Tag Archives: Information technology

Nordic Capital-backed Signicat acquires Spanish Electronic IDentification (eID) to enhance leadership position in European Reg Tech market

Nordic Capital

This acquisition strengthens Signicat’s identity proofing and electronic signing offerings and expands reach into more European and Spanish-speaking markets.

Signicat, the Trusted Digital Identity™ company, has acquired Spanish Electronic IDentification (eID), a digital identity pioneer and world leading provider of asynchronous video identification services. With the acquisition, Signicat will strengthen its European presence and take a further step towards becoming the market leader in providing digital identity and electronic signing solutions globally. This is the second major acquisition Signicat has made this year, after buying Encap Security recently in June.

Nordic Capital-backed Signicat acquires Spanish Electronic IDentification (eID) to enhance leadership position in European Reg Tech market Image

“Through our long cooperation, we were convinced that eID is a perfect match for us. Their unique services are a great compliment to our offering, and they bring with them a stronger foothold into the European market and competency to further fuel our growth ambitions. Together, we will solve some of the most advanced digital identity challenges for our customers” says Asger Hattel, CEO of Signicat.

eID brought to the market the disruptive solution of asynchronous video identification based on video-in streaming with end-to-end coverage of the identification process. This, combined with their Qualified Electronic Signature (QES) service, generates a strong and fully digital identification flow. As the Spanish market leader, eID began marketing its products in 2016 and currently has a strong track record with more than 250 customers spread across 30 countries.

Signicat has had a partnership with eID for the past four years, through which eID’s solutions are also available on Signicat’s platform. The coming together of these two organisations creates a company with unrivalled strength in identity proofing, authentication, and electronic signature solutions. The joint offering ensures the highest level of security and compliance of digital identity solutions in the European market, all based on the ‘Strong Digital Identity’ (SDI) concept, developed by eID. This enables a common end-to-end digital onboarding process across the EU in compliance with the most restrictive legislation, creating a game changer in regulated sectors such as finance and governments.

“We look forward to continuing our partnership and becoming part of the Signicat family. Joining forces will enable us to achieve the rapid expansion we have been working on for the last eight years” says Iván Nabalon, CEO of eID.

After the acquisition, eID will continue as an independent organisation with a separate brand, with a goal of full integration within two years. The acquisition is subject to normal requirements, including approval by the Spanish competition authorities. The transaction figure is not made public.

About Electronic IDentification

Electronic IDentification (eID) brought to the market the disruptive solution of asynchronous video identification based on video-in streaming with end-to-end coverage of the identification process. This, combined with their Qualified Electronic Signature (QES) service, generates a strong, fully digital identification flow. As the Spanish market leader, eID began marketing its products in 2016 and currently has a strong track record with more than 250 customers spread across 30 countries.

For further information about Electronic Identification visit: https://www.electronicid.eu/en

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CONSORTIUM LED BY NPM DECLARES OFFER UNCONDITIONAL; 80.1% OF ICT GROUP SHARES TENDERED OR COMMITTED UNDER THE OFFER

NPM Capital

JOINT PRESS RELEASE

This is a joint press release by ICT Group N.V. (“ICT Group” or the “Company“), NPM Investments XI B.V. (the “Offeror“) (a wholly-owned subsidiary of NPM Capital N.V. (“NPM Capital“)) and Teslin Ipanema Acquisition B.V. (“Teslin Acquisition”) (a wholly-owned subsidiary of Teslin Participaties Coöperatief U.A. (“Teslin“), and together with NPM Capital the “Consortium“) pursuant to the provisions of Section 13, paragraphs 1 and 2, Section 16, paragraphs 1 and 2, and Section 17, paragraphs 1 and 3 of the Netherlands Decree on Public Takeover Bids (Besluit openbare biedingen Wft, the “Decree“) in connection with the recommended public offer made by the Offeror for all the issued and outstanding ordinary shares in the capital of ICT Group (the “Offer”). This announcement does not constitute an offer, or any solicitation of any offer, to buy or subscribe for any securities in ICT Group. The Offer has been made by means of the offer memorandum dated 27 May 2021 (the “Offer Memorandum“). This announcement is not for release, publication or distribution, in whole or in part, in or into, directly or indirectly, in any jurisdiction in which such release, publication or distribution would be unlawful. Terms not defined in this press release will have the meaning as set forth in the Offer Memorandum.

CONSORTIUM LED BY NPM DECLARES OFFER UNCONDITIONAL; 80.1% OF ICT GROUP SHARES TENDERED OR COMMITTED UNDER THE OFFER

Rotterdam/Amsterdam/Maarsbergen, the Netherlands, 26 July 2021

  • 80.1% of the Shares have been tendered or irrevocably committed under the Offer
  • All Offer Conditions are now satisfied
  • The Offeror declares the Offer for ICT Group unconditional
  • Settlement of the Offer will take place on 30 July 2021, at which date the Offer Price of EUR 14.90 adjusted to EUR 14.50 will be paid
  • Remaining Shares can be tendered during the Post-Acceptance Period, commencing on 27 July 2021 and ending on 9 August 2021

 

Offeror declares the Offer unconditional

ICT Group and the Offeror are pleased to jointly announce today that, considering all Offer Conditions having been satisfied, the Offeror declares the Offer unconditional (doet gestand). The number of Shares that have been tendered for acceptance or irrevocably committed under the Offer, is equal to 80.1% of the Shares.

As announced on 23 July 2021, during the Offer Period, that expired at 17:40 hours (CEST) on 23 July 2021, 7,549,314 Shares were tendered under the Offer, representing approximately 77.9% of the Shares and an aggregate value of approximately EUR 112.5 million.

Alychlo NV, holding 215,858 Shares (representing 2.2% of the Shares), has irrevocably committed to tender all Shares held by it (the Committed Shares) in the Post-Acceptance Period on the terms and conditions of the Offer, including the Offer Price of EUR 14.90 (cum dividend) in cash per Share, adjusted to EUR 14.50 (cum dividend) in cash per Share for the dividend of EUR 0.40 per Share. Alychlo NV did not receive any information relevant for a Shareholder in connection with the Offer that is not included in the Offer Memorandum or this press release. At the date of this press release, the Offeror on the one hand, and Alychlo NV on the other hand, do not hold shares in each other’s capital.

Together with the Committed Shares, a total of 7,765,172 Shares have now been tendered or irrevocably committed to be tendered under the Offer, representing 80.1% of the Shares and an aggregate value of approximately EUR 115.7 million (at an Offer Price of EUR 14.90 (cum dividend) in cash per Share, adjusted to EUR 14.50 (cum dividend) in cash per Share for the dividend of EUR 0.40 per Share).

As a result, all Offer Conditions described in the Offer Memorandum have now been satisfied, and the Offeror declares the Offer unconditional (doet gestand).

Settlement

With reference to the Offer Memorandum dated 27 May 2021, holders of Shares who accepted the Offer shall receive the Offer Price for each Tendered Share tendered during the Offer Period and transferred (geleverd) for acceptance pursuant to the Offer, under the terms and conditions of the Offer and subject to its restrictions.

Settlement of the Shares and payment of the Offer Price will take place on 30 July 2021. Following Settlement, the Offeror will hold (directly or indirectly) 7,549,314 Shares which together with the Committed Shares amounts to 7,765,172 Shares, representing 80.1% of the Shares.

Upon Settlement the changes to the composition of the Supervisory Board of ICT Group, as approved by the EGM on 9 July 2021, will become effective.

Post-Acceptance Period

The Offeror hereby announces that Shareholders who have not tendered their Shares during the Offer Period will have the opportunity to tender their Shares under the same terms and conditions applicable to the Offer, during the Post-Acceptance Period which will start at 09:00 (CEST) on 27 July 2021 and end at 17:40 (CEST) on 9 August 2021 (the Post-Acceptance Period).

The Offeror will publicly announce the results of the Post-Acceptance Period and the total number and total percentage of Shares held by it in accordance with Section 17, paragraph 4 of the Decree ultimately on the third Business Day following the last day of the Post-Acceptance Period.

The Offeror shall continue to accept for payment all Shares validly tendered (or defectively tendered provided that such defect has been waived by the Offeror) during the Post-Acceptance Period and shall pay for such Shares as soon as reasonably possible and in any case no later than on the fifth Business Day following the last day of the Post-Acceptance Period.

During the Post-Acceptance Period, Shareholders have no right to withdraw Shares from the Offer, regardless of whether their Shares have been validly tendered (or defectively tendered, provided that such defect has been waived by the Offeror) during the Offer Period or the Post-Acceptance Period.

Delisting

If, following the Settlement Date and the Post-Acceptance Period, the Offeror has acquired 95% or more of the Shares, it will together with ICT Group seek to procure delisting of the Shares from Euronext Amsterdam as soon as possible in accordance with Applicable Rules. This may adversely affect the liquidity and market value of any Shares not tendered. Reference is made to Section 6.12 (Consequences of the Offer for non-tendering Shareholders) of the Offer Memorandum.

Buy-Out

If, following the Settlement Date and the Post-Acceptance Period, the Offeror has acquired 95% or more of the Shares, the Offeror intends to initiate, as soon as possible, a Buy-Out procedure. Reference is made to Section 6.13(b) (Buy-Out) of the Offer Memorandum.

Merger and Liquidation

If, following the Settlement Date and the Post Acceptance Period, the Offeror holds less than 95% of the Shares, the Offeror may determine to have ICT Group implement the Merger and Liquidation as described in further detail in Section 6.13(c) (Merger and Liquidation) of the Offer Memorandum. The listing of the Shares on Euronext Amsterdam will also terminate after a successful Merger and Liquidation.

Further implications of the Offer being declared unconditional

Remaining Shareholders who do not wish to tender their Shares in the Post-Acceptance Period should carefully review the Sections of the Offer Memorandum that further explain the intentions of the Offeror, such as (but not limited to) Section 6.12 (Consequences of the Offer for non-tendering Shareholders), which describes certain implications to which such Shareholders may become subject with their continued shareholding in ICT Group.

Offer Memorandum, Position Statement and further information

This announcement contains selected, condensed information regarding the Offer and does not replace the Offer Memorandum and/or the Position Statement. The information in this announcement is not complete and additional information is contained in the Offer Memorandum and the Position Statement.

Digital copies of the Offer Memorandum are available on the website of the Offeror (www.npm-capital.com) and digital copies of the Offer Memorandum and Position Statement are available on the website of ICT Group (www.ictgroup.eu). Such websites do not constitute part of, and are not incorporated by reference into, the Offer Memorandum.

Copies of the Offer Memorandum and the Position Statement are on request also available free of charge from ICT Group and the Settlement Agent at the addresses below:

ICT Group:
ICT Group N.V.
Weena 788
3014 DA, Rotterdam
The Netherlands

The Settlement Agent:
Coöperatieve Rabobank U.A.
Croeslaan 18
3521 CB, Utrecht
The Netherlands

 

For more information, please contact:

Press enquiries ICT Group
Carla Stuifzand, marketing director
+31 (0)88 908 2000,
Email: investor.relations@ict.nl
Website www.ictgroup.eu                                                      

Press enquiries Consortium
Confidant Partners
Ward Snijders
+31 20 303 60 20,
Email: ward.snijders@confidantpartners.com

About ICT Group
ICT Group is a leading European industrial technology solutions provider. Our dedicated technical professionals offer our clients services in the field of consultancy, software development, project-based solutions and IT system maintenance. It is our mission to make the world a little smarter every day. Our specialist knowledge in a variety of industries enables us to realise innovative solutions by linking people, technologies and ideas. With around 1,500 dedicated technical specialists in the field, we are capable of building and integrating new and innovative technologies into relevant business solutions for our customers.

Our Industries solutions serve the automotive, manufacturing, high-tech, food, chemicals & pharma, oil & gas and logistics industries. Our Public & Infra solutions are focused on water, rail and road infrastructure as well as public transport and mobility. Across all industries ICT Group offers proprietary industry-specific software solutions, including its own cloud-based platform for IoT, digital transformation and artificial intelligence. ICT Group is listed on Euronext Amsterdam and has a presence in the Netherlands, Belgium, Bulgaria, France, Germany, Portugal and Sweden.

About NPM Capital
NPM Capital invests in mid-market companies in the Benelux and supports companies to enter the next growth phase in their development. NPM Capital, with SHV as its sole shareholder, has sufficient capital in order to apply a long investment horizon. Currently, NPM Capital has a portfolio of 26 participations (majority as well as minority holdings, including growth capital) and focuses on the following trends: Everything is Digital, Future of Energy, Feeding the World and Healthy Life. For more information, please visit: www.npm-capital.com.

About Teslin
Teslin is an investment fund managed by Teslin Capital Management. Teslin invests in promising small- and midcaps. Based on fundamental analysis Teslin selects companies active in attractive markets with a strong market position, healthy cash flow and a proper corporate governance structure. Teslin focuses on responsible value creation in the long term and acts as an active and involved shareholder. Teslin has been a long-term significant, active and committed shareholder of ICT Group since 2002 and is delighted to support ICT Group in accelerating and realizing its potential in the coming years, growing into a leading Northern-European industrial technology solutions provider. For more information, please visit: www.teslin.nl.

General restrictions
The information in this announcement is not intended to be complete. This announcement is for information purposes only and does not constitute an offer or an invitation to acquire or dispose of any securities or investment advice or an inducement to enter into investment activity. This announcement does not constitute an offer to sell or issue or the solicitation of an offer to buy or acquire the securities of ICT Group in any jurisdiction.

The distribution of this press release may, in some countries, be restricted by law or regulation. Accordingly, persons who come into possession of this document should inform themselves of and observe these restrictions. To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, the Consortium, the Offeror and ICT Group disclaim any responsibility or liability for the violation of any such restrictions by any person. Any failure to comply with these restrictions may constitute a violation of the securities laws of that jurisdiction. Neither ICT Group, nor the Consortium, nor Offeror, nor any of their advisers assume any responsibility for any violation by any person of any of these restrictions. ICT Group shareholders in any doubt as to their position should consult an appropriate professional adviser without delay.

