Tag Archives: Data

Why We Invested in Grata

Craft Ventures

 

We’re pleased to announce that Craft Ventures is leading the
$25 million Series A round for Grata, the leading private company intelligence engine. I’ve gotten to know co-founders Andrew and Nevin over the last two years and am excited to join them on the Board of Directors.

When we first met Grata, they were a scrappy team that was bootstrapping a solution to a problem they suffered from in their previous jobs in private equity and management consulting: the opacity of information available about companies in the middle market. This is an often overlooked but meaningful segment of the market. The middle market is bigger than most people realize and a lot of groups care about it: corporates, private equity funds, bankers, hedge funds, family offices, to name a few. And yet — no other data providers focus on the middle market because it’s hard: millions of companies, high volume of changes and little information readily accessible.

No other data providers focus on the middle market because it’s hard: millions of companies, high volume of changes, and little information readily accessible.

Before Grata, dealmakers would turn to Google to manually search for companies. And since the results were noisy, teams of analysts would go website by website to discover and decipher company credentials. Databases such as Dun & Bradstreet with their broad categories and stale information didn’t address their needs. What’s more, private company data is dominated by companies who had a transaction event: Pitchbook and Crunchbase report on public and private company funding news. But who covers the middle market companies who are bootstrapped or outside of the tech ecosystem and media spotlight? They account for 50% of US GDP.

Who covers the middle market companies who are bootstrapped or outside of the tech ecosystem and media spotlight? They account for 50% of US GDP.

Grata has created a highly automated technology system that ingests this thorny problem and produces an easy to access, new source of truth for all dealmakers that care about the middle market. It uses proprietary machine learning and web crawling practices to read contextual information on the web and understand how a company describes its business. The Covid pandemic thrust many businesses online out of necessity, helped by a new economy of no-code website builders, which makes Grata’s sourcing practice even more potent. Its automated way of collecting and interpreting data is scalable and supported by their team of highly technical data scientists and engineers.

That scrappy team I met two years ago now has millions in revenue, and is growing 20% month-over-month driven by the value they bring to the dealmakers they serve. Please welcome us in congratulating the Grata team. They’re hiring! You can see their jobs page here.

Categories: News

Tags:

Onex Partners to Invest in Analytic Partners

Onex

Toronto, ON, New York, NY, February 8, 2022 – Onex Corporation (“Onex”) (TSX: ONEX)
today announced that Onex Partners V, Onex’ $7.2 billion fund, has agreed to make a significant
investment in Analytic Partners, Inc. (“Analytic Partners” or the “company”) in partnership with
the company’s founder.

Analytic Partners is a leading cloud-based, managed software platform which helps global F1000
customers assess marketing spend effectiveness and optimize future allocations across offline and
online media channels. Founded in 2000 and headquartered in Miami, Florida, Analytic Partners
deploys its solutions, supported by a proprietary longitudinal dataset, across 55 countries with
approximately 270 employees throughout 14 offices globally. In The Forrester Wave™:
Marketing Measurement and Optimization Q1 2022 report, Analytic Partners was named a Leader
and was top ranked in the Strategy category among all evaluated vendors.

“We are delighted to add the intellectual and financial firepower of Onex Partners to Analytic
Partners to further accelerate our growth,” said Nancy Smith, Founder, President and CEO of
Analytic Partners. “Our partnership with Onex Partners aligns perfectly with our core values of
People, Passion and Growth. Through our employee equity plan I am proud to announce that
every member of our team will benefit from this investment. Our customers, who are the
motivation for our Passion, will also benefit greatly as our partnership with Onex Partners will
further accelerate our technology leadership, drive more innovation, and help us deliver the
solutions our clients need to Adapt, Evolve and Thrive in a rapidly changing marketing landscape.
This is a true win/win/win for our customers, our team and our partners.”
“We feel incredibly privileged that Nancy has chosen us as her partner to continue building
Analytic Partners. The company’s GPS Enterprise managed software solution, supported by its
proprietary ROI Genome dataset and analytical capabilities, have allowed Analytic Partners to
provide a compelling value proposition to its customers and we expect this to continue,” said Kosty

Gilis, a Managing Director at Onex Partners. “We are extremely enthusiastic about the company’s
prospects as the need to accurately assess the effectiveness of marketing campaigns will continue
to grow which, combined with the opportunity to further leverage Analytic Partners’ capabilities
across a wider range of end markets and geographies, presents a compelling value creation
opportunity over the coming years.”
The transaction is anticipated to close later this year subject to customary closing conditions. The
terms of the transaction are not being disclosed at this time.

On this transaction, Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC acted as exclusive financial advisor and Willkie
Farr & Gallagher LLP acted as legal counsel to Analytic Partners. Latham & Watkins LLP acted
as legal counsel to Onex Partners.

About Onex
Founded in 1984, Onex manages and invests capital on behalf of its shareholders, institutional
investors and high net worth clients from around the world. Onex’ platforms include: Onex
Partners, private equity funds focused on mid- to large-cap opportunities in North America and
Western Europe; ONCAP, private equity funds focused on middle market and smaller
opportunities in North America; Onex Credit, which manages primarily non-investment grade debt
through tradeable, private and opportunistic credit strategies as well as actively managed public
equity and public credit funds; and Gluskin Sheff’s wealth management services. In total, as of
September 30, 2021, Onex has approximately $47 billion of assets under management, of which
approximately $7.9 billion is its own investing capital. With offices in Toronto, New York, New
Jersey, Boston and London, Onex and its experienced management teams are collectively the
largest investors across Onex’ platforms.
Onex shares trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the stock symbol ONEX. For more
information on Onex, visit its website at www.onex.com. Onex’ security filings can also be
accessed at www.sedar.com.

