Tag Archives: Information technology

CapMan Growth and Mandatum to accelerate Sofigate’s growth

Capman

Sofigate to boost its turnover towards EUR 500 million

Sofigate, the business technology transformation company, will be boosted by two private equity investors when CapMan Growth and Mandatum Private Equity become minority shareholders in the company. With their decision, the new owners are showing trust in a fast-growing digital transformation expert that combines program leadership, continuous management of business change and modern technology platforms. Sofigate aims for an annual turnover of EUR 500 million by 2025.

“CapMan and Mandatum bring financial and capital market expertise to the company, which will enable us to accelerate our growth. Company acquisitions are part of the strategy, and private equity investors ensure that financing is available when needed,” says Sofigate CEO Sami Karkkila.

Sofigate has grown rapidly in recent years. In five years, the company increased its turnover fivefold to the current level of EUR 100 million. Maintaining a similar growth rate requires both rapid organic growth and acquisitions.

Business technology a hot topic

The business technology sector is predicted to grow rapidly in the Nordic countries as well. The Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated digitalisation and spurred companies to invest even more in their digital processes.

“As a strategic investor, we see great potential in the development of Sofigate’s operations on the path the company has chosen. Sofigate operates in strong growth markets, and these are further intensified by the transformation brought about by digitalisation. As private equity investors, we bring considerable added value by significantly accelerating the implementation of Sofigate’s internationalisation and acquisition strategies,” says CapMan Growth Managing Partner Juha Mikkola of the company’s future.

“As technology takes centre stage in business operations across industries, the winners will be companies that understand the relationships between technology and strategy, business operations and product development. In this digitalisation-driven market, Sofigate has a strong position in Finland and significant growth potential in other Nordic countries. As a strategic investor and in addition to our financial investment, we provide Sofigate with access to our growth strategy and acquisition expertise,” says Alexander Antas, head of Mandatum Private Equity.

Strong ownership by staff also

In addition to CapMan and Mandatum, Sofigate is owned by LähiTapiola, the company’s founders, and a significant number of its personnel. Institutional investors now own a little less than one-fifth of Sofigate in total. Even after the transaction, Sofigate is to a large extent owned by its employees.

“The investments will also strengthen the composition of the board, which will increase the company’s ability to develop its operations. We are ready to implement the chosen growth strategy both operationally and at the board level, and we will be able to move very quickly if necessary,” says Karkkila.

Sofigate was founded in 2003 as an IT management service provider, but has gradually grown into the leading business technology transformation expert in the Nordic countries. A key driver of that growth has been the digital revolution in business, which has forced customers to make their traditional operations technology-driven.

“We offer customers technological expertise and transformation management in one package,” Karkkila says. “We are a pioneer in combining the best technologies, people and management models.”

For more information, please contact:

Juha Mikkola, Managing Partner, CapMan Growth
juha.mikkola[a]capman.com
Tel. +358 50 590 0522

Sami Karkkila, CEO, Sofigate
sami.karkkila[a]sofigate.com
Tel. +358 400 805 446

Sofigate is a business technology transformation company with approximately 600 employees in Finland, Sweden and Denmark. Sofigate helps its customers develop the interplay between business and technology: to design, build and implement transformations and business-friendly technology solutions. The company utilizes the Business Technology Standard and the world’s leading technology platforms such as ServiceNow, Salesforce, SAP, Oracle and Google Cloud.

CapMan Growth is a leading Finnish growth investor. The team’s second MEUR 97 fund, CapMan Growth II established in 2020, makes significant minority investments in growth stage companies with ambitious growth and expansion goals. CapMan is part of CapMan Group, a leading Nordic private asset expert with an active approach to value creation. As one of the Nordic private equity pioneers, we have developed hundreds of companies and real estate assets and created substantial value in these businesses and assets over the past 30 years. With close to €4 billion in assets under management, we have a broad presence in the unlisted market through our local and specialised teams. 