Forward-looking statements
This press release may include “forward-looking statements” such as statements relating to the impact of this transaction on the Offeror and ICT Group and language that indicates trends, such as “anticipated” and “expected”. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this release. Although ICT Group and the Offeror believe that the assumptions upon which their respective financial information and their respective forward-looking statements are based are reasonable, they can give no assurance that these assumptions will prove to be correct. Forward-looking statements are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from historical experience or from future results expressed or implied by such forward looking statements. Potential risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, receipt of regulatory approvals without unexpected delays or conditions, the Offeror’s ability to achieve the anticipated results from the acquisition of the Company, the effects of competition (in particular the response to the transaction in the marketplace), economic conditions in the global markets in which the Offeror and the Company operate, and other factors that can be found in the Offeror’s and the Company’s press releases and public filings. Neither ICT Group nor the Consortium nor the Offeror, nor any of their advisers accept any responsibility for any financial information contained in this press release relating to the business or operations or results or financial condition of the other or their respective groups. Each of the Company, the Consortium and the Offeror expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to disseminate any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect any change in the expectations with regard thereto or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement is based.

 

Notes to the press release

This is a public announcement by ICT Group N.V. pursuant to Section 17 paragraph 1 of the European Market Abuse Regulation (596/2014).

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Eight Roads Ventures Europe continues to back Spendesk

Eight Roads

Eight Roads Ventures Europe continues to back Spendesk, the leading all-in-one spend management platform for finance teams, participating in the €100 Series C funding round led by General Atlantic. Spendesk will focus on hiring top talent and accelerating product innovation to bring more automation and insights to every aspect of business spending.

Spendesk offers an intuitive SaaS spend management solution that provides full visibility and control on all company spending — with every purchase trackable to a person, a project, and a budget. The platform combines payments, processes and data into one source of truth, with virtual and physical cards for employees, expense reimbursements, invoice management, automated spend approvals, and budgets. The solution aims to liberate finance teams from day-to-day admin tasks, freeing them to focus on proactive and strategic value-add.

“In the past few years we have built the reference spend management solution for finance teams in Europe, which frees businesses and their people from administrative constraints of spending and managing money at work. While our solution is about empowering finance teams, we are actually delivering value to the entire business through the finance team.” said Spendesk’s co-founder and CEO, Rodolphe Ardant.

Lucile Cornet, Partner at Eight Roads Ventures added, ““Not only is Spendesk emerging as a category leader in spend management but it has also built a fantastic team and culture on the way, which is essential!”

The new investment follows a strong year of growth as Spendesk doubled its revenue, despite adverse market conditions during the pandemic, and grew the team from 150 to 300 employees. Membership in Spendesk’s global finance community, CFO Connect, has doubled as well, now counting 6,500 members worldwide.

With the new funds, Spendesk plans to affirm its position as a leading spend management solution in Europe. This includes doubling headcount within the next two years, and accelerating product innovation, with Slack and Microsoft alumnus James Colgan having recently joined as Chief Product Officer.

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Nordic Capital invests in no-code data automation leader Duco

Nordic Capital
  • Investment made in partnership with the CEO and Founder with the aim to accelerate Duco’s growth and expansion

Nordic Capital today announced an agreement to invest in Duco Technology Limited (“Duco”) and acquire a majority shareholding from current investors, CME Ventures, Insight Partners and Eight Roads Ventures. Founder Christian Nentwich will remain as a shareholder and Chief Executive Officer.

Nordic Capital will utilise its experience within the Technology and Payments sector, as well as its broad network and operational resources to accelerate the transformative growth of the business. The data automation market is growing rapidly, and Nordic Capital’s investment will enable the business to further increase its international footprint whilst also supporting product expansion and employee growth.

Nordic Capital invests in no-code data automation leader Duco Image

Duco provides Software as a Service (SaaS) solutions in the cloud to Financial Services, Insurance and FinTech companies dealing with mission critical data management issues. Duco’s mission is to “make managing data easy” by replacing spreadsheets and technology-heavy solutions in areas like data prep, reconciliation, data quality and data management with a user-friendly, machine learning-powered platform.

Headquartered in London, Duco has 140 employees in the UK, US, Singapore and Poland. Duco’s software is used by 14 of the top 30 global banks, asset managers with over $10 trillion in assets, leading payments innovators, exchanges and custodians, and insurers.

“We are very pleased to be partnering with Nordic Capital for the next part of Duco’s journey. Together we will be able to take the business to its next level as they have a strong track record of scaling fast-growing businesses such as Duco. Companies face huge, unsolved problems in the data management and data automation areas. We are passionate about solving these problems in new ways that make people’s work lives more enjoyable and have immediate and substantial agility and cost benefits to our clients. Nordic Capital’s strategic expertise, focus on growth and execution best practice mean that we can accelerate from here and strengthen our strategy with both organic and acquisition growth in the future,” said Christian Nentwich, CEO, Duco, adding “I would also like to thank our outgoing investors and our independent board members, Cris Conde, Kirsten Wolberg and Spencer Lake, for their support and guidance that led us to where we are today.”