About Analytic Partners
Analytic Partners is the leading cloud-based, managed software platform which provides adaptive
solutions for deeper business understanding and right-time planning & optimization for marketing
and beyond. We turn data into expertise so that our clients can create powerful connections with
their customers and achieve commercial success. For more information on Analytic Partners, visit
its website at www.analyticpartners.com.

Forward-Looking Statements
This press release may contain, without limitation, statements concerning possible or assumed
future operations, performance or results preceded by, followed by or that include words such as
“believes”, “expects”, “potential”, “anticipates”, “estimates”, “intends”, “plans” and words of
similar connotation, which would constitute forward-looking statements. Forward-looking
statements are not guarantees. The reader should not place undue reliance on forward-looking
statements and information because they involve significant and diverse risks and uncertainties
that may cause actual operations, performance or results to be materially different from those
indicated in these forward-looking statements. Except as may be required by Canadian securities
law, Onex is under no obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained herein
should material facts change due to new information, future events or other factors. These
cautionary statements expressly qualify all forward-looking statements in this press release.

For Further Information:
Onex
Jill Homenuk
Managing Director – Shareholder Relations
and Communications
+1 416.362.7711
Analytic Partners
Kendall Allen Rockwell
WIT Strategy
kallen@witstrategy.com

Categories: News

Tags:

Carlyle to Acquire, Expand Data Center Company Involta

Carlyle

NEW YORK and CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — Dec. 22, 2021 — Global investment firm Carlyle (NASDAQ: CG) announced today that funds managed by Carlyle have agreed to acquire Involta, a data center company focused on hybrid IT and cloud infrastructure, including data center colocation, hybrid cloud, edge, fiber, and related products.

Involta owns and operates 12 data center facilities and an in-house 12,000+ fiber-mile network. These assets, paired with strategic infrastructure services, provide mission-critical IT solutions to businesses across the United States. Carlyle’s capital, resources, and expertise will help expand Involta’s operations, which today are located primarily in the Midwest as well as the Pacific Northwest and Southwestern U.S., helping grow its capabilities for both new and existing customers.

Joshua Pang, Head of Digital Infrastructure for Carlyle’s Infrastructure Group, said, “Involta has built a world-class platform with a demonstrated operating model for delivering high-quality service to customers in an increasingly complex, hybrid cloud-based world. We see significant opportunity for growth given the long-term secular demand drivers of data proliferation, digital connectivity, and the digitization of enterprise and institutional operating models. We look forward to a strong, long-term partnership and to leveraging Carlyle’s scale, resources, and access to capital to drive sustainable growth at Involta.”

Pooja Goyal, Chief Investment Officer of Carlyle’s Infrastructure Group, said, “This investment is consistent with our strategy of partnering with best-in-class businesses positioned for continued growth in the digital infrastructure space. Digital infrastructure is a key sector focus for our platform and we will continue to grow our portfolio with both high growth opportunities as well as stabilized assets.”

Bruce Lehrman, Founder and CEO of Involta, said, “We are thrilled to work with Carlyle’s proven investment team as we build on our national market leadership and support our customers’ growing digital infrastructure requirements. We see many logical opportunities to continue expanding Involta’s footprint and infrastructure, and look forward to leveraging Carlyle’s global resources and deep expertise to further accelerate our growth momentum.”

This transaction supports Carlyle’s growth in infrastructure investing, which includes investments in infrastructure companies supporting the digital economy. Earlier this year, Carlyle acquired Wyyerd Group, a leading regional fiber-to-home platform in the Southwestern United States, and recently completed an add-on fiber acquisition for that platform in December 2021.

Carlyle will acquire Involta from M/C Partners. The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2022 and is subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions. Financial details were not disclosed.

Greenberg Traurig LLP, Bank Street Group, and TD Securities advised on this transaction.

* * * * *

About Carlyle

Carlyle (NASDAQ: CG) is a global investment firm with deep industry expertise that deploys private capital across three business segments: Global Private Equity, Global Credit and Global Investment Solutions. With $293 billion of assets under management as of September 30, 2021, Carlyle’s purpose is to invest wisely and create value on behalf of its investors, portfolio companies and the communities in which we live and invest. Carlyle employs more than 1,800 people in 26 offices across five continents. Further information is available at www.carlyle.com. Follow Carlyle on Twitter @OneCarlyle.

About Involta

Involta is an award-winning hybrid IT and cloud-forward consulting firm orchestrating digital transformation for the nation’s leading enterprises. Involta’s ongoing mission is rooted in partnership. Its personalized approach identifies customers’ requirements while earning their trust to ultimately deliver Superior Infrastructure and Services, Operational Excellence and People Who Deliver, keeping with the Involta brand promise.

Involta pairs strategic consulting with the unique ability to leverage owned data centers and infrastructure assets, empowering businesses with necessary security and reliability requirements. Its well-defined, rigorous process to deliver hybrid cloud, edge, consulting, and data center services have earned the company several designations, including a KLAS rating and review for partial healthcare IT outsourcing excellence. The company has also been recognized on several CRN lists and has been named one of the fastest-growing companies in America by Inc.5000 for nine consecutive years.

Involta enables customers with the power to transform their technology and the freedom to focus on their core business. To learn more about Involta, visit involta.com or follow them on LinkedIn, Twitter or Facebook.

About M/C Partners

M/C Partners is a private equity firm focused on small and mid-size businesses in the digital infrastructure and technology services sectors. For more than three decades M/C Partners has invested $2.4 billion of capital in over 140 companies, leveraging its deep industry expertise to understand long-term secular trends and identify growth opportunities. The firm is currently investing its eighth fund, partnering with promising companies and leadership teams to support, scale, and improve operations and maximize value. For more information, visit https://mcpartners.com.

Media contacts

Christa Zipf
Carlyle
Christa.zipf@carlyle.com
347-621-8967

Sheetal Werneke
JSA for Involta
1.866.695.3629
jsa_involta@jsa.net

Categories: News

Tags:

Bob More Joins Indico Data as Chief Revenue Officer

.406 Venture

BOSTON, Dec. 8, 2021  — Indico Data, the unstructured data company, today announced the appointment of Bob More to chief revenue officer (CRO). As CRO, More is responsible for leading go-to-market field operations, including sales, ecosystem and alliances, customer success, solutions consulting, solutions engineering and revenue operations, further accelerating Indico’s rapid adoption among the Fortune 500. An experienced revenue executive, Mr. More’s track record of building and scaling go-to-market teams and driving topline growth spans more than 20 years, with a particularly strong focus in data and analytics.

“Indico Data has grown rapidly during the past 18 months, processing more than 10 billion unstructured assets through our platform annually,” said Tom Wilde, CEO of Indico Data. “Bob joins us at a pivotal moment in our development, and his deep experience in scaling teams and driving revenue will be an exceptional addition to our already strong leadership team.”

More was previously global head of field operations for Stardog, a knowledge graph platform that enables enterprises to unify all their data, where he was responsible for building and leading all revenue activities, including sales, alliances and customer success. Prior to that, he was senior vice president of global field operations at Reltio, helping scale the company over 25 fold during his tenure. He also spent time as a senior revenue executive at SAP, responsible for driving sales of the entire SAP and Business Objects portfolio, as well as at Informatica, where he built and managed Informatica’s strategic account sales team focused on enterprise data integration solutions.

More is an active member of several mentoring programs, including The Honor Foundation, Nashville Entrepreneur Center and GrowthX Academy, all of which seek to provide individuals with professional development and support in their career journey.

“As large enterprises pursue digital transformation initiatives, they’re limited because 85% of all enterprise data is unstructured, out of reach of traditional RPA, CRM, ERP and BI solutions,” said Bob More, CRO at Indico Data. “The Indico Platform takes a unique approach to AI and ML to solve this problem, allowing these organizations to extract previously unattainable value from their large and expensive systems of record, dramatically increasing overall business insight and operational efficiency.

I’m thrilled to join this highly innovative company and work with Tom and the rest of the Indico Data team as we lead the market in solving the critical problem around unstructured data.”

The Indico Unstructured Data Platform

Built around a breakthrough human AI and machine teaching approach, the Indico Unstructured Data Platform is the first and only solution to address unstructured data that doesn’t rely on brittle and expensive rules or template-based approaches. While according to Gartner, only 20 percent of AI-enabled projects reach deployment, Indico’s customers consistently experience a greater than 90% success rate. This results in up to an 85% reduction in process time, a 400% increase in process capacity, and an 80% reduction in resources required.

For more information on the Indico Unstructured Data Platform, or to schedule a demo, please visit www.indicodata.ai.

About Indico Data

Indico Data is the unstructured data company. With its innovative AI- and ML-powered software platform, enterprises of all sizes can automate, analyze, and apply unstructured data –– documents, emails, images, videos and more –– to a wide range of enterprise workflows. The Indico Unstructured Data Platform enables companies to gain rich insight and maximize the value of their existing software investments, including RPA, CRM, ERP, and BI, by enabling these systems to work with unstructured data. Indico serves leading insurance, financial services, banking, real estate and other data-intensive enterprises, including MetLife, PNC Bank, Chatham Financial, Cushman & Wakefield and Waste Management. The company is headquartered in Boston, MA. Visit www.indicodata.ai to learn more.

Media contact:
Claudine Caruso
Guyer Group for Indico Data
indico@guyergroup.com

Categories: People

Tags:

Artefact aims to become the world’s leading data services group following Ardian’s successful purchase offer.

Ardian

Ardian, a world-leading private investment house, together with Cathay Capital, are pleased to announce that their simplified tender offer for the remaining shares of Artefact, a leader in data services, has been accepted.

As the required conditions were met at the closing of the offer, the mandatory withdrawal on Artefact shares will be effective as of 21 December 2021 at €7.80 per share. Artefact’s legacy managers are also supporting this offer by reinvesting substantially alongside Ardian, to ensure the continuity of governance with Vincent Luciani as Group CEO.

Artefact was founded in 2014 by Vincent Luciani and Guillaume de Roquemaurel. After rapid international expansion, Artefact established itself as a leader in data-driven business transformation, with the aim of creating value by bridging the gap between data and business.

Today, Artefact has a global network, with operations across the world in Europe, Asia, the Middle East, the Americas and Africa, and over 800 employees. The company has partnered with major brands such as L’Oréal, Danone, Sanofi Orange and also supports major international accounts across a range of sectors from FMCG, Retail, Luxury, Telecoms, Healthcare, Tourism and Industry including for example: Samsung and Unilever.

Artefact’s data offerings have demonstrated their ability to scale AI projects globally, especially as only 10 to 15% of companies are currently incorporating data science-based solutions into their operations successfully. Artefact enables the implementation of fundamental services such as data governance and infrastructure, and the development of specialized solutions (call centre automation, demand forecasting, recommendation engines, and fraud detection). Artefact also has the most complete data-driven marketing portfolio on the market.

In a market driven by exponential growth in data, Ardian’s Expansion team, alongside Cathay Capital, a global investment firm with a strong presence in Asia, will support Artefact’s management team in a new phase of acceleration with the aim of becoming a global data services leader.

The new shareholders will support the group in its geographical expansion in Europe, Asia and the United States thanks to their global network and the significant resources that will be provided to the Group. Artefact will invest in an ambitious recruitment program for new talent with the aim of tripling its workforce by 2025, with already 500 recruitments planned for 2022. Finally, the Group will be an active player in the consolidation of the market by accelerating strategic acquisitions in a still highly fragmented data services market.

Artefact’s strength lies in the excellence of its people who are drawn to a company dedicated to building the next generation of “data leaders”. Strong human values, a committed CSR policy, and a continual job training, make Artefact one of the data industry’s most sought-after employers.

“The alliance with Ardian definitely marks a major turning point in the history of Artefact. The delisting and the arrival of a shareholder like Ardian, a strategic and long-term oriented investor, allows us to deploy an ambitious growth and recruitment plan, anchored on the high added value of our talents.” Vincent Luciani, Co-Founder and CEO of Artefact

“Our objective is to support this excellent management team in its ambition to become a world leader in data services. Our global network, expertise and significant resources will be available to Artefact and will help accelerate the group’s growth by strengthening its appeal to new talent by pursuing an ambitious market consolidation strategy.” Marie Arnaud-Battandier, Managing Director, Expansion team, Ardian

“We’re delighted to partner with Artefact and its management team alongside Ardian in a new phase of development. Artefact has built a strong client-recognized expertise in the field of data services and benefits from major growth potential in France and abroad. Cathay Capital will support Artefact’s ambitious organic and external growth strategy thanks to our technological know-how and ecosystem, especially in China.” Jérémie Falzone, Partner, Cathay Capital

PARTIES TO THE TRANSACTION

  • Ardian

    • Marie Arnaud- Battandier, Stephan Torra, Thomas Grétéré, Leslie Parmast.
    • Legal advisors: Latham & Watkins (Olivier Du Mottay, Olivia Rauch-Ravisé, Philippe Tesson, Mayssa Sader Michel Houdayer)
    • Financial advisors: Sycomore Corporate Finance (Tristan Dupont, Olivier Barret, Pierre-Arnaud De Lacharrière, Marion Pouchain), Clipperton Finance (Nicolas von Bulow, Martin Vielle), Natixis Partners (Philippe Charbonnier)
    • Financial advisors for the public offer: Société Générale (Stéphanie Kordonian, Stephane Krief, Asgar Sondarjee, Florent Guillermain)
    • Commercial Due Diligence: Bain & Company (Daphné Vattier, Thibaud Chabrelié, Guillaume Tobler)
    • Financial Due Diligence: Alvarez & Marsal (Ghislain De Seze, Simon Regad, Guillaume Blanchard)
    • Legal, tax and social Due Diligence: Kpmg Avocats (Xavier Houard, Thomas Chardenal)
    • Insurance Due Diligence: Finaxy (Deborah Hauchemaille)
    • Debt: Eurazeo (Eric Gallerne, Olivier Sesboüe), Tikehau, Eiffel, Bpi – Conseil juridique financement des banques: Paul Hastings (Olivier Vermeulen)

  • Cathay Capital

    • Jérémie Falzone, Benoît Seringe, Bertrand Uchan, Marc Lin
    • Commercial Due Diligence: Roland Berger (Jean-Michel Cagin, Cyrille Vincey)
    • Legal advisors: Hogan Lovells (Stéphane Huten, Arnaud Deparday)

  • Artefact

    • Vincent Luciani CEO Artefact
    • Guillaume De Roquemaurel Président du Conseil De Surveillance Artefact
    • Hayette Soltani Chief Financial Officer Artefact
    • Legal advisors: BDGS (Youssef Djehane, François Baylion, Marie Dupin, Jules Brizi)
    • Legal advisors to the management: Jausserand & Audouard (Tristan Audouard, Carole Degonse, Antoine Le Roux)
    • Financial advisors: Cambon Partners (Guillaume Teboul, Michael Azencot, Samuel Koubi, Côme Mullie)
    • Financial Due Diligence: Alvarez & Marsal (Frédéric Steiner, Nicolas Guillo, Baptiste Rideau)
    • Legal, tax and social Due Diligence: EY (Mathieu Dautriat, Charles Moulette, Solal Blanc, Adrien Khaznadji, Sylvie Magnen, Thomas Jaegle)

ABOUT ARDIAN

Ardian is a world leading private investment house with assets of US$120bn 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 800 employees working from fifteen 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 and Seoul). It manages funds on behalf of more than 1,100 clients through five pillars of investment expertise: Fund of Funds, Direct Funds, Infrastructure, Real Estate and Private Debt.

www.ardian.com

ABOUT CATHAY CAPITAL GROUP

Cathay Capital Group is a global investment firm supporting companies at all stages throughout North America, Asia, Europe and Africa. By helping navigate the opportunities of globalization and sustainable transformation, Cathay is the partner of choice for companies aspiring to lead markets and make a positive impact. Its global platform connects people – from investors and entrepreneurs to management teams and leading corporations – across continents to share knowledge, the tools to scale, and achieve the extraordinary. Founded in 2007 with a strong entrepreneurial heritage, Cathay Capital now manages over $4.5B in assets, has completed over 220 buyouts, growth and venture capital investments with the global reach and local expertise from offices in Paris, New York, Shanghai, Munich, San Francisco, Beijing, Singapore, Shenzhen and Tel Aviv.
Follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter @CathayCapital

www.cathaycapital.com

ABOUT ARTEFACT

Artefact is a next-generation end-to-end data services company specialising in data transformation and data & digital marketing, transforming data into impact across the entire enterprise value chain Artefact’s unique approach, by bridging the gap between data and businesses, enables our clients to achieve their business goals in a dedicated and efficient manner. Our 800 employees combine their multi-disciplinary skills to help companies innovate and grow. Our cutting-edge Artificial Intelligence technologies and agile methods ensure the success of our clients’ AI projects, from design to deployment, training and change management. With 16 offices in Europe, Asia, North America, Latin America and Africa, we partner with leading global brands such as Orange, Samsung, L’Oréal, and Sanofi.

