SmartSD (www.SmartSD.com), a leading value-add distributor of security solutions, announces, together with its current financial partner Smile Invest and management, a new strategic partnership with Cobepa, a leading European private equity company. This partnership underscores SmartSD’s commitment to its vendor partners, clients and team, with Cobepa actively supporting its long-term development strategy centred on continued organic growth, unlocking M&A opportunities, digital leadership and the ambition to become the Pan-European market leader.

SmartSD views Cobepa as more than just an investor; it’s a strategic partner that mirrors its culture, values and mission, bringing vast experience and expertise to the table to continue SmartSD’s growth story. This partnership aims not just to secure the company’s future but also to foster the growth of its dedicated employee base.

SmartSD’s longstanding stakeholders — the co-founders, management team, as well as Smile Invest — remain fully (and financially) committed for this next growth phase alongside Cobepa, who takes a majority stake. Together, they aim to support SmartSD in further building out its European footprint both organically and through M&A, strengthening the digital platform, enhance offerings and services and continue being the partner of choice for SmartSD’s customers.

SmartSD and its shareholders were advised by Rothschild & Co (financial advisor).

Stefan Schreurs – Co-founder and sales manager, SmartSD
“The interest shown by a highly reputable private equity firm like Cobepa in SmartSD is a testament to what we have achieved with SmartSD until today, our drive for excellence, our adherence to strong company values and the pivotal role of our passionate people. The continued support of our vendor partners has been key to our growth over the past years, whilst the trust our customers have shown in us has been integral to our success; our dedication remains in providing them with a superior experience and continue offering them our comprehensive range of products and services. We thank Smile Invest for their support over the past few years and very much look forward to the next stage of our successful journey together.”

Jean-Marie Laurent Josi – CEO, Cobepa
“We are thrilled to support SmartSD which puts digital technology, vendor value creation and superior customer experience at its core. We look forward to writing the next exciting chapter in SmartSD’s growth journey together with its founder-led management team and Smile Invest.”

Bart Cauberghe – Managing Partner, Smile Invest
“It has been a privilege to support as a majority shareholder SmartSD’s outstanding team on their growth trajectory over the past 5 years with the entry into the French market and developing the most advanced digital platform in the security value added distribution industry. We welcome a like-minded shareholder which will undoubtedly strengthen our collective ambition. SmartSD’s success has always revolved around a deep-rooted commitment to values, innovation, and most importantly, its customers. Together with SmartSD’s management team and Cobepa, we aim to achieve new milestones and further SmartSD’s success.”
SmartSD (www.smartsd.com)
SmartSD is a value-add e-commerce distributor of security systems, offering products and services through its advanced digital platform in the areas of video surveillance, burglary protection, fire protection as well as access monitoring. SmartSD has partnerships with a wide range of best-in-class, third-party brands for which the company subsequently distributes products and related services to customers, predominantly serving professional installers and integrators, across the Benelux and France. Additionally, SmartSD also offers training and technical services to its customers, where installers learn about the products and services supplied. SmartSD was established in 2008 and is headquartered in Breda (NL) with additional offices in Merchtem (BE), Paris (FR) and Toulouse. The company employs c.110 FTEs.

Smile Invest (www.smile-invest.com)
Smile Invest (Smart Money for Innovation Leaders) is a European evergreen investment firm with ca. €500m of assets under management, financed by 40 entrepreneurial families and with a long-term focus on innovative growth companies. Smile Invest focuses on companies active in three investment themes: digitalization, healthcare and sustainability. Since its inception in 2017 Smile Invest has built a portfolio of 15 companies. From its offices in Leuven and The Hague, the team supports ambitious entrepreneurs and management teams in realizing their growth plans.

Cobepa (www.cobepa.com)
Based in Brussels and established in 1957, Cobepa is a well-recognised private equity investor, with over €4.4bn net asset value. Cobepa has a track record of strong cooperation with the management teams of its portfolio companies and in partnership with co-investors it aims to enhance the growth perspectives of its investments as well as the sustainability of their business models. In the last 20 years, Cobepa has completed almost 100 transactions; it currently holds 19 other portfolio companies across a variety of sectors including business services, financial services, healthcare and industrials. Cobepa works with a team of ~50 professional investors across offices in Brussels, Munich and New York.

Establishing Metis Group marks a new step in the international buy-and-build strategy.

Eindhoven, 9 January 2024 – Variass, AME, and Gimv are delighted to announce the establishment of Metis Group, effective as of today, January 9, 2024. Metis Group is a group of electronics companies that provide Development, Manufacturing and Product Life Cycle Management services to customers. Metis Group aims to facilitate collaboration among its subsidiary companies by sharing best practices and optimizing production and development capabilities, thereby maximizing value for its customer base.

The step to establish the Metis Group is a logical one after the acquisition of a majority stake in AME in 2020 and Variass in 2022 by Gimv, a leading European investment company.

Metis Group: Together towards tomorrow
Metis Group’s companies are partnering with customers to develop and manufacture the innovations of tomorrow. With a combined revenue of well over EUR 100M+ and a strong and committed workforce of 450+ employees across multiple locations including Eindhoven, Veendam and Drachten in the Netherlands, Metis Group is ready to accelerate high-tech solutions together with its partners.

Metis Group is committed to positioning itself as a premier technology manufacturer in various segments of the industry, health, safety, energy, and climate markets. The goal is to significantly expand in the next years through both organic growth as well as strategic acquisitions. The subsidiaries under Metis Group will maintain their unique business operations while collaborating to launch new services, exchange best practices, and drive forward their collective ambition: Together towards tomorrow.

Leadership and Governance
Reinier Beltman will lead the Metis Group and will also continue his current CEO-role at AME. As a former CEO of Ampleon, Reinier has ample experience in realizing growth in a high-tech environment by continuously striving to maximize customer value. He will be complemented by Ronald Diederiks as CFO. They will be working closely together with the management teams of Variass and AME. The supervisory board is comprised of Henk Smid (founder and former CEO of Variass), Boris Wirtz and Tom Van de Voorde (both from Gimv). This seasoned leadership team is committed to steering Metis Group towards a future marked by innovation, market leadership, and to being an attractive employer with a high level of employee engagement.

Reinier Beltman, CEO of Metis Group, remarks “joining forces will accelerate our growth path and strengthen the partnerships with customers of each Metis Group company”.

Boris Wirtz, chairman of the supervisory board, added “the establishment of Metis Group as a platform for further buy-and-build marks a significant milestone in our journey. It reflects our shared commitment to excellence, innovation, and growth. As a Supervisory Board, we are excited to support a vision that not only propels our companies forward but also contributes significantly to the ‘smart industries sector’ we operate in”.

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• Press release 2024-01-09

TenCate Firmly Established as the Leading Global Artificial Grass Solution Provider for Sports and Outdoor Living

Investment Marks LGP’s Entry into the Rapidly Growing Market for Sports and Outdoor Living Surfaces with an Estimated Market Size of More than $12bn Annually

NIJVERDAL, Netherlands and DAYTON, Tenn., Dec. 22, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — TenCate Grass Holding B.V. (“TenCate”, or the “Company”) today announced that a definitive agreement has been reached whereby affiliates of Leonard Green & Partners, LP (“LGP”) will acquire a majority stake in the Company by purchasing all of the shares of TenCate currently owned by Crestview Partners (“Crestview”) and select other shareholders. The current senior management team of TenCate will remain invested alongside LGP and will continue to lead the Company.

Michael Vogel, Chief Executive Officer of TenCate, said: “We were extremely fortunate to have had Crestview as our partner over the past two years. Crestview was instrumental in supporting our growth ambitions, enabling us to reach global revenues of $1.5 billion and earnings in excess of $200 million. While it is bittersweet to end our very successful partnership with Crestview, we are thrilled to be moving forward with LGP. The team at LGP is clearly aligned with our current strategic thinking. We expect to benefit greatly from their vast experience in investing in market leading companies and brands.”

Joe Fields, CEO of TenCate Grass Americas added: “In addition to being strategically aligned, our corporate values mirror those of LGP and we believe that we could not have found a better partner from a cultural alignment standpoint.”

Jonathan Seiffer, Senior Partner of LGP, added: “TenCate is precisely the type of company in which we like to invest. We value companies that win with people, a differentiated culture, and multiple levers for growth. We strongly believe that TenCate’s best years are ahead. We are thrilled to partner with their broad group of employee owners and to help deliver the next phase of outstanding growth.”

Brian Cassidy, Chairman of TenCate and President of Crestview, stated: “TenCate’s remarkable performance is a direct result of management excellence and their ability to drive continuous operational improvements while simultaneously executing multiple strategic acquisitions. We extend our sincerest gratitude to the entire TenCate team for our strong partnership and wish them all the best as they embark on their next stage of growth in partnership with LGP.”

The transaction is expected to close in February 2024. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Advisors

BofA Securities was Lead Financial Advisor and Baird was Financial Advisor to TenCate. Lincoln International LLC acted as Financial Advisor to LGP. Latham & Watkins LLP and Loyens & Loeff acted as legal advisors to LGP. Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, LLP acted as legal advisor to TenCate and Crestview.

About TenCate

TenCate is a leading, vertically integrated manufacturer, distributor and installer of artificial turf and other surfaces for Sports, including those for football, soccer, baseball, softball, field hockey and a variety of smaller Sports as well as for the rapidly growing Outdoor Living segment. Headquartered in the Netherlands with its main manufacturing facilities in the Netherlands, the United States, and the United Arab Emirates, the Company serves customers in more than forty countries. For more information, please visit www.tencategrass.com.

About LGP

LGP is a leading private equity investment firm founded in 1989 and based in Los Angeles with over $70 billion of assets under management. The firm partners with experienced management teams and founders to invest in market-leading companies. Since inception, LGP has invested in over 120 companies in the form of traditional buyouts, going-private transactions, recapitalizations, growth equity, and selective public equity and debt positions. The firm primarily focuses on companies providing services, including consumer, healthcare, and business services, as well as retail, distribution and industrials. For more information, please visit www.leonardgreen.com.

About Crestview

Founded in 2004, Crestview is a private equity firm focused on the middle market. The firm is based in New York and manages funds with approximately $10 billion of aggregate capital commitments. The firm is led by a group of partners who have complementary experience and distinguished backgrounds in private equity, finance, operations and management. Crestview has senior investment professionals focused on sourcing and managing investments in each of the specialty areas of the firm: media, industrials and financial services. For more information, please visit www.crestview.com.

Contacts:

For TenCate:
Astrid Busschers
a.busschers@tencategrass.com

For Leonard Green:
communications@leonardgreen.com

For Crestview:

Jeffrey Taufield / Daniel Yunger
Kekst CNC
212-521-4800
jeffrey.taufield@kekstcnc.com / daniel.yunger@kekstcnc.com

SOURCE TenCate Grass Holdings; Crestview Partners; Leonard Green & Partners

Gimv, Paragon Partners (“Paragon”) and its minority investors are to sell 100% in WEMAS to Sekisui Jushi Corporation.

WEMAS (www.wemas.de) was established in 1971 and has grown into a full-range supplier of certified passive traffic safety products. The company is based in Gütersloh and employs more than 130 employees at two sites in Germany.

Under Gimv’s and Paragon’s ownership, WEMAS has strengthened its market leading position in traffic safety technology by making significant investments in product innovation, production automation and capacity expansion. As a result, the company has been able to launch new products and broaden its customer base, allowing it to accelerate growth both in Germany and abroad.

Maja Markovic and Ruben Monballieu, both Partner Sustainable Cities at Gimv, say: “WEMAS is a European market leader with an innovative product range and state-of-the-art production in Germany. We are proud of the company’s international growth during our holding period.”

Dr. Edin Hadzic, Founding Partner at Paragon Partners, adds: “We would like to thank the management team at WEMAS for their commitment and drive in executing this successful growth story.”

Dirk Gößling, CEO at WEMAS, concludes: “The management team is looking forward to continuing to offer innovative and market-leading solutions to our customers. In doing so, we will benefit from the complementary expertise and geographic presence of our new owner SJC.”

Paragon and Gimv were supported throughout the transaction by Alvarez & Marsal (financial), Reed Smith (legal), KPMG (tax) and William Blair (M&A).

The transaction has no significant impact on the Net Asset Value of Gimv as of 30 September 2023. Over the entire holding period Gimv realizes a return in line with the long-term portfolio return target. No further financial details will be disclosed.