Mandatum Private Equity (MPE) is a Finnish growth oriented investor with ca. 160m EUR of AUM. MPE focuses on significant minority investments in Finnish and Nordic privately held companies with proven business models and strong growth ambitions. Mandatum Private Equity is part of Mandatum Asset Management (MAM), a new asset management company that was formed by combining Sampo Group’s proprietary balance sheet, client assets, and investment operations from Sampo Plc and Mandatum Life. MAM leverages Sampo’s investment heritage as one of the most successful institutional investors in the Nordic region. MAM manages ca. 24bn EUR and employs ca. 100 investment professionals. MAM belongs to the Sampo Group.

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Accounting SaaS Regate.io announces 7M€ funding round

360 Capital

Paris based SaaS platform Regate.io raises 7M€ round to facilitate and automate accounting workflows for CFOs and accountants, including invoicing, expense management and payments. 360 Capital leads the round, alongside Financière Saint James and renowned BA including Alexis Bonillo, Pierre-François Thaler, Antoine Bello and Constantin Wolfrom.

Founded in 2019 by Alexis Renard and Laura Pallier, Regate.io aims at simplifying accounting processes by providing able to integrate and automate enterprise accounting tools.

With this round, Regate.io will accelerate its product development and deployment, as well as focus on building its team.

We are delighted to support the fantastic duo composed of Alexis and Laura in this new entrepreneurial adventure, bringing together the experience of a successful serial entrepreneur and a real understanding of the market needs.

Emanuele Levi, Partner at 360 Capital

 

Read the full press release here.

 

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Astorg and Bridgepoint acquire financial software company Fenergo

Bridgepoint

Dublin, 18th May 2021 – Astorg and Bridgepoint are pleased to announce that they have signed a definitive agreement alongside Fenergo’s management team to acquire Fenergo, the leading provider of Know-Your-Customer (KYC) and Client Lifecycle Management (CLM) software solutions for financial institutions, from Insight Partners. The acquisition follows a period of strong expansion for Fenergo and will drive investment in the firm’s SaaS strategy, product line development and support an expanding team through the next phase of growth.

Established in 2009, Fenergo’s award winning SaaS platform provides solutions to the world’s largest and most complex financial institutions, helping to fight financial crime and to enhance customer journeys while being compliant every step of the way. Fenergo currently helps top financial institutions including ICBC Standard Bank, Santander, Mizuho, ABN AMRO and BNP Paribas to digitally transform their end-to-end client lifecycle processes. Fenergo’s API-first ecosystem of channels, systems and data providers enables financial institutions to offer a truly frictionless customer experience.

The company operates in a specialised part of the highly regulated financial services sector, with strong potential for continued growth given the increasing importance of digitalisation and compliance. In the financial year ending March 2021, Fenergo’s revenue increased by 17% to USD$107 million.

Marc Murphy, Founder and CEO, Fenergo said: “We are delighted that Astorg and Bridgepoint have chosen to invest in our company, providing us with the financial strength required to pursue our ambitious high-growth strategy. Both Astorg and Bridgepoint have enormous experience and credibility in our sector, something I am keen to leverage over the coming years. Ultimately, we only exist to serve the needs of our customers. We are looking forward to partnering with them in the next phase of our development.”

Benoît Ficheur, Partner in charge of growth investments at Astorg, said: “We have tracked Fenergo for many years and have been impressed with its strong market position, innovative technology and consistent strong positive feedback from a customer base of large financial institutions. We are thrilled to partner with Bridgepoint to help shape the future of this unique company. Marc Murphy and his team have proven their strength year after year in this very demanding industry. This investment confirms our commitment to backing fast-growing and innovative software leaders.”

David Nicault, Partner responsible for Bridgepoint’s investment activity in technology, said: “We are delighted to partner with Astorg on the exciting next phase for Fenergo. Continued pressure on financial institutions to improve their compliance work, while at the same time managing margins and increased regulation, has created the need for integrated digital solutions that enable reduced operating costs, improve capital allocation and comply with regulations. We are looking forward to working closely with the management team at Fenergo as they build on the company’s success to date and realise its full growth potential.”

Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Advisors involved included:

– for Fenergo: UBS, Willkie Farr & Gallagher, William Fry, and PwC

– for Bridgepoint and Astorg: Credit Suisse, William Blair, Torch Partners, Arma Partners, Paul Hastings, Allen & Overy, Ernst & Young, and GreySpark Partners

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Lightyear Capital, Oak HC/FT, and Greater Sum Ventures Close on Sale of Therapy Brands to KKR

Lightyear
05.18.2021

New York, NY – May 18, 2021 – Lightyear Capital LLC (“Lightyear”), Oak HC/FT, and Greater Sum Ventures (“GSV”) today announced that investment funds affiliated with Lightyear, Oak HC/FT, and GSV have completed the sale of Therapy Brands to KKR. Financial terms were not disclosed. Funds affiliated with Lightyear and Oak HC/FT acquired a majority stake in Therapy Brands in July 2018.

Therapy Brands provides practice management, integrated patient payments, revenue cycle management, patient engagement, tele-health and data management solutions for mental and behavioral health practices to support their clinical, administrative and billing needs. The Therapy Brands suite of software tools enables more than 28,000 practices in psychotherapy, applied behavioral analysis, substance use recovery and physical therapy to streamline their practices and focus on their patients.

“We are delighted with the outcome of our investment in Therapy Brands,” said Mark F. Vassallo, Managing Partner of Lightyear Capital. “Over the course of our investment, Therapy Brands tripled in size, completing nine strategic acquisitions, increasing its client base, growing revenue by cross-selling value-added solutions and doubling its payments penetration. Our experience with Therapy Brands further supports our pursuit of attractive investment opportunities in embedded payments models as we see tremendous demand across a number of fast-growing verticals. We wish Kimberly and the entire team at Therapy Brands great continued success.”

“Oak HC/FT’s investment in Therapy Brands highlights our dual aim of backing tech-enabled companies that are increasing the quality and lowering the cost of healthcare,” said Andrew Adams, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Oak HC/FT. “We are proud of all that Therapy Brands – led by a dedicated team – has accomplished and we’re looking forward to seeing how the company continues to innovate at a time when mental and behavioral health care is more in demand and important than ever.”

“We are pleased with the success of our investment in Therapy Brands,” said Ross Croley, CEO and Founder of GSV. “From the platform’s inception, we’ve provided strategic guidance to the management team on acquisitions and operations, and it’s exciting to see the execution and outcome of our thesis.”

“I want to thank the entire Therapy Brands team for their invaluable support and investment to drive client growth, adoption of our value-added solutions and expand our portfolio,” said Kimberly O’Loughlin, CEO of Therapy Brands. “While we are excited about partnering with KKR on our next chapter of growth, we are grateful to Lightyear, Oak HC/FT and GSV for their support in enabling our success.”

William Blair and TripleTree acted as financial advisors and Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP as legal advisor to Therapy Brands.

About Therapy Brands
At a time when the topics of digital connectivity and access to care are at the forefront of the cultural conversation in the U.S., Therapy Brands is equipping practitioners with effective solutions to address the growing needs of mental and behavioral health, substance use recovery, applied behavior analysis and rehabilitation populations. Through purpose-built, fully integrated practice management and HER solutions provided by Therapy Brands, healthcare providers can improve patient quality of care and support better health outcomes for those they serve. Therapy Brands is headquartered in Birmingham, AL. For more information, please visit us at: https://www.therapybrands.com.

About Lightyear Capital LLC
Founded in 2000, Lightyear Capital is a financial services-focused private equity firm based in New York. Through its affiliated private equity funds, Lightyear makes primarily control investments in North America-based, middle-market companies across the financial services spectrum, including asset and wealth management, banking, brokerage, healthcare financial services, insurance, payments and processing, and specialty finance. The firm brings focus and discipline to its investment process, as well as operating, transaction and strategic management experience, along with significant contacts and resources beyond capital. For more information, please visit www.lycap.com.

About Oak HC/FT
Founded in 2014, Oak HC/FT is the premier venture growth-equity fund investing in Healthcare Information & Services (“HC”) and Financial Services Technology (“FT”). With $3.3 billion in assets under management, we are focused on driving transformation in these industries by providing entrepreneurs and companies with strategic counsel, board-level participation, business plan execution and access to our extensive network of industry leaders. Oak HC/FT is headquartered in Greenwich, CT, with offices in Boston and San Francisco. Follow Oak HC/FT on Twitter, LinkedIn, and Medium.

About Greater Sum Ventures
Greater Sum Ventures (GSV) is an entrepreneurial family office that invests its own capital in middle market software and tech-enabled services companies. With entrepreneurial roots and proven operational and investing experience, GSV works with select independent co-investing partners to build platforms of technology companies that revolutionize the industries they serve. Headquartered in Knoxville, Tennessee, GSV provides access to capital and operational support to midmarket technology firms all over the world. To learn more, visit GreaterSumVentures.com.

Media Contacts:

For Lightyear:
Elliot Sloane
(917) 291-0833
esloane@throughlineco.com

For Oak HC/FT:
Michelle Daubar
(617) 803-1707
michelle@oakhcft.com

For GSV:
Kristin Alm
(865) 850-6087
kristin.alm@greatersumventures.com

For Therapy Brands:
mediainquiries@therapybrands.com

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Pliant Raises $10M in Series A Funding

New Stack Ventures

Today, Pliant announced that it has secured $10 million in Series-A financing led by Osage Venture Partners, with participation from Madrona Venture Group and existing investors New Stack Ventures, Gutbrain Ventures, VT Technology Ventures, Timothy McSweeney, BrightCap Ventures, Newfund Capital, Azure Capital Partners, and Leading Edge Ventures. As part of this financing, Osage Venture Partners Managing Partner Robert Adelson has joined the Pliant Board of Directors.

The new funding will be used to invest in Pliant’s go-to-market operations spanning sales, marketing, alliances, and customer success, as well as development initiatives in support of the company’s product roadmap.

 

“The Pliant IT Automation and Orchestration Platform delivers highly differentiated solutions in an exciting and rapidly growing space,” said Robert Adelson, Managing Partner of Osage Venture Partners.

“We are very impressed by the company’s proven ability to deliver meaningful value to leading brands in such a short period of time.”

 

“I’m thrilled and honored to be a part of the Osage Venture Partners family,” said Vess Bakalov, Founder and CEO of Pliant.

“We have built a strong business with a small, dedicated, and driven team. In the last year alone, we have made incredible progress in product development, new customer acquisition, and customer success. This investment will help us staff up to accelerate a new phase of rapid growth.”

 

Congratulations to Pliant!

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Swarmia raises $8M Seed to help software development teams deal with data

Lifeline Ventures

Swarmia, a B2B SaaS company for software development teams dealing with data, has raised a €5.7 M Seed round and a previously unannounced 1M€ pre-seed round, taking its raise to €6.7M ($8M). The Seed round was led by Alven Capital and joined by Jigsaw VC, Irena Goldenberg, Alex Algard, Lars Fjeldsoe-Nielsen, Jonathan Benhamou and Romain Huet. Lifeline Ventures, the sole investor in a previously unannounced 1M€ pre-seed round, also participated. The cash wil be used to scale to the US.

Founder Otto Hilska is a serial entrepreneur who started Flowdock (team collaboration product, acquired by Rally Software) and was Smartly.io’s Chief Product Officer.

Hilska says many software development organizations could be much more successful if they had a “better visibility to their work and a systematic approach for continuous improvement”.

Swarmia integrates with development tools such as GitHub, Jira, Linear and various CI tools to “create a holistic view to the engineering teams’ inner workings.”

Competitors include Pluralsight Flow (raised $192.5M) and CodeClimate Velocity ($15M).

