New Platform Makes First Investment in HeTian Hospital Management Co.

BEIJING–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Sep. 25, 2018– Global investment firm KKR today announced the creation of SinoCare Group (“SinoCare” or the “Company”), a hospital investment and management platform company in China. SinoCare aims to provide high-quality health care services to patients in China through the acquisition, build-out and consolidation of hospitals.

SinoCare will work alongside KKR to bring top medical resources and management experience that aim to improve service capabilities and operational efficiencies to health care service providers within the SinoCare platform, as well as to address the high demand for quality medical services in China. The Company will build its platform through organic growth and acquisitions. Additionally, KKR’s support will enable partner hospitals and care centers to be on the leading edge of health care technology and global best practices.

In conjunction with the launch of SinoCare, KKR also announced that the Company has acquired a majority stake in leading Chinese hospital management company, HeTian Hospital Management Co. (“HeTian”). The investment will support HeTian’s continued development of new medical practice areas, its expansion plans and scope to service more patients. The partnership between HeTian and SinoCare aims to serve as a model for how Chinese health care providers can be substantially enhanced through the support of a leading international investor and increased access to global best practices and medical resources.

Established by Founder and Chairman Dr. Li Fangjun, HeTian is a leading comprehensive health care provider in China. HeTian operates two general hospitals in Anhui province – Lu’An Shili Hospital and WuHe Hospital – and Lu’An HeTian Nephrosis Specialty Hospital, an operator of three dialysis centers. The group manages a total of 1,300 beds, in addition to overseeing the construction of a new hospital with 500 beds planned to be completed by 2020.

SinoCare will support HeTian’s expansion and growth through acquisitions, with a focus in third- and fourth-tier cities where medical resources are scarce and quality health care services are lacking. This is consistent with the Chinese government’s encouragement of more medical resources being extended to lower-tier cities, where there is urgent need but currently limited supply and high costs for medical treatments. There are fewer than three hospital beds per 1,000 people in China’s fourth-tier and smaller cities, according to the National Health and Family Planning Commission.

Paul Yang, Member and CEO of KKR Greater China, said, “This is a pivotal time for health care in China given the growing demand for quality medical services and treatments nationwide. We’ve seen first-hand some of the issues facing Chinese patients and are dedicated to supporting their needs through the launch of SinoCare and through the platform’s initial investment in HeTian. We are impressed with HeTian’s respected and experienced team of doctors led by Dr. Li, and believe that the company has a unique opportunity to build on its success to deliver excellent care to more Chinese patients.”

Dr. Li Fangjun, Founder and Chairman of HeTian, added, “As China faces a shortage of medical professionals and clinics, the role of private hospitals is becoming increasingly important. KKR has a long-standing reputation for bringing global best practices to its partners in the health care industry internationally, in addition to supporting Chinese entrepreneurs. We are excited to partner with SinoCare and KKR to grow our hospital group to meet the needs of patients in the Yangtze River Delta and beyond. This investment marks the beginning of an exciting and vital chapter in HeTian’s bright future.”

KKR’s investment in SinoCare is being funded from KKR Asian Fund III. Further terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

About SinoCare Group

SinoCare Group (“SinoCare”) is a hospital investment and management platform company in China created and managed by leading global investment firm, KKR. The company aims to provide high quality and accessible health care services to patients in China through the acquisition, build-out and consolidation of hospitals and introduction of global best practices.

About HeTian Hospital Management

HeTian Hospital Management Co. (“HeTian”) is a professional hospital management company specialized in operating and investing in integrated health care service providers. HeTian currently operates seven award-winning hospitals and health care centers focused on underserved Chinese cities. The company’s vision is to improve access to quality health care services by building a network of primary medical care providers supported by modern health care management best practices.

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.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180925006279/en/

Source: KKR

For KKR:
KKR Asia
Cara Major, +852-3602-7335
Cara.Major@KKR.com
or
Sard Verbinnen & Co.
Rick Carew, +852-3842-2200
KKR-SVC@sardverb.com
or
KKR Americas
Kristi Huller, +1 212-750-8300
Media@KKR.com
or
For KKR China:
FTI Consulting
Dee Wang, +86 21-2315-1138
Dee.Wang@fticonsulting.com

Colisée, a leading player in the elderly care segment in France & Italy supported by IK Investment Partners (“IK”) since 2017, is accelerating its growth with the acquisition of STS Grup, a nursing home provider in Spain.

STS Grup’s 6 facilities representing approximately 600 beds in Catalonia, will join the Colisée Group and further strengthen its leading position in Europe in the nursing home and homecare services segments. With more than 114 nursing home facilities and 70 home care services agencies in France, Italy and Spain, the Group led by Christine Jeandel is positioned as a clear pan-European consolidator.

Following this acquisition, in order to increase its financials capabilities to pursue buy-and-build in Europe on top of financial support from IK, Colisée tapped the debt markets. By raising a new term loan of MEUR 120, the Group recharged its acquisition facility loan.

Colisée welcomed the IK VIII Fund, advised by IK Investment Partners, as the majority shareholder in June 2017. Since then, the Group has grown steadily both organically and through buy-and-build, adding 24 nursing facilities (i.e. 2,198 beds) to its perimeter.

The financial terms of the transaction are not disclosed.

For further questions, please contact:

Colisée
Marie-Gabrielle de Marchis – Nouvelle Saison
Phone: +33 6 69 40 32 17
mg.demarchis@nouvellesaison.com

IK Investment Partners
Dan Soudry, Partner
Phone: +33 1 44 43 06 60

Mikaela Hedborg
Director Communications & ESG
Phone: +44 77 87 573 566
mikaela.hedborg@ikinvest.com

About Colisée
Colisée is a key player in the global health care and old-age dependency sector, and has developed a real expertise in elderly people care and well-being. Its network includes 114 facilities in France, Italy and Spain and close to 70 home-based services agencies in France. In those two business segments, Colisée employs more than 7,800 people. For more information, please visit www.groupecolisee.com

Partnership will support expansion into new markets and broaden supplier relationships

Johannesburg, South Africa, 13 September 2018 – Global alternative asset manager The Carlyle Group (NASDAQ: CG) today announces that it has completed the acquisition of a majority stake in AK Life Sciences (Abacus), a pharmaceutical company in East Africa. Equity for the transaction came from Carlyle Sub-Saharan Africa Fund (CSSAF). Financial terms are not disclosed.

Founded in 1995, Abacus is one of the largest distributors of pharmaceutical products in East Africa and the largest manufacturer of parenterals (IV fluids, ear, eye and nose drops) in Uganda. The company has a differentiated product offering, ranging from mission critical parenterals to branded generics for chronic therapeutic areas such as oncology, diabetes and cardiovascular. Abacus has an extensive distribution network with 30 wholesale branches across Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi, Rwanda and Kenya, of which many are located in remote and rural areas. The company is the distributor of choice for many multinational pharmaceutical companies looking to enter the East African market because of its strong brand recognition, reputation for quality and extensive distribution network.

Ramesh Babu, Co-Founder and Managing Director at Abacus, said, “Abacus has grown to become one of the leading pharmaceutical companies in East Africa, and today we employ more than 800 people throughout the region and have a distribution network of 30 wholesale branches. We have created a strong platform for further growth and have established good relationships with large multinational pharmaceutical companies and local suppliers. We are excited to partner with Carlyle and expect to benefit from their deep industry knowledge and experience, and look forward to building on our company’s success to date.”

Genevieve Sangudi, Managing Director at The Carlyle Group, said: “Abacus has best-in-class distribution capabilities and an established regional platform to build on, taking advantage of the favorable demographics and growing pharmaceutical demand throughout East Africa. We see an opportunity to support Abacus and to leverage Carlyle’s platform to provide the company with access to new markets as well as broadening supplier relationships with European and North American innovators. We look forward to working closely with the founders and the management team to drive growth in the next phase of the company’s development.”

The Carlyle Group has invested more than US$11.5 billion of equity in more than 65 transactions across the global healthcare industry as of June 30, 2018.

Carlyle was advised on the transaction by McKinsey (commercial), Clifford Chance (legal), and KPMG (financial).

*****

Contact:

The Carlyle Group
Katarina Sallerfors
Katarina.sallerfors@carlyle.com
+44 (0)20 7894 3554

About The Carlyle Group
The Carlyle Group (NASDAQ: CG) is a global alternative asset manager with $210 billion of assets under management across 335 investment vehicles as of June 30, 2018. Carlyle’s purpose is to invest wisely and create value on behalf of its investors, many of whom are public pensions. Carlyle invests across four segments – Corporate Private Equity, Real Assets, Global Credit and Investment Solutions – in Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, the Middle East, North America and South America. Carlyle has expertise in various industries, including: aerospace, defense & government services, consumer & retail, energy, financial services, healthcare, industrial, real estate, technology & business services, telecommunications & media and transportation. The Carlyle Group employs more than 1,625 people in 31 offices across six continents.

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

About Carlyle Sub-Sahara Africa Fund (CSSAF)

Established in 2012, CSSAF and its affiliates, with $698 million of committed capital, have invested over $550 million to date across a variety of industries, including energy, financial services, TMT, retail, logistics, business services and mining services, and across a variety of geographies, including South Africa, Gabon, Nigeria, Mozambique, Zambia, Tanzania, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. CSSAF makes buyout and growth capital investments in private and public companies from offices in Johannesburg, South Africa and Lagos, Nigeria.

About AK Life Sciences (Abacus)

Abacus was incorporated in 1995 under the flagship of the Kiboko Group of companies. Within a span of 15 years the Company has grown from a small distributor to one of the leading importers and distributors of pharmaceutical formulations and surgical and non-surgical items. Abacus represents several reputable pharmaceutical companies spread across India, China, Middle East, Pakistan, UK and Kenya.
For Web: https://abacuspharma.com/

###

nvestment will fuel company’s growth in building the industry’s first real-time care guidance platform

SAN FRANCISCO & NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)– Clarify Health Solutions, Inc. (“Clarify” or the “Company”), a pioneer in real-time care guidance technology, today announced that it has closed $57 million in a Series B financing round led by KKR, a global investment firm. Building upon the Company’s rapid customer expansion in 2018, the injection of new capital will fuel the Company’s growth on its mission to power the personalization and optimization of every care journey.

Clarify brings hospital, health insurance, and life sciences customers the latest financial services and consumer technologies coupled with the deep clinical expertise needed to power innovative care delivery models. Clarify’s solutions deploy predictive analytics and machine learning on a comprehensive data set of over 20 terabytes – representing clinical, claims, social determinant, laboratory, and prescription data – to provide actionable insights and automate care navigation. The Company’s Care Journey Platform enables doctors to gain the confidence of matching patients to the most appropriate care, while patients benefit from real-time visibility and guidance.

Clarify plans to use the new funding to expand its clinical transformation, sales, engineering, and data science teams, to acquire new data assets, and to accelerate the development of its digital care guidance platform. This will help widen Clarify’s reach in supporting customers in their delivery of more effective and delightful care to patients nationwide.

“We are thrilled to partner with KKR to build the world’s first real-time care guidance platform,” said Jean Drouin, MD, CEO and Co-Founder, Clarify Health Solutions. “We are entering a new era, where technology can help us to reimagine care delivery. We have accepted for far too long that an accessible, service-oriented, and customer-centric experience is simply unattainable in health care. We are committed to making the words ‘delightful,’ ‘healed,’ and ‘affordable’ far more common in the health care lexicon.”

For KKR, the investment is being funded through the firm’s Health Care Strategic Growth Fund, which is focused on investing in high-growth health care-related companies for which KKR can be a unique partner in helping reach scale.

“Today’s health care market is not only very complicated but also extremely fragmented and marked by patient dissatisfaction,” said Ali Satvat, Member of KKR and Head of KKR’s Health Care Strategic Growth investing efforts. “The impressive and highly experienced team at Clarify is addressing this problem by bringing the power of technology to the industry in a way in which it has not been applied to date. We are delighted to partner with Clarify on this effort to enable a more effective, efficient, and simply better health care experience for both physicians and the patients who need it.”

Clarify delivers precise care guidance through its three primary solutions:

Clarify Care Prism

Clarify’s machine-learning analytics solution provides case-mix adjusted insights on performance in value-based payment programs and beyond. The solution unlocks granular clinical and operational variation insights on performance at the facility, physician, and/or patient levels with compelling, easily understandable visuals that empower change. Clarify recently became a Qualified Entity (QE), gaining access to the full Medicare data set for parts A, B, and D, through the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).

“The Clarify Care Journey Platform is built upon an ever-growing data set that represents one third of the U.S. population and over 20% of our nation’s health care spend,” said Todd Gottula, President, CTO and Co-Founder, Clarify Health Solutions. “We are giving customers a rare insight into the precise drivers of cost, quality, and outcomes, at the patient level, completely revolutionizing how care journeys are mapped and directed by clinicians.”

Clarify Care Pilot

Clarify’s real-time patient engagement solution effectively guides the patient through his or her care journey. A doctor or health care professional prescribes a personalized “care map” directly to the patient via the mobile or browser-based app. Care Pilot is designed to engage the patient outside of the clinic by providing critical information about care regimens, collecting self-reported data, and enabling communication with care teams through real-time patient monitoring.

Clarify Care Connect

Clarify’s real-time care navigation solution empowers clinicians to monitor and guide patients efficiently through their journey of care in real time. Granular patient stratification and journey assignment at the beginning of a journey creates a workstation for the efficient management of a panel of patients. Ongoing assessment of patient risk levels, prioritized alerts to focus on patients requiring intervention, and critical patient-level information are all easily accessible by the care team.

About Clarify Health Solutions

Our vision is to power better care by personalizing and optimizing every care journey. Clarify delivers the insights and digital solutions that empower physicians, health systems, and payers to optimize care and thrive in a value-based world. The Clarify platform seamlessly integrates powerful analytics, artificial intelligence, real-time patient navigation, and smart workflows to guide patients and their caregivers proactively through personalized care journeys. Clarify brings committed and passionate colleagues with backgrounds in big data and AI engineering from financial services together with extensive clinical operations expertise. The team has a track record of achieving over $1 billion in improvement at more than 125 health systems, payers, and pharmaceutical companies and deploying cloud-based software at over 5,000 institutions. For more information, please visit http://www.clarifyhealth.com.

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.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180910005299/en/

Clarify Health Solutions
Kendall Reischl, 408-768-3176
kendall@clarifyhealth.com
KKR
Kristi Huller or Cara Major, 212-750-8300
media@kkr.com

Source: Clarify Health Solutions, Inc

EQT Credit, through its Mid-Market Credit investment strategy, today announced that is has provided a senior secured financing solution to support Summa Equity’s investment in HyTest.

Founded in 1994 as a spinoff from a project within Turku University, HyTest is a high-quality, global antibody and antigens manufacturer and supplier, primarily targeting in vitro diagnostics (IVD) OEMs and research organizations. The company is headquartered in Turku, Finland and employs 112 people.

Paul Johnson, Partner at EQT Partners’ Credit team, Investment Advisor to EQT Mid-Market Credit, commented: “HyTest is recognized globally as a high-quality supplier of antibodies to IVD companies and to the research community. The company operates in an attractive market driven by non-cyclical, stable growth drivers. EQT Credit looks forward to supporting HyTest and its management team under Summa’s ownership”.

Alexandre Hökfelt, Director at EQT Partners’ Credit team, Investment Advisor to EQT Mid-Market Credit, added: “The transaction represents EQT Mid-Market Credit’s second unitranche in Finland this summer and we would like to thank EQT’s Industrial Advisors, who as senior executives in the IVD space, provided key support to the EQT Credit deal team throughout the due diligence process”.

Contacts
Paul Johnson, Partner at EQT Partners, Investment Advisor to EQT Mid-Market Credit, +44 203 372 9424
Alexandre Hökfelt, Director at EQT Partners, Investment Advisor to EQT Mid-Market Credit, +44 203 372 9414
EQT Press Office, +46 8 506 55 334, press@eqtpartners.com

About EQT Credit
EQT Credit invests through four complementary strategies: Senior Debt, Mid-Market Credit (direct lending), Core Value and Credit Opportunities. Since inception, EQT Credit has invested in excess of EUR 5 billion in over 160 companies. EQT Credit’s direct lending strategy seeks to provide flexible, long-term debt capital solutions to medium-sized European businesses, across a wide range of sectors. These businesses may be privately-owned corporates seeking alternative funding to grow or be the subject of private equity-led acquisitions or refinancings.

More info: www.eqtpartners.com/Investment-Strategies/Credit

About EQT
EQT is a leading investment firm with approximately EUR 50 billion in raised capital across 27 funds. EQT funds have portfolio companies in Europe, Asia and the US with total sales of more than EUR 19 billion and approximately 110,000 employees. EQT works with portfolio companies to achieve sustainable growth, operational excellence and market leadership.

Funding to advance a breakthrough non-hormonal treatment for symptoms of the menopause, into a Phase 2b study in Q4 2018

Stevenage, UK, 29 August 2018 – KaNDy Therapeutics, a clinical-stage Women’s Health company, today announces it has successfully closed a Series C financing round, raising £25 million from new US investor Longitude Capital, and existing internationally recognised life sciences investors Advent Life Sciences, Fountain Healthcare Partners, Forbion Capital Partners and OrbiMed.

The proceeds will enable KaNDy Therapeutics to advance its breakthrough non-hormonal drug candidate, NT-814, for treatment of multiple symptoms of the menopause, through a multi-country Phase 2b dose-ranging study due to start recruiting patients in Q4 2018 with headline results expected in late 2019.

Commenting on the financing round, Mary Kerr CEO of KaNDy Therapeutics, said:”We are delighted by the level of enthusiasm and financial support we have received from our investors and would like to welcome Longitude Capital into the syndicate and the board of directors. Our investors and the KaNDy management team are united by the common belief that NT-814 has the potential to be a transformational treatment for the millions of women worldwide who suffer debilitating symptoms of the menopause.”

NT-814 is an orally administered once daily, potent and selective small molecule dual antagonist of both the neurokinin-1 and 3 receptors. It is being developed by KaNDy Therapeutics to provide a viable alternative to hormone replacement therapy. In June 2018, the Company announced positive data from the Phase Ib/IIa proof of concept clinical trial which showed that women who were treated with NT-814 once daily for two weeks at the most effective doses evaluated, experienced a rapid and profound reduction in two key symptoms of the menopause, namely frequency and severity of hot flashes and the number of night time awakenings

Josh Richardson, M.D., Managing Director of Longitude Capital said: “We were very pleased to participate in this funding round. We have been impressed with the data announced thus far, by KaNDy’s business strategy and the strong and experienced management team. We believe NT-814 has the potential to greatly improve the quality of life of millions of women worldwide and we look forward to supporting the Company as it continues to progress this potentially transformational candidate through the clinic towards commercialization.”

A Phase 2b study to further evaluate the safety and efficacy of NT-814 in women with bothersome post-menopausal symptoms, and to establish the optimum dose to take forward into Phase 3, is anticipated to start recruiting patients in the US, Canada and the UK in Q4 2018, with headline results expected in late 2019.

International private equity firm, Cinven, today announces that it has successfully completed the final sell down of its remaining shares in Nasdaq-listed Medpace (‘the Group’), a leading contract research organisation (‘CRO’). Following this transaction, Medpace becomes a fully realised investment for Cinven, generating highly successful returns for the Fifth Cinven Fund.

Headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, Medpace is a global CRO operator providing management services to the R&D departments of pharma, biotech and medical device clients to help plan and oversee their clinical trials. Medpace focuses on small to mid-size companies and has significant expertise in numerous therapeutic areas, operating across 36 countries worldwide.

Cinven’s Healthcare team identified the CRO industry as an attractive market in which to invest. Following its detailed sector review work, Cinven acquired Medpace in February 2014 for a total consideration of US$915 million.

During Cinven’s ownership of Medpace, strong progress was made by Medpace’s industry-leading management team across a number of key pillars of Cinven’s investment thesis:

• International expansion: Medpace continued to expand significantly outside of the US including in Europe and Asia;
• New therapeutic areas: Medpace successfully developed its therapeutic franchises including anti-viral/anti-infective and oncology, and consolidated its position in existing therapeutic areas, such as metabolic and cardiovascular, as well as later-stage trials; and
• Investment-led growth: Significant investment was made into Medpace’s human capital and infrastructure to position the Group for further growth. In particular, Cinven enabled the senior management to make the strategic hires necessary to grow the business. Medpace’s workforce increased by more than 55% during Cinven’s investment, with the number of employees growing from approx. 1,500 in 2014 to 2,700 today.

As a result, Medpace delivered strong financial performance under Cinven’s ownership, driven by trading growth momentum, industry-leading margins and strong cash conversion.

On the back of this strong performance, in August 2016, Medpace achieved a highly successful all-primary IPO on the Nasdaq Global Select Market at US$23 per share. Medpace’s share price has performed well in the aftermarket, and Cinven has monetised its investment in Medpace through a series of sell downs, culminating in the final sell down on 22 August 2018 at a c.138% premium to the IPO price.

Commenting on the transaction, Alex Leslie, Partner in Cinven’s New York office, said:

“Cinven’s investment in Medpace stemmed from a high conviction thesis that we developed within Cinven’s Healthcare Team, which anticipated strong growth in the CRO industry fuelled by increased R&D spending by the pharma industry and the growing complexity and number of clinical trials required to bring new molecules to market.

“We expected this would be especially pronounced in the smaller pharma and biotech segments of the market, where Medpace focuses. This thesis has played out and has resulted in Medpace delivering an excellent returns.”

John Richardson, Senior Principal in Cinven’s New York office, added:

“Cinven backed a strong management team at Medpace, led by CEO, Dr August Troendle, and invested significantly in his team and the Group’s infrastructure, including IT systems and clinical operations. Medpace is a strong example of Cinven’s successful sector / regional approach – how the Cinven Healthcare and US teams have worked closely together to grow a business and generate highly attractive returns for Cinven’s investors.”

The transaction is expected to close on or around 27 August 2018 subject to customary closing conditions.

The final realisation of Medpace follows Cinven’s recent successful exits of CeramTec, CPA Global, Viridium Group and Ufinet Group.

c-LEcta, a world-leading biotechnology company focused on enzyme engineering and applications in regulated markets like food and pharma, has closed a financing round with Capricorn Venture Partners and the German investment company bm|t. The capital increase provides the company with growth capital as well as valuable access to an international network.

c-LEcta already has a diversified shareholder structure. In addition to the founder, Dr. Marc Struhalla, private industrial investors and German institutionals, the company has now expanded its circle of shareholders by attracting international investors. c-LEcta has received growth capital from two new shareholders. Lead investor, Capricorn Venture Partners, is an independent, internationally oriented investment company, based in Leuven, Belgium. Capricorn invests in innovative, technology driven companies and has a multidisciplinary team of experienced investment professionals. Capricorn invested through two funds, namely the Capricorn Sustainable Chemistry Fund NV and Quest for Growth NV. The German investment company bm|t invests in high-growth technology companies led by entrepreneurial teams. bm|t invested via the MFT Mittelstands-Fonds Thüringen GmbH & Co. KG. These new funds are planned to be particularly invested in the approval, launch and scale-up of products from the project pipeline, further development of the pipeline as well as the expansion of international sales.

Mr. Ludwig Goris, Investment Manager of Capricorn, commented on the investment in c-LEcta: “We see that global mega trends and challenges in human nutrition are paving the way for industrial biotech companies like c-LEcta. Since its foundation, c-LEcta has built up a remarkable track record of technology and product development and has been able to validate that through a growing customer base of leading pharma, chemical and food ingredient companies. In addition, we were impressed by the highly qualified team in Leipzig. Founder and CEO Dr. Marc Struhalla and his motivated team have created a great company that has arrived at an attractive inflection point where the current product pipeline forms the foundation for an accelerated growth curve. We are proud to lead this growth capital round and contribute to the success of c-LEcta.”

Kevin Reeder, CEO of bm|t added, “bm|t, which has a substantial life sciences portfolio, is very optimistic about its investment in c-LEcta. The company´s strong team, track record of successful development, and a highly compelling product pipeline were extremely impressive. We feel c-LEcta is well-positioned to transition to a high-value biotechnology product company.” The two new investors expand the group of shareholders, which previously included the following investors: SHS Gesellschaft für Beteiligungsmanagement mbH, High-Tech Gründerfonds Management GmbH, KfW Bankengruppe, Dr. Marc Struhalla, Warning Beteiligungs GmbH, Dr. Bader Beteiligungs GmbH, and Arthur Steinmetz Beteiligungs GmbH.

In order to reinforce management and the board and support the anticipated growth, Thomas Pfaadt (45) recently joined c-LEcta as CFO. He enriches the company with his experience in corporate finance and M&A. Previously Thomas Pfaadt worked for a private equity-owned operator of rehabilitation clinics as well as for a family-owned integrated healthcare group. He also gained experiences as an investment banker and consultant with a strong focus on the healthcare sector. He commented on what excites him about c-LEcta: “c-LEcta is a young, lean, and dynamic company and a global player at the same time. We are fighting the serious challenges of today’s human nutrition. A growing population and a growing demand for healthy natural food require solutions from enzyme technologies that the chemical industry cannot provide. We are pleased to have won these two new investors to finance our work in addressing these large opportunities.”

c-LEcta is a fully integrated biotechnology company based in Leipzig, Germany, with focus on enzyme engineering and application in regulated markets like food and pharma. c-LEcta currently employs around 60 people. The company is well diversified and covers a large part of the value chain from discovery to engineering to the commercial production of enzymes as well as the manufacturing of other high-quality biotechnology products, either as in-house developments or in close coöperation with the industry. Over the last five years, c-LEcta has conducted more than 30 enzyme engineering projects with a success rate of >90%. Only a few weeks ago, the company announced a major breakthrough as the first company to develop a process to enable the mass-production of a plant-based sweetener with a real sugar-like taste. In addition, two further food ingredient products with high market potential are in an advanced development stage and the project pipeline comprises several promising candidates addressing the multi-billion-euro food ingredients market. This growth financing is intended to raise c-LEcta to a new level and elevate the focused food ingredients from the project pipeline to commercial scale production.

CEO Dr. Marc Struhalla commented on c-LEcta’s core technology and the capital increase: «The performance requirements for enzymes to be applied in industrial processes are in most cases very specific and vary from naturally occurring variations. Enzymes therefore need to be adapted to industrial conditions via enzyme engineering, and c-LEcta owns one of the most efficient technology platforms in this area. For enzyme optimization as well as for the development of artificial enzyme activities, we use patent-protected strategies that are inspired by nature. The industrial application of these technologies holds great market potential. The financial strength and valuable international network that we have gained through this financing round now offers us the opportunity to develop the full potential of our technology and people. With Capricorn Venture Partners and bm|t, we get two active investors on board that can contribute substantially to our international growth ambitions. Also, I am all the more pleased that our new CFOThomas Pfaadt will support us in this endeavor. Our goal is that in the future c-LEcta´s technology will be employed in many things we encounter in everyday life.”

About Capricorn Venture Partners:

Capricorn Venture Partners is an independent European manager of venture capital and equity funds, investing in innovative European companies with technology as competitive advantage. It is based in Leuven, Belgium and licensed by the FSMA (the Financial Services and Markets Authority in Belgium).

About bm|t:

Erfurt-based, bm|t beteiligungsmanagement thüringen gmbh (bm|t) is the largest growth investor in the federal state of Thuringia, Germany. bm-t invests in innovative companies with strong growth potential across all sectors and phases of the corporate lifecycle.

About c-LEcta

c-LEcta is a fully integrated world-leading biotechnology company with focus on enzyme engineering and application in regulated markets like food and pharma. The company is located in Leipzig, Germany, and has established itself as a leading player in the realization of high-value biotech products, either in the form of in-house developments or in close coöperation with industry. The company currently employs around 60 people.

c-LEcta delivers cost-efficient and sustainable production processes which open new markets and allow for better penetration of existing markets. The company is characterized by fast and efficient development of best-in-class biotech solutions and a rapid and successful market introduction and commercialization of the resulting products. This enables c-LEcta to leverage the unique potential of its core technologies. c-LEcta has a proven track record of more than 10 successfully commercialized high-value industrial biotech products.