Tag Archives: Consumer brands

Providence and Warner Music Group Launch Tempo Music Investments

Providence

WARNER MUSIC GROUP AND PROVIDENCE EQUITY PARTNERS JOIN FORCES TO INVEST IN MUSIC CATALOGS

New Platform to Promote Recording Artists and Songwriters Across the Globe

NEW YORK, NY – December 10, 2019: Warner Music Group (“WMG”) and Providence Equity Partners (“Providence”) today announced plans to invest in world-class recorded music and music publishing catalogs via a newly established platform, Tempo Music Investments (“Tempo”).

Tempo was launched with $650 million in equity and debt capacity, with most of the equity coming from Providence, a leading investment firm specializing in the media, communications, education and information industries. WMG will handle administration for music publishing and distribution for recorded music, drawing on its vast, deep-rooted music industry expertise, resources and network. Tempo will enlist Influence Media Partners, a new management company, to explore investment opportunities and drive catalog performance.

“More than ever before, the long-lasting value of music is being recognized outside the music industry. We’ll be devoted stewards of these amazing catalogs created by songwriters and recording artists across the globe, and WMG is very happy to be partnering with Providence in this pioneering venture,” said Stu Bergen, CEO, International and Global Commercial Services, Warner Music Group.

Josh Empson, Managing Director at Providence, said, “It is a privilege to partner again with Warner Music Group. We are excited about this innovative new relationship, which combines Providence’s investment expertise in media with WMG’s distinctive skill in working with and recognizing top artists and assets in music. We look forward to partnering with WMG and our investment management team to support creators and build a best-in-class portfolio of music assets.”

Among the first acquisitions of the venture are selected copyrights of Grammy Award-winning songwriters Jeff Bhasker, Shane McAnally and Ben Rector. With 15 nominations and five Grammy wins including Producer of the Year, Bhasker has worked with some of the biggest names in the business. McAnally is a three-time Grammy winner and seven-time nominee who also serves as Co-President of Monument Records. Independent artist Rector is a rising singer-songwriter with success in licensing music across numerous TV shows, national ad campaigns and movie trailers.

About Warner Music Group
With its broad roster of new stars and legendary artists, Warner Music Group is home to a collection of the best-known record labels in the music industry including Asylum, Atlantic, Big Beat, Canvasback, East West, Elektra, Erato, FFRR, Fueled by Ramen, Nonesuch, Parlophone, Reprise, Rhino, Roadrunner, Sire, Spinnin’, Warner Records, Warner Classics, and Warner Music Nashville, as well as Warner Chappell Music, one of the world’s leading music publishers, with a catalog of more than 1.4 million copyrights worldwide.

About Providence Equity Partners
Providence is a premier global asset management firm with over $45 billion in aggregate capital commitments. Providence pioneered a sector-focused approach to private equity investing with the vision that a dedicated team of industry experts could build exceptional companies of enduring value. Since the firm’s inception in 1989, Providence has invested in more than 200 companies and has become a leading equity investment firm focused on the media, communications, education and information industries. Providence is headquartered in Providence, RI, and also has offices in New York and London. For more information, please visit https://www.provequity.com.

Contact:

Warner Music Group
Summer Wilkie, 212-275-3921
summer.wilkie@wmg.com

Providence Equity Partners
Andrew Cole / Kelsey Markovich, 212-687-8080
Prov-SVC@sardverb.com

Categories: News

Tags:

EURAZEO Brands complets investment in Herschel Supply CO.

Eurazeo

Paris, December 5, 2019 – Eurazeo Brands announces the completion of its minority investment in Herschel Supply Co. (“Herschel”), a design-driven global lifestyle brand. Headquartered in Vancouver, Canada, Herschel is known for transforming the classic backpack and offering other timeless accessory products which are sold in over 90 countries. Eurazeo Brands, the division of Eurazeo focused on differentiated consumer brands with global growth potential, has invested $60Min Herschel.Additional capital was provided by a consortium of investors including Alliance Consumer Growth,a leading consumer-focused growth equity firm, and HOOPP Capital Partners, the private capital arm of the Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan.

Eurazeo Brands aims to invest a total of $800 million in high potential North American and European consumer companies across a wide range of verticals including beauty, fashion, home, wellness, leisure and food. The transaction represents Eurazeo Brands’ fifth investment in North America and first investment in a Canadian brand.

About Eurazeo

Eurazeo is a leading global investment company, with a diversified portfolio of €18 billion in assets under management, including nearly €11.9 billion from third parties, invested in nearly 400 companies. With its considerable private equity, real estate, private debt and fund of funds expertise, Eurazeo accompanies companies of all sizes, supporting their development through the commitment of its 235 professionals and by offering deep sector expertise, a gateway to global markets, and a responsible and stable foothold for transformational growth. Its solid institutional and family shareholder base, robust financial structure free of structural debt, and flexible investment horizon enable Eurazeo to support its companies over the long term.

Eurazeo has offices in Paris, New York, Sao Paulo, Seoul, Shanghai, London, Luxembourg, Frankfurt and Madrid.Eurazeo is listed on Euronext Paris.ISIN: FR0000121121 -Bloomberg: RF FP -Reuters: EURA.PA

About Herschel Supply Co.

Headquartered in Vancouver, Canada, Herschel Supply Co.is a design-driven global lifestyle brand that produces timeless products with utility design. Founded in 2009 by brothers Jamie, Lyndon and Jason Cormack, Herschel’s product range has expanded from backpacks to include luggage, headwear, accessories, apparel and more. Today, Herschel products are sold in over 90 countries with over 9,000 points of distribution worldwide and the support of over 250 employees across offices in Vancouver, New York, Los Angeles, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Ghent and London.

EURAZEO CONTACTS

PIERRE BERNARDIN

Head of Investor Relations

email: pbernardin@eurazeo.comTel: +33 (0)1 44 15 16 76

VIRGINIE CHRISTNACHT

Head of Communications

email: vchristnacht@eurazeo.comTel: +33 (0)1 44 15 76 44

Categories: News

Tags:

Cinven to invest in Barentz

Cinven

Cinven, the international private equity firm, today announces that it has reached an agreement to become a shareholder of Barentz (the ’Group’), a global specialty ingredients distributor for the food, pharmaceutical, personal care and animal nutrition markets. Financial terms of the transaction are not disclosed.

Headquartered in the Netherlands, Barentz distributes ingredients and additives for products to small and medium-sized enterprises (‘SMEs’) and large customers globally. The Group sources branded specialty ingredients from leading manufacturers worldwide, and its ingredient experts provide value-added technical support (including pre-mixing, blending, ingredient formulation and ingredient testing) from its state-of-the-art production facilities in Europe, North America and Asia.

Established in 1953, Barentz has operations in more than 60 countries with a strong presence in Europe and Asia, and a growing presence in North America and Latin America. Today, the Group employs circa 1,100 people worldwide, sources ingredients from more than 1,000 suppliers and serves more than 15,000 customers.

Cinven’s Business Services and Benelux teams identified Barentz as an attractive investment opportunity, given its:

  • Strong presence in attractive, structurally growing and resilient markets;
  • Value-added proposition to both a large number of ingredient manufacturers and a highly diversified end-customer base;
  • Significant buy and build opportunity in a highly fragmented market. Barentz has a proven track record of executing and integrating acquisitions;
  • Strong historic financial performance and cash generation;
  • Opportunity to accelerate the growth of the business through investment in the Group’s infrastructure as well as R&D capabilities; and
  • Highly experienced management team, led by CEO Hidde van der Wal.

Ben Osnabrug, Partner at Cinven, commented:

“Barentz has a strong presence in a structurally growing market. The Cinven team knows the specialty distribution sector well; a number of key trends are driving the growth of the food and life sciences ingredients market, including a shift towards natural ingredients, increased demand for customised formulations, and a growing share of manufacturers using distributors to drive market access and to improve efficiencies.

“Cinven’s investment in Barentz resulted from a combination of our detailed sub-sector approach within Business Services and our regional network in the Netherlands, and we are delighted to invest in this primary opportunity. In particular, Barentz has an excellent management team whom we are backing to pursue both organic and acquisition-led growth.”

Hidde van der Wal, Chief Executive of Barentz, said:

“We are delighted to be working with Cinven on the next phase of our growth. The Cinven team has really impressed us with their understanding of our market and their strong track record of growing businesses internationally. 

“In particular, their investment and support for our business strategy will enable us to expand our operations into new geographic markets, including through acquisition, and will ensure we have the right infrastructure to achieve this.”

Completion of the transaction is subject to customary conditions including competition clearances.

1602 Capital Partners acted as M&A advisor for Cinven.

Categories: News

Tags:

Sun Capital Partners Affiliate Makes a Control Investment in National Tree, a Leading E-Commerce Wholesaler of Seasonal and Holiday Décor

Sun Capital

Sun Capital Partners, Inc. (“Sun Capital”), a leading private investment firm focused on investing in market-leading companies, today announced that an affiliate has completed the acquisition of National Tree Company (or “The Company,”) a leading e-commerce wholesaler of seasonal and holiday décor, with a particular focus on the Christmas holiday. Terms of the private transaction were not disclosed.

Founded by Sal Puleo, Sr. in 1990 and headquartered in Cranford, New Jersey, National Tree Company is a family-operated business that has established itself as the clear leader in seasonal and holiday décor. Today the business is led by the original founder’s three sons, Joe, Sal (Jr) and Rich Puleo. The Company offers more than 4,500 SKUs and has strong relationships with many of the most popular online retailers.

“The Puleo family has done a tremendous job with National Tree Company, achieving impressive market share and consistent growth,” said Marc Leder, Co-CEO of Sun Capital. “This is a great opportunity for Sun Capital to work with the Puleo family to invest in the growth of the business. We believe National Tree has the dropship capabilities and customer relationships to expand its product range both organically and through strategic acquisitions.”

National Tree Company is one of the largest domestic wholesalers of artificial Christmas trees. The Company was recently awarded “Best Artificial Christmas Trees of 2019” by Better Homes & Gardens and has won other “Best of” awards from organizations including Wirecutter, House Beautiful, Business Insider, The Today Show, Good Housekeeping, and Bob Vila.

“We were attracted to National Tree Company’s strengths in design, procurement, and dropship fulfillment—a comprehensive capability you don’t often find,” said Matthew Garff, Managing Director at Sun Capital. “National Tree Company’s sourcing and logistics capabilities span the entire products’ value chain, allowing the Company to partner with online retailers and provide customers a wide assortment of product choices quickly and economically.”

For more information:
Emily Meringolo
Stanton
646-502-3599
emeringolo@StantonPRM.com

Categories: News

Tags:

CapMan Buyout has sold its shares in Harvia Plc

CapMan Buyout press release 19 November 2019 at 6.00 p.m. EET

CapMan Buyout has sold its shares in Harvia Plc

CapMan Buyout X Fund A L.P and CapMan Buyout X Fund B Ky (together the “funds managed by CapMan”) have sold all their shares in Harvia Plc (“Harvia”) to Onvest Oy. The funds managed by CapMan sold a total of 2,305,679 Company’s shares, which is 12.3 per cent of the shares and votes in Harvia. The price in the share sale was EUR 9.25 per share and the gross sales proceeds amounted to approximately EUR 21.3 million.

The funds managed by CapMan owned the majority of Harvia’s shares before the company’s IPO in March 2018, and they continued as significant investors of Harvia after the listing.

Pia Kåll, Managing Partner of CapMan Buyout, comments: “Harvia has been a great investment for CapMan, and we are proud of Harvia’s excellent performance as a listed company. We invested in Harvia in 2014, and the Company has since implemented the growth strategy that we together with the management developed for it. As a result, Harvia has strengthened its position as one of the leading sauna and spa companies in the world. Harvia is positioned to continue to perform well in the future. However, as owning shares of a listed company lies beyond the strategy of our funds, it was time for us to relinquish our ownership and finalise our exit. We believe Onvest Oy will be a strong long-term anchor investor for Harvia.”

“Harvia is a solid and very profitable company, whose strong Finnish roots and great brand fit exceptionally well with Onvest’s values and investment strategy. Harvia has succeeded with its growth strategy and we believe Harvia’s strategic direction is correct. We are extremely pleased to be taking a role in Harvia’s development”, says Kalle Kekkonen, Onvest Managing Director.

Further information:
Pia Kåll, Managing Partner, CapMan Buyout, +358 207 207 555

About CapMan
CapMan Buyout is part of CapMan Group, a leading Nordic private asset expert with an active approach to value-creation in its portfolio companies and assets, with assets under management of more than €3 billion. CapMan has a broad presence in the unlisted market through our local and specialised teams. The investment strategies cover Private Equity, Real Estate and Infra. CapMan also has a growing service business that includes procurement services, fundraising advisory, and analysis, reporting and wealth management services. Altogether, CapMan employs 140 people in Helsinki, Stockholm, Copenhagen, London, Moscow and Luxembourg. For more information, please visit www.capman.com

Categories: News

Tags:

AURELIUS closes sale of Scandinavian Cosmetics Group to Accent Equity

Aurelius Capital

Successful transformation into a leading Nordic brand management company

The buyer, Accent Equity, will support Scandinavian Cosmetics in its next growth phase

Munich, November 18, 2019 – AURELIUS Equity Opportunities SE & Co. KGaA (ISIN: DE000A0JK2A8) has successfully completed the sale of its subsidiary Scandinavian Cosmetics Group to Accent Equity 2017, a Scandinavian investment fund.

Successful transformation into a leading Nordic brand management company

After the carve-out from the former owner, the Swiss Valora Group, the company was positioned in the market as a unitary group under AURELIUS and developed into a leading brand management company by means of an extensive transformation program. The restructuring engineered by AURELIUS included efficiency enhancement and business development measures, as well as the add-on acquisitions of Solis AS and Alf Sörensen AB, leading to a 25 percent revenue increase since the acquisition. Scandinavian Cosmetics today is the biggest manufacturer-independent luxury and consumer brand management company in Scandinavia.

The buyer Accent Equity will support Scandinavian Cosmetics in its next growth phase

Accent Equity has extensive experience in growing businesses in different industries and sectors and is ideally positioned to support the international growth of Scandinavian Cosmetics Group, both organically and through add-on acquisitions. The company’s continued development will be supported by the highly experienced management team, the strong position in the Scandinavian market and the company’s excellent positioning in all stages of the value chain.

Categories: News

Tags:

Hellman & Friedman purchases Partners Group’s minority equity stake in Action

3I

3i Group plc (“3i”) yesterday announced that it is facilitating a transaction that will provide liquidity to limited partners in EuroFund V,who need to exit as the fund comes to the end of its life,through a sale of their interest in Action to new 3i-managed entities backed by existing investors in EuroFund V, new investors and by 3i.

This transaction values Action at an enterprise value of €10.25 billion and is expected to close in January 2020.Since that announcement,Partners Group,on behalf of its clients,has announced that it has agreed to sell its minority equity stak ein Action to Hellman & Friedman, in a separate transactionat the same valuation.

-Ends-

For further information, contact:3i Group plc Silvia Santoro

Investor enquiries Kathryn van der Kroft

Media enquiries

Tel: +44 20 7975 3258 Email: silvia.santoro@3i.com Tel: +44 20 7975 3021 Email: kathryn.vanderkroft@3i.com

Notes to editors:

About 3i Group3i is a leading international investment manager focused on mid-market private equity and infrastructure. Its core investment markets are northern Europe and North America. For further information, please visit: www.3i.com.

Categories: News

Tags:

Partners Group to sell stake in Action, Europe’s leading non-food discount retailer, to Hellman & Friedman

Partners Group

 

Baar-Zug, Switzerland; 25 November 2019

Partners Group to exit Covage, a leading open-access fiber infrastructure platform in France

Partners Group, the global private markets investment manager, has, on behalf of its clients, entered into exclusive negotiations with a consortium led by Altice, and including Allianz Capital Partners, AXA Investment Managers – Real Assets, acting on behalf of its clients, and OMERS Infrastructure, to sell its 50% stake in Covage (“Covage” or “the Company”). The transaction gives Covage an equity value of EUR 1 billion.

Covage is a leading open-access fiber infrastructure platform with a national footprint across low-, medium-, and high-density areas in France. The Company operates 45 local networks, complemented by a fully-owned national fiber backbone of 9,000 km. Covage’s awarded perimeter includes 2.4 million homes and 21,000 existing connected businesses. Its connections are built and operated under the support of France’s national rural broadband access program, a key social ESG initiative to bridge the digital divide between rural and urban regions.

The sale of Partners Group’s 50% stake in Covage would be the final divestment from Partners Group’s acquisition of Axia NetMedia Corporation, on behalf of its clients, in a public-to-private transaction that resulted in its delisting from the Toronto stock exchange in July 2016. It follows the divestment of the Canadian operations of Axia NetMedia, which were sold to BCE Inc (Bell Canada) in 2018. The sale of Covage is subject to customary regulatory clearances and is expected to take place during the first half of 2020.

Esther Peiner, Managing Director, Private Infrastructure Europe, Partners Group, comments: “We are very proud of our contribution to the strong growth Covage has experienced over our holding period. Consistent with our platform expansion strategy, significant capital investments from the shareholders have enabled Covage to deliver a material increase in high bandwidth connectivity nationwide and establish itself as a leading provider in the French communication infrastructure market. Partners Group, through the Covage board, worked with CEO Pascal Rialland and his team to successfully institutionalize the fiber roll-out and commercialization framework of the Company, thus demonstrating the considerable value that can be added through entrepreneurial governance.”

Categories: News

Tags:

Blackstone to Take Majority Stake in MagicLab, Owner of Bumble and Badoo, at $3 Billion Valuation

Blackstone

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) announced today that funds managed by Blackstone (“Blackstone”) are taking a majority stake in MagicLab, which builds and operates leading dating and social networking apps, including Bumble and Badoo. The transaction values the company at approximately $3 billion.

Founded in 2006 by Andrey Andreev, MagicLab helped invent how people meet in the modern, mobile age. MagicLab’s suite of brands has connected and transformed the lives of over 500 million people around the world across dating, social, and business. The group shares a foundation of technology, talent, and experience to constantly innovate new ways for people to meet and create life-changing moments by building relationships. Over his career, Mr. Andreev has been at the forefront of innovation in the dating industry and has continued to invest in finding the most talented entrepreneurs and tech visionaries to mentor.

As part of the acquisition, Mr. Andreev will be selling his stake and stepping down from the business. He will be replaced as CEO by Whitney Wolfe Herd, Founder and CEO of Bumble, who, together with Blackstone, will work to accelerate the business’ growth even further.

Commenting on the transaction, Andrey Andreev said: “Blackstone presented MagicLab with a great opportunity to further develop the brands and platform, and I am confident Blackstone will take MagicLab to the next level in terms of growth and expansion. I am incredibly proud of the company, and of how we have connected millions of people around the world. At MagicLab, I have had the pleasure of working with some of the best and most talented entrepreneurs. My aim now is to ensure a smooth and successful transition before I embark on a new business venture in search of innovative leaders with new and exciting ideas. I am grateful for all the support of my partners and employees over the years as we couldn’t have gotten to this point without them. I wish MagicLab and Blackstone every success.”

Whitney Wolfe Herd added: “This transaction is an incredibly important and exciting moment for Bumble and the MagicLab group of brands and team members. Blackstone is world-class at maximizing the success of entrepreneur-led companies, which presents a tremendous opportunity. We are very excited to build the next chapter with them. I am honored to take on the role of CEO of the group. I will strive to lead the group with a continued values-based and mission-first focus, the same one that has been core to Bumble since I founded the company five years ago. We will keep working towards our goal of recalibrating gender norms and empowering people to connect globally, and now at a much faster pace with our new partner.”

Jon Korngold, Head of Blackstone Growth (BXG), said: “We’re excited to invest in MagicLab, which is a pioneer in the fast-growing online dating industry. They have a highly talented team and strong set of platforms, including Bumble, which was built on a commitment to inclusion and female empowerment. This partnership is a perfect example of Blackstone’s ability to use its scale, long-term investment horizon, and deep bench of operational resources to help entrepreneurs take advantage of transformational growth opportunities in order to create global industry leaders over time.”

Martin Brand, a Senior Managing Director at Blackstone, added: “We look forward to partnering with MagicLab to help fuel the company’s continued expansion in the years ahead.”

Citi Global Capital Markets Inc. is serving as an exclusive financial advisor to MagicLab and is providing financing in support of the acquisition by Blackstone. Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP is serving as legal advisor to Whitney Wolfe Herd, the founder and CEO of Bumble. Baker McKenzie is serving as legal advisor to the majority shareholders of MagicLab (including Andrey Andreev) and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP is serving as legal advisor to Blackstone.

About MagicLab
Founded by Andrey Andreev, MagicLab invented how people meet in the modern, mobile age. Through its growing family of brands that include Badoo, Bumble, Chappy, and Lumen, MagicLab has connected and transformed the lives of over 500 million people around the world across dating, social, and business. Our group shares a foundation of technology, talent, and experience to constantly innovate new ways for people to meet and drive long-term growth.

About Blackstone
Blackstone is one of the world’s leading investment firms. We seek to create positive economic impact and long-term value for our investors, the companies we invest in, and the communities in which we work. We do this by using extraordinary people and flexible capital to help companies solve problems. Our asset management businesses, with $554 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. Follow Blackstone on Twitter @Blackstone.

Contacts

For Blackstone:
Matt Anderson
Matthew.Anderson@blackstone.com
212-390-2472

For MagicLab:
press@magiclab.co

Categories: News

Tags:

Bruin Sports Capital announces strategic partnership with CVC Capital Partners and the Jordan Company

Deal gives Bruin access to billions in capital, plus a global network of resources from the partners

Bruin Sports Capital (Bruin), the privately held global investing, operating and holding company today announced a wide-ranging, long-term strategic partnership with renowned private equity firms CVC Capital Partners (CVC) and The Jordan Company (TJC), to build best-in-class sports and entertainment companies. The deal gives Bruin access to billions in capital, plus a global network of resources from the partners beginning with an initial combined investment for $600 million from CVC Fund VII and TJC’s Resolute Fund IV.

“We are extremely proud to have the partnership and support of CVC Capital Partners and The Jordan Company, not only for what it says about our progress but also what it means for our businesses and future opportunities,” said George Pyne. “To be able to say to a partner that on top of our track record and user-friendly model, we can tap into all the capital and global resources necessary to accelerate their business is quite powerful. This begins the next chapter for Bruin, on an even much bigger and more global scale.”

Founded in 2015 by George Pyne, Bruin invests in, acquires, and builds leading-edge, global sports and entertainment companies. It supports owners and CEOs to achieve the full potential for their assets, bringing its resources and capabilities, backed by decades of experience in transforming businesses in a variety of sports and entertainment segments worldwide. The new partnership builds on this as Bruin can access the deep capital and resources of CVC, a leading global private equity firm with 24 offices around the globe and TJC, a US middle-market private equity firm with 37 years of experience managing funds invested in a wide range of industries.

Today, Bruin companies operate across five continents and engage billions of consumers. They include Deltatre, the industry leader in media technology products and services, On Location Experiences, a joint venture with the NFL to deliver premium sports and entertainment experiences and services to more than 1,000 events per year, Engine Shop, a leading sports and entertainment marketing agency that produces thousands of brand experiences annually, Soulsight, an award-winning brand strategy and design agency that leads product innovation for dozens of Fortune 100 brands and OverTier, which operates direct-to-consumer premium streaming services worldwide.

“George and his team have built an impressive franchise, and we are delighted to be partnering with them to invest in and develop high-growth, high-performing global sports and entertainment companies,” said Chris Stadler, Managing Partner at CVC Capital Partners. “Our extensive European network and deep experience in sports, media, and entertainment ideally complement Bruin’s impressive existing platform.”

“We are excited to partner with George, an extremely talented leader with an exceptional track record of business transformation, that continues with Bruin Sports Capital,” said Rich Caputo, Chief Executive Partner of The Jordan Company. “In a sector undergoing fundamental shifts to the way it does business, he and the team have demonstrated a unique ability to uncover potential and turn it into significant value. We are going to provide the full gamut of our resources to Bruin and the partnership, and we look forward to great things ahead.”

Categories: News

Tags: