiences with Salesforce technology. Fluido is headquartered in Espoo, with offices also in Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Slovakia. The company’s team of nearly 250 professionals comprises 30 different nationalities.

“We are very pleased with our investment in Fluido. The company is a true Finnish success story. Together with the founders, management and personnel, we have succeeded in growing its revenue nearly fivefold during our ownership due to domestic growth and fast internationalisation. We shared a goal of turning Fluido into the leading Nordic player in its industry, which we have achieved with great success.  Exceptional company management and committed personnel have made this achievement possible,” says Juha Mikkola, Managing Partner of CapMan Growth.

“Cooperation with the CapMan Growth team has been truly enjoyable for us. With the help of their persevering support, we have been able to grow fast and profitably and expand our operations into international markets. The current acquisition will provide us with a unique opportunity to serve our global clients even better. We also value the fact that we will continue as our own business under the Fluido brand after the transaction, treasuring our unique culture this way,” states Kai Mäkelä, Founder and CEO of Fluido.

Additional information:
Juha Mikkola, Managing Partner, CapMan Growth, Tel. +358 50 590 0522, juha.mikkola@capman.com
Kai Mäkelä, Founder and CEO, Fluido, Tel. +358 44 213 9812, kai.makela@fluidogroup.com

 

CapMan Growth is the partner for growth companies seeking capital and know-how for growth and M&A activities. CapMan Growth makes only minority investments in both private and public companies that operate in sufficiently large markets and are able to leverage their innovative services and solutions both in Finland and internationally. Our investment criteria further include professional and committed management, innovative service/product, proven business plan, growing revenues, significant market potential and unique competitive advantage.The objective of Growth investment activities is to find unlisted target companies with the potential to grow rapidly, to make significant minority investments in them and, as an active investor, to develop their value so as to achieve returns in excess of the market average through long-term ownership. Our recent investments include Arctic Security Oy and RealMachinery Oy.

CapMan is a leading Nordic private asset expert with an active approach to value-creation in its target companies and assets. We offer a wide selection of investment products and services. As one of the Nordic private equity pioneers we have developed hundreds of companies and real estate and created substantial value in these businesses and assets over the last 28 years. CapMan employs today approximately 120 private equity professionals and has approximately €2.8 billion in assets under management. We mainly manage the assets of our customers, the investors, but also make investments from our own balance sheet. Our objective is to provide attractive returns and innovative solutions to investors. Our current investment strategies cover Real Estate, Buyout, Russia, Credit, Growth and Infra. We also have a growing service business that currently includes procurement services (CaPS), fundraising advisory (Scala Fund Advisory), and fund management services. www.capman.com

Fluido is the leading Salesforce Consultancy and Partner in the Nordics. Fluido’s customers include both large globally operating enterprises and growth companies across industries in all Nordic countries. Fluido offers consulting, development and integration services tailored for customer needs to help them reach their goals, transform and create outstanding customer experiences by utilizing Salesforce technology. Fluido’s headquarters are in Espoo, Finland, with additional offices in Denmark, Norway, Slovakia and Sweden. www.fluidogroup.com

 

CapMan Plc
Communications
Ludviginkatu 6
00130 Helsinki
Finland

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Visscher Caravelle: largest investment of Anders Invest

Anders Invest

On the 14th of September 2018 Anders Invest acquired a 40% stake in Visscher Caravelle from Genemuiden (NL). This company is the worldwide number 1 in the production and sales of car mats. The rapidly growing company is realizing a turnover of more than € 140 million this year and has approximately 1,700 employees. The DNAs of Anders Invest, the current owners and Visscher Caravelle fit well together, which means a growth of to € 200 to € 300 million annual turnover is possible.

 

The company produces textile and rubber (TPE) car mats and related products such as trunk mats and wall cladding for vans. She is a first-tier (“tier-1”) supplier to almost all major car manufacturers. With production sites in Poland, Mexico, China and Malaysia and sales teams in many countries, she is close to her customers. The company invests substantially in product and process development in order to stay ahead on weight reduction, sustainability, recyclability and cost price of car mats. With a distinctly modern vision on growth and development of its – on average young – employees, Visscher Caravelle focuses on a culture of transparency, trust and care for each other in all locations.

 

The company, founded in 1952, grew rapidly from around € 60 million turnover in 2009 to more than € 140 million turnover in 2018. Customers are very satisfied with quality and delivery reliability and keep awarding new car models. Through new customers and expansion of the product portfolio, the management sees sufficient opportunities in the coming years to achieve a turnover level of more than € 250 million. Visscher Caravelle sought for this growth ambition a partner that respects the character of the company, strengthens the strategy and adds professionalism. The long-term perspective of Anders Invest and its expertise in international production companies results in a good match. In addition to the investment by Anders Invest, the capital base will be strengthened by an extension of the credit facility by Rabobank and Bank Santander with approximately € 8 million.

 Gert-Jan Huisman becomes Chairman of the Supervisory Board on behalf of Anders Invest. In addition to Jur Zandbergen (ex-CFO at the Dutch branches of BASF, Syngenta and Johnson Polymers) as representative of the current owners, Han Hendriks will also be a member of the Supervisory Board. Mr. Hendriks is CTO at Yanfeng Automotive Interior Systems (formerly Johnson Controls Interiors), a tier-1 company in interior components with approximately $ 9 billion in sales. Mr. Hendriks is an authority in the field of car interiors and has a sharp vision of the increasing importance of the interior through the development of autonomous, electric (shared) cars.

 

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