Category Archives: News

Partners Group to become largest investor in 730MW Dutch offshore wind farm project

Partners Group

Partners Group, the global private markets investment manager, has agreed to acquire a 45% stake in Borssele III/IV (“Borssele”), a 731.5MW construction-ready offshore wind farm in the Netherlands, on behalf of its clients. The investment makes Partners Group the largest shareholder in a consortium of investors that also includes Shell, Diamond Generating Europe,1 Eneco Group and Van Oord.

Borssele will comprise 77 9.5MW Vestas turbines placed across two sites in the Borssele Wind Farm Zone, which is 22km off the coast of the province of Zeeland, at the southern border of the Netherlands’ Exclusive Economic Zone. Grid connectivity has already been secured for the project, which is due to begin construction in H2 2018. The wind farm will benefit from the Dutch offshore feed-in tariff for a period of 15+1 years from the commencement of commercial operations in early 2021. Once it is fully operational, Borssele is expected to generate about 3TWh per annum, enough electricity to power approximately 825,000 households.

David Daum, Senior Vice President, Private Infrastructure Europe, Partners Group, states: “Borssele is an attractive opportunity to invest in a high-quality offshore wind project alongside experienced partners. With the Dutch government committed to achieving 16% of its energy production from sustainable sources by 2023 as part of a National Renewable Energy Action Plan, we believe the project is both timely and critical in helping the country achieve that aim.”

Brandon Prater, Partner, Head Private Infrastructure Europe, Partners Group, adds: “Renewable energy continues to be a transformative trend within the infrastructure asset class and an important component in the future energy security of many countries. In wind energy alone, Partners Group has committed to invest in onshore and offshore projects totaling over 1.8GW in Europe, Asia and Australia since 2011.”

Previous onshore wind energy projects include the 240MW Ararat Wind Farm and 270MW Sapphire Wind Farm in Australia, into which Partners Group invested in June 2015 and December 2016, respectively. Most recently, in August 2016, Partners Group invested in the construction of Merkur Offshore, an approximately 400MW offshore wind farm in Germany.

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Swarm64 Raises USD $12.5m in Series B Financing Round Led by Intel Capital

Alliance Venture

Swarm64 – an enabler of real-time analytics for high velocity and big data – has raised $12.5 million USD in a Series B round led by Intel Capital and Investinor. The funding will be used to strengthen Swarm64’s position as a global leader in FPGA-based accelerators for relational databases.

BERLIN & OSLO, Norway & SANTA CLARA, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Swarm64, provider of the scalable data accelerator (SDA), which enables relational databases to perform real-time big data analytics, has secured a Series B funding round of 12.5 million US dollars. The Series B round was led by Intel Capital and Investinor; Alliance Venture and Target Partners participated in the round.

Swarm64 – an enabler of real-time analytics for high velocity and big data – has raised $12.5 million USD

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“We are very glad to welcome Intel Capital as a new investor. The cooperation with Intel will help us serve a global market with the most advanced technology.” says Karsten Rönner, CEO of Swarm64. “Many industries face an explosion in their data processing needs, be it from growing numbers of connected ‘things’, expanding business models that include data analytics or staying competitive in markets with ever higher data processing needs. The Swarm64SDA enables anyone with basic skills in relational databases to gain deep new business insights in less time.”

“Along with Swarm64, Intel is shortening our customers’ time to insights in a world of ever more connected devices and accelerating flows of data,” said John Sakamoto, vice president of the Programmable Solutions Group at Intel and general manager of its Data Center and Communications Division. “Leveraging Intel FPGAs and Xeon processors, Swarm64 is accelerating database operations to deliver these faster results for businesses.”

Director Don Faria led the investment for Intel Capital.

“Swarm64 addresses a billion-dollar market opportunity,” says investment director Jon Øyvind Eriksen of Investinor. “The global in-memory computing market is estimated to be worth $31 billion USD by 2018, according to market analysts. Relational databases and SQL continue to be the backbones for data analytics in the enterprise, but present SQL databases are inadequate for processing large amounts of high velocity data within real-time limits.”

Bente Loe, partner at Alliance Venture, says, “We recognized Swarm64’s potential early and have been supporting the company since the seed-stage. Now we are excited to back the company during its growth phase”.

Michael Münnix, partner at Target Partners, adds “Swarm64 developed a disruptive approach to accelerate relational databases. The technology provides orders of magnitude faster performance, bringing real time applications to a broader commercial market. I look forward to continue working with such a great team.”

About Swarm64

Swarm64 AS (swarm64.com) provides the Scalable Data Accelerator that enables relational databases to perform real-time analytics for high velocity and big data. Swarm64’s team is world-class in FPGA design and the development of real-time database software. The company was founded in 2013 and is backed by leading venture investors from the US, Norway and Germany. Swarm64 is a Norwegian company with operations in Berlin, Germany.

About Intel Capital

Intel Capital invests in innovative startups targeting 5G connectivity, the data center, artificial intelligence, merged reality, autonomous driving and a wide range of other disruptive technologies. Since 1991, Intel Capital has invested US $12.2 billion in 1,500 companies worldwide, and more than 640 portfolio companies have gone public or been acquired. Intel Capital curates thousands of business development introductions each year between its portfolio companies and the Global 2000. For more information on what makes Intel Capital one of the world’s most powerful venture capital firms, visit www.intelcapital.com or follow @Intelcapital.

Contacts

Swarm64
Dr. Karsten Rönner, CEO
info@swarm64.com

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Ascensus Bolsters Defined Benefit Plan Expertise with Acquisition of Dedicated Defined Benefit Services

Genstar Capital

New and Existing Clients Stand to Benefit from Firm’s Expanding Stable of Resources

Dresher, PA, January 2, 2018— Ascensus, a technology-enabled service provider that helps more than 7 million Americans save for the future, has acquired Dedicated Defined Benefit Services (“Dedicated DB”). The defined benefit plan design, administration, and consulting firm will immediately become part of Ascensus’ TPA Solutions line of business within the company’s retirement division. With the acquisition, Ascensus will be able to offer clients access to even more retirement plan experience and expertise while adding another location to its geographic footprint.

Dedicated DB, which is based in Glendale, California, is the only national company focused exclusively on providing defined benefit plans for high-income professionals, small businesses, and individuals with self-employment income. The firm pioneered the turnkey defined benefit plan, partnering with large financial firms to open streamlined, ready-to-use plans across the country.

“We recognized Dedicated DB as an excellent candidate to join Ascensus based on their commitment to helping clients keep more of their earnings by offering the most complete and tax-efficient retirement programs available,” states David Musto, Ascensus’ president. “In addition to benefiting from Dedicated DB’s strong RIA, advisor, and institutional relationships, we’re also delighted to further expand our national footprint and offer clients enhanced access to deep defined benefit expertise.”

“At Dedicated DB, we pride ourselves on our reputation and do our best to help our clients—financial advisors, CPAs, and business owners—meet their goals,” says Karen Shapiro, Dedicated DB’s chief executive officer. “Becoming part of Ascensus ensures that we’ll be able to provide quality, quick-adoption retirement plans for many years to come.”

“Dedicated DB adds some very compelling lead-sourcing technology to Ascensus’ toolkit,” says Raghav Nandagopal, Ascensus’ executive vice president of corporate development and M&A. “We continue to look for companies that will not only allow us to assist Americans in saving for retirement, college, and healthcare, but also help our company to grow and fuel our ongoing investment in service offerings and technology.”

About Ascensus

Ascensus helps more than 7 million Americans save for the future—retirement, college, and healthcare—through technology-enabled solutions. With more than 35 years of experience, the firm offers tailored solutions that meet the needs of asset managers, banks, credit unions, state governments, financial professionals, employers, and individuals. Ascensus supports approximately 50,000 retirement plans, more than 4 million 529 college savings accounts, and a growing number of ABLE savings accounts. It also administers more than 1.7 million IRAs and health savings accounts. As of September 30, 2017, Ascensus had over $158 billion in total assets under administration. For more information about Ascensus, visit ascensus.com. For more information about Ascensus TPA Solutions, visit tpa.ascensus.com.

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MEDIA INQUIRIES:

Roberta Hess
Senior Vice President
Marketing & Communications
Ascensus
Tel: 215-648-1426
Media@ascensus.com

 

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Corsearch Becomes Independent Company

Audax Group

January 5, 2018 – Corsearch, a global trademark solutions leader, is pleased to announce the closing of its sale to Audax Private Equity, effective today. As previously reported, in October 2017, Audax Private Equity agreed to purchase Corsearch from Wolters Kluwer. Today’s closing represents the finalization of that transaction, resulting in a newly independent Corsearch company.

The move to an independent company provides Corsearch with many opportunities in an evolving industry. Corsearch will be using its new status to enrich the industry-leading offerings in trademark and domain solutions that it offers today, as well as to expand into new areas.

Audax Private Equity is an experienced investor in lower middle-market companies. The firm’s “Buy & Build” strategy focuses on investing in – and building – successful platform companies, fueling their revenue growth, optimizing their operations, and significantly increasing their long-term value. Since its founding in 1999, the firm has invested over $4 billion in 700-plus companies.

“Today we are taking an important step that will allow us to capitalize on the exciting growth opportunities that exist in trademark, brand protection, and beyond,” said Tobias Hartmann, President & Chief Executive Officer.  “We’re thrilled to be moving forward in partnership with Audax, and to be leveraging the experience they have in helping companies like ours work to maximize growth potential.”

The new Corsearch will also see its headquarters move to a prime location in New York City’s famous Times Square area—a fitting address for a global provider that is expecting dramatic growth in the years ahead. The company currently employs over 200 people across nine countries, and provides intellectual property services that span the globe.

“All of us at Corsearch are thrilled to be writing the company’s next chapter together,” said Hartmann. “We know that our new status will help us to pave innovative new roads for our clients that will take our company to exciting new highs and allow us to bring new classes of product offerings to our industry. Stay tuned…the best is yet to come.”

Besides Mr. Hartmann, continuing in their positions on the senior leadership team at Corsearch will be:

  • Stephen Stolfi, Vice President, Global Sales & Strategic Partnerships
  • Guy Coene, Vice President of Information Technology
  • Brett Amdur, Vice President of Product Management & Marketing
  • Luc Pierlé, Global Head of Operations
  • Satoru Ogawa, Chief Financial Officer

One thing that won’t change, according to Hartmann, is the Corsearch philosophy centered on providing accurate, concise, and timely services with a uniquely personal approach. “Being customer-centric is in our DNA,” said Hartmann. “Clients should know that they will always receive the quality service and results, as well as the personal attention, that they’ve come to expect from Corsearch.”

ABOUT CORSEARCH

Corsearch is the premier provider of clearance and protection solutions for trademark and brand professionals. Its high-quality, intuitive tools and unparalleled expertise enable professionals to effectively manage their trademark screening, search review, watching, and domain management processes. With highly trained researchers, an expansive global content set and customer-designed technology tools like the Corsearch platform, Corsearch empowers its customers with the ability to easily, quickly and flexibly monitor and protect their brands in an increasingly complex business environment.

ABOUT AUDAX PRIVATE EQUITY

Since its founding in 1999, Audax Private Equity has been focused on building leading middle market companies. Audax has invested $4.5 billion in 112 platform and 638 add-on companies. Through its disciplined Buy & Build approach, Audax seeks to help platform companies execute add-on acquisitions that fuel revenue growth, optimize operations, and significantly increase equity value. Audax Private Equity is an integral part of Audax Group, an alternative asset management firm specializing in investments in middle market companies. With offices in Boston, New York, and San Francisco, Audax Group has over $11.5 billion in assets under management across its Private Equity, Mezzanine, and Senior Debt businesses. For more information, visit the Audax Group website, www.audaxgroup.com.

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TowerBrook announces acquisition of Bosal ACPS

London, 5 January 2018 – TowerBrook Capital Partners announces today that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Bosal ACPS (the “Company”), a German manufacturer of tow bars with operations in Europe and the Americas, from Bosal Group. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Bosal ACPS is a leading manufacturer of tow bars for original equipment manufacturers and suppliers (OEM/OES) and for the aftermarket in Europe, generating sales in 2017 of approximately €250m with around 2000 employees. The Company has manufacturing facilities in Germany (where it is headquartered), Hungary, Mexico, Russia and France. The Company has a history of innovation, having invented and introduced retractable tow bars in the early 2000s and the first fully electric retractable tow bar in 2010.

TowerBrook is also pleased to announce that Gerhard Boehm, Vice Chairman of Reydel Automotive, has agreed to serve on the Board as Chairman and as CEO. Mr Boehm has extensive experience of the automotive industry: his former roles include head of FM Powertrain, CEO of Peguform and head of Continental Engine Systems. Supporting Gerhard, Bosal ACPS has a highly-experienced management team with a collective 100 years of expertise in the automotive industry. The team sees significant potential for international growth, as well as opportunities for operational improvement. They also have ambitious plans to accelerate technological innovation, partnerships and acquisitions.

Ramez Sousou, co-CEO and co-founder of TowerBrook said “Bosal ACPS enjoys a leading market position underpinned by its international footprint, product quality and innovation. The business has a number of potential opportunities to drive growth and operational improvements. TowerBrook’s expertise, together with our transatlantic networks and longstanding relationships in the automotive industry, complement and support management’s ambitious plans.”

Gerhard Boehm added “I am very excited to be joining such a dynamic business and management team. Bosal ACPS enjoys favourable mega trends in the take up of tow bars, along with a focus on more comfort, energy efficiency and leisure activity, which are driving product development in both the OEM and aftermarket segments of our business. The business has a strong product pipeline and with TowerBrook’s help it will be able to ramp up in those markets in which it is currently under-represented, such as the NAFTA region, as well as pursue an international growth strategy, including potential acquisitions”.

It is anticipated that the transaction will close at the end of Q1 2018.

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Oncgnostics reaches the funding limit on seedmatch of € 750,000 early

BM-T

Oncgnostics GmbH has reached the funding limit of € 750,000 on the crowdfunding platform seedmatch 39 days before the end of the campaign. The first funding threshold of € 100,000 was already reported 2.5 hours after the start of the seedmatch campaign on 14 December 2017.

The company is a spin-off of the Gynecological Clinic of the University of Jena and develops – based on patented epigenetic markers – highly reliable molecular biology tests for early diagnosis, treatment decision and follow-up in cancer diagnostics.

With the raised crowd investment, oncgnostics will promote the positioning and marketing of the product GynTect® in the European and North American markets. Additionally further studies will be performed to reach a broad acceptance of GynTect® with the health insurance companies.

http://www.oncgnostics.com/?lang=en

 

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Silver Lake and Weld North Education Announce Strategic Partnership

KKR

Investment to Advance Weld North’s Mission to Provide the Most Innovative and Effective Digital Curriculum to Students, Teachers and Administrators Across America

NEW YORK, Jan. 4, 2018 /PRNewswire/ — Silver Lake, the global leader in technology investing, announced today that it will acquire a majority stake in Weld North Education (WNE), a leading digital education technology company focused on developing digital curriculum and tools for preK-12th grade. Silver Lake’s investment will help WNE accelerate its long-term growth initiatives to serve the rapidly changing technology demands for educating preK-12 students. Jonathan Grayer, Chairman and CEO of Weld North, will continue to lead the company, which is being sold by its prior majority owner, KKR. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Founded in 2010 as a partnership between Grayer and KKR, Weld North Education seeks to redefine the capability of digital learning curricula to improve student outcomes. Beginning with its acquisition of e2020 in July 2011 (later renamed Edgenuity) and further advanced with the purchase of Imagine Learning, WNE has invested substantially into both SaaS platforms to adapt to every student’s evolving learning needs. Edgenuity’s vast K-12 online curriculum, supplemental material and instructional services are deployed at nine of the top 15 school districts in the U.S. Imagine Learning’s leading animation-driven language and literacy software improves how elementary students learn English in districts across the country.

Weld North LLC’s other platform companies, Performance Matters and The Learning House, are not included in the Silver Lake transaction.

“Since inception, our focus at Weld North, in partnership with KKR, has been to create an important preK-12 digital curriculum platform that would improve a teacher’s ability to educate and a student’s ability to learn. By adapting to the strengths and weaknesses of a student in real time, digital curricula can improve learning outcomes more quickly than print and legacy methods,” said Jonathan Grayer, CEO of Weld North.

“I’m enormously proud of what our team has accomplished so far. We are recognized as a market leader in both the number of schools that use our products – over 3,000 school districts – and in the way we have innovated to maximize the power of digital curricula,” Mr. Grayer added. “Our new relationship with Silver Lake represents the next important phase of our growth strategy as we partner with another world-class firm, one particularly well-known for its ability to help scale technology businesses. We are excited about what this can all mean for students, educators and parents.”

“Jonathan and his world-class management team have built an exciting platform at the vanguard of preK-12 digital learning, harnessing the power of technology to bring the highest quality education to America’s schools,” said Greg Mondre, Managing Partner of Silver Lake. “We look forward to working alongside Jonathan and his team, including supporting them with additional growth capital, as they execute on Weld North’s vision to build the market leader in preK-12 digital education.”

“KKR’s partnership with Jonathan Grayer and his team in building Weld North has been gratifying both in terms of financial results and societal impact,” said Richard Sarnoff, Head of KKR’s Media and Communications industry team. “Educating students remains mission critical for our country’s long-term vitality, and Weld North’s digital curriculum platform – unique for preK-12 – has delivered exceptional and sustainable value to students and educators in districts across the U.S. We are excited to see Silver Lake invest in the business for its next stage of growth, and wish the firm great success in its future work with Weld North Education.”

Macquarie Capital and Centerview Partners acted as the financial advisors to Weld North and KKR in the transaction, while Latham & Watkins LLP acted as the companies’ legal advisor. Ropes & Gray LLP acted as legal advisor to Silver Lake in the transaction.

About Silver Lake
Silver Lake is the global leader in technology investing, with about $39 billion in combined assets under management and committed capital and a team of approximately 100 investment and value creation professionals located in Silicon Valley, New York, London, Hong Kong and Tokyo. Silver Lake’s portfolio of investments collectively generates more than $140 billion of revenue annually and employs more than 300,000 people globally. The firm’s current portfolio includes leading technology and technology enabled businesses such as Alibaba Group, Ancestry, Broadcom Limited, Cast & Crew, Ctrip, Dell Technologies, Endeavor, Fanatics, Global Blue, GoDaddy, Motorola Solutions, Red Ventures, Sabre, SoFi, SolarWinds and Symantec. For more information about Silver Lake and its entire portfolio, please visit www.silverlake.com.

About Weld North
Weld North operates a platform of digital and SaaS educational solution businesses and makes control investments in high potential businesses in the education industry. By attracting highly motivated and distinctly talented professionals, Weld North looks to accelerate growth through an obsessive focus on enhancing the customer experience, operational excellence, marketing expertise and disciplined financial management.

About KKR
KKR is a leading global investment firm that manages multiple alternative asset classes, including private equity, energy, infrastructure, real estate, credit and, through its strategic manager partnerships, hedge funds. KKR aims to generate attractive investment returns by following a patient and disciplined investment approach, employing world-class people, and driving growth and value creation with KKR portfolio companies. KKR invests its own capital alongside its partners’ capital and provides financing solutions and investment opportunities through its capital markets business. References to KKR’s investments may include the activities of its sponsored funds. For additional information about KKR & Co. L.P. (NYSE: KKR), please visit KKR’s website at www.kkr.com and on Twitter @KKR_Co.

Cision View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/silver-lake-and-weld-north-education-announce-strategic-partnership-300577463.html

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Vaaka Partners sells Ovenia

VAAKA PARTNERS SELLS OVENIA, THE LEADING FINNISH REAL ESTATE MANAGEMENT SERVICES COMPANY, TO COLLIERS INTERNATIONAL

04 Jan 2018 14:33

Ovenia is the leading property management service provider in the Finnish market. The company offers real estate management related services for shopping centers, business premises and residential property owners and users with nationwide operations. Today, Ovenia has an annual turnover of over 45 million euro and it operates from 26 locations. Customers are served by over 500 real estate professionals who provide property and residential management services, technical, environmental and energy efficiency services, and commercial leasing.

”It has been a great journey to take part in developing Ovenia into a leading player within property management in Finland. We are very satisfied to see that we have found a new strong international owner for Ovenia that will continue to develop the company in its following development phase. During our ownership, Ovenia has tripled in size and developed into a full scope property management company serving all real estate customer segments with a broad service offering”, comments Ilkka Hietala, Partner at Vaaka Partners.

“This acquisition represents an important milestone in our Nordic and Pan-European growth strategy,” said Chris McLernon, Colliers International EMEA CEO. “Our clients have been asking us to strengthen our presence in the Nordics for some time and with this investment, we enter the market as the undisputed leader. Our new business in Finland also enhances our existing property and asset management platform throughout the Nordics and wider EMEA region.”

“With a shared culture of service excellence together with the best professionals in the property management industry, we have created an industry leader in Finland,” said Sirpa Ojala CEO of Ovenia. “We currently manage a property portfolio of more than ten million square meters and offer a wide range of best-in-class property management and advisory services to blue-chip clients. Our entire leadership team is excited to be joining Colliers International and to take advantage of their additional resources, unique entrepreneurial culture and ability to serve clients both locally and globally,” she concluded.

About Ovenia

The Ovenia Group is Finland’s leading provider of property and real estate management services and leasing services. The Group comprises Ovenia Oy, Ovenia Isännöinti Oy and Realprojekti Oy. The Ovenia Group is responsible for the maintenance of 19 shopping centres and 1,500 business premises, and the administration of over 50,000 apartments. All services are provided in accordance with the ISO 9001 certification for property management. Ovenia Group operates in 26 localities across Finland and employs over 500 property professionals. www.ovenia.fi, www.realprojekti.fi

About Colliers International Group Inc.

Colliers International Group Inc. (NASDAQ and TSX: CIGI) is an industry leading global real estate services company with 15,000 skilled professionals operating in 68 countries. With an enterprising culture and significant employee ownership, Colliers professionals provide a full range of services to real estate occupiers, owners and investors worldwide. Services include strategic advice and execution for property sales, leasing and finance; global corporate solutions; property, facility and project management; workplace solutions; appraisal, valuation and tax consulting; customized research; and thought leadership consulting.

 Colliers professionals think differently, share great ideas and offer thoughtful and innovative advice that helps clients accelerate their success. Colliers has been ranked among the top 100 global outsourcing firms by the International Association of Outsourcing Professionals for 12 consecutive years, more than any other real estate services firm. Colliers also has been ranked the top property manager in the world by Commercial Property Executive for two years in a row.
For the latest news from Colliers, visit Colliers.com or follow us on Twitter (@Colliers) and LinkedIn.

More information:

Ilkka Hietala, Partner, Vaaka Partners, mobile: +358 50 358 6929, ilkka.hietala@vaakapartners.fi 
Sirpa Ojala, CEO, Ovenia, mobile: +358 40 566 3466, sirpa.ojala@ovenia.fi

 

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Apax Digital leads $60 million funding round in SoYoung

Apax Digital

Apax Digital’s backing of China’s leading online marketplace for aesthetic medical treatments is the Fund’s second investment 

New York and London, 3 January 2018 – Apax Digital (“the Fund”) has today announced that it has led the $60 million Series D funding round in SoYoung, the largest online marketplace for aesthetic medical treatments in China. Through SoYoung’s native app and websites, customers can research aesthetic medical treatments, doctors, and clinics, and can directly book procedures with participating providers. Apax Digital was joined in the funding round alongside new and existing investors.

The Chinese aesthetic medicine market is large and growing, driven by favourable socio-economic, demographic, and cultural trends. Against this backdrop, SoYoung, founded in 2013 and headquartered in Beijing, has experienced impressive growth and market share gains, driven by its strong value proposition connecting consumers and providers. The new funding will be used to continue to drive marketplace improvements, geographic expansion, and customer acquisition.

Jin Xing, CEO of SoYoung, said: “We are delighted to welcome Apax Digital as a partner and investor in our business. Apax Partners’ extensive track record in digital marketplaces, experience in healthcare investment, leading Chinese market presence, and proven operating team made it the ideal partner for our business as we continue to bring our app and services to a greater number of consumers. We look forward to working with Apax Digital as we move into the next phase of our growth.”

Marcelo Gigliani, Managing Partner of the Apax Digital team, said: “We have been very impressed with the strong value that SoYoung brings to both consumers and clinics, and with the company’s world-class traffic growth, engagement, and monetization model. We are eager to leverage our experience investing in digital marketplace businesses by partnering with Jin Xing and his team to continue SoYoung’s market leadership expansion over its next exciting growth phase.”

Richard Zhang, Partner and Head of Apax Greater China, said: “Apax Partners has long been actively involved in the Chinese market. With the completion of SoYoung, Funds advised by Apax Partners (“the Apax Funds”) have invested c.$400m in China during 2017. We are very pleased to work alongside Apax Digital with this investment; SoYoung is a leading player in a market with huge growth potential.”

The investment in SoYoung constitutes the eighth digital marketplace investment by the Apax Funds. Prior recent digital marketplace investments include Auto Trader (UK), Boats Group (US), idealista (Spain), SouFun (China), and Trader Corporation (Canada).

The investment also follows the announcements last month of Apax Digital’s successful raising of its $1 billion fund, which reached its hard cap, and its first investment – in Moda Operandi, a leading, multi-brand luxury ecommerce business known for selling runway apparel on an exclusive basis.

About Apax Digital
Apax Digital is a $1 billion fund raised in 2017 focused on minority and buyout investments in high-growth enterprise technology and internet companies globally.  Advised by Apax Partners, a global private equity firm, Apax Digital’s investments are focused on subsectors where Apax Partners has expertise, including vertical software, data & analytics, tech-enabled services, marketplaces, digital media, and disruptive e-commerce. For further information about Apax Digital, please visit http://digital.apax.com.

Over its more than 35-year history, Apax Partners has raised and advised funds with aggregate commitments of $51 billion*. These funds provide long-term equity financing to build and strengthen world-class companies. For further information about Apax Partners, please visit http://apax.com.

* Funds raised since 1981, commitments converted from fund currency to USD at FX rates as at 30 September 2017.

About SoYoung
Founded in 2013, SoYoung is the largest Chinese online medical aesthetic marketplace, allowing in-market consumers to research treatments, clinics, and providers, and book services directly through its proprietary platforms. The Company is a community-driven lead generation marketplace, comprised of user-generated reviews, rankings, videos, and other info about medical aesthetic treatments, doctors, and hospitals. For further information about SoYoung, please visit http://soyoung.com.

Media Contacts 

Apax Partners LLP – Global media inquiries
Andrew Kenny, Head of Communications
Tel: +44 20 7872 6371
Email: andrew.kenny@apax.com

Apax Partners LLP – NorAm and LatAm media inquiries
Todd Fogarty
Tel: +1 212 521 4854
Email: todd.fogarty@kekst.com

Apax Partners LLP – EMEA media inquiries
Greenbrook Communications
James Madsen, Matthew Goodman, Annabel Clay
Tel: +44 20 7952 2000
Email: apax@greenbrookpr.com

SoYoung – Media inquiries
Mo Lv
Tel:  +86 10 5707 6564
Email: marketing@soyoung.com

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EQT Credit provides financing to support Spanish Metalcaucho

eqt

The EQT Mid-Market Credit fund (“EQT Credit”) today announces that it has provided a new financing solution to support the fund ABAC Solutions (SCA) SICAR (“ABAC”) and management’s investment in Metalcaucho (or the “Company”), a leader in non-OEM spare parts.

Headquartered in Barcelona, Spain, Metalcaucho is a leading automotive spare parts designer and distributor focused on rubber, plastic and metal parts for the independent automotive aftermarket, supplying over 12,500 SKUs across Europe. The new financing will support Metalcaucho with its strong organic and inorganic growth profile through continued product development and international expansion to consolidate its leading position further.

Alexandre Hökfelt, Director at EQT Partners’ Credit team, Investment Advisor to EQT Credit, commented: “Under ABAC’s ownership and with its exceptional management team and strong product offering, Metalcaucho has achieved significant growth and development in a short time period. EQT Credit is excited to support the Company and the management team as it continues its impressive track record of growth and expansion.”

Contacts:
Alexandre Hökfelt, Director at EQT Partners, Investment Advisor to EQT Mid-Market Credit, +44 7742 9069 12
EQT Press Office, +46 8 506 55 334, press@eqtpartners.com

About EQT
EQT is a leading alternative investments firm with approximately EUR 38 billion in raised capital across 25 funds. EQT funds have portfolio companies in Europe, Asia and the US with total sales of more than EUR 19 billion and approximately 110,000 employees. EQT works with portfolio companies to achieve sustainable growth, operational excellence and market leadership.

More info: www.eqtpartners.com

About EQT Credit
The EQT Credit platform, which spans the full risk-reward spectrum investing with three strategies: senior debt, direct lending and credit opportunities, has invested approximately EUR 4.0 billion across approximately 150 companies since inception in 2008.

For more information: www.eqtpartners.com/Investment-Strategies/Credit

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