“The reconciliation market is growing quickly with strong structural tail winds. Duco brings state-of-the art solutions challenging established legacy point solutions and vastly improve processes. Duco has demonstrated strong leadership and innovation to move technology in Financial Services forward, with its focus on cloud-only delivery and self-service for end users. We are excited about the positioning of the company to respond to major trends that are gaining rapid traction, its great reputation with its clients, and the strength of its technology. Nordic Capital is looking forward to supporting the next phase of Duco’s journey alongside Christian and the management team,” said Emil Anderson, Principal, Nordic Capital Advisors.

Nordic Capital is a leading specialised Technology & Payments investor in Europe with a long and extensive history and experience of investing and supporting sustainable growth in technology software and Financial Service companies. To date, Nordic Capital has deployed more than EUR 4.5 billion of equity across 21 technology companies since 2001 and has significant experience in software as well as payments.

Nordic Capital supports businesses to accelerate growth through expansion into new markets, new product development, improving go-to-market and talent acquisitions, amongst other initiatives. The goal is to use operational experience, capital and business acumen to create strong, sustainable businesses that will thrive in the long term.

The terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Arma Partners served as financial advisors to Duco management and institutional shareholders.

About Duco

Duco, a leading data automation company, is helping businesses to unleash their potential by removing the friction around data. Duco’s cloud-based, no-code platform brings together data quality, reconciliation, data preparation and management, giving firms the tools they need to increase business agility, reduce risk, stay compliant with regulation and dramatically improve efficiency. Over 10,000 users across 30+ countries process billions of data records every week using the platform. Duco is headquartered in London, with offices in New York, Edinburgh, Wroclaw and Singapore. Customers include global banks, investment managers, insurance firms and challenger fintech companies, such as Societe Generale, ING, Man Group and Currencycloud. For more information go to www.du.co

About Nordic Capital

Nordic Capital is a leading private equity investor with a resolute commitment to creating stronger, sustainable businesses through operational improvement and transformative growth. Nordic Capital focuses on selected regions and sectors where it has deep experience and a long history. Focus sectors are Healthcare, Technology & Payments, Financial Services, and selectively, Industrial & Business Services. Key regions are Europe and globally for Healthcare and Technology & Payments investments. Since inception in 1989, Nordic Capital has invested more than EUR 17 billion in close to 120 investments. The most recent funds are Nordic Capital Fund X with EUR 6.1 billion in committed capital and Nordic Capital Evolution Fund with EUR 1.2 billion in committed capital, principally provided by international institutional investors such as pension funds. Nordic Capital Advisors have local offices in Sweden, the UK, the US, Germany, Denmark, Finland and Norway. For further information about Nordic Capital, please visit www.nordiccapital.com.

“Nordic Capital” refers to any, or all, Nordic Capital branded funds and vehicles and associated entities. The general partners and/or delegated portfolio manager of Nordic Capital’s funds and vehicles are advised by several non-discretionary sub-advisory entities, any or all of which are referred to as “Nordic Capital Advisors”.

 

Media contacts

Nordic Capital
Katarina Janerud, Communications Manager
Nordic Capital Advisors
Tel: +46 8 440 50 50
e-mail: katarina.janerud@nordiccapital.com

Duco
Annie Knight / Megan Hill
Wildfire PR
duco@wildfirepr.com
+44 208 408 8000

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Tide raises $100 million in Series C funding led by the Apax Digital Fund

Apax Digital
  • Funding round oversubscribed and resulting in a valuation of over $650 million
  • Funding will support further investments in product and international expansion

 

Tide, the UK’s leading business financial platform,[1] today announced it has received just over $100 million in Series C funding, bringing the company’s total raised to date to $200 million. Tide is now valued at over $650 million post-money, after only four years of operation. The round was led by funds advised by Apax Digital, the growth equity team of Apax Partners. Anthemis, Augmentum, Jigsaw, Local Globe / Latitude, SBI, and SpeedInvest, existing investors, also participated in the round.

Tide has experienced rapid and sustained growth since launching in 2017, with 2020 seeing the business more than double its user base in the UK. With over 350,000 members, over 400,000 business accounts and a proposition ranging from business banking to payments and accounting software, Tide serves around 6% of UK businesses.  Earlier this year, Tide announced that it was expanding into India, with a full launch of the platform planned for 2022.

The new funding puts Tide in a position to continue to develop their business financial platform, grow their market share, as well as expand globally. Tide, in partnership with ClearBank, has also been awarded a total of nearly $120 million in grants from the RBS Alternative Remedies Package.

Oliver Prill, Tide CEO said: “Partnering with Apax Digital validates Tide’s potential to continue our growth trajectory and gain traction in global markets.

“Tide’s growth story to date has been hugely exciting, creating a diverse platform that serves small business owners, as well as generating significant market share. As we embark on taking Tide international, we couldn’t have a better set of investors to support us. We look forward to working with Apax Digital to realise our ambition of becoming a leading global business financial platform.”