www.artefact.com

Media contacts

ARDIAN – Image 7

Anne-Charlotte Créac’h

accreach@image7.fr +33 1 53 70 94 21

Anatole Flahault

aflahault@image7.fr +33 1 53 70 74 26

Categories: News

Tags:

Indico Data CEO Tom Wilde Joins Forbes Technology Council

.406 Venture

BOSTON, Dec. 15, 2021  — Indico Data, the unstructured data company, announced today that the company’s CEO, Tom Wilde, has joined the Forbes Technology Council, an invitation-only community for world-class CIOs, CTOs, and technology executives.

Tom was selected by a review committee based on the depth and diversity of his experience. Criteria for acceptance includes a track record of successful business growth metrics, as well as personal and professional achievements and honors.

“We are honored to welcome Indico Data CEO Tom Wilde into the community,” said Scott Gerber, founder of Forbes Councils, the collective that includes Forbes Technology Council. “Our mission with Forbes Councils is to bring together proven leaders from every industry, creating a curated, social capital-driven network that helps every member grow professionally and make an even greater impact on the business world.”

As a member of the Council, Tom gains access to a variety of exclusive opportunities designed to help him reach peak professional influence. He will connect and collaborate with other respected local leaders in a private forum. Tom will also be invited to work with a professional editorial team to share his expert insights in original business articles on Forbes.com, and to contribute to published Q&A panels alongside other experts.

Finally, Tom will benefit from exclusive access to vetted business service partners, membership-branded marketing collateral, and the high-touch support of the Forbes Councils member concierge team.

“I’m proud to be a member of, and eager to contribute to, the Forbes Tech Council community,” said Tom Wilde, CEO at Indico Data. “In my short time as a member, I have already seen the dynamic and helpful interactions among experts, as we all share the common goal of bringing relevant and powerful new technologies to light for our customers.”

About Forbes Councils
Forbes Councils is a collective of invitation-only communities created in partnership with Forbes and the expert community builders who founded Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC). In Forbes Councils, exceptional business owners and leaders come together with the people and resources that can help them thrive.

For more information about Forbes Technology Council, visit forbestechcouncil.com. To learn more about Forbes Councils, visit forbescouncils.com.

For more information on the Indico Unstructured Data Platform, or to schedule a demo, please visit www.indicodata.ai.

About Indico Data
Indico Data is the unstructured data company. With its innovative AI- and ML-powered software platform, enterprises of all sizes can automate, analyze, and apply unstructured data –– documents, emails, images, videos and more –– to a wide range of enterprise workflows. The Indico Unstructured Data Platform enables companies to gain rich insight and maximize the value of their existing software investments, including RPA, CRM, ERP, and BI, by enabling these systems to work with unstructured data. Indico serves leading insurance, financial services, banking, real estate and other data-intensive enterprises, including MetLife, PNC Bank, Chatham Financial, Cushman & Wakefield and Waste Management. The company is headquartered in Boston, MA. Visit www.indicodata.ai to learn more.

Media contact:
Claudine Caruso
Guyer Group for Indico Data
indico@guyergroup.com

Categories: People

Tags:

EQT’s AI platform Motherbrain pushes the boundaries of the private markets with novel algorithm for better decision making

No Comments
eqt

EQT is proud to announce that an academic paper authored by the data science team at EQT Motherbrain has been accepted for publication by the 2021 Conference on Empirical Methods in Natural Language Processing (EMNLP), acknowledged as one of the best Natural Language Processing (NLP) academic conferences in the world of AI. The paper originated from the work of developing one of the many advanced deep learning models used by the Motherbrain platform.

Motherbrain is EQT’s proprietary investment platform driven by diversified big data and cutting-edge algorithms. EQT uses Motherbrain across the EQT platform to source deals and to help investment teams make better informed investment decisions. One of many analytical scenarios that Motherbrain helps tackle is defining the similarity between companies, which can be useful in tasks such as competitor mapping.

To solve this problem, the Motherbrain team proposed a novel method – PAUSE: Positive and Annealed Unlabeled Sentence Embedding, which generates numerical representations from company descriptions enabling a measurement of closeness between any two companies. The model turns out to be best-in-class at defining similarity without relying heavily on pre-existing annotations by investment professionals, as other high performing models do.

Victor Engelsson, Partner within EQT Growth’s Advisory Team, commented, “EQT Growth invests in companies at the scale-up stage and uses Motherbrain and underlying novel algorithms like PAUSE to assess and make faster and more substantiated decisions. Being data driven and having access to the best market intelligence is truly one of EQT’s competitive advantages.”

High performing deep learning models have not been easily applicable in the private capital domain as they require a large amount of annotated data. The Motherbrain team is constantly moving the needle when it comes to applying advanced analytics in the private capital sector, and PAUSE will facilitate that adoption by mitigating the reliance on heavily annotated data. With this work, the Motherbrain team is also proud to contribute to the academic community with a creative method born out of a real industrial use case.

Categories: News

Tags:

Projective Group acquires specialist data consultancy DTSQUARED

GIMV

05/08/2021 – 08:41 | Portfolio

Funded by recent investment from Gimv in April this year, this acquisition is a key part of Projective Group’s European expansion and provides a significant addition to the Group’s capabilities and existing team of 35 consultants in London.

