Tag Archives: Information technology

LiveVox, a Leading Cloud-Based Contact Center Platform, to Merge with Crescent Acquisition Corp to Become a Publicly Traded Company in an $840 Million Transaction

Golden Gate Capital

LiveVox will be only the second publicly-traded pure-play CCaaS compan
• Transaction includes $75 million PIPE anchored by top-tier mutual fund and institutional investors
• Current LiveVox owners, led by majority shareholder Golden Gate Capital, expect to hold approximately 59% of the newly public company

SAN FRANCISCO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–LiveVox, a leading cloud-based provider of customer service and digital engagement tools, today announced it has entered into a merger agreement with Crescent Acquisition Corp (NASDAQ: CRSA), a publicly-traded special purpose acquisition company. Upon closing of the transaction, LiveVox will become a publicly traded company, and its common stock will be listed on NASDAQ under the symbol “LVOX”.

Founded in 2000, LiveVox is a next-generation contact center platform that seamlessly unifies omnichannel communications, CRM, and WFO functionality into a single cloud-based customer engagement solution. Facilitating over 14 billion interactions annually, LiveVox simplifies the customer engagement process by unifying all conversations and interactions into a single pane of glass, creating a seamless transition for agents across communication mediums. The Company distinguishes itself from its closest competitors by reducing or eliminating the greatest friction points that prospective customers face, including security, compliance, and data integration. By removing these barriers, LiveVox makes the AI and digital applications customers want easy to implement. The Company expects to generate $129 million of revenue in 2021, approximately 26% higher than its 2020 revenue.

“We capitalize on the growing need for support agents to provide an unparalleled customer experience with our unique solutions platform,” said Louis Summe, co-founder & CEO of LiveVox, who will continue to lead the business post-transaction. “Our full-service offering allows our clients to provide their customers with the exceptional relationship management they deserve along with the safety, security and ease of integration they have long come to expect.”

“We believe that LiveVox’s state-of-the-art software, its visionary management and its broad enterprise customer base position it perfectly to accelerate its growth with the visibility and capital from this transaction,” Robert Beyer, Executive Chairman, and Todd Purdy, CEO of Crescent Acquisition Corp, jointly said. “Global conditions have pushed digital transformation to the forefront, and customer-facing businesses are anxious for a decisive leap towards a unified, cloud-based solution. We are also fortunate to have found such an exciting growth opportunity within the portfolio of an industry-leading private equity firm, Golden Gate Capital, who will remain a significant shareholder and partner and continue to guide the Company’s next level of substantial growth in the public markets.”

“We have been incredibly impressed by LiveVox’s expansive growth since we invested in the Company seven years ago,” said Rishi Chandna, Managing Director of Golden Gate Capital. “LiveVox’s meaningful investment in its product portfolio and focus on building out the Company’s sales and marketing efforts has transformed the business into a leading pure-play CCaaS provider with a larger total addressable market. We are excited to continue working closely with LiveVox, alongside our new partner in Crescent, to support the Company’s management team in delivering mission critical, easy-to-deploy contact center software to enterprise customers.”

Transaction Overview

The transaction has been unanimously approved by the Board of Directors of Crescent Acquisition Corp, as well as the Board of Directors of LiveVox and is subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions, including the approval of the shareholders of Crescent Acquisition Corp.

The combined entity will receive approximately $250 million from Crescent’s trust account, assuming no redemptions by Crescent’s public stockholders, as well as $75 million in proceeds from a group of institutional investors and $25 million from a forward purchase agreement entered into by Crescent Capital Group Holdings LP. Upon completion of the transaction and assuming no redemptions, Golden Gate Capital and various current minority owners of LiveVox expect to hold approximately 59% of the newly public company, subject to various purchase price adjustments. Of the total approximately $350 million of cash from Crescent and the other institutional investors, up to $220 million will be used to purchase a portion of the equity owned by existing LiveVox shareholders, an anticipated $100 million will be added to LiveVox’s balance sheet to be used to accelerate and enhance the Company’s commitment to providing a superb customer experience through its next-generation contact center platform, and the remainder will be used to pay transaction expenses. Upon the closing of the transaction, Crescent Acquisition Corp’s name will be changed to “LiveVox Holdings, Inc.”

Additional information about the proposed transaction, including a copy of the merger agreement and investor presentation, will be provided in a Current Report on Form 8-K to be filed by Crescent Acquisition Corp with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) and available at www.sec.gov.

Conference Call Information

Crescent Acquisition Corp’s investor conference call and presentation discussing the transaction can be accessed by visiting www.crescentspac.com. A telephone replay of the call is available by dialing 412-317-6671 and entering passcode 14296511. A transcript of the call will also be filed by Crescent Acquisition Corp with the SEC.

Advisors

Credit Suisse is acting as lead placement agent, financial advisor and capital markets advisor and BofA Securities, Inc. is acting as private placement agent and capital markets advisor for Crescent Acquisition Corp. Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC, Jefferies Group LLC and Stifel Financial Corp. are serving as financial advisors to LiveVox. Kirkland & Ellis LLP is acting as legal counsel to LiveVox and Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP is acting as legal counsel to Crescent Acquisition Corp.

About LiveVox

LiveVox is a next-generation contact center platform that powers more than 14 billion transactions a year. By seamlessly integrating omnichannel communications, CRM, and WFO, LiveVox delivers exceptional agent and customer experiences, while helping to reduce compliance risk. LiveVox’s reliable, easy-to-use technology enables effective engagement strategies on channels of choice to help drive contact center performance. Founded in 2000, LiveVox is headquartered in San Francisco with offices in Atlanta, Denver, St. Louis, Colombia, and Bangalore. To learn more, visit www.livevox.com.

About Crescent Acquisition Corp

Crescent Acquisition Corp is a Special Purpose Acquisition Company formed by Crescent Capital, Robert D. Beyer and Todd M. Purdy for the purpose of effecting a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses or assets.

About Golden Gate Capital

Golden Gate Capital is a San Francisco-based private equity investment firm with over $17 billion of committed capital. The principals of Golden Gate Capital have a long and successful history of investing across a wide range of industries and transaction types, including going-privates, corporate divestitures, and recapitalizations, as well as debt and public equity investments. Notable software and services investments sponsored by Golden Gate Capital include Infor, BMC, Neustar, Ensemble Health Partners, Vector Solutions, and 20-20 Technologies.

Additional Information about the Proposed Transaction and Where to Find It

This communication may be deemed solicitation material in respect of the proposed business combination between Crescent Acquisition Corp and LiveVox (the “Business Combination”). The Business Combination will be submitted to the stockholders of Crescent Acquisition Corp and LiveVox for their approval. In connection with such stockholder vote, Crescent Acquisition Corp intends to file with the SEC a preliminary proxy statement on Schedule 14A and, when completed, will mail a definitive proxy statement to its stockholders in connection with Crescent Acquisition Corp’s solicitation of proxies for the special meeting of the stockholders of Crescent Acquisition Corp to be held to approve the Business Combination. This communication does not contain all the information that should be considered concerning the proposed Business Combination and the other matters to be voted upon at the annual meeting and is not intended to provide the basis for any investment decision or any other decision in respect of such matters. Crescent Acquisition Corp’s stockholders and other interested parties are urged to read, when available, the preliminary proxy statement, the amendments thereto, the definitive proxy statement and any other relevant documents that are filed or furnished or will be filed or will be furnished with the SEC carefully and in their entirety in connection with Crescent Acquisition Corp’s solicitation of proxies for the annual meeting to be held to approve the Business Combination and other related matters, as these materials will contain important information about LiveVox and Crescent Acquisition Corp and the proposed Business Combination. The definitive proxy statement will be mailed to the stockholders of Crescent Acquisition Corp as of the record date to be established for voting on the proposed Business Combination and the other matters to be voted upon at the special meeting. Such stockholders will also be able to obtain copies of the proxy statement, without charge, once available, at the SEC’s website at http://www.sec.gov, at the Company’s website at http://www.crescentspac.com or by directing a request to Crescent Acquisition Corp, 11100 Santa Monica Blvd., Suite 2000, Los Angeles, CA 90025.

Forward-Looking Statements

This communication contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. These statements may be made directly in this communication. Some of the forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking words. Statements that are not historical in nature, including the words “anticipate,” “expect,” “suggests,” “plan,” “believe,” “intend,” “estimates,” “targets,” “projects,” “should,” “could,” “would,” “may,” “will,” “forecast” and other similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements are based upon management estimates and forecasts and reflect the views, assumptions, expectations, and opinions of Crescent Acquisition Corp or LiveVox, as the case may be, as of the date of this communication, and may include, without limitation, changes in general economic conditions, including as a result of COVID-19, all of which are accordingly subject to change. Any such estimates, assumptions, expectations, forecasts, views or opinions set forth in this communication constitute Crescent Acquisition Corp’s or LiveVox’s, as the case may be, judgments and should be regarded as indicative, preliminary and for illustrative purposes only. The forward-looking statements and projections contained in this communication are subject to a number of factors, risks and uncertainties, some of which are not currently known to Crescent Acquisition Corp or LiveVox, that may cause Crescent Acquisition Corp’s or LiveVox’s actual results, performance or financial condition to be materially different from the expectations of future results, performance of financial condition. Although such forward-looking statements have been made in good faith and are based on assumptions that Crescent Acquisition Corp or LiveVox, as the case may be, believe to be reasonable, there is no assurance that the expected results will be achieved. Crescent Acquisition Corp’s and LiveVox’s actual results may differ materially from the results discussed in forward-looking statements. Additional information on factors that may cause actual results and Crescent Acquisition Corp’s performance to differ materially is included in Crescent Acquisition Corp’s periodic reports filed with the SEC, including but not limited to Crescent Acquisition Corp’s annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2019 and subsequent quarterly reports on Form 10-Q. Copies of Crescent Acquisition Corp’s filings with the SEC are available publicly on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov or may be obtained by contacting Crescent Acquisition Corp. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance upon any forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date made. These forward-looking statements are made only as of the date hereof, and neither Crescent Acquisition Corp nor LiveVox undertake any obligations to update or revise the forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.

No Offer or Solicitation

This communication is for informational purposes only and does not constitute an offer or invitation for the sale or purchase of securities, assets or the business described herein or a commitment to the Company or the LiveVox with respect to any of the foregoing, and this Current Report shall not form the basis of any contract, nor is it a solicitation of any vote, consent, or approval in any jurisdiction pursuant to or in connection with the Business Combination or otherwise, nor shall there be any sale, issuance or transfer of securities in any jurisdiction in contravention of applicable law.

Participants in Solicitation

Crescent Acquisition Corp and LiveVox, and their respective directors and executive officers, may be deemed participants in the solicitation of proxies of Crescent Acquisition Corp’s stockholders in respect of the Business Combination. Information about the directors and executive officers of Crescent Acquisition Corp is set forth in the Company’s Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2019. Information about the directors and executive officers of LiveVox and more detailed information regarding the identity of all potential participants, and their direct and indirect interests, by security holdings or otherwise, will be set forth in the proxy statement for the Business Combination when available. Additional information regarding the identity of all potential participants in the solicitation of proxies to Crescent Acquisition Corp’s stockholders in connection with the proposed Business Combination and other matters to be voted upon at the special meeting, and their direct and indirect interests, by security holdings or otherwise, will be included in the proxy statement that the Company intends to file with the SEC. Investors may obtain such information by ready such proxy statement when it becomes available.

Contacts
For LiveVox:

Investor Contact:
Michael Bowen and Marc Griffin
LiveVoxIR@icrinc.com
203-682-8299

Media Contact:
Katie Creaser
LiveVoxPR@icrinc.com
516-993-6584

For Crescent Acquisition Corp:

Investor Contact:
Lasse Glassen
Addo Investor Relations
lglassen@addoir.com
424-238-6249

Media Contact:
Bill Mendel
Mendel Communications
Bill@mendelcommunications.com

For Golden Gate Capital:

Sard Verbinnen & Co
David Isaacs / Chloe Clifford
GoldenGate-SVC@sardverb.com

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M-Files Secures $80 Million in Growth Investment

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Tesi

M-Files, the intelligent information management company, today announced that it has received a strategic investment of $80 million (€67 million). Bregal Milestone, a European growth capital firm, led the round with current investors Partech, Tesi and Draper Esprit also participating.

M-Files provides an intelligent, repository neutral platform that utilizes metadata and artificial intelligence (AI) to break down information silos and unify systems, data and content across an organization. M-Files seamlessly embeds within popular digital workplace platforms, including Microsoft 365, Salesforce and Google Workspace, enabling users to access and manage documents and information from the applications where they prefer to work.

From small and medium-sized businesses to large global enterprises, M-Files is a trusted partner to thousands of customers in over 100 countries, helping them increase efficiencies and drive productivity.  M-Files has more than 500 employees located across 11 global offices. The company’s software-as-a-service (SaaS) business model continues to propel its strong growth. M-Files has been featured in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Content Services Platforms (formerly Enterprise Content Management) since 2012 and named a Visionary for the last five consecutive years.

Cyrus Shey (on the left) and Antti Nivala (on the right)

Antti Nivala, CEO and founder of M-Files:

“Bregal Milestone’s extensive experience investing in the B2B enterprise software sector and their philosophy in partnering with fast-growing companies like M-Files made the firm an attractive investment partner. We’ve identified opportunities to accelerate our growth and further expand M-Files’ market penetration, especially in North America. The valuable investment from Bregal Milestone, bolstered by support from our existing shareholders Partech, Tesi and Draper Esprit, will enable M-Files to deliver further innovations in product development, AI and our cloud platform.”

Cyrus Shey, Managing Partner at Bregal Milestone:

“We are thrilled to partner with the M-Files team to support Antti and his team on their very exciting growth journey. M-Files has a robust and cutting-edge solution that brings tangible value-add to its customers. We look forward to supporting management in accelerating growth and further consolidating M-Files’ leadership position, namely in the US and other key geographies. The transaction is the 9th investment made by Bregal Milestone’s inaugural growth capital fund in just over 2 years, and we couldn’t be more proud to partner with Antti and the world-class M-Files team.”

Additional information:

Antti Nivala, CEO and founder, M-Files Oy
antti.nivala@m-files.com
+358 40 556 0471

Juha Lehtola, Director, venture capital invesments, Tesi Oy
juha.lehtola@m-files.com
+358 400 647 671

 

M-Files Oy

M-Files provides a next-generation intelligent information management platform that improves business performance by helping people find and use information more effectively. Unlike traditional enterprise content management (ECM) systems or content services platforms, M-Files unifies systems, data and content across the organization without disturbing existing systems and processes or requiring data migration. Using artificial intelligence (AI) technologies in its unique Intelligent Metadata Layer, M-Files breaks down silos by delivering an in-context experience for accessing and leveraging information that resides in any system and repository, including network folders, SharePoint, file sharing services, ECM systems, CRM, ERP and other business systems and repositories. Thousands of organizations in more than 100 countries use M-Files for managing their business information and processes, including NBC Universal, OMV, Valmet, SAS Institute and thyssenkrupp. For more information, visit: m-files.fi.

Bregal Milestone

Bregal Milestone is a growth capital firm managing a €495 million pan-European fund dedicated to making investments in high-growth European companies. The firm provides growth capital and strategic assistance to support market-leading companies in the technology and technology-enabled services sectors. Bregal Milestone is part of Bregal Investments, who have invested over €15 billion to date.

Tesi (Finnish Industry Investment Ltd) is a Finnish state-owned investment company that wants to raise Finland to the front ranks of renewing economic growth by investing in funds and directly in companies. We invest profitably and responsibly, hand-in-hand with co-investors, to create the world’s new success stories. Our investments under management total 1.6 billion euros. Ambition for ownership and success – tesi.fi | @TesiFII

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Partners Group to acquire Idera, a leading global provider of software solutions

Partners Group

Partners Group, the global private markets investment manager, has agreed to acquire Idera (“Idera” or “the Company”), a leading global provider of software solutions for IT professionals, on behalf of its clients. Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.

Founded in 2003 and based in Austin, Texas, Idera provides infrastructure software solutions to businesses for testing, application development, and database architecture and management, both on premises and in the cloud. The Company’s products are sold under a large portfolio of brands across three business segments: database tools; developer tools; and “DevOps”, which combines software development and IT operations to build products designed to increase an organization’s ability to deliver applications and services faster. The Company has 700,000 users globally across a wide range of industries, including technology, financial services, legal, pharmaceuticals, government and non-profit, energy and education. Idera has over 570 full-time employees.

In 2019, Partners Group made an initial investment in Idera, on behalf of its clients, joining TA Associates and HGGC in supporting the Company’s growth organically and through M&A. Since then, Partners Group has become further convinced of the significant opportunity in the infrastructure software sector, given the critical need for applications and tools that support digital transition and the increasing complexity of software. Idera is well-positioned to capitalize on these transformative trends, identified by Partners Group’s Thematic Sourcing strategy, and it will benefit from the firm’s extensive experience in building platform companies and creating value in technology-related businesses. Partners Group will assist the management team in partnership with TA and HGGC, all of whom will retain a minority position in the business, in developing its pipeline of strategic M&A opportunities, optimizing sales and marketing processes, and advancing fast-growing business segments going forward.

Bilge Ogut, Partner, Head Private Equity Technology, Partners Group, states: “We are excited to continue our relationship with Idera and expand its strong platform. The USD 205 billion infrastructure software market is undergoing meaningful change that hinges on continuously improving the productivity of developers. Idera has been very effective at capturing this trend by integrating high-quality products into its platform, making it an excellent fit for Partners Group’s transformational investment strategy. Going forward, we plan to work closely with the management team on various value creation initiatives as well as identifying new M&A opportunities that will accelerate Idera’s already positive trajectory, benefiting from this secular trend.”

Randy Jacops, Chief Executive Officer, Idera, says: “Through a carefully implemented strategy, we have built a portfolio of brands at the forefront of the technology adoption life-cycle in their respective markets. The highly fragmented nature of the global infrastructure software market means there are still plenty of opportunities for us to expand our footprint. Partners Group’s history of supporting high-growth technology companies and building resilient businesses, combined with the invaluable contributions it has already provided, will be critical as we continue to grow.”

Chris Russell, Managing Director, Private Equity Technology, Partners Group, adds: “We have witnessed firsthand the truly unique organization that Randy and his team have built. Idera’s innovative products are used by thousands of businesses to perform mission critical tasks and the market for software tools and apps aimed at the developer community will continue to evolve and grow. The management team has proven Idera to be a true leader in building and continuously improving the efficiency of its products for a large customer base and has successfully identified opportunities to expand its platform. By deepening our partnership with the Company, Partners Group can offer additional operational knowledge and platform-building expertise.”

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Ardian invests in Elée, a leading provider of software asset management solutions

Ardian

21 January 2021 Growth France, Paris

Paris, January 21, 2021 – Elée is partnering with Ardian, a world-leading private investment house, to support its development and growth.

Headquartered in Paris, Elée is one of the pioneers and the leading independent tech-enabled managed services provider of software asset management and cloud computing solutions in France. Founded in 2010 in Paris by Alain Marbach (former CIO of BNP Paribas and former Executive Committee member for Schneider Electric), Elée received initial funding from Jean-Louis Beffa (former CEO of Saint Gobain) and Denis Kibler (founder of Infra+ and angel investor of Meilleursagents.com). The company has developed an innovative tech-enabled offering that allows its customers to rapidly reduce costs, minimize their risk of non-compliance with software publishers and consistently optimize the management of their software and cloud assets.

According to Gartner, software spending accounted for $459 billion worldwide in 2020. It is estimated that software customers are currently exposed to tens of billions of dollars of unidentified non-conformity risk. To minimize this risk and optimize companies’ IT asset management, pure players have emerged, such as Elée in France. These pure players will expand both organically, through partnerships and M&A consolidation.

Elée has over 60 employees, and has developed its own proprietary software, Sambox.io, which has been acknowledged as one of the best solutions on the market at the ITAM Review Excellence Awards 2020. The company is the only French player that is part of market research company Gartner’s Magic Quadrant, which acknowledges the best companies in the sector worldwide. With 40% annual average revenue growth, Elée serves more than 100 clients, including the French State and over half of the CAC40 companies.

With Ardian’s acquisition of a minority stake in the business, Elée has the financial resources to accelerate its development in France and abroad, and accelerate the commercialization of its proprietary software, Sambox.io.

“Our sustained growth since the company’s incorporation is testament to our ability to respond to market dynamics. Ardian’s support is a recognition of our team’s performance, our clients’ satisfaction and will be a major driver in our future development, particularly internationally and in the new ecological challenges of software management.” said Alain Marbach, CEO and founder of Elée.

Olivier Roy, Investment Manager in the Ardian Growth team, commented: “Elée’s strong expertise and proprietary platform make it a key player in the software asset management market. The company has impressive growth prospects, both in France and overseas.”

Geoffroy de La Grandière, Managing Director in the Ardian Growth team, added: “In the current environment, Ardian Growth is pleased to be able to support entrepreneurs with ambitious projects more than ever. We are therefore excited to support Elée and its team in its next growth chapter.”

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Blue Cedar partners with Microsoft to combat BYOD issues

Bgv

Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) has been a divisive topic within corporations for years. Employees wanted the convenience of working on their own smart devices, and business decision-makers recognized the cost and productivity benefits. IT teams knew unmanaged devices would result in more work and security holes.

As you know, the business side won out. The line-of-business (LOB) mobile app market exploded, and BYOD became the rule rather than the exception. Today, corporate IT teams manage hundreds of mobile LOBs ranging from apps developed in house to Microsoft 365, with more on the horizon. There is one thing that everyone can agree on, however: Employers should not manage their employees’ personal devices.

Establishing data boundaries

IT teams constantly struggle to walk the delicate line of managing corporate data without impinging on personal data. The Microsoft Intune and Microsoft Office 365 teams set out to solve the problem together. The teams worked together to develop app protection policies (APPs) for what would become Microsoft Endpoint Manager (MEM). The APP places restrictions on how Office 365 data can be used on a completely managed or completely unmanaged device. Specifically:

  • Data can only be shared between managed Office 365 apps.
  • Users cannot forward it or save it to a non-Office 365 resource.

Blue Cedar’s solution for Microsoft

IT and security teams have been searching for a solution to accommodate BYOD that won’t compromise network security. The Blue Cedar Platform is a no-code Integration service that enables new capabilities to be added to Mobile apps post-build without requiring a developer. With a couple of clicks, you can add Intune MAM, Azure Active Directory Authentication, and other SDKs into your compiled mobile app. The platform works with native apps or apps written using a mobile framework and integrates into your existing app delivery workflow. Built-in integrations with GitHub and the Intune cloud allow you to build seamless workflows that add new app capabilities and skip manual operations.

Feature highlights:

  • Add Microsoft Endpoint Manager App Protection Policy capabilities.
  • Add new app authentication flows include the use of the Microsoft authenticator app.
  • Keep corporate data separate from personal data.
  • Allow users to BYOD without creating security vulnerabilities.
  • Maintains end-user privacy.

Secure VPN connections to on-premises resources

There is one last thing I’d like to tell you about today—and it’s a potential gamechanger for many organizations. Many companies still maintain critical data on-prem, meaning employees can’t easily access it from their mobile devices. Utilizing our patented No-code integration technology, VPN capabilities can be added to mobile apps allowing them to attach to the corporate network.

Our in-app VPN functionality enables users to automatically connect to on-premises and in-cloud networks without requiring device management or complex VPN configuration. Our VPN connectivity is transparent and secured via a multi-factor authentication backed by Azure AD.

Infographic showing Secure VPN connections to on-premises resources using Blue Cedar

Secure VPN feature highlights:

  • Extends network availability to on-prem networks.
  • Permits login with Azure AD credentials.
  • Separates corporate data from personal data.
  • Improves productivity.

The Blue Cedar platform is also the only way to securely connect Intune-enabled apps to both cloud and on-premises databases for a single sign-on (SSO) experience without bringing the devices under management.

Better BYOD for your organization

BYOD is here to stay; the Blue Cedar collaboration with Microsoft will save you time, resources, and budget while providing secure mobile access to your on-prem or cloud-based resources.

To learn more about Blue Cedar Platform, visit the Blue Cedar listing in the Azure Marketplace or visit our web page about Blue Cedar’s no-code integration service.

To learn more about the Microsoft Intelligent Security Association (MISA), visit the MISA website where you can learn about the MISA program, product integrations, and find MISA members. Visit the video playlist to learn about the strength of member integrations with Microsoft products.

For more information about Microsoft Security Solutions, visit the Microsoft Security website. Bookmark the Security blog to keep up with our expert coverage of security matters. Also, follow us at @MSFTSecurity for the latest news and updates on cybersecurity.

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Montagu to acquire majority position in ITRS Group

Montagu

Montagu to acquire majority position in ITRS Group from TA Associates

Montagu, today announces it has agreed to acquire a majority position in ITRS Group (“ITRS”), a leading global provider of real-time monitoring and analytics software from TA Associates (“TA”), who will remain a minority holder alongside Montagu and Management. Completion is expected next month, subject to customary closing requirements. The terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

ITRS’ software portfolio supports the “always on” enterprise, ensuring operational resilience for businesses operating in environments where technology failure means business failure. Headquartered in London, the company has established itself as an innovative and trusted partner, and today has over 3,000 clients across the globe, including nine out of the ten Tier 1 investment banks. In addition, its recent acquisition of Uptrends, a Netherlands-based website and web performance monitoring solution, has further strengthened ITRS’ product suite.

Since its establishment in 1997, ITRS has transformed from a European, single product solution to the capital markets industry, to today providing a comprehensive product suite to customers across a range of industries, including capital markets, telecommunications and healthcare. This has been achieved through impressive organic growth and M&A activity, and Montagu intends to work with the management team and leverage its experience, network and resources to continue to drive growth and further expansion.

Guy Warren, CEO of ITRS, said: “We are delighted to welcome Montagu into ITRS Group. Under TA Associates’ ownership, we have broadened our product suite and significantly expanded our customer base, and we thank them for their continued support. The Montagu team have shown a strong understanding of our business and its potential, and share our ambitions, and we are excited to partner with them for the next stage of growth.”

Christoph Leitner-Dietmaier, Director at Montagu, said: “It is a privilege for Montagu to back Guy and his leadership team, and we look forward to partnering with TA on this investment in ITRS.  We are truly impressed by the leading position ITRS has established and are excited to support their vision of becoming the single pane of glass for IT monitoring for the enterprise customer.”

Morgan Seigler, Managing Director at TA, said: “We have greatly enjoyed partnering with Guy and the entire team at ITRS over the last four years to help drive the company’s growth and expansion. We look forward to collaborating with the ITRS team and Montagu to continue this successful journey.”

The sellers were advised by Jefferies International and Travers Smith LLP. Montagu was advised by Arma Partners and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer.

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FPE Capital portfolio company IWSR completes the strategic acquisition of Wine Intelligence

FPE Capital

FPE Capital LLP (‘FPE’), the specialist software and services growth investor in UK SMEs, announces that IWSR, the leading B2B data and information provider to the global drinks industry, has acquired the wine consumer research and insights expert, Wine Intelligence. The combined offering provides the industry with robust insight into consumption trends, consumer insights and growth opportunities for the global beverage alcohol sector.

Backed by FPE Capital in 2018, IWSR and its core Global Database has cemented its position as a unique source of data and insight for the largest global drinks brands. FPE Capital Managing Partner David Barbour commented

 

Since our investment, the team at IWSR has driven hugely impressive organic growth, including through the Covid pandemic, proving its criticality to its clients. The addition of Wine Intelligence enhances the coverage and product range of the combined group, including the creation of a world-class consumer insights division focused exclusively on the global beverage alcohol industry.

 

Founded in 2002, Wine Intelligence conducts projects on behalf of wine businesses in more than 35 global markets.

 

As Covid reshapes consumer behaviour and beverage alcohol drinking occasions, industry stakeholders are looking for a deeper understanding of the consumer attitudes driving the market,

 

remarks Mark Meek, CEO of IWSR.

 

Our vision is shaped by our clients, and this acquisition is a tremendous opportunity for us to expand on our existing offerings and work with the Wine Intelligence team to provide the industry with access to comprehensive consumer insight across all categories of the drinks industry, including beer, wine, spirits and the ready-to-drink sector.

 

 

We are delighted to join the IWSR family after nearly 10 years of our organisations working together on behalf of our client base,

 

says Lulie Halstead, CEO of Wine Intelligence.

 

I share Mark’s vision of us building a world-class and comprehensive offering of data and consumer insights to support the global beverage alcohol sectors, which we are uniquely positioned to do.

 

Advisers on the acquisition included Johnson Carmichael (financial and tax due diligence) and Stephenson Harwood (legal).

 

Media inquiries:

David Barbour

Managing Partner, FPE Capital LLP

020 3912 8800

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Memsource Acquires Phrase

Carlyle

Transaction creates the translation industry’s leading localization platform allowing Memsource to further expand its product portfolio, geographic footprint, and customer base

Prague, Czech Republic; Hamburg, Germany; and London, UK – Memsource, the leading AI-powered translation management system, together with its majority shareholder The Carlyle Group (NASDAQ: CG), today announced that it has acquired Phrase, a leading software localization platform.

Headquartered in Prague, Czech Republic, Memsource is a leading translation technology provider that assists global corporations and the language services industry in automating the localization of large volumes of multilingual content. The company is a leader in AI-powered translation technology, which makes localization easier, faster, and more cost-effective. Memsource translation software is used by leaders in their respective industries, such as Uber, Zendesk, Supercell, and Vistaprint.

Headquartered in Hamburg, Germany, the Phrase platform provides cloud-based localization for software, websites, and mobile applications. Phrase enables customers of all sizes to scale their translation processes through advanced automation, eliminating unnecessary steps from the localization process. Through its unique value proposition, Phrase has built up a wide reaching customer base across multiple industries with customers such as Lufthansa Systems and Pizza Hut Digital Ventures.

The combination of Memsource and Phrase creates the industry’s leading translation management company. The transaction significantly expands Memsource’s product portfolio and customer base while also extending its operations into Germany, a country in which it previously did not have a presence. The combined group will seek to transform the localization industry, providing global brands with a streamlined solution that reduces costs, increases translation quality, and automates the localization process end-to-end.

The three founders of Phrase will become shareholders of the Memsource group. David Canek, the CEO of Memsource, will become the group CEO with immediate effect.

David Canek, Founder and CEO of Memsource, said: “Since Carlyle’s investment in Memsource in July 2020, we have focused on growing the business organically while exploring compelling acquisition opportunities. Phrase is a leading software localization platform bootstrapped by an incredibly talented team. As leaders in their respective fields (enterprise TMS and software localization respectively), Memsource and Phrase are determined to create the next generation of translation automation for the full range of enterprise localization use cases.”

Wolfram Grätz, Founder of Phrase, said: “Having established ourselves as a pioneer in software localization, partnering with Memsource and Carlyle is the next logical step for the company. We have a cross-industry customer base from the automotive to the financial sector and many of them are asking us about our plans to support additional localization use cases. We have continuously addressed their needs, and by combining our high-quality management teams and deep software expertise, we intend to create a market innovator with the vision, talent and scale to define the future of enterprise translation management.”

Fernando Chueca, a Managing Director in the Carlyle Europe Technology Partners (CETP) advisory team, said: “CETP IV invested in Memsource to accelerate the next phase of the company’s development, including a focus on expansion into new geographies and innovative technologies. The transaction with Phrase, the first since Carlyle’s investment, is testament to this strategy, providing an attractive entry point to the German market and access to its highly complementary product suite and established customer base. The enlarged group is uniquely positioned to establish itself as a leader in translation management systems, enabling sophisticated software localization across international markets.”

ENDS

About Memsource
Memsource helps global companies translate efficiently. Ranked as the most viable Translation Management System by CSA Research in 2019, Memsource supports 500+ languages, 50+ file types, and 30+ machine translation engines. Memsource enables its customers to increase translation quality while reducing costs using its patented, state-of-the-art AI technology. With a team of over 120 people in offices across Europe, US and Japan, Memsource serves thousands of global customers, including leading brands such as Uber, Zendesk, Supercell and Vistaprint. Further information is available at www.memsource.com.

About Phrase
Phrase is a cloud-based software localization platform that accelerates the development of multilingual digital products. Phrase enables organizations of all sizes to scale and centralize their translation processes through advanced automation and a broad variety of integrations. Founded in 2012 in the heart of Hamburg, Phrase has grown from a small start-up into an agile, ambitious team from around the world. Phrase is growing rapidly and currently partners with over a thousand businesses in over 60 countries. Further information is available at phrase.com.

About The Carlyle Group
The Carlyle Group (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 Investment Solutions. With $230 billion of assets under management as of September 30, 2020, 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 30 offices across six continents. Further information is available at www.carlyle.com. Follow Carlyle on Twitter @OneCarlyle.

Press Enquiries:
Memsource / Phrase
Filip Sanca
+420 604 695 225
filip.sanca@memsource.com

The Carlyle Group
Andrew Kenny
+44 7816 176120
andrew.kenny@carlyle.com

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M-Files Secures $80 Million in Growth Investment

Tesi

M-Files, the intelligent information management company, today announced that it has received a strategic investment of $80 million (€67 million). Bregal Milestone, a European growth capital firm, led the round with current investors Partech, Tesi and Draper Esprit also participating.

M-Files provides an intelligent, repository neutral platform that utilizes metadata and artificial intelligence (AI) to break down information silos and unify systems, data and content across an organization. M-Files seamlessly embeds within popular digital workplace platforms, including Microsoft 365, Salesforce and Google Workspace, enabling users to access and manage documents and information from the applications where they prefer to work.

From small and medium-sized businesses to large global enterprises, M-Files is a trusted partner to thousands of customers in over 100 countries, helping them increase efficiencies and drive productivity.  M-Files has more than 500 employees located across 11 global offices. The company’s software-as-a-service (SaaS) business model continues to propel its strong growth. M-Files has been featured in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Content Services Platforms (formerly Enterprise Content Management) since 2012 and named a Visionary for the last five consecutive years.

Cyrus Shey (on the left) and Antti Nivala (on the right)

Antti Nivala, CEO and founder of M-Files:

“Bregal Milestone’s extensive experience investing in the B2B enterprise software sector and their philosophy in partnering with fast-growing companies like M-Files made the firm an attractive investment partner. We’ve identified opportunities to accelerate our growth and further expand M-Files’ market penetration, especially in North America. The valuable investment from Bregal Milestone, bolstered by support from our existing shareholders Partech, Tesi and Draper Esprit, will enable M-Files to deliver further innovations in product development, AI and our cloud platform.”

Cyrus Shey, Managing Partner at Bregal Milestone:

“We are thrilled to partner with the M-Files team to support Antti and his team on their very exciting growth journey. M-Files has a robust and cutting-edge solution that brings tangible value-add to its customers. We look forward to supporting management in accelerating growth and further consolidating M-Files’ leadership position, namely in the US and other key geographies. The transaction is the 9th investment made by Bregal Milestone’s inaugural growth capital fund in just over 2 years, and we couldn’t be more proud to partner with Antti and the world-class M-Files team.”

Additional information:

Antti Nivala, CEO and founder, M-Files Oy
antti.nivala@m-files.com
+358 40 556 0471

Juha Lehtola, Director, venture capital invesments, Tesi Oy
juha.lehtola@m-files.com
+358 400 647 671

 

M-Files Oy

M-Files provides a next-generation intelligent information management platform that improves business performance by helping people find and use information more effectively. Unlike traditional enterprise content management (ECM) systems or content services platforms, M-Files unifies systems, data and content across the organization without disturbing existing systems and processes or requiring data migration. Using artificial intelligence (AI) technologies in its unique Intelligent Metadata Layer, M-Files breaks down silos by delivering an in-context experience for accessing and leveraging information that resides in any system and repository, including network folders, SharePoint, file sharing services, ECM systems, CRM, ERP and other business systems and repositories. Thousands of organizations in more than 100 countries use M-Files for managing their business information and processes, including NBC Universal, OMV, Valmet, SAS Institute and thyssenkrupp. For more information, visit: m-files.fi.

Bregal Milestone

Bregal Milestone is a growth capital firm managing a €495 million pan-European fund dedicated to making investments in high-growth European companies. The firm provides growth capital and strategic assistance to support market-leading companies in the technology and technology-enabled services sectors. Bregal Milestone is part of Bregal Investments, who have invested over €15 billion to date.

Tesi (Finnish Industry Investment Ltd) is a Finnish state-owned investment company that wants to raise Finland to the front ranks of renewing economic growth by investing in funds and directly in companies. We invest profitably and responsibly, hand-in-hand with co-investors, to create the world’s new success stories. Our investments under management total 1.6 billion euros. Ambition for ownership and success – tesi.fi | @TesiFII

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AxonIQ raises a €6M series A led by AVP to expand the engineering and commercial teams and accelerate growth, in particular in the US

AXA

Amsterdam, 07 Jan 2021

AxonIQ, founded in The Netherlands and leading provider of a software platform for Event-
Driven Architectures (EDA), announced today that it raised a €6M Series A round, led by AXA
Venture Partners (AVP) and their existing investor, Volta as co-investor. According to Jeroen
Speekenbrink, CEO and co-founder, “We are proud to welcome AVP as an investor
embracing our vision of providing the technology needed to build the custom software systems
that our clients need in these challenging times.”

“We are very excited to work with the team to support the growth of AxonIQ. What they and
their team have achieved so far is very impressive. We share their vision that event-driven
architecture is the next big thing for companies, big or small, that migrate their IT architecture
to microservices. This allows native auditability, which is critical for many industries. The quality
of their tech stack is very impressive and we are very honored to join the AxonIQ journey. As
for all our other portfolio companies, we’ll pour all our resources in Europe and in the US at
their service to help them grow.” commented Francois Robinet, Managing Partner of AVP.

Sander Vonk, managing partner of Volta Ventures and early investor continues: “There are
only a few companies out there who are able to grow at the rate AxonIQ is growing, with this
Series A and AVP as an investor the team is set to continue on this amazing journey.”
CTO and co-founder of AxonIQ, Allard Buijze says: “This investment allows us to expand our
engineering and commercial teams around the world. With the additional engineering capacity,
we will be able to take big strides in realizing our vision for tooling to make the benefits of
event-driven systems available to both large and small organizations.”

About AxonIQ
Founded in 2017, AxonIQ is based in The Netherlands. With people on the ground in the US,
France, Mexico, Serbia, Poland, Italy, and Germany, AxonIQ offers an end-to-end
development and infrastructure platform for smoothly evolving Event-Driven Architectures
focused on CQRS and Event Sourcing. Our platform known as Axon includes both a
programming model as well as a specialized infrastructure to provide enterprise-ready
operational support for the programming model – especially for scaling and distributing missioncritical
business applications. The Axon platform consists of the popular Axon Framework and
the built-for-purpose Axon Server. The open-source Axon Framework provides a clean,
elegant Java API for writing DDD, CQRS, and Event Sourcing applications. Axon Server is a
zero-configuration message router and event store. Axon Server is distributed in two editions.
Axon Server Standard Edition is a free version sufficient to get you started and run a small,
non-critical application in production. Axon Server Enterprise includes clustering and multicontext
support and is targeted towards mission-critical, medium to large scale production
deployments.

About AVP
AVP is a global venture capital firm investing in high-growth, technology enabled companies.
AVP has built, in less than five years, a unique investment platform specialized in tech
investments with $800 million of assets under management through three pillars of investment
expertise: early stage, growth stage, and fund of funds. To date, AVP has invested in more
than 45 companies and more than 20 funds. The AVP team operates globally with offices in
San Francisco, New York, London, Paris, and Hong Kong. Beyond investments, AVP provides
unique access to business development opportunities helping portfolio companies to scale
globally and accelerate their growth. More details here: www.axavp.com

About Volta Ventures
Volta Ventures invests in young, promising internet and software companies in the Benelux.
Teams in Gent and Amsterdam provide guidance and assistance to grow from startup to scaleup.
Volta manages two funds with 100M in assets and has invested in more than 20 companies
to date. More details here: www.volta.ventures

Contact for Press
AVP
Sébastien Loubry
sebastien@axavp.com
+33 6 15 31 61 68
AxonIQ
Stefan van Eerde
stefan.vaneerde@axoniq.io
+31 6 12 10 88 44

 

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