Mark Beith, Partner at Apax Digital and Niccolò Ferragamo, Principal at Apax Digital said: “Small businesses are a key pillar of the economy. Yet, for years, they have been underserved by both financial services and software providers. Tide’s cutting-edge platform is empowering SMEs by providing frictionless, easy-to-use software for their financial needs. We are thrilled to partner with Oliver and the Tide team in their mission to simplify the lives of millions of small businesses globally.”

The investment remains subject to FCA approval. Financial Technology Partners (FT Partners) served as the exclusive strategic and financial advisor to Tide on this transaction.

 

 

 

[1] Tide is not a bank, but a business financial platform and the leading digital challenger in business banking services. We believe that a platform approach is the future of business banking, allowing us to offer both financial and admin services to SMEs, saving them time (and money) to allow them to focus on what they love: running their businesses.

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EQT Private Equity to sell Iver, one of the leading Nordic managed IT services providers

eqt
  • EQT Private Equity sells Iver, one of the leading Nordic managed IT services providers with a multi-cloud offering and complete IT outsourcing capabilities, to ICG
  • EQT Private Equity founded Iver through the merger of Candidator and DGC IT Services with the aim to create a platform for consolidation of the highly polarized and fragmented Nordic market, and has since then completed 10 additional strategic add-ons in Sweden and Norway
  • Under EQT Private Equity’s ownership, Iver has more than tripled revenues, while achieving industry low churn and top ranked customer satisfaction

EQT is pleased to announce that the EQT Mid Market Europe fund (“EQT Private Equity”) has agreed to sell Iver Holding AB (“Iver” or the “Company”) to Intermediate Capital Group plc (“ICG”), a UK-based global alternative asset manager.

Headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden, Iver offers full IT-outsourcing capabilities and focuses on high-growth areas such as multi-cloud, digital transformation, cybersecurity and DevOps-services. Iver is the preferred partner for customers with complex IT needs, such as demanding digital infrastructure, security, and regulatory compliance requirements. As part of its multi-cloud offering, Iver partners with major public cloud vendors, such as Amazon and Microsoft, while offering a proprietary European public cloud alternative, compliant to all industry, regulatory, and security requirements. Iver employs more than 1,300 people across its 25 local offices in Sweden and Norway.

Iver was founded in May 2018 through the merger of EQT portfolio companies Candidator and DGC IT Services, which were acquired in February 2018 and May 2018, respectively. The two companies’ strategically complementary characteristics, along with the market fragmentation, brought unique opportunities to build a platform for industry consolidation.

Since then, EQT Private Equity has supported Iver’s ambitious M&A agenda, and in addition to delivering strong organic growth, the Company has completed 10 strategic add-ons in Sweden and Norway. Iver has transformed into an integrated Nordic industry leader with deep capabilities in high growth areas. The Company has more than tripled revenues over the last three years and generated SEK 2.5 billion in 2020. With support from EQT and the board, Iver has increased its focus on ESG and is measuring, analyzing and following-up on its climate impact and CO2 emissions throughout the Company’s entire supply chain. In addition to complying to multiple ISO certifications, the Company’s datacenters are fully powered by renewable energy.

Albert Gustafsson, Partner within EQT Private Equity’s Advisory Team, commented, ”We are grateful to have worked alongside Iver’s entrepreneurial and visionary management team and employees, who have driven the transformation from an industry challenger into a Nordic leader. Iver is uniquely positioned and is supported by strong structural trends, such as the increasing pace of outsourced IT services and growing demand for IT security. We are confident in management’s ability to continue the successful path with Iver’s new owner.”

Carl-Magnus Månsson, CEO of Iver, said, “Modern digital infrastructure is a fundament for accelerating digital innovation and protecting digital values. We are on an exciting journey, the support from the EQT has significantly contributed to helping us transform the business and accelerate growth by making substantial investments. We would like to thank the EQT team, as well as the Iver board, for their support and we look forward to the next phase in our development together with ICG”.

The transaction is subject to customary conditions and approvals and is expected to close in August 2021. The parties have agreed not to disclose the transaction value.

EQT Private Equity was advised by EY (financial and tax) and White & Case (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 Iver
Iver develops, packages, and provides IT services that offer digital competitive advantages and enable innovation. We guide our clients through an ever-changing IT landscape and make it easy for them to adopt new technologies and modern methodologies. Our client base spans every sector, and we provide services for medium- and large-sized companies, organisations, and the public sector. Iver’s registered office is in Stockholm, but we operate throughout the Nordic region, where our agenda is one of continued expansion while remaining, at all times, close to our clients. Iver has a turnover of just over SEK 2.5 billion and approximately 1,300 employees who work at one of our 25 offices in Sweden and Norway. We are big, but we are close to our clients, both geographically and at heart.