DTSQUARED’s team of 85 data experts will bring a wealth of experience in all aspects of data as well as access to an impressive client base across multiple sectors and strategic relationships with DTSQUARED’s global technology partners. This complements Projective Group’s current management consulting offering from Projective and Exellys, to provide a truly end-to-end consultancy package to clients.

Stefan Dierckx, CEO, of Projective Group, said:
“With our clients increasingly demanding advice and consultancy around data, we firmly believe that DTSQUARED’s knowledge and expertise around data management and governance is complementary to Projective Group’s current service offering provided by Projective and Exellys. Together with DTSQUARED, we can now better serve our current and future clients in answering business problems and creating value in a complex market with even more demanding regulations. This partnership represents the start of the next phase of growth for Projective Group and we are delighted to welcome DTSQUARED to the team.”

Categories: News

Tags:

Projective Group acquires specialist data consultancy DTSQUARED

GIMV

London, 5 August 2021 – Projective Group, the international consulting firm, has today announced its acquisition of London-based DTSQUARED, the specialist data consultancy.

Funded by recent investment from Gimv in April this year, this acquisition is a key part of Projective Group’s European expansion and provides a significant addition to the Group’s capabilities and existing team of 35 consultants in London.
DTSQUARED’s team of 85 data experts will bring a wealth of experience in all aspects of data as well as access to an impressive client base across multiple sectors and strategic relationships with DTSQUARED’s global technology partners. This complements Projective Group’s current management consulting offering from Projective and Exellys, to provide a truly end-to-end consultancy package to clients.

Stefan Dierckx, CEO, of Projective Group, said:
“With our clients increasingly demanding advice and consultancy around data, we firmly believe that DTSQUARED’s knowledge and expertise around data management and governance is complementary to Projective Group’s current service offering provided by Projective and Exellys. Together with DTSQUARED, we can now better serve our current and future clients in answering business problems and creating value in a complex market with even more demanding regulations. This partnership represents the start of the next phase of growth for Projective Group and we are delighted to welcome DTSQUARED to the team.”
The overall Projective Group offering will be strengthened by the mutual benefits of the acquisition, with all parties gaining additional capabilities and expertise. DTSQUARED’s knowledge and experience enables Projective Group to expand into the important and evolving data industry via the creation of a new Data Management & Governance offering for Projective Group’s clients. Projective Group can now support clients with all their strategic data requirements; to design, establish and implement the most beneficial, efficient, and profitable data solutions that provide real business value.

Toby Pearson, CEO of DTSQUARED, said:
“We have a strong record of growth whilst delivering the Power of Data for our clients these past eight years, but when Projective Group approached us, it was an excellent opportunity to combine forces and further strengthen our respective offerings. Together, our shared knowledge, expertise and ambitions uniquely position us within Europe to cater to all client demands both now and in the future. We will scale, affording all our employees a greater breadth of opportunities across a wider geography which will ensure that we continue to maintain and attract the highest of standards. The coming months will be spent planning to deliver the best
solutions and advice possible for our clients as we build excellence across Projective Group’s six major European centres.”
DTSQUARED’s established positioning in the market means that the brand and operational management will remain unchanged by the acquisition, and it will now be able to scale at pace to meet ever-changing client demands. Toby Pearson, CEO of DTSQUARED, is joining Projective Group’s board to ensure harmonisation across all parts of the Group’s operations.

UK PR contact:
Alex Eyre, Rostrum
a.eyre@rostrum.agency
+44 (0)7540 282 762

ABOUT PROJECTIVE GROUP
Projective Group is a holding company encompassing multiple entities covering all aspects of transformation in today’s financial industry. Projective Group is an end-to-end partner for those who want to excel in an ever-changing environment, helping shape businesses today to meet tomorrow’s challenges.

ABOUT PROJECTIVE
Projective drives innovation and change in the financial industry by stimulating complex business transformation, sustainable change, measurable value and cost reduction. With their in-depth expertise in banking, payments, capital markets, asset management, stock exchanges and insurance, Projective’s experts carry organizations forward in the fields of regulation, digital innovation, (digital) change processes and operational excellence.
The ‘Projectivers’ are a unique collective of senior industry professionals, management consultants and delivery and technology experts. Together with our partners Exellys, The Glue, Start-ups.be & Scale-ups.eu and Smartfin, we provide financial institutions access to industry-leading innovative expertise and delivery. They serve their customers from offices in Europe’s leading European financial centres, including Brussels, Amsterdam, London, Frankfurt, Paris and Zurich. www.projectivegroup.com

ABOUT EXELLYS
Exellys helps companies attract and retain highly skilled talent in IT and engineering functions. With a program of intensive training and coaching in technical, management and soft skills, Exellys takes this tech talent to a higher level, making it immediately employable. Exellys ensures that companies can call on the best tech talent available, both permanently and on a flexible / project basis, thereby enabling them to continue to focus on their core business. Since its start in 2014, Exellys has grown into a company with 140 consultants and 24 internal employees. www.exellys.com

ABOUT DTSQUARED
DTSQUARED is a specialist consultancy solving business challenges and unlocking opportunities using the Power of Data. Through their significant data expertise and end-to-end data management capabilities, DTSQUARED help their clients by creating tangible business benefits via their data strategy.
DTSQUARED focus on Data Governance, Data Quality, Data Architecture and Master Data Management as well as extensive end-to-end project and programme management capabilities. Working across the UK, US and Europe, the team have helped solve data challenges for numerous large, global organisations across sectors including financial services, real estate, utilities and the public sector.

Categories: News

Tags:

Cloudera Enters into Definitive Agreement to be Acquired by Clayton, Dubilier & Rice and KKR for $5.3 Billion

KKR

Cloudera Stockholders to Receive $16.00 Per Share in Cash

SANTA CLARA, Calif., June 1, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — Cloudera, (NYSE: CLDR), the enterprise data cloud company, today announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by affiliates of Clayton, Dubilier & Rice (“CD&R”) and KKR in an all cash transaction valued at approximately $5.3 billion. The transaction will result in Cloudera becoming a private company and is expected to close in the second half of 2021.

Cloudera

The Board of Directors of Cloudera (the “Board”) has unanimously approved the transaction and recommends that the Cloudera shareholders approve the transaction and adopt the merger agreement. Entities related to Icahn Group, collectively holding approximately 18% of the outstanding shares of Cloudera common stock, have entered into a voting agreement pursuant to which they have agreed, among other things, to vote their shares of Cloudera common stock in favor of the transaction.

The transaction delivers substantial value to Cloudera shareholders, who will receive $16.00 in cash per share, representing a 24% premium to the closing price as of May 28, 2021 and a 30% premium to the 30-day volume weighted average share price.

“This transaction provides substantial and certain value to our shareholders while also accelerating Cloudera’s long-term path to hybrid cloud leadership for analytics that span the complete data lifecycle – from the Edge to AI,” said Rob Bearden, CEO of Cloudera. “We believe that as a private company with the expertise and support of experienced investors such as CD&R and KKR, Cloudera will have the resources and flexibility to drive product-led growth and expand our addressable market opportunity.”

“We very much look forward to working with Cloudera as it continues to execute its long-term transformation strategy,” said Jeff Hawn, CD&R Operating Partner who will serve as Chairman of the company upon the close of the transaction. “The company has made significant progress establishing the Cloudera Data Platform (CDP) as a leader in hybrid and multi-cloud analytics, and we believe that our experience and capabilities can offer valuable support to accelerate expansion into new products and markets.” Mr. Hawn’s past roles include serving as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Quest Software, Vertafore, and Attachmate.

“We have followed the Cloudera story closely for a number of years and are pleased to be supporting its mission of helping companies make better use of their data in the ever-evolving hybrid IT environment,” said John Park, KKR Partner and Head of Americas Technology Private Equity. “We are excited to contribute to Cloudera’s accelerated innovation efforts as a private company.”

KKR is making the investment from its North American private equity funds, adding to KKR’s experience helping to grow leading global technology businesses, including GoDaddy, Internet Brands, Epicor, BMC, Optiv, Calabrio, Corel and 1-800 Contacts. CD&R’s investments in technology-related businesses include Epicor, Capco, m2gen, Sirius Computer Solutions, and TRANZACT.

Closing of the deal is subject to customary closing conditions, including the approval of Cloudera shareholders and antitrust approval. The agreement includes a 30-day “go-shop” period expiring on [July 1], 2021, which allows the Board and its advisors to actively initiate, solicit and consider alternative acquisition proposals from third parties – with an additional 10 days to negotiate a definitive agreement with qualifying parties. The Board will have the right to terminate the merger agreement to enter into a superior proposal subject to the terms and conditions of the merger agreement. There can be no assurance that this “go-shop” will result in a superior proposal, and Cloudera does not intend to disclose developments with respect to the solicitation process unless and until the Board receives an acquisition proposal that it determines is a superior proposal, or it otherwise determines such disclosure is required.

First Quarter Fiscal 2021 Financial Results

Cloudera will announce its first quarter fiscal year 2021 financial results in a separate release today. The press release will also be available on the Investor Relations section of Cloudera’s website. Due to the announced transaction with affiliates of CD&R and KKR, Cloudera has cancelled its earnings conference call previously scheduled for June 2, 2021.

Advisors

Morgan Stanley & Co LLC is serving as exclusive financial advisor to Cloudera, and Latham & Watkins, LLP is serving as legal advisor to Cloudera. GCA Advisors, LLC, BofA Securities, William Blair & Company, L.L.C., Perella Weinberg Partners LP, Cowen and J.P. Morgan are serving as financial advisors and Kirkland & Ellis, LLP and Debevoise & Plimpton LLP are serving as legal advisor to CD&R and KKR. J.P. Morgan, Bank of America, and KKR Capital Markets have committed to providing debt financing for the transaction.

About Cloudera

At Cloudera, we believe that data can make what is impossible today, possible tomorrow. We empower people to transform complex data into clear and actionable insights. Cloudera delivers an enterprise data cloud for any data, anywhere, from the Edge to AI. Powered by the relentless innovation of the open source community, Cloudera advances digital transformation for the world’s largest enterprises. Learn more at Cloudera.com.

Cloudera and associated marks are trademarks or registered trademarks of Cloudera, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks of their respective owners.

About Clayton, Dubilier & Rice

CD&R is a private investment firm with a strategy predicated on building stronger, more profitable businesses. Since inception, CD&R has managed the investment of more than $35 billion in 100 companies with an aggregate transaction value of more than $150 billion. The firm has offices in New York and London. For more information, please visit www.cdr-inc.com.

About KKR

KKR is a leading global investment firm that offers alternative asset management and capital markets and insurance solutions. KKR aims to generate attractive investment returns by following a patient and disciplined investment approach, employing world-class people, and supporting growth in its portfolio companies and communities. KKR sponsors investment funds that invest in private equity, credit and real assets and has strategic partners that manage hedge funds. KKR’s insurance subsidiaries offer retirement, life and reinsurance products under the management of The Global Atlantic Financial Group. References to KKR’s investments may include the activities of its sponsored funds and insurance subsidiaries. For additional information about KKR & Co. Inc. (NYSE: KKR), please visit KKR’s website at www.kkr.com and on Twitter @KKR_Co.

