Category Archives: News

ARDIAN Private Debt provides additional financing for ALPEGA’S aquisition of WTRANSNET

Ardian

London/Frankfurt, September, ­6, 2018 – Ardian, a world leading private investment house, today announces that it has provided additional financing to Alpega, a leading global logistic software company, to support the company’s add-on acquisition of wtransnet, a leading freight exchange company in Spain. The financing underlines the continued expansion of Ardian Private Debt’s Senior Debt direct lending capabilities across Europe.

Formed in 2017 via a carve-out transaction led by Castik Capital, Alpega Group is a leading global logistics software company that offers end-to-end solutions covering a wide range of transport needs, including TMS solutions and freight exchanges, offering its customers the largest network of carriers in Europe. The transaction with wtransnet will help increase Alpega’s liquidity in terms of shipments and trucks for all freight exchanges in the Group. This will improve the value proposition to customers who will be able to access a wider market in the future.

Founded in 1996, wtransnet is the leading freight exchange in Spain and Portugal with a growing footprint in other countries. The Company has experienced significant growth in the past by creating an appealing product that is currently used by more than 11,500 customers.

Lukas Stepanek, Director at Ardian Private Debt in Germany, said: “As an existing financing partner, we are delighted to see the remarkable progress of the Group from a carve-out transaction to an established logistics software platform. We are looking forward to support Castik Capital and the Group as a long-term financing partner in their strategy to build an end-to-end solution for its customer base.”

Ulrik Hjorth, CFO of Alpega Group, said: “We appreciate the continued support and close cooperation with Ardian Private Debt since the initial investment. The relationship with Ardian Private Debt has allowed us to continue our buy and build strategy, and we are pleased to have chosen a long-term financing partner with the capacity to provide follow-on financing in support of our expansion strategy.”

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: Funds of Funds, Direct Funds, Infrastructure, Real Estate and Private Debt.
www.ardian.com

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KKR Closes $7.4 Billion Global Infrastructure Fund

KKR

NEW YORK & LONDON–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Sep. 6, 2018– KKR, a leading global investment firm, today announced the final closing of KKR Global Infrastructure Investors III (the “Fund”), a $7.4 billion fund focused on pursuing global infrastructure investment opportunities with an emphasis on investments in OECD countries. KKR will be investing $358 million in capital alongside external investors through KKR’s balance sheet and employee commitments.

“The current scale of global infrastructure investment demand is simply enormous, and is only growing, with the need outstripping capital available,” said Raj Agrawal, KKR Member and Global Head of KKR’s infrastructure business. “This dynamic, coupled with limited public financing sources, has created a significant need for private capital to provide infrastructure solutions. We believe our sector expertise and global platform uniquely position us to help fill this funding gap and we look forward to our continued growth in, and commitment to, the infrastructure asset class.”

KKR has a risk-based, rather than a sector-based, approach to infrastructure investing. Consistent with this approach, the Fund will focus on critical infrastructure investments with low volatility and strong downside protection where KKR believes it can leverage its global value creation resources to tackle complexity in sourcing, structuring, operations, and execution. By doing so, the Fund aims to deliver attractive returns with a low risk profile from a portfolio that is broadly diversified across a number of different infrastructure sub-sectors, geographies and asset types. The Fund has a broad investment mandate across infrastructure sectors, including but not limited to: energy; transportation; water, wastewater and waste; social infrastructure; and communications infrastructure. The Fund will also focus its investment mandate on the OECD countries predominantly in North America and Western Europe.

KKR first established a dedicated infrastructure team and strategy in 2008. Since then, the team has grown to consist of 25 experienced investment professionals and has completed or announced 25 infrastructure transactions across a number of sub-sectors and geographies. With the closing of the Fund, KKR’s infrastructure business manages approximately $13 billion in assets under management. Recent transactions by the Fund include Starlight, which owns a portfolio of approximately 10,200 telecommunication towers across France, and Discovery Midstream, the largest private natural gas gathering and processing business in Colorado’s Denver-Julesburg Basin.

The Fund received strong backing from a diverse group of new and existing global investors, including public pensions, sovereign wealth funds, insurance companies, family offices, high net worth individual investors and other institutional investors.

“Since first launching the Fund, we were thrilled to see the incredible momentum we received from investors – both those who were early and large supporters of our predecessor funds and also those who were first-time investors with us as well as the asset class,” said Alisa Amarosa Wood, KKR Member and Head of KKR’s Private Market Products Group. “The enthusiasm we saw across all geographies and investor types demonstrates the strong support for our infrastructure team, strategy and investment performance to date. Additionally, we have seen infrastructure as an asset class mature and grow in the way investors allocate capital to the space. The support for our Fund also speaks to this evolution of the asset class. We believe this continues to be important as the need for infrastructure capital from an investment perspective only grows.”

About KKR

KKR is a leading global investment firm that manages multiple alternative asset classes, including private equity, energy, infrastructure, real estate and credit, with strategic manager partnerships that manage hedge funds. KKR aims to generate attractive investment returns for its fund investors 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 the capital it manages for fund investors 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. Inc. (NYSE: KKR), please visit KKR’s website at www.kkr.com and on Twitter @KKR_Co.

Source: KKR

Media:
KKR
Kristi Huller or Cara Major, +1 212-750-8300
media@kkr.com

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EagleClaw Midstream Announces Acquisition of Caprock Midstream

Blackstone

Strategic acquisition reinforces EagleClaw’s best-in-class service offering by adding complementary natural gas gathering, processing, and compression assets in close proximity to existing system; expanding EagleClaw’s offering to crude and water services; and adding new customers, volumes, and high-quality dedicated acreage

Midland & Houston, TX, September 5, 2018 – EagleClaw Midstream (“EagleClaw”), a portfolio company of Blackstone Energy Partners, announced today that it has entered into binding agreements to acquire Caprock Midstream Holdings (“Caprock”) from Energy Spectrum Capital and Caprock Midstream Management for $950 million plus pre-closing adjustments.  The all-cash transaction is expected to close in 2018 and will be funded with equity and committed debt financing from Barclays Plc.  EagleClaw’s current executive leadership team will lead the combined business, which shall operate under the EagleClaw name, following the closing of the transaction.

EagleClaw is the largest privately held midstream operator in the Permian’s Delaware Basin in West Texas.  The company’s assets are strategically located in Reeves, Ward, and Culberson counties and include more than 550 miles of natural gas and natural gas liquids (“NGL”) pipelines and 720 million cubic feet per day (“MMcf/d”) of processing capacity.  EagleClaw serves many of the region’s leading oil and gas producers, who have committed long-term dedications of natural gas volumes to the company from over 310,000 acres.  Since being acquired by Blackstone last year, EagleClaw has more than doubled its processed volumes and system capacity, increased the amount of acreage under long-term dedication by over 55%, and entered into partnerships with Kinder Morgan and Targa to improve its customers’ takeaway options for natural gas and NGLs.

Caprock is a privately held midstream operator that provides gathering, processing, and disposal services for natural gas, crude oil, and produced water to producers in the Delaware Basin.  Caprock’s assets are strategically located in the core of the southern Delaware Basin in Reeves and Ward counties.  Caprock currently operates two natural gas processing facilities and will have 540 MMcf/d of processing capacity pro forma for the completion of two additional facilities currently under construction.  Caprock also operates almost 300 miles of gas, crude, natural gas liquids, and water gathering pipelines; 23 MBbls of crude storage (expected to grow to over 60 MBbls within the next twelve months); and water disposal facilities with capacity of 210 MBpd (with an additional 375 MBpd of additional capacity planned and permitted).  Caprock serves several highly active producers, which have made long-term dedications for natural gas, crude and / or water-related services totaling over 115,000 acres.

The acquisition of Caprock is complementary to EagleClaw and further solidifies the company’s position as the midstream partner of choice for producers in the Delaware Basin.  Pro forma for the closing of the transaction, EagleClaw will operate close to 850 miles of natural gas, natural gas liquids, crude and water gathering pipelines; 1.3 billion cubic feet per day of processing capacity; and crude and water storage facilities, with over 425,000 acres under long-term dedication for midstream services.  The acquisition of Caprock expands EagleClaw beyond natural gas gathering and processing related services into crude- and water-related services, providing opportunities for EagleClaw to offer a broad suite of midstream services to both existing and new customers.  The transaction also benefits EagleClaw’s and Caprock’s customers by improving flow assurance and reliability and providing additional flexibility for customers’ natural gas, crude, and NGL takeaway.

The transaction has been structured such that the existing Caprock operating company (which will be renamed EagleClaw Midstream II) will be a sister-entity to the existing EagleClaw operating business (EagleClaw Midstream Ventures LLC) following the closing, under common ownership and management by the same corporate parent.  The acquirer under the transaction documents and borrower of the acquisition financing will be a newly-established partnership, completely distinct from the existing EagleClaw credit group.  All field personnel of Caprock will be offered opportunities to remain with the company following the closing.  The Caprock water assets will be operated under a services agreement with Waterfield, a Blackstone-backed partnership focused on long-term full-cycle water solutions for upstream companies in the Permian Basin.

EagleClaw CEO Perspective

“We are delighted to welcome Caprock’s customers and their employees into the EagleClaw team,” said Bob Milam, EagleClaw’s founder and CEO.  “I have known and respected Mike Forbau, Caprock’s co-founder and CEO, for over 20 years.  We look forward to building on the great footprint that Mike and the Caprock team have assembled to date and providing Caprock’s customers with best-in-class service consistent with our record of safe and reliable performance.”  Jamie Welch, EagleClaw’s President and CFO, added, “Following our recent announcement of the Permian Highway Pipeline in partnership with Kinder Morgan, the acquisition of Caprock is another exciting chapter in the continued growth story of EagleClaw.  This transaction expands our business in every aspect, from asset footprint, to customer diversity, to breadth of service offering, while remaining true to EagleClaw’s core mission of providing customer-focused midstream services in the Permian basin.”

From Blackstone Energy Partners

“As investors across the energy value chain, with extensive holdings of upstream and midstream businesses, we have firsthand appreciation for the critical nature of EagleClaw’s services, the importance of safe and reliable operations, and the mutually beneficial relationship with the company’s producer customers,” said David Foley, CEO of Blackstone Energy Partners.  “We look forward to serving Caprock’s customers under the EagleClaw platform and continuing to provide midstream services to address the rapidly growing needs of Permian producers.”  Eric Liaw, Senior Managing Director at Blackstone, added, “We acquired EagleClaw with a vision of growing the business into a major, fully-integrated midstream player, delivering comprehensive value-added services to Permian Basin producers.  Following our partnerships with Targa on the Grand Prix JV pipeline and with Kinder Morgan on the Permian Highway Pipeline, the acquisition of Caprock further broadens EagleClaw’s business and enhances the company’s value to its customers.”

From Caprock

“Caprock was formed with the intention of providing producers with a focused service partner in a high growth basin. We have enjoyed working with our key customers to facilitate the development of the Delaware Basin, a world class resource. We are proud of the work our team has done from tying-in the first exploratory wells on this acreage to building infrastructure to enable our customer’s transition to pad development,” stated Mike Forbau, CEO of Caprock.  “As the basin transitions to a larger scale of development, we believe the capital intensity of a large private equity sponsor such as Blackstone will be a great addition to the Caprock business,” added Sanjay Bishnoi, CFO of Caprock.  “The Caprock system and the EagleClaw system share a lot of geographical and operational synergy,”  stated David Ferer, COO of Caprock.  “We firmly believe the EagleClaw team will integrate the two systems to provide its combined customers with greater optionality around gas and product takeaway, in-field operational flexibility, and redundancy.”

From Energy Spectrum Capital

“Caprock exemplifies the role that Energy Spectrum plays in the midstream industry.  By backing highly qualified teams, we allow capital to flow to well thought-out business plans.  Caprock has succeeded in putting early-stage capital to work to develop critical infrastructure for upstream producers to delineate a key new basin in the United States.  We are proud of our partnership with Mike and his team and believe that the integration with EagleClaw will be a strong development for Caprock’s customers,” said Tom Whitener, President of Energy Spectrum Capital.

Jefferies LLC acted as Blackstone and EagleClaw’s financial advisor in connection with the transaction.  Akin Gump served as legal counsel to Blackstone and EagleClaw.  Evercore and Barclays acted as financial advisors to Caprock and Energy Spectrum. Vinson & Elkins LLP and Orrick, Herrington and Sutcliffe LLP acted as legal counsel to Caprock and Energy Spectrum.

About EagleClaw Midstream Ventures, LLC
Headquartered in Midland and with a core presence in Houston, EagleClaw is focused on rapid response to the midstream infrastructure requirements of Permian producers.  The Company provides comprehensive gathering, transportation, compression, processing and treating services necessary to bring natural gas, natural gas liquids and crude oil to market.  EagleClaw is also partners with Targa on the Grand Prix Pipeline Project and with Kinder Morgan on the Permian Highway Pipeline Project.  EagleClaw has long term dedications for over 300,000 acres from a broad number of successful and active producers in the Delaware Basin.  For more information, please visit www.eagleclawmidstream.com

About Blackstone Energy Partners
Blackstone Energy Partners is Blackstone’s energy-focused private equity business, with a successful record built on our industry expertise and partnerships with exceptional management teams.  Blackstone has invested over $15 billion of equity globally across a broad range of sectors within the energy industry.  Blackstone (NYSE: BX) is one of the world’s leading investment firms.  Our asset management businesses, with approximately $440 billion in assets under management, include investment vehicles focused on private equity, real estate, public debt and equity, non-investment grade credit, real assets and secondary funds, all on a global basis.  Further information is available at www.blackstone.com.

About Caprock Midstream
Headquartered in Humble, TX, Caprock was founded in 2015 by Mike Forbau, David Ferer, Sanjay Bishnoi, John Phillips and Darin Aucoin.  In partnership with Energy Spectrum Partners VII, LP Caprock began developing assets in the Delaware Basin in 2016.  Caprock has developed gas gathering, gas processing, oil gathering and water gathering and disposal assets in the Delaware basin.

About Energy Spectrum Capital
Founded in 1995, Energy Spectrum Capital (“Energy Spectrum”) is a Dallas, Texas-based private equity firm focused on partnering with premier management teams that are pursuing compelling opportunities in the midstream sector of the North American oil and gas industry.


Contacts
EagleClaw
Jamie Welch
(713) 621-7300
jwelch@eagleclawmidstream.com

Blackstone Media Relations
Paula Chirhart
(212) 583-5011
Paula.chirhart@blackstone.com

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Swegon acquires Zent-Frenger GmbH from the Uponor Group

Latour logo

Swegon, a wholly owned business area within Investment AB Latour, has acquired Zent-Frenger GmbH.

Zent-Frenger is a leading provider of radiant ceilings in Germany and in addition develops and sells customized commercial heat pumps and concrete activation products. Zent-Frenger’s products are used to create a comfortable indoor climate in commercial buildings such as offices and hotels, as well as residential apartment buildings.

The company develops and assembles its products in Heppenheim, Germany. The company employs about 100 staff with a turnover in 2017 of 29 MEUR.

“As ‘The Indoor Climate Company’, radiant ceilings is a natural addition to our room unit product portfolio. It is a growing product segment in Continental Europe, due to its high comfort characteristics”, says Hannu Saastamoinen, CEO Swegon. ”Zent-Frenger’s highly customized heat pumps is also a strong complement to our existing commercial heat pump offering. Overall, there are numerous synergies we look forward to pursuing together. This acquisition also substantially strengthens our market presence in Germany, being one of the focused growth markets for Swegon”.

“Swegon and Zent-Frenger is a very good match with a shared focus of delivering optimal indoor climate to commercial buildings. We look forward to continued development of the Zent-Frenger business as part of Swegon Group”, says Andreas Linger, Managing Director of Zent-Frenger.

The acquisition is subject to approval by antitrust authorities and closing is expected during October.

The Latour Group’s net debt increases with 18 MEUR through the transaction.

Göteborg, September 5, 2018

INVESTMENT AB LATOUR (PUBL)
Jan Svensson President and CEO

For further information, please contact:
Hannu Saastamoinen, CEO Swegon, +46 31 89 58 10
Gustaf Ahlenius, Director Corporate Development Swegon, +46 31 89 58 19

Swegon Group AB is a company in the Latour Group which manufactures and sells products and systems for an optimal indoor climate. The Swegon group has 2,200 employees with a turnover of about SEK 4 billion.

Investment AB Latour is a mixed investment company consisting primarily of a wholly-owned industrial operations and an investment portfolio of listing holdings in which Latour is the principal owner or one of the principal owners. The investment portfolio consists of ten substantial holdings with a market value of about SEK 53 billion. The wholly-owned industrial operations has an annual turnover of about SEK 10 billion.  

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CONSORT NT achieves independence following the sales of ARDIAN, NAXICAP PARTNERS and APAX PARTNERS DEVELOPMENT’S stakes

Ardian

Paris, September 5, 2018 – Ardian Growth, Naxicap Partners and Apax Partners Development today announce the sale of their minority stake in Consort NT, a leading digital services company. Following an ownership buyout transaction, the management team, led by Jason Guez, President and majority shareholder of Consort NT, will now be the sole holders of the company.

Founded in 1992, Consort NT is one of France’s leading digital services companies, specializing in data and digital infrastructure. The company designs, operates and maintains technological solutions addressing its customers’ businesses, computing and storage capacities and interactions with banks, insurance companies and telecom operators.

Ardian Growth, Naxicap Partners and Apax Partners Development supported the company in its organic and external growth strategy. The first step was to strengthen the management team through organizational optimization. Consort NT was then able to cement its market position by developing a dedicated “Applications” branch, and through the acquisition of Estia, a data consultancy firm, and Altea, a consultancy firm specializing in software testing, in 2016. Consort NT generates more than €150 million in sales and employs 2,200 people based in France, Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg and Morocco.

Jason Guez, President of Consort NT, said: “I am happy and proud to have shared in the Consort NT adventure with my team. Our journey alongside the financial partners has brought about many useful learnings and has helped accelerate the growth of the business. Our independence only strengthens the enthusiasm and common vision shared by myself and the management team, Elie Cohen (CEO) and Stephan Mardel (CFO): to develop an international, multi-specialist group of technology consultants with strong family values.”

Laurent Foata, Head of Ardian Growth, added: “We are delighted to have been able to support Consort NT from its first equity transaction, and to have worked with Jason Guez over the years. Over the period, the company increased its turnover fivefold, and grew from 400 to more than 2,000 employees. Congratulations to the entire Consort NT team who will now continue on the next stage of growth.”

Alban Sarie, Investment Director at Naxicap Partners, thanked Jason Guez and his teams for their trust and the quality of their collaboration over the past 10 years. He concluded: “Jason Guez was able to develop the business its and profitability at the same time while realizing three successive leverage buyouts; this enabled him, alongside the management, to take control of the group’s capital as a whole.”

Raphaël Delmarre, Apax Partners Development, commented: “We are proud to have supported this high-level management team in their development projects through organic growth, acquisitions and international development.”

ABOUT CONSORT NT

Consort NT is one of the leading French digital services companies specializing in data, digital and infrastructure with over 2,200 consultants. The company designs, operates and maintains solutions and services that place the user at the heart of added value and technological innovation.

Historically-positioned in infrastructure services, which the Group continues to invest in through a strategy of innovation of its offer (cloud and security) and automation of its processes, Consort NT is transforming the way it processes and adds value to data through both organic and external growth.
A long-term vision and family values symbolize the Consort NT culture which is owned more than 20% by its employees.

www.consort-group.com

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: Funds of Funds, Direct Funds, Infrastructure, Real Estate and Private Debt.
www.ardian.com

ABOUT NAXICAP PARTNERS

One of France’s leading private equity companies, NAXICAP Partners – an affiliate of Natixis Investment Managers – has €3.2 billion of capital under management. As a committed, responsible investor, NAXICAP Partners builds solid, constructive partnerships with entrepreneurs so that their projects can succeed. The company has nearly 40 investment professionals spread across 4 offices located in France: Paris, Lyon, Toulouse, and Nantes.
For further information: www.naxicap.fr/en/

ABOUT APAX PARTNERS

Apax Partners is a leading private equity firm in Europe based in Paris. With more than 45 years of experience, Apax Partners provides long-term equity financing to build and strengthen world-class companies. Funds managed and advised by Apax Partners exceed €3 billion. These funds invest in fast-growing middle-market companies across four sectors of specialization: TMT, Consumer, Healthcare and Services.
For further information: www.apax.fr/en/

LIST OF PARTICIPANTS

Sellers:
ardian, Laurent Foata, Frédéric Quéru, Naxicap partners, Jacques Spicq, Alban Sarie, Dominique Frances, APAX DEVELOPMENT, Raphaël DelmarreBond Financing: 
tikehau capital, Cécile Lévi, Charles Bourgeois, Vincent Leprévots, BNP Paribas private investments, Géraud Manhes, Cédric DocheSenior Debt Financing:
BNP PARIBAS, Guillaume Redaud, Pierre Chatelier, LCL, Cécile Pénard, Damien Fraillon, Julien Mognot, BANQUE POPULAIRE RIVES DE PARIS, Laurence Perretier, LA BANQUE POSTALE, Audric Valnaud, Fréderic Vigier, Antoine Gobert

Investment bankers /M&A advisor (sellers):
Cambon partners, David Salabi, Oriane Benveniste-Profichet, Pierre-Louis d’Argenlieu

Financial VDD: 
NExt!, Hervé Krissi, Romain Bardou, Eric Chan

Legal advisor (company and management):
willkie farr & gallagher llp, Paul Lombard, Ralph Unger, Cédric Hajage, Gil Kiener

Legal advisor (financing): 
hogan lovells, Sabine Bironneau, Alexander Premont, Sophie Lok, Luc Bontoux

Legal advisor (tax):
stehlin legal, Corinne Dadi

PRESS CONTACTS

ARDIAN
Headland
EMMA RUTTLE
Tel: +44 20 3805 4816
eruttle@headlandconsultancy.com
PDF VERSION

 

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ARDIAN PRIVATE DEBT provides financing for HG’S investment in IT Relation

Ardian

ondon, September, 4, 2018 – Ardian, a world-leading private investment house, today announces the arrangement of a Unitranche facility to support HgCapital’s (“Hg”) investment in IT Relation, a leading supplier of managed IT services to SME’s in Denmark. The Unitranche package will include a dedicated acquisition facility to support future build-ups and further underscores the geographic growth of Ardian Private Debt’s European activities.

Founded in 2003, IT Relation provides services which allow SMEs to migrate their IT infrastructure and operations into the cloud, as well as providing end-user support and consulting as part of a wider full-service IT offering. The company has more than 450 employees supporting thousands of customers and tens of thousands of users in Denmark and around the world.

Henrik Kastbjerg and the company’s management team have over the last 15 years, grown IT Relation into the leading provider of managed IT services to SMEs in Denmark. The business has an impressive track record of organic and M&A-driven growth as well as a proven ability to provide innovative and cost-effective solutions to their customers.

Mark Brenke, Managing Director & Co-Head Ardian Private Debt, said: “As a financing partner, we are delighted to be supporting the IT Relation founders and management team together with Hg, who have a strong track record of investing in technology-enabled B2B service businesses. We look forward to partnering with the business and providing the flexible financing needed as the company continues to complement its impressive organic growth track record with selective M&A”.

Link to the original Hg press release.

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: Funds of Funds, Direct Funds, Infrastructure, Real Estate and Private Debt.
www.ardian.com

   PRESS CONTACTS

ARDIAN
Headland
EMMA RUTTLE
Tel: +44 20 3805 4816
eruttle@headlandconsultancy.com

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StormGeo acquires Nautisk – creates one-stop-shop for digital navigation and planning for the maritime industry

eqt

The quote “A little rain never hurt anybody” is not a wise recommendation. At least not if you ask EQT portfolio company StormGeo – the leading provider of weather intelligence and decision support for companies operating in tough climate conditions at sea and onshore. With the acquisition of Nautisk, a global leader within digital charts and publications, StormGeo takes an important step in becoming a one-stop-shop for digital navigation and planning for the modern maritime industry.  
In times of increasing climate change and extreme weather, the need for agile and foreseeable forecasting has never been greater. Headquartered in Bergen, Norway, StormGeo is a trusted partner for companies operating in challenging weather conditions within shipping, oil and gas, renewable energy, aviation, media and cross industries. The company’s diverse employee base, consisting of meteorologists, oceanographers and data scientists, provides tailored weather decision support and route guidance to over 9,000 ships and 1,300 offshore locations on a 24/7 basis, amongst other services.

The add-on of Nautisk is a strategic step in StormGeo’s mission to provide the most innovative and future-proof decision support solutions and services for weather-sensitive operations. With more than 100 years of industry experience, Nautisk offers state-of-the-art digital solutions for vessel navigation, including charts, voyage planning and a digital publication library. Nautisk complements StormGeo’s current maritime solutions and with the add-on, StormGeo will create a unified and complete onboard-to-onshore software platform for maritime navigation and planning.

Rikke Kjær Nielsen, Partner at EQT Partners and Investment Advisor to EQT Mid Market, comments: “The acquisition of Nautisk aligns well with StormGeo’s ambition of becoming the undisputed global leader within premier shipping services. With the combination of Nautisk, StormGeo further cements its position as an industry leader within digital solutions, enabling it to be a trusted partner to its customers on their digital journeys. EQT is excited to support the management team through the next phase of digital transformation”.

Since EQT Mid Market’s acquisition of StormGeo in April 2014, the company has expanded steadily and has grown to become a truly global champion within its sector. Following the acquisition of Nautisk, StormGeo will employ more than 400 employees from 27 offices, including six operations centers operating 24/7/365 supporting customers worldwide, across 15 countries.

During its ownership period, EQT has supported StormGeo in accelerating its digital transformation and strengthening its analytical offering. Actions include completing the strategic add-on acquisition and integration of Silicon Valley-based leader within ship routing and fleet performance, Applied Weather Technology (AWT), as well as launching “Advanced Fleet DSS”, a fleet performance software allowing customers to optimize their fuel consumption based on advanced analytics.

Moreover, StormGeo continues to invest substantially in future-proofing its portfolio to offer its customers state-of-the-art services through the research and development of next generation products within machine learning and advanced analytics.

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Investor AB intends to direct a tender offer to holders of its EUR 2021 Notes and issue new notes

Investor

INVESTOR AB (publ) intends to invite noteholders of its outstanding EUR 600,000,000 4.875 per cent. notes due 2021 (ISIN: XS0466670345) (the “Notes”) to tender any and all of their Notes for purchase for cash (the “Offer”). The intended purchase price is expected to include a customary premium.

In conjunction with the Offer, Investor AB is considering a potential issue of new notes, subject to market conditions, under its EUR 5,000,000,000 Debt Issuance Programme.
Part of the proceeds from the new issue will be used for purchasing the Notes. The rationale of the Offer and the new issue is thus to proactively manage upcoming debt repayments and to extend the average debt maturity profile of Investor AB. Notes repurchased pursuant to the Offer will be cancelled and will not be re-issued or re-sold.

Please note that further information, which among other things will set out certain important restrictions, regarding the intended Offer is expected to be made available shortly and will be found on: http://www.londonstockexchange.com/exchange/news/market-news/market-news-home.html

This information is, with respect to Investor AB’s outstanding Notes, such information that Investor AB is obliged to make public pursuant to the EU Market Abuse Regulation. The information was submitted for publication, through the agency of the contact person set out below, at 09.30 CET on September 4, 2018.

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StormGeo acquires Nautisk – creates one-stop-shop for digital navigation and planning for the maritime industry

eqt

In times of increasing climate change and extreme weather, the need for agile and foreseeable forecasting has never been greater. Headquartered in Bergen, Norway, StormGeo is a trusted partner for companies operating in challenging weather conditions within shipping, oil and gas, renewable energy, aviation, media and cross industries.The company’s diverse employee base, consisting of meteorologists, oceanographers and data scientists, provides tailored weather decision support and route guidance to over 9,000 ships and 1,300 offshore locations on a 24/7 basis, amongst other services.

The add-on of Nautisk is a strategic step in StormGeo’s mission to provide the most innovative and future-proof decision support solutions and services for weather-sensitive operations. With more than 100 years of industry experience, Nautisk offers state-of-the-art digital solutions for vessel navigation, including charts, voyage planning and a digital publication library. Nautisk complements StormGeo’s current maritime solutions and with the add-on, StormGeo will create a unified and complete onboard-to-onshore software platform for maritime navigation and planning.

Rikke Kjær Nielsen, Partner at EQT Partners and Investment Advisor to EQT Mid Market, comments: “The acquisition of Nautisk aligns well with StormGeo’s ambition of becoming the undisputed global leader within premier shipping services. With the combination of Nautisk, StormGeo further cements its position as an industry leader within digital solutions, enabling it to be a trusted partner to its customers on their digital journeys. EQT is excited to support the management team through the next phase of digital transformation”.

Since EQT Mid Market’s acquisition of StormGeo in April 2014, the company has expanded steadily and has grown to become a truly global champion within its sector. Following the acquisition of Nautisk, StormGeo will employ more than 400 employees from 27 offices, including six operations centers operating 24/7/365 supporting customers worldwide, across 15 countries.

During its ownership period, EQT has supported StormGeo in accelerating its digital transformation and strengthening its analytical offering. Actions include completing the strategic add-on acquisition and integration of Silicon Valley-based leader within ship routing and fleet performance, Applied Weather Technology (AWT), as well as launching “Advanced Fleet DSS”, a fleet performance software allowing customers to optimize their fuel consumption based on advanced analytics.

Moreover, StormGeo continues to invest substantially in future-proofing its portfolio to offer its customers state-of-the-art services through the research and development of next generation products within machine learning and advanced analytics.

StormGeo at a glance

StormGeo is a leading global provider of software-based decision support for companies operating in weather-sensitive environments within shipping, oil and gas, renewable energy, aviation, media and cross industries.

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Waterland strengthens its presence in Switzerland with a new office

Waterland

Waterland Private Equity expands its Swiss activities with an office in Zurich. This enables Waterland to get closer to Swiss entrepreneurs and local markets. The team will be working closely with the offices in Munich and Hamburg, and will help to continue fostering international growth while leveraging synergies between the locations.

“Switzerland is a highly interesting market, and we are a very attractive growth partner for mid-sized companies in the region. This is demonstrated by our current engagement in Tineo – previously Quickline Business,” says Jörg Dreisow, Managing Partner at Waterland. “With our buy & build experience, financial strength, European office network and new proximity, we will be able to help Swiss companies expanding their potential, realising their growth targets and thereby creating added value for SMEs.”

Alongside its current investment Tineo, Waterland has already successfully engaged in Swiss transactions in the past, for example, in the establishment of Switzerland’s largest private nursing home operator Seniocare.

Potential for growth at Tineo

Tineo is an integrated enterprise solution provider of data centres, fibre optic connections, high-speed internet and VoIP services with state-of-the-art infrastructure and a broad customer base. “The independent company is in an excellent position to intensify the pursuit of its organic and inorganic growth strategy in the fragmented Swiss market. With its clear focus on the enterprise segment, Tineo will be able to generate substantial added value for its customers,” explains Dr Gregor Hengst, Principal at Waterland. “Further, there are many other interesting, well-positioned companies with excellent products that could benefit from a partnership with Waterland.”

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