More info: www.iver.com

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

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Translated receives $25M Investment from Ardian

Ardian

Paris/San Francisco/Rome, June 30, 2021 – Translated, an Italy and US-based company that pioneered the use of artificial intelligence to support professional translators, announces that the world-leading private investment house Ardian has invested $25 million via its Ardian Growth fund, leading a $30 million investment round.

Translated is an end-to-end translation platform that combines its renowned proprietary adaptive neural machine translation software ModernMT with its network of 200 000 engaged linguists. Over the last many years, the company has experienced a consistent 30% organic growth rate year-on-year. Thanks to this human-machine symbiosis, Translated offerings have been constantly improving. Today Translated is able to serve global tech platforms including Airbnb, Google and Uber as well as small and medium-sized businesses.

Leveraging its track-record in scaling-up companies, the Ardian Growth team has joined the founders Isabelle Andrieu and Marco Trombetti to support their ambition in AI and in the Translation world. Through this investment, Ardian will help Translated grow even faster and scale the adoption of its AI-powered platform in Europe and in the US.

Marco Trombetti, co-founder and CEO of Translated, comments: “We believe that allowing everyone to understand and be understood is one of the greatest challenges of humankind. We feel the urgency to solve this problem, because the more people understand each other the easier it will be for humanity to achieve any other great challenge. We decided to partner with Ardian because they share with us the love for diversity, they are capable of accelerating our plans and they have the DNA and means to do so in the long term.”

Isabelle Andrieu, co-founder of Translated, says: “I am thrilled for the milestone reached so far, thanks to our determination, hard work, and wonderful team of people that have given their time and talent to bet on us. We are rich in enthusiasm and desire to pursue this incredible journey”

Laurent Foata, Managing Director and Head of Ardian Growth stated: “Founded and self-financed by inspiring entrepreneurs like Marco and Isabelle, Translated already posts more than 50% of sales in the US market. Such unique achievements chime with Ardian Growth’s investment philosophy and track record in the software landscape.”
Bertrand Schapiro, Director of the Ardian Growth team added: “By pioneering AI and tailoring it for linguists, Translated has shaken up a market historically dominated by only a few players. We’re delighted to support a company that has been able to keep on innovating in AI without losing sight of its overall purpose.”

ABOUT TRANSLATED

Translated has been offering human translation services for the last 20 years in 194 languages and 40 areas of expertise. The company uses a powerful combination of human creativity and machine intelligence to craft consistent quality translations at speed.

Visit the website

ABOUT ARDIAN

Ardian is a world-leading private investment house with assets of US$112bn managed or advised in Europe, the Americas and Asia. The company is majority-owned by its employees. It keeps entrepreneurship at its heart and focuses on delivering excellent investment performance to its global investor base.
Through its commitment to shared outcomes for all stakeholders, Ardian’s activities fuel individual, corporate and economic growth around the world.
Holding close its core values of excellence, loyalty and entrepreneurship, Ardian maintains a truly global network, with more than 700 employees working from fifteen offices across Europe (Frankfurt, Jersey, London, Luxembourg, Madrid, Milan, Paris and Zurich), the Americas (New York, San Francisco and Santiago) and Asia (Beijing, Singapore, Tokyo and Seoul). It manages funds on behalf of more than 1,100 clients through five pillars of investment expertise: Fund of Funds, Direct Funds, Infrastructure, Real Estate and Private Debt.
Follow @Ardian on Twitter

LIST OF PARTICIPANTS

  • Ardian Growth

    • Laurent Foata, Bertrand Schapiro, Olivier Roy
    • Legal advisors : Giovannelli & Associati (Fabrizio Scaparro, Paola Cairoli, Augusto Fracasso), Orrick (Attilio Mazzilli, Flavio Notari, Alessandro Vittoria)
    • Financial advisor: KPMG (Matteo Ennio, Matteo Ghislandi)

Press contact

Translated

CHIARA SANSONI

chiara.sansoni@translated.com +39 338 484 1627

Headland

GREGOR RIEMANN

griemann@headlandconsultancy.com +44 7920 8026 27

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EQT Private Equity to acquire PRO Unlimited, a leader in contingent workforce management

eqt
  • EQT Private Equity to acquire PRO Unlimited, a leading provider of integrated contingent workforce management solutions through its holistic platform which includes managed service program, vendor management software, direct sourcing and data and analytics capabilities
  • PRO Unlimited enables companies to effectively tap into the growing market for high-skilled contingent labor while providing workers more opportunities for flexible employment
  • EQT will support PRO Unlimited’s continued growth and ongoing development of new products to further expand its integrated platform offering

EQT is pleased to announce that the EQT IX fund (“EQT Private Equity”) has agreed to acquire PRO Unlimited Global Solutions Inc. (“PRO Unlimited” or the “Company”), a leader in contingent workforce management solutions, from funds managed by Harvest Partners, LP and its affiliates (“Harvest Partners”) and Investcorp. Following the close of the transaction, EQT Private Equity will be the majority shareholder and the existing PRO Unlimited management team will continue to operate the business.