However, Hilska says: “We’re the only product in the market that’s actually used by developers themselves. We don’t build features for stalking individual developers, but rather focus on how the team can improve. We’ve built the product together with our pilot customers (with shared Slack channels and daily iteration) to make sure that it actually scales with them. Every team is different, and our product adapts to these different ways of working by letting teams define their Working Agreements. That leads to much better data quality, since we actually understand how the teams work – while competitors are happy to plot any incorrect data. Our Slack bot also helps teams drive the behavioral change when teams choose to adopt a working agreement.”

Thomas Cuvelier, Partner at Alven commented: “Software is eating the world but software engineering, the largest cost center of the modern organization, is still a black box. Swarmia solves a considerable pain point by bringing visibility to engineering work and helping executives make the right business decisions based on data rather than anecdotal evidence. What Otto and his team have achieved so far is impressive and they’re well on their way to drive better working habits for the world’s 27m developers.”

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EQT Private Equity to sell StormGeo to Alfa Laval

eqt
  • EQT Private Equity to sell StormGeo, a global provider of software-based decision support for weather sensitive operations, to Alfa Laval at a transaction price of NOK 3,630 million
  • StormGeo’s weather intelligence contributes to safeguarding people, assets and operations, and helps its customers achieve greenhouse gas targets and reduce emissions, with more than 2.0 million tons fuel and 6.1 million tons CO2 saved since 2018
  • During EQT’s ownership, StormGeo has more than doubled revenues, EBITDA and number of customers as a result of strong organic growth, investments in digitalization and a number of strategic add-on acquisitions

EQT is pleased to announce that the EQT Mid Market fund (“EQT Private Equity”) has agreed to sell StormGeo Holding AS (“StormGeo” or “the Company”) to Alfa Laval AB (“Alfa Laval”), a world leader in heat transfer, centrifugal separation and fluid handling. The transaction price amounts to NOK 3,630 million.

StormGeo was founded in 1997 in Bergen, Norway, as a spin-off from Norway’s largest commercial broadcaster, TV2. Through its scalable software solutions, StormGeo provides weather-centric services to more than 2,200 customers globally in a variety of industries, including shipping, energy and onshore industries such as healthcare, hospitality, insurance and retail.

With extreme weather being the number one cause of business disruptions globally, StormGeo’s point specific forecasts, coupled with asset specific data, enable customers to safeguard people, assets and operations while minimizing downtime, improving ESG performance, saving fuel and resources.

During EQT Private Equity’s ownership, StormGeo has transformed from a regional champion into a leading global provider of shipping- and weather-solutions, underpinned by a proprietary and automated data platform. Fueled by global megatrends such as climate change and digitalization, StormGeo has more than doubled revenues, EBITDA and number of customers, and the Company’s platform has been significantly strengthened through investments in digitalization and six strategic add-on acquisitions. In 2018, StormGeo was elected a UN Global Compact Partner and has since proudly contributed to the Action Platform for Sustainable Ocean Business.

Rikke Kjær Nielsen, Partner and Investment Advisor at EQT Partners said, “It has been a privilege to partner with StormGeo’s management team and take part of the growth journey. We are proud of the company’s contribution to society in helping clients act sustainably and facilitating a reduction of 6.1 million tons CO2 since 2018. This aligns perfectly with EQT’s investment approach, and StormGeo is a strong testimony to EQT’s purpose of making a positive impact. I would also like to thank DNV and all the other minority co-investors in StormGeo for a great cooperation over the past few years. We are confident that Alfa Laval will be a great new home for StormGeo, and together, they will continue to be a trusted partner to businesses worldwide.”

Søren Andersen, CEO of StormGeo, further commented, “Together with EQT, StormGeo has transformed into a global market leader through accelerated investments in digitalization and several strategic add-on acquisitions. We are grateful for the strong cooperation and support from EQT over the past years, and we now look forward to continuing to develop our business through further geographic- and technological expansion together with Alfa Laval.”

The transaction is expected to close in Q2 2021.

EQT Private Equity was advised by Houlihan Lokey (M&A), EY (financial, tax, commercial, ESG, tech) and Wiersholm (legal).