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BROOMFIELD, Colo., Dec. 4, 2023 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ — Polaris Electro-Optics, Inc., a Colorado-based company, announced the successful completion of its over-subscribed Seed financing round, resulting in an investment of $3M. Polaris leverages patented material and design innovations to offer the highest speed, most energy efficient integrated photonics products to the communications and computing industries. The funding round was led by Rhapsody Venture Partners and garnered support from new investor Buff Gold Ventures as well as pre-seed investor, M Ventures. As part of this milestone, Bernard Lupien of Rhapsody Venture Partners will join Polaris’ Board of Directors.

Jason Sickler, CEO of Polaris, emphasized the significance of this financing round, stating, “The addition of Rhapsody and Buff Gold Ventures as shareholders, along with the unwavering support from M Ventures, underscores the vast potential of our platform technology to revolutionize the communications and computation sectors. To meet the ever-growing demands of these markets, we must deliver unparalleled speed, exceptional energy efficiency, cost-effectiveness, and stability. In all respects, Polaris’s technology stands unrivaled.”

Bernard Lupien, General Partner at Rhapsody Venture Partners, underlined the remarkable potential of Polaris’s platform, stating, “We’ve conducted thorough assessments of various technologies aimed at continually enhancing the speed and efficiency of optical communications.

We believe that Polaris’s platform has the most promising potential for solving the acute data transfer bottlenecks that the industry is facing.

This funding will be strategically allocated towards advancing material and design innovation. It will further enable Polaris Electro-Optics to showcase high-speed, high-efficiency devices designed for optical interconnect systems, reaffirming their commitment to transforming the optical technology landscape.”

Our excitement for Polaris Electro-Optics’ potential to deliver a step-function change to the silicon photonics roadmap has only increased since our pre-Seed investment, and we are more than glad to double down with our Seed round investment.

Through our existing investments in the photonics, optics, and high-performance compute sectors, we recognize an unmet and rapidly growing need for a next generation of electro-optic modulators. We believe that Polaris’ technology platform will be integral to enable the anticipated fundamental trends in high-performance compute, such as the shift towards datacenter disaggregation,

“Next to the intrinsic advantages in modulation physics, we see the clear route towards mass-manufacturability and back-end integration with existing fabrications processes as a major differentiator.”

“We are delighted to join the collaborative team of investors supporting Polaris Electro-Optics. The disruptive intellectual property licensed from the University of Colorado, combined with a strong team of experienced founders and technologists, gives Polaris a solid foundation for quick innovation and early traction,” noted Sally Hatcher, Managing Partner of Buff Gold Ventures.

About Polaris Electro-Optics, Inc.

At Polaris Electro-Optics, Inc., we believe that overcoming society’s greatest challenges requires mastery of the creation, movement, and use of information. We are mastering the movement of information by leveraging patented material and design innovations to offer the highest-speed, most energy efficient integrated photonics products to the communications and computation industries. Our goal is to define the standard for moving information. We work hard in a collaborative, cross-functional team environment, and value mutual trust and respect built on a foundation of integrity, transparency, consistency, and humility. Additional information about Polaris is available at www.PolarisEO.com.

About Rhapsody Venture Partners

Rhapsody Venture Partners is a venture firm in Cambridge, MA, that funds early-stage applied science and engineering companies. Rhapsody’s team works side-by-side with entrepreneurs to secure anchor customers that reduce time-to-commercialization and accelerate growth. www.RhapsodyVP.com

About M Ventures

M Ventures is the strategic, corporate venture capital arm of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany. From its headquarters in the Netherlands and offices in Germany, USA and Israel, M Ventures invests globally in transformational ideas driven by innovative entrepreneurs. Taking an active role in its portfolio companies, M Ventures teams up with management teams and co-investors to translate scientific discoveries into commercial success. M Ventures focuses on identifying and financing novel solutions to some of the most difficult challenges, through company creation and equity investments in fields that will impact the vitality and sustainability of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany’s current and future businesses. www.M-Ventures.com

About Buff Gold Ventures

Buff Gold Ventures is a venture capital firm dedicated to investing in and supporting innovative startups affiliated with the University of Colorado Boulder. Our mission is to accelerate the development of disruptive technologies that address global challenges while fostering the growth of the next generation of entrepreneurs and venture capitalists. We invest in technology and the diverse teams solving some of the world’s most pressing problems. www.BuffGoldVentures.com.