PRO Unlimited was established in 1991 to assist large companies in managing their contingent workforce to better attract specialist talent seeking a more flexible work solution. Today, the Company’s integrated solutions have grown to incorporate a managed service program, vendor management software, direct sourcing and data and analytics capabilities. The platform handles the significant complexities of running an effective contingent workforce program on behalf of enterprise clients, fulfilling a multitude of tasks including discovering a client’s staffing needs, finding and evaluating candidates, hiring, onboarding, providing payroll and offboarding the contingent workers. PRO Unlimited is differentiated through its focus on high-skilled labor, its staffing agency-neutral approach, and its unique integrated solutions of services, software, and proprietary market data. The Company is headquartered in San Francisco with global capabilities and has approximately 1,400 total employees.

EQT will leverage its extensive experience partnering with technology-enabled services businesses, in-house digital expertise and network of global EQT advisors to support PRO Unlimited in its next phase of development as the Company continues to invest in technology and innovation to expand its integrated platform capabilities.

Kasper Knokgaard, Partner within EQT Private Equity’s Advisory Team, said, “EQT is excited to invest in PRO Unlimited and partner with CEO Kevin Akeroyd and the full PRO Unlimited team as the Company embarks on the next phase of continued growth. PRO Unlimited has been at the forefront of developing a fulsome suite of integrated solutions for companies to manage their contingent workforce through a combination of services, software, and data. We look forward to supporting the continued expansion of the platform to enable more flexible work solutions for the evolving contingent industry.”

Andrew Schoenthal, Partner at Harvest Partners, said, “Through multi-year investments in people, technology and data, PRO Unlimited has developed among the most comprehensive contingent workforce platforms for large and global companies. We are excited to watch Kevin and his team build upon the enormous success that the Company has achieved to date and continue to bring new innovations to the market.” Harvest’s PRO Unlimited investment team is led by Ira Kleinman, Andrew Schoenthal and David Schwartz.

Kevin Akeroyd, CEO of PRO Unlimited, said, “We are proud of what PRO Unlimited has achieved in recent years in collaboration with Harvest Partners and Investcorp. The contingent labor industry is experiencing strong growth, fueled by workers desire for increased autonomy and flexibility. We are delighted to provide the solutions to enable enterprises and the contingent workforce to meet their needs. We look forward to partnering with EQT and leveraging their industry expertise, digital capabilities, and network of advisors.”

The transaction is subject to customary conditions and approvals. It is expected to close in the second half of 2021.

EQT Private Equity was advised by BofA Securities, Sidley Austin LLP, McKinsey & Company and Alvarez & Marsal.

PRO Unlimited, Harvest Partners and Investcorp were advised by William Blair and White & Case.

With this transaction, EQT IX is expected to be 50-55 percent invested (including closed and/or signed investments, announced public offers, if applicable, and less any expected syndication) based on its target fund size, and subject to customary regulatory approvals.

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 PRO Unlimited
Servicing hundreds of the world’s most recognizable brands, PRO Unlimited offers modern workforce management and a partner ecosystem supported by data, software, intelligence, and services to meet flexible workforce needs. PRO’s Modern Workforce Management Platform can adapt quickly to regional or industry economic shifts, and provides the speed, scale, flexibility, transparency, and expertise to serve as the holistic platform for the modern workforce. Headquartered in San Francisco, PRO has helped global brands and organizations achieve operational and financial success for more than 30 years.

More info: www.prounlimited.com

About Harvest Partners, LP
Founded in 1981, Harvest Partners, LP is an established New York-based private equity investment firm that focuses on investments in middle-market companies in the business services & industrial services, consumer, healthcare, industrials and software industries. Harvest’s control strategy leverages the firm’s 40 years of experience in financing organic and acquisition-oriented growth.

More info: www.harvestpartners.com.

Contact
US inquiries:
Stephanie Greengarten,
+1 646 687 6810,
stephanie.greengarten@eqtpartners.com

International inquiries:
EQT Press Office,
​​​​​​​press@eqtpartners.com
+46 8 506 55 334

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Aircall, now valued above $1bn, raises $120M in Series D funding, led by Goldman Sachs Asset Management

DTCP

Funding will advance Aircall’s market leadership in Cloud Communications industry

NEW YORK, NY, June 23rd, 2021

  • Launched in 2014 in France, Aircall is a cloud-based phone system and call center software that integrates seamlessly with popular CRM and helpdesk tools, such as Salesforce, Hubspot, etc.
  • Including its Series D, Aircall has now raised more than $226 million.
  • This new financing will allow Aircall to fulfill its mission of trailblazing a new era for cloud communications.

Aircall, a cloud-based voice platform helping companies across the globe manage millions of customer support and sales calls every day, today announced it has raised $120 million in a series D funding round, bringing the company’s total valuation to more than $1 billion. The funding round was led by the Growth Equity business within Goldman Sachs Asset Management, and joined