Category Archives: News

Patricia Industries’ acquisition of Sarnova completed

Investor

On March 12, Patricia Industries, a part of Investor AB, announced the acquisition of the leading U.S. healthcare product specialty distributor Sarnova Holdings, Inc. from Water Street Healthcare Partners and Sarnova founder Matthew D. Walter.

Following approval by the competition authorities, the acquisition has now been completed.

The acquisition price is USD 903 m. For the 12-month period ending in December 2017, sales amounted to USD 555 m. and the EBITDA margin was approximately 12 percent. Since 2012, annual organic sales growth has averaged 6 percent.

Patricia Industries has injected USD 513 m. in equity financing for 86 percent ownership of the company. The remainder of the enterprise value has been financed by external debt and equity participation by Water Street Healthcare Partners, Matthew D. Walter, and Sarnova’s management group and board of directors.

Patricia Industries, a part of Investor AB, makes control investments in best-in-class companies with strong market positions, brands and corporate cultures within industries positioned for secular growth. Our ambition is to be the sole owner of our companies, together with strong management teams and boards. We invest with an indefinite holding period, and focus on building durable value and capturing organic and non-organic growth opportunities.

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Patricia Industries’ acquisition of Sarnova completed

Investor

On March 12, Patricia Industries, a part of Investor AB, announced the acquisition of the leading U.S. healthcare product specialty distributor Sarnova Holdings, Inc. from Water Street Healthcare Partners and Sarnova founder Matthew D. Walter.

Following approval by the competition authorities, the acquisition has now been completed.

The acquisition price is USD 903 m. For the 12-month period ending in December 2017, sales amounted to USD 555 m. and the EBITDA margin was approximately 12 percent. Since 2012, annual organic sales growth has averaged 6 percent.

Patricia Industries has injected USD 513 m. in equity financing for 86 percent ownership of the company. The remainder of the enterprise value has been financed by external debt and equity participation by Water Street Healthcare Partners, Matthew D. Walter, and Sarnova’s management group and board of directors.

Patricia Industries, a part of Investor AB, makes control investments in best-in-class companies with strong market positions, brands and corporate cultures within industries positioned for secular growth. Our ambition is to be the sole owner of our companies, together with strong management teams and boards. We invest with an indefinite holding period, and focus on building durable value and capturing organic and non-organic growth opportunities.

 

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Infrastructure funds managed by MIRA and Goldman Sachs to acquire HES International from Riverstone and The Carlyle Group

Carlyle

Macquarie European Infrastructure Fund 5, which is managed by Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets (MIRA), and West Street Infrastructure Partners III (WSIP), which is managed by the Merchant Banking Division of Goldman Sachs, have reached an agreement in principle with Riverstone Holdings LLC (“Riverstone”) and The Carlyle Group (“Carlyle”) to acquire HES International B.V. (“HES” or “the Company”). Capital for the original investment by Riverstone and Carlyle came from two funds: (i) Riverstone/Carlyle Global Energy & Power Fund IV, L.P. and (ii) Carlyle International Energy Partners, L.P. (CIEP).

HES will now initiate consultations where appropriate with the relevant works councils. The financial terms of the transaction are not disclosed and should definitive transaction documentation be executed following the consultation process, completion will remain subject to legal and antitrust approvals.

HES is one of the largest diversified port terminals businesses in Europe and focuses on the storage and handling of liquid bulk products, such as crude oil, refined petroleum products and bio-fuels, and dry bulk products, primarily iron ore and coking coal, minerals and agri-bulk and thermal coal. The Company has strategic locations in Europe’s best accessible ports and benefits from highly attractive catchment areas, including key industrial areas in North West Europe, and from deep long-term relationships with blue-chip customers. The Company has built a unique platform of best-in-class liquid and dry bulk terminals operating across Europe, including EMO (Rotterdam) and OBA (Amsterdam), the two largest dry bulk import terminals in North West Europe. HES has also established the HES Botlek Tank Terminal (HBTT), the newest liquid bulk terminal in North West Europe, and enhanced the transition of HES Wilhelmshaven Tank Terminal (HWTT), the largest independent tank terminal in Germany, to a fully operational terminal.

Under Riverstone’s and Carlyle’s ownership, the HES management team has been successfully implementing an over €700 million transformation and growth strategy, including the recent Financial Investment Decision on the landmark Hartelstrip expansion project. This strategy makes HES one of the most significant tank terminal operators in North West Europe while further strengthening its position as a large diversified dry bulk terminal operator in Europe.

In tank storage, investments include increasing capacity of the HES Botlek Tank Terminal from 200,000 cbm to over 620,000 cbm by 2019 and the construction of the world class HES Hartel Tank terminal. In Wilhelmshaven, HES repurposed the former refinery into a commercial tank terminal and is currently preparing to restart part of the primary distillation processing capacity under a tolling agreement. These investments are all based on long-term contracts and together they are expected to triple operational liquid bulk capacity to 3.2 million cbm.

The transformation program also extends to dry bulk, where HES has consistently diversified into agri-bulk and minerals by expanding its capacity to 900,000 cbm of highly flexible covered storage and supporting HES’s strategy to become a major European operator in this segment.

MIRA and WSIP are experienced, long-term infrastructure investors with strong track records of supporting their portfolio companies’ investment plans and they are supportive of the management team’s vision for the Company.

Jan Vogel, Chief Executive Officer of HES International, said: “With the support of Riverstone and Carlyle we have become one of Europe’s most successful independent bulk handling companies providing products and services to our customers at 18 sites across 8 countries. Over the past 3.5 years, we have implemented a focused strategy that makes optimal use of our prime real estate in Europe’s key ports and allows us to adjust flexibly to future changes and opportunities that energy transition will bring to our sector. We have also built a strong pipeline of additional growth projects for both our liquid bulk and dry bulk businesses to support our strong position in each of our core businesses. We are confident MIRA and WSIP will be strong, long-term partners for our continued future growth and continued international expansion.”

Leigh Harrison, European Head of MIRA, said: “As long term investors we are excited about the growth opportunities HES offers in dry and liquid bulk as well as its strong management team, market position in North West Europe and its focused strategy. Together with our partner WSIP, we are looking forward to supporting management in expanding the business through new growth projects.”

Philippe Camu, Co-Head and Co-Chief Investment Officer of the Infrastructure Investment Group within the Merchant Banking Division of Goldman Sachs, said: “We are pleased to invest in HES alongside MIRA and are keen to support the Company in its next stage of development. The HES team has built an impressive business underpinned by strong customer relationships and strategic locations in Europe’s key ports. We look forward to drawing on our experience in the sector for the benefit of HES and its stakeholders.”

-Ends-

For further information:
HES International B.V.
Esther Erkelens, Manager Corporate Communications
e.erkelens@hesinternational.eu 
+31 (0)10 7900700

MIRA
Nicole Grove
Nicole.grove@macquarie.com
+447765452193

WSIP
Joseph Stein
Joseph.stein@gs.com
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7774 2523

Riverstone Holdings LLC
Kekst and Company
Jeffrey Taufield and Daniel Yunger
+1 (212) 521 4800

The Carlyle Group
Katarina Sallerfors
Katarina.sallerfors@carlyle.com
+44 (0)20 7894 1632

 

About HES International B.V.
HES International B.V., founded in 1908, is a private company, headquartered in Rotterdam (the Netherlands) and is one of the largest storage and port logistics companies in Europe. Storage and handling activities comprise dry and liquid bulk terminals in North West Europe. The company’s focus is on growing its present portfolio of high quality dry and liquid bulk terminals by means of expansion of its already owned sites, greenfield development and acquisitions of existing terminals. HES International B.V. is developing a tank terminal for the storage and transshipment of petroleum products and biofuels at the Hartelstrip, on the south side of the Mississippi harbour at Maasvlakte 1. The HES Hartel Tank Terminal is planned to be operational at the end of 2019.

For more information about HES International B.V. please visit www.hesinternational.eu

About Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets
More than 20 years ago Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets (MIRA) pioneered investment in a new asset class for institutional investors – infrastructure. Today we combine two decades of experience and expertise to identify and unlock investment opportunities in the assets that people use every day – extending beyond infrastructure to real estate, agriculture and energy. As at 30 September 2017, MIRA has assets under management of more than €94 billion invested in 137 portfolio businesses, ~300 properties and 4.5m hectares of farmland.

Globally, MIRA manages over 25 marine terminals located across Asia, Europe, and North America, ~15 of which handle dry or liquid bulk cargoes. Since 2005, MIRA has completed over USD4 billion of terminal investments in nine countries, including a range of brownfield and greenfield projects. In the bulk liquid storage sector MIRA owns and manages assets with a combined capacity exceeding 23 million cbm, placing Macquarie as the fourth largest independent owner globally. This includes Pisto in France, TanQuid in Germany and IMTT in the US / Canada.

MIRA is a division of Macquarie Asset Management, the asset management arm of Macquarie Group, a diversified financial group providing clients with asset management, banking, advisory and risk and capital solutions across debt, equity and commodities.

About West Street Infrastructure Partners
WSIP is an infrastructure investment fund managed by the Merchant Banking Division of Goldman Sachs. WSIP, together with its predecessor funds GS Infrastructure Partners I & II, are the principal investment vehicles managed by Goldman Sachs that make direct investments in infrastructure and infrastructure-related assets and companies. The primary focus of the funds is on investment opportunities in the energy, transportation and utilities sectors.

Goldman Sachs is a leading global investment banking, securities and investment management firm. Founded in 1869, the firm is headquartered in New York and maintains offices in other major financial centers around the world.

Goldman Sachs is one of the largest infrastructure fund managers globally, having raised over $13 billion of capital since the inception of the business in 2006.

About Riverstone Holdings LLC:
Riverstone is an energy and power-focused private investment firm founded in 2000 by David M. Leuschen and Pierre F. Lapeyre, Jr. with over $38 billion of capital raised. Riverstone manages private equity and debt investments in the exploration & production, midstream, oilfield services, power, and renewable sectors of the energy industry. With offices in New York, London, Houston, and Mexico City, Riverstone has committed over $37 billion to more than 150 investments in North America, Latin America, Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia.

Web: www.riverstonellc.com

About The Carlyle Group:
The Carlyle Group (NASDAQ: CG) is a global alternative asset manager with $195 billion of assets under management across 317 investment vehicles as of December 31, 2017. Carlyle’s purpose is to invest wisely and create value on behalf of its investors, many of whom are public pensions. Carlyle invests across four segments – Corporate Private Equity, Real Assets, Global Credit and Investment Solutions – in Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, the Middle East, North America and South America. Carlyle has expertise in various industries, including: aerospace, defense & government services, consumer & retail, energy & power, financial services, healthcare, industrial, infrastructure, real estate, technology & business services, telecommunications & media and transportation. The Carlyle Group employs more than 1,600 people in 31 offices across six continents.

About Carlyle International Energy Partners, L.P. (CIEP)
Established in May 2013, the CIEP team focuses on oil and gas exploration and production mid- & downstream, refining and marketing and oil field services in Europe, Africa, Latin America and Asia. CIEP is a $2.5 billion fund dedicated to oil and gas investing. The CIEP team focuses on transactions where it has a distinctive competitive advantage and can create tangible value for companies in which it invests, through industry specialization, deployment of human capital and access to The Carlyle Group’s global network.

Web: www.carlyle.com
Videos: www.youtube.com/onecarlyle
Tweets: www.twitter.com/onecarlyle
Podcasts: www.carlyle.com/about-carlyle/market-commentary

 

Categories: News

Altor to acquire Trioplast

Altor

On March 29th, Altor Fund IV (“Altor”) signed an agreement to acquire the leading European manufacturer of sustainable and high-tech plastic film, Trioplast Industrier AB (“Trioplast”). Altor and key executives in the management team will own 100% of the shares.

Trioplast is a leader within recycling of used plastics and the use of renewable raw materials. Trioplast’s products are critical in the transportation of industrial products, farming and forestry products as well as for instance creating a hygienic work environment in a hospital operating theatre. Trioplast has a turnover of 4.3bn SEK and approximately 1 000 employees. The company’s main office is located in Smålandsstenar. Production is located in Sweden, Denmark and France and the products are sold all over the world.

Trioplast was founded in 1965 by Vilhelm Larsson in Smålandsstenar. Since 1984 the company is owned by Vilhelm’s son, Bo Larsson, who has developed the company into a leading player in Europe.

”We are proud to become owners of a Swedish industrial treasure like Trioplast, “says Bengt Maunsbach, Partner at Altor.” We are impressed with the company and the management team and we look forward to developing the company further. We believe that there is a lot of potential in the many high-tech product segments and we will keep investing in new technology to produce sustainable plastic,” Bengt Maunsbach continues.

”We are happy to have Altor as new majority owner,” says Andreas Malmberg, CEO of Trioplast. “Altor has a long-term perspective and we have a common view of how to develop Trioplast into an even stronger partner for its many customers,” Andreas Malmberg continues.

“We welcome Trioplast to the Altor portfolio. Altor has a long history of acquiring well-managed family owned companies and developing them, examples of this include Piab, Dustin and Byggmax. We believe that Trioplast has potential to develop in a very positive direction,” says Harald Mix, founder of Altor.

The transaction is subject to customary regulatory requirements and approvals.

For more information, please contact:
Andreas Malmberg, CEO of Trioplast, Tel: +46 70 208 72 91
Tor Krusell, Head of Communications at Altor, Tel: +46 70 543 87 47

About Altor
Since inception, the family of Altor funds has raised some EUR 5.8 billion in total commitments. The funds have invested in excess of EUR 3.8 billion in more than 40 companies. The investments have been made in medium sized Nordic companies with the aim to create value through growth initiatives and operational improvements. Among current and past investments are Apotek Hjärtat, Carnegie Investment Bank, Dustin, Helly Hansen, Lindorff, Piab and SATS ELIXIA. For more information visit www.altor.com.

About Trioplast
Since over half a century Trioplast has built strong partnerships with customers to improve their safety, productivity and profitability. Based on the company core values: Reliable, Long-term, Active, employees of Trioplast bring innovative and sustainable plastic film products and solutions to a global market. For more information visit www.trioplast.com.

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CapMan Growth Equity to invest in to Arctic Security on a growing cyber security industry

CapMan Growth Equity to invest in to Arctic Security on a growing cyber security industry

CapMan Growth Equity has made a minority investment into Arctic Security, a company focusing on cyber security. The acquisition of Arctic Security is CapMan Growth Equity’s first new investment following the establishment of fund in December 2017.

Arctic Security is a Finnish company specialised in Threat Intelligence analysis. Arctic Security serves national cybersecurity centres and companies worldwide and with the help of the investment, company seeks for faster growth globally. Company employs a total of 20 cyber security professionals, working in four different countries. CapMan Growth Equity aims at improving the company’s turnover globally and support the launching of new products in the future. The management of the company will remain as majority owners in the company after the transaction.

“The first investment in 2018 in to new, established Growth Equity fund is extremely interesting and exciting. Arctic Security has a solid position in Finland and a growing position globally. As minority investors we support the development and growth of the company worldwide,” says Juha Mikkola, Managing Partner of CapMan Growth Equity.

The speciality of the investment of Arctic Security is Mikkola’s and a team of entrepreneurs’ investment in to Finnish information security company Codenomicon Ltd 8 years ago. Afterwards, the company was successfully sold with multiply value for a global information security company Synopsys. Arctic Security was founded by information security team of Codenomicon in the end of 2017 and now, the same group of entrepreneurs and Growth Equity team as an investor, build together a mutual company, Arctic Security, in the same, growing industry.

The objective of the Growth Equity investment activities is to find unlisted target companies with strong growth potential, to make significant minority investments worth of more than one million in them and, as an active investor, to develop their value so as to achieve returns in excess of the market average. CapMan’s Growth Equity portfolio consists of seven unlisted Nordic companies at the moment.

For further information, please contact:
Juha Mikkola, Managing Partner, Growth Equity, CapMan Plc, tel. +358 50 590 0522

CapMan
www.capman.com
@CapManPE

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 has today 118 private equity professionals and manages 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 Equity and Infrastructure. We also have a growing service business that currently includes procurement services (CaPS), fundraising advisory (Scala Fund Advisory), and fund management services.

 

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Ardian enters exclusive discussions for the sale of its stake in Bricoprivé.com

Ardian

Paris, 28 March 2018 – Ardian, a world-leading private investment house, today announces that it has entered into exclusive discussions with Florac Investissements to sell its stake in Bricoprivé.com, the leading private sales website for DIY, gardening and home improvements products. As part of the sale, the founders, Julien Boué and Marc Leverger, are reinvesting in the Company.

Founded in Toulouse in 2012, Bricoprivé offers a wide range of professional-quality products at affordable prices. This positioning, coupled with its founders’ significant expertise, has enabled the Company to achieve rapid and profitable growth, with revenues increasing fourfold from €28 million in 2015 to provisionally €100 million in June 2018. Since Ardian’s investment Bricoprivé has opened in three international markets (Spain, Italy and Portugal) and acquired two companies with complementary activities (Racetools and Noova) in 2017, all the while continuing to grow its core offering.

Ardian made its first investment in June 2015 and financed a second transaction in June 2016 to support the company’s strong growth.

Julien Boué, Co-Founder of Bricoprivé.com, said: “This deal is the logical continuation of Bricoprivé’s development. We have strengthened the company by developing its expertise and digital and logistical tools, started internationalisation and overcome the challenges of external growth. The success of our strategy has enabled us to achieve revenues of €100 million sooner than anticipated, which has generated requests from various stakeholders, leading the way to a natural next stage of our growth.”

Marc Leverger, Co-Founder of Bricoprivé.com, added: “We are pleased to welcome Florac as shareholders in Bricoprivé. This deal supports our continued ambitious growth. We would like to thank Ardian for its support during what have been key moments of our development, enabling us to reach significant milestones of growth. We are happy that Ardian will be by our side for the new stage of our development.”

Laurent Foata, Head of Ardian Growth, added: “The founders of Bricoprivé have managed to create a leading company and have reached a significant size in just five years, desptive a very competitive market. Their entrepreneurial talent has made all the difference and we are happy to support a deal which will allow Marc and Julien to continue the company’s growth.”

Romain Chiudini, Director at Ardian Growth, added: “We are happy to have supported Bricoprivé’s ambitions. The company was able to embark on a impressive growth trajectory through the rapid implementation of a shared strategy and the quality of its management team.”

LIST OF PARTIES INVOLVED

Ardian: Laurent Foata, Romain Chiudini
Bricoprivé: Marc Leverger, Julien Boué
Financial adviser (Seller): Rothschild Transaction R (Pierre Sader, Benjamin Osdoit, Romain Galven)
Legal Adviser: Jones Day (Renaud Bonnet, Florent Le Prado)
VDD: Eight Advisory: Christophe Delas

ABOUT BRICOPRIVÉ.COM

Created in October 2012 in Toulouse and managed by Julien Boué and Marc Leverger, Bricoprive.com is the first website for private sales dedicated to DIY, gardening and home improvement.
As a major player in e-commerce in the DIY sector in France, Bricoprive.com organizes private sales for its 3 million members for the sector’s main brands (Facom, Legrand, Caterpillar, AEG Powertools) in three different product ranges: DIY, gardening, home, professional textile, car/motorcycle and high tech.
In agreement with these brands, Bricoprivé organizes 7 to 8 private integrated sales daily (logistics, customer service, webmarketing, sales…) on all their overstock and end-of-life products.
Regarded as a central sales hub (4 logistics platforms in France, commercial coverage across the country), with its community of highly targeted members the website also represents an excellent communications platform for brands.
After 3.5 years of very strong growth, nearly 55 million euros in volume of business over the last 12 months and the recruitment of 105 employees, Bricoprivé begins a new stage of its development with the opening of its sites in Italy and Spain.
www.bricoprive.com

ABOUT ARDIAN

Ardian is a world-leading private investment house with assets of US$67bn managed or advised in Europe, North America 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 490 employees working from 13 offices across Europe (Frankfurt, Jersey, London, Luxembourg, Madrid, Milan, Paris and Zurich), North America (New York, San Francisco) and Asia (Beijing, Singapore, Tokyo). It manages funds on behalf of about 700 clients through five pillars of investment expertise: Fund of Funds, Direct Funds, Infrastructure, Real Estate and Private Debt.

Follow Ardian on Twitter @Ardian

www.ardian.com

PRESS CONTACTS
ARDIAN
Headland
CARL LEIJONHUFVUD
cleijonhufvud@headlandconsultancy.com
Tel: +44 020 3805 4827

 

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Growth company Midaxo continues to grow with a new round of funding – Finnvera was one of the early investors but is now making an exit

Finnvera

Midaxo, the Finnish developer of the award-winning cloud M&A platform, announces a €12.9m funding round comprising of €10.3m for the company and €2.6m for the existing shareholders – led by major growth investor Idinvest Partners, with the participation of the existing investors Tesi (Finnish Industry Investment) and EOC Capital. This B round brings Midaxo’s total funding to €18.6m and follows a period of sustained and rapid growth. In 2017, Midaxo more than doubled its revenue and expanded its customer base to hundreds of leading corporations, consultants, and private equity firms, including over 40 companies on the Fortune 1000 list, such as HP, Philips, Daimler and Verizon. With Additional Funding, Midaxo Reinforces Its Position as The Leading Provider Of M&A Software.

After successfully entering the US, Midaxo is now focused on expanding its European operations, including into the Nordic region. Midaxo has 70 employees across four offices in Boston, Helsinki, Amsterdam, and Riga. Headcount has doubled over the past year and is set to further increase as the company is actively looking to recruit a number of high-quality software developers in Helsinki.

Finnvera has been one of the investors enabling Midaxo’s growth and internationalisation.

– Our co-operation with Midaxo has been excellent and we hope all the best for them in the future. Now that our role as an early stage risk sharer has been fulfilled and Midaxo’s future is secured by capable investors, the time for our exit is right, says Heidi Ahonen, manager at Finnvera.

Midaxo helps companies run successful M&A and corporate development projects – minimizing deal risk and maximizing value creation.

– Virtually all larger corporations and 60% of mid-market companies actively use M&A to grow and accelerate their transformation. To consistently succeed in M&A, thought-leaders use purpose-built tools to drive systematic, transparent, and repeatable deal execution from opportunity identification through to integration. For example, their due diligence efforts take 50% less time and 50% less resources, enabling faster reaction and more thorough analysis. With its leading software, Midaxo is proud to support M&A professionals in their important and complex work, says Ari Salonen, CEO at Midaxo.

For further information, please contact:

Heidi Ahonen, manager, Finnvera Oyj
+358 400 606 122
heidi.ahonen(at)finnvera.fi

Ari Salonen, CEO, Midaxo Oy
+1 617 818 0501
ari.salonen(at)midaxo.com

Midaxo Oy’s cloud software helps companies succeed in mergers & acquisitions by driving an efficient end-to-end process from target identification and due diligence to integration. www.midaxo.com and @Midaxo

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Midaxo Raises €12.9 Million in Series B Funding to Accelerate Product Development and Expansion

Tesi

With Additional Funding, Midaxo Reinforces Its Position as The Leading Provider Of M&A Software.

Midaxo, the Finnish developer of the award-winning cloud M&A platform, announces a €12.9m funding round comprising of €10.3m for the company and €2.6m for the existing shareholders – led by major growth investor Idinvest Partners, with the participation of the existing investors Tesi (Finnish Industry Investment) and EOC Capital. This B round brings Midaxo’s total funding to €18.6m and follows a period of sustained and rapid growth. In 2017, Midaxo more than doubled its revenue and expanded its customer base to hundreds of leading corporations, consultants, and private equity firms, including over 40 companies on the Fortune 1000 list, such as HP, Philips, Daimler and Verizon.

After successfully entering the US, Midaxo is now focused on expanding its European operations, including into the Nordic region. Midaxo has 70 employees across four offices in Boston, Helsinki, Amsterdam, and Riga. Headcount has doubled over the past year and is set to further increase as the company is actively looking to recruit a number of high-quality software developers in Helsinki.

Midaxo helps companies run successful M&A and corporate development projects – minimizing deal risk and maximizing value creation. Commenting on Midaxo’s rapid expansion, CEO Ari Salonen says: “Virtually all larger corporations and 60% of mid-market companies actively use M&A to grow and accelerate their transformation. To consistently succeed in M&A, thought-leaders use purpose-built tools to drive systematic, transparent, and repeatable deal execution from opportunity identification through to integration. For example, their due diligence efforts take 50% less time and 50% less resources, enabling faster reaction and more thorough analysis. With its leading software, Midaxo is proud to support M&A professionals in their important and complex work.”

Midaxo also works closely with leading M&A consulting and private equity firms.“Our partnerships program covers all areas of M&A but is particularly relevant to post-merger integration where our partners help in-house teams maximize deal value,” says Ari Salonen.

In addition to strengthening its customer-facing team with the new investment, Midaxo will focus on developing Artificial Intelligence technology to enhance and support its customers’ M&A activity. “We are already the most widely adopted and faster growing M&A software. The additional funding allows us to capture the nascent market opportunity and to introduce significant innovations to benefit the deal-makers of the world,” said Kalle Kilpi, Head of Product at Midaxo.

“Digital transformation presents enormous opportunity for Midaxo – the company’s rapidly growing customer base, including Nokia and Danfoss, demonstrates that global companies are demanding a digitalized approach to M&A. Looking regionally, the Nordics is buoyant at the moment – 2017 deal value increased by 75% against 2016, with the upward trend set to continue into 2018. We are investing in Midaxo as we strongly believe the company can leverage this growth and will continue leading the digital M&A space, not just in the Nordics but globally. It’s truly exciting to see a Finnish company flourish and we are excited for the future,” says Keith Bonnici, Investment Director at Tesi.

For further information, please contact:

Keith Bonnici, Investment Director, Tesi
+358 (40) 1799584
keith.bonnici@tesi.fi

Tesi (Finnish Industry Investment Ltd) is a venture capital and private equity company that accelerates companies’ success stories by investing in them directly and via funds. Tesi always invests together with other investors, providing them with access to high quality deal-flow in Finland. Our investments under management total 1 billion Euros and we have altogether 723 companies in portfolio. www.tesi.fi / @TesiFII

Alban WYNIECKI, Investment Director, Idinvest Partners
+33 (0) 6 19 39 77 15
aw@idinvest.com

Idinvest Partners is a leader in financing small and medium-sized companies in Europe.
www.idinvest.com

Ari Salonen, CEO, Midaxo Oy
+1 617 818 0501
ari.salonen@midaxo.com

Midaxo Oy’s cloud software helps companies succeed in mergers & acquisitions by driving an efficient end-to-end process from target identification and due diligence to integration. www.midaxo.com and @Midaxo

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Partners Group and OPTrust to invest in US-based Superior Pipeline Company

Partners Group

Partners Group, the global private markets investment manager, acting on behalf of its clients, and OPTrust, a Canadian pension fund, have agreed to acquire a 50% joint control stake in Superior Pipeline Company (“Superior” or “the Company”), a leading midstream energy infrastructure company in the US. The stake is being acquired from US energy firm Unit Corporation (“Unit”, NYSE: UNT), which will continue to hold the remainder of the equity, in a transaction that values Superior at USD 600 million.

Founded in 1996 and based in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Superior is a full-service midstream energy company providing services to producers for gas gathering, processing, treating, compression, dehydration, transportation and marketing of natural gas and natural gas liquids. Today, the Company owns and operates three natural gas treatment plants, 13 processing plants, 22 active gathering systems, and approximately 1,455 miles of pipeline across the US. The majority of its revenues are generated from long-term, fixed-fee contracts.

Following the investment, Partners Group and OPTrust, together with Unit, will work closely with Superior’s management team, led by Bob Parks, to grow its existing gathering systems and processing plants organically and to identify attractive acquisition targets to expand the platform.

Bob Parks, Founder and President of Superior, comments: “We are excited to welcome Partners Group and OPTrust on board and look forward to leveraging their proven track records of investment in the infrastructure sector. At Superior, we are committed to being the best midstream provider in the industry and are convinced our new partners share the entrepreneurial mindset that will allow us to achieve this goal.”

Todd Bright, Partner, Head of Private Infrastructure Americas, Partners Group, states: “We see compelling relative value in the US midstream segment, which is benefiting from the ongoing shale revolution. The US has become a net exporter of natural gas for the first time in 60 years, and there is a fundamental need for infrastructure that facilitates the delivery of that gas to end users. Superior is a proven provider of that infrastructure.”

Gavin Ingram, Global Head of Infrastructure, OPTrust, adds: “OPTrust is very pleased to be partnered with Unit and Partners Group in Superior. Superior’s strong management team, diversified asset base and attractive growth prospects make it an exciting investment opportunity. Superior is an excellent strategic fit within our existing portfolio of midstream investments, and we look forward to capitalizing on the growth opportunities ahead of us.”

Superior is the latest addition to Partners Group’s substantial portfolio of North American natural gas infrastructure assets. The firm’s most recent transactions include its investment in the construction of the Raven project, an ethylene to butene-1 processing facility to be located in Baytown, Texas, and the USD 240 million private placement of 10.75% Class A Convertible Preferred Units of NGL Energy Partners LP (NYSE: NGL), a diversified midstream energy company. In 2015, Partners Group acquired a joint control stake in Sentinel Energy Center, an 800 MW California-based natural gas-fired power generation facility, while in 2014, it acquired a majority stake in Fermaca, a leading provider of long-haul natural gas transportation infrastructure in Mexico and the US.

 

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Ratos forms new management group

Ratos

To adapt the company to the next phase, Ratos has made changes to its management group and investment organisation. The changes mean that a total of five people leave their employment at Ratos.

Ratos’s management group will consist of:

Jonas Wiström, CEO                            
Helene Gustafsson, Head of IR and Press
Robin Molvin, Vice President
Anders Slettengren, Vice President
Magnus Stephensen, General Counsel
Carina Strid, Finance Manager

In conjunction with the change in management, Mikael Norlander, Senior Investment Director, and Lars Johansson, Senior Investment Director, both of whom were formerly members of Ratos’s management group, will be leaving their positions at Ratos.

“I look forward to continuing to focus on Ratos’s development, and would like to extend my sincere thanks to Mikael Norlander and Lars Johansson, who have both made a major contribution during their time at Ratos. During his many years at the company, Mikael carried out important work in several of our portfolio companies, including the successful development and listing of Arcus, the sale of Haglöfs and the recent transformation of Bisnode. As Acting CEO of Ratos, Lars initiated the restructuring that is now being carried out and has played a pivotal role in the changes to our company portfolio in recent years,” says Ratos’s CEO Jonas Wiström.

Following these organisational changes, Ratos’s investment organisation will consist of nine individuals.

For further information, please contact:
Jonas Wiström, CEO, +46 8 700 17 00
Helene Gustafsson, Head of IR and Press, +46 8 700 17 98

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