Contact
EQT Press Office, press@eqtpartners.com, +46 8 506 55 334

About EQT
EQT is a purpose-driven global investment organization with more than EUR 67 billion in assets under management across 26 active funds. EQT funds have portfolio companies in Europe, Asia-Pacific and the Americas with total sales of approximately EUR 29 billion and more than 175,000 employees. EQT works with portfolio companies to achieve sustainable growth, operational excellence and market leadership.

More info: www.eqtgroup.com
Follow EQT on LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram

About StormGeo
StormGeo is a leading global provider of software-based decision support for weather sensitive operations. The company was founded in 1997 as a spin-off from Norway’s largest commercial broadcaster, TV2, and today provides weather-centric services for a variety of industries, including shipping, renewables, oil & gas, and onshore industries such as healthcare, hospitality and retail. The company is headquartered in Bergen, Norway and has 24 offices in 15 countries and approximately 515 employees.

More info: www.stormgeo.com

About Alfa Laval
Alfa Laval is active in the areas of Energy, Marine, and Food & Water, offering its expertise, products, and service to a wide range of industries in some 100 countries. The company is committed to optimizing processes, creating responsible growth, and driving progress – always going the extra mile to support customers in achieving their business goals and sustainability targets.

Alfa Laval’s innovative technologies are dedicated to purifying, refining, and reusing materials, promoting more responsible use of natural resources. They contribute to improved energy efficiency and heat recovery, better water treatment, and reduced emissions. Thereby, Alfa Laval is not only accelerating success for its customers, but also for people and the planet. Making the world better, every day.

Alfa Laval has 16,700 employees. Annual sales in 2020 were SEK 41.5 billion (approx. EUR 4 billion). The company is listed on Nasdaq

More info: www.alfalaval.com

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EQT Private Equity exits In.Corp Global to TA Associates

eqt
  • EQT Private Equity exits its stake in In.Corp Global, a leading pan Southeast Asia & India corporate services provider, to TA Associates
  • Under EQT Private Equity’s tenure, In.Corp, has grown from a Singapore business to a regional player with geographical footprint across seven countries, launched new services to provide full end-to-end service offerings and developed an industry leading technology platform at the core of its business to drive workflow automation
  • During EQT Private Equity’s ownership, In.Corp has experienced substantial revenue and EBITDA growth, while the employee base increased by more than five times

EQT is pleased to announce that the EQT Mid Market fund (“EQT Private Equity”) has completed the sale of its stake in In.Corp Global (“the Company” or “In.Corp”) to TA Associates.

Headquartered in Singapore, In.Corp provides end-to-end corporate services such as corporate secretarial, share registry, outsourced accounting and tax services in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam, Hong Kong and India.

During EQT Private Equity’s ownership, In.Corp expanded its geographical presence from one to seven countries, grew its client base substantially to include more large and multinational corporations. Moreover, the Company enhanced its service offering and organizational capabilities to provide end-to-end corporate services support to its clients with its employee base increasing by more than five times.

In.Corp also developed an industry leading technology platform which enables workflow automation, resulting in higher employee productivity and market leading profitability. Today, In.Corp is a leading pan Southeast Asia & India corporate services provider with over 500 employees, servicing more than 12,000 clients across international SMEs and multinational corporations.

Brian Chang, Partner and Investment Advisor, Head of Southeast Asia at EQT Partners, said “We are pleased to have found a good partner for In.Corp for what we believe will be an exciting next phase of its journey. In.Corp has transformed significantly into a regional leader in the Asian corporate services industry in the last five years and we are proud of the accomplishments achieved alongside a very entrepreneurial and professional management team and board. We thank Atin, the management team, all employees and the board for their vision and dedication, and we are confident that In.Corp will continue to be successful under its new ownership.”

Atin Bhutani, CEO of In.Corp, said “We want to thank EQT and the entire team for the trust, dedication and guidance over the last five years. EQT has been a great partner and instrumental in In.Corp’s journey so far and also in finding the right partner for us for the next phase of growth and transformation. I will personally also cherish the friendships that we have built over these years.”

Contact
APAC media inquiries: KEKST CNC, daniel.delre@kekstcnc.com, +852 9212 3105
EQT Press Office, press@eqtpartners.com, +46 8 506 55 334

About EQT
EQT is a purpose-driven global investment organization with more than EUR 67 billion in assets under management across 26 active funds. EQT funds have portfolio companies in Europe, Asia-Pacific and the Americas with total sales of approximately EUR 29 billion and more than 175,000 employees. EQT works with portfolio companies to achieve sustainable growth, operational excellence and market leadership.

More info: www.eqtgroup.com
Follow EQT on LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram

About In.Corp Global
Based in Singapore, In.Corp is the leading provider of professional corporate solutions for businesses with presence in seven markets across Asia. In.Corp specializes in a full range of professional services for companies planning to establish a hub or headquarters in Asia, including incorporation, corporate secretarial & compliance, share registry, accounting, taxation, human resources, corporate recovery and other business advisory services.

More info: www.incorp.asia

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Equistone acquires majority stake in digitalisation expert TIMETOACT GROUP

Equistone
07 May 2021

Funds advised by Equistone Partners Europe (“Equistone”) have acquired a majority stake in TIMETOACT GROUP, a leading IT consultancy and services provider for medium-sized businesses, large corporations and public sector institutions, based in Cologne, Germany. With Equistone, TIMETOACT GROUP shareholders Felix Binsack and Hermann Ballé have brought a partner on board who will continue to support TIMETOACT GROUP’s already successful buy-&-build strategy with both know-how and capital. The two will continue to lead the company as managing directors and retain a significant stake, while Frank Fuchs will join the management team as CFO. The financial terms of the transaction are undisclosed and remain subject to approval from the relevant competition authorities.

TIMETOACT GROUP comprises nine specialist brands in 16 locations across Germany, Austria and Switzerland: ARS, CLOUDPILOTS, edcom, GIS, IPG, novaCapta, synaigy, TIMETOACT and X-INTEGRATE. The group offers its clients a comprehensive range of IT service solutions in the area of digital workplace, process automation & optimisation, business intelligence, identity & access management as well as customer experience. The group’s clients primarily include medium-sized businesses as well as large corporations in the industrial, financial and service sectors as well as public sector institutions. The group employs approximately 700 people and recorded revenues of around EUR 120 million in 2020, representing an increase of more than 17 percent on the previous year.

As part of the deal, Felix Binsack and Hermann Ballé together with other members of the management team will retain a significant shareholding of close to 50 percent. The group’s management team and Equistone have been able to work together to establish a joint growth strategy for the partnership in a bilateral decision-making process. Key factors for this growth plan will be the continuation of a targeted buy-&-build strategy to strengthen the group’s service portfolio, and accessing new market segments.

“We were looking for a reliable and financially strong partner, who can support us strategically during future growth phases, both organically and through acquisitions, while taking into account our unique company culture. With Equistone, we have found such a partner”, says Felix Binsack, Co-Managing Director of TIMETOACT GROUP. “Especially in supporting companies through the implementation of buy-&-build strategies, Equistone has many years of extensive experience. We are therefore looking forward to this partnership, which will benefit both our employees and customers, as it ideally matches our own strategy for the future”, adds Hermann Ballé, Co-Managing Director of TIMETOACT GROUP.

“The acquisition of TIMETOACT GROUP adds a leading digitalisation expert with a broad range of specialised IT services to our portfolio, in a market that is characterised by strong and steady growth. At the same time, this acquisition also reflects an increased focus on technology companies: a sector with exciting business models, excellent growth prospects, and founders, we can support in their business goals”, says Leander Heyken, Partner at Equistone Partners Europe.

Leander Heyken, Christoph Wüstemeyer and Dr Marc Arens led the transaction on behalf of Equistone. Equistone was advised by wdp (Commercial), EY (Financial & Tax), POELLATH (Legal Corporate), Preu Bohlig & Partner (Legal Technology), Shearman & Sterling (Legal Financing) and GCA Altium (Debt Advisor). The TIMETOACT GROUP owners were advised by flandor (M&A Advisor, Corporate Finance) and Oppenhoff & Partner (Legal).

PR Contacts

GERMANY / SWITZERLAND / NETHERLANDS

Munich, Zurich, Amsterdam

  • IWK Communication Partner
  • Ira Wülfing / Florian Bergmann
  • Tel: +49 (0)89 2000 30 30
  • E-Mail IWK

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Alpine Acquires Outdoor Recreation Software Leader Aspira

Alpine

SAN FRANCISCO & DALLAS–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Alpine Investors (“Alpine”), a people-driven private equity firm committed to building enduring software and services companies, announced today it has acquired Aspira (the “Company”), a market-leading software provider for the outdoor recreation industry, from Vista Equity Partners. Alpine’s partnership will accelerate organic growth across Aspira’s business lines and provide capital for strategic acquisitions.

Headquartered in Dallas with eight offices worldwide, Aspira’s mission is to cultivate a connected world through shared outdoor experiences. It employs over one thousand team members and provides a comprehensive suite of software used to manage all aspects of outdoor recreation access, including reservation, registration, licensing, and day use entry for public agencies and private entities. Aspira’s enterprise solutions enable its clients to manage multiple mission-critical activities using one centralized platform. Through ReserveAmerica.com—a leading booking site for public and privately-owned campground reservations—Aspira directly connects consumers with outdoor recreation experiences.

Fraser Cameron will join Aspira as CEO, leveraging his deep experience leading passion community companies through rapid growth. Most recently serving as CEO of SmartPak Equine, Cameron brings a substantial history of operational, financial, and consumer subscription experience, including eight years leading the team at Velcro Companies in the roles of CEO and CFO. Further expanding the Aspira management team, Marlena Slowik and Graham Ballbach will assist in leading the Company during its next phase. Former CEO Mark Trivette and former President Seth Rosenberg will maintain leadership roles within the Company.

Cameron, Ballbach, and Slowik all join Aspira through Alpine’s CEO program which brings supplemental leadership to its portfolio companies.

“We are thrilled to welcome such a culturally-aligned and experienced leader in Fraser Cameron to the Aspira team,” said Trivette. “The Alpine team brings a wealth of knowledge and resources that will serve Aspira’s customers and team members exceptionally well throughout this next chapter of growth,” added Rosenberg.

“I am excited to work alongside the talented Aspira team to build upon the great work Mark and Seth have done in leading the business. Our first objective is to listen to our team and customers as we implement growth initiatives throughout all lines of business—including significant investments in technology, marketing, and customer support,” said Cameron.

“We’ve seen a surge of Americans seeking to explore the outdoors, especially over the past 12–18 months, and believe such growth will continue. Aspira has certainly benefitted from these market tailwinds, and we are delighted to partner with this dynamic Company—a true leader in an industry that brings so much joy to people by leveraging technology to connect them with nature,” said Billy Maguy, partner at Alpine. “We are committed to investing not just in the growth of the business, but also in the hardworking people who make it thrive.”

LionTree Advisors acted as exclusive financial advisor to Vista in the transaction, and Kirkland & Ellis LLP served as its legal counsel. Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati served as legal counsel to Alpine.

About Aspira

Aspira provides connected experiences for the outdoor recreation industry. Its comprehensive suite of reservation and licensing technology and service solutions support federal, state, provincial, privately-owned, and local government parks, campgrounds, and conservation agencies, conveniently connecting them with outdoor adventure seekers from around the world. Aspira is headquartered in Dallas, Texas, with eight offices worldwide. For more information, visit www.AspiraConnect.com.

About Alpine Investors

Alpine Investors is a people-driven private equity firm that is committed to building enduring companies by working with, learning from, and developing exceptional people. Alpine specializes in investments in middle-market companies in the software and services industries. Its PeopleFirst strategy includes a CEO-in-Residence program which allows Alpine to bring proven leadership to situations where additional or new management is needed post-transaction. Alpine is currently investing out of its $1 billion seventh fund. For more information, visit http://www.alpineinvestors.com.

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