Important Information and Where to Find It

In connection with the proposed transaction between Cloudera, Inc. (“Cloudera”) and an affiliate of CD&R and KKR, a special stockholder meeting will be announced soon to obtain stockholder approval in connection with the proposed transaction. Cloudera expects to file with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) a proxy statement (the “Proxy Statement”), the definitive version of which will be sent or provided to Cloudera stockholders. Cloudera may also file other documents with the SEC regarding the proposed transaction. This document is not a substitute for the Proxy Statement or any other document which Cloudera may file with the SEC. INVESTORS AND SECURITY HOLDERS ARE URGED TO READ THE PROXY STATEMENT AND ANY OTHER RELEVANT DOCUMENTS THAT ARE FILED OR WILL BE FILED WITH THE SEC, AS WELL AS ANY AMENDMENTS OR SUPPLEMENTS TO THESE DOCUMENTS, CAREFULLY AND IN THEIR ENTIRETY BECAUSE THEY CONTAIN OR WILL CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT THE PROPOSED TRANSACTION AND RELATED MATTERS. Investors and security holders may obtain free copies of the Proxy Statement (when it is available) and other documents that are filed or will be filed with the SEC by Cloudera through the website maintained by the SEC at www.sec.gov, Cloudera’s investor relations website at https://investors.cloudera.com/home/default.aspx or by contacting the Cloudera investor relations department at the following:

Participants in the Solicitation

Cloudera and certain of its directors, and executive officers and other members of management and employees may be deemed to be participants in the solicitation of proxies in respect of the proposed transaction. Information regarding the persons who may, under the rules of the SEC, be considered to be participants in the solicitation of Cloudera’s stockholders will be set forth in the Proxy Statement for its special stockholder meeting. Cloudera stockholders may obtain additional information regarding the direct and indirect interests of the participants in the solicitation of proxies in connection with the proposed transaction, including the interests of Cloudera directors and executive officers in the transaction, which may be different than those of Cloudera stockholders generally, by reading the Proxy Statement and any other relevant documents that are filed or will be filed with the SEC relating to the transaction. You may obtain free copies of these documents using the sources indicated above.

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements About the Proposed Transaction

This communication contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the federal securities laws, including Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. These forward-looking statements are based on Cloudera’s current expectations, estimates and projections about the expected date of closing of the proposed transaction and the potential benefits thereof, its business and industry, management’s beliefs and certain assumptions made by Cloudera, CD&R and KKR, all of which are subject to change. In this context, forward-looking statements often address expected future business and financial performance and financial condition, and often contain words such as “expect,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “plan,” “believe,” “could,” “seek,” “see,” “will,” “may,” “would,” “might,” “potentially,” “estimate,” “continue,” “expect,” “target,” similar expressions or the negatives of these words or other comparable terminology that convey uncertainty of future events or outcomes. All forward-looking statements by their nature address matters that involve risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond our control, and are not guarantees of future results, such as statements about the consummation of the proposed transaction and the anticipated benefits thereof. These and other forward-looking statements, including the failure to consummate the proposed transaction or to make or take any filing or other action required to consummate the transaction on a timely matter or at all, are not guarantees of future results and are subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in any forward-looking statements. Accordingly, there are or will be important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated in such statements and, therefore, you should not place undue reliance on any such statements and caution must be exercised in relying on forward-looking statements. Important risk factors that may cause such a difference include, but are not limited to: (i) the completion of the proposed transaction on anticipated terms and timing, including obtaining stockholder and regulatory approvals, anticipated tax treatment, unforeseen liabilities, future capital expenditures, revenues, expenses, earnings, synergies, economic performance, indebtedness, financial condition, losses, future prospects, business and management strategies for the management, expansion and growth of Cloudera’s business and other conditions to the completion of the transaction; (ii) conditions to the closing of the transaction may not be satisfied; (iii) the transaction may involve unexpected costs, liabilities or delays; (iv) the outcome of any legal proceedings related to the transaction; (v) the failure by CD&R and KKR to obtain the necessary debt financing arrangements set forth in the commitment letters received in connection with the transaction; (vi) the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Cloudera’s business and general economic conditions; (vii) Cloudera’s ability to implement its business strategy; (viii) significant transaction costs associated with the proposed transaction; (ix) potential litigation relating to the proposed transaction; (x) the risk that disruptions from the proposed transaction will harm Cloudera’s business, including current plans and operations; (xi) the ability of Cloudera to retain and hire key personnel; (xii) potential adverse reactions or changes to business relationships resulting from the announcement or completion of the proposed transaction; (xiii) legislative, regulatory and economic developments affecting Cloudera’s business; (xiv) general economic and market developments and conditions; (xv) the evolving legal, regulatory and tax regimes under which Cloudera operates; (xvi) potential business uncertainty, including changes to existing business relationships, during the pendency of the merger that could affect Cloudera’s financial performance; (xvii) restrictions during the pendency of the proposed transaction that may impact Cloudera’s ability to pursue certain business opportunities or strategic transactions; and (xviii) unpredictability and severity of catastrophic events, including, but not limited to, acts of terrorism or outbreak of war or hostilities, as well as Cloudera’s response to any of the aforementioned factors. While the list of factors presented here is considered representative, such list should not be considered to be a complete statement of all potential risks and uncertainties. Unlisted factors may present significant additional obstacles to the realization of forward looking statements. Consequences of material differences in results as compared with those anticipated in the forward-looking statements could include, among other things, business disruption, operational problems, financial loss, legal liability to third parties and similar risks, any of which could have a material adverse effect on Cloudera’s financial condition, results of operations, or liquidity. Cloudera does not assume any obligation to publicly provide revisions or updates to any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise, should circumstances change, except as otherwise required by securities and other applicable laws.

SOURCE Cloudera, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.cloudera.com

<< Back to Press Releases

Categories: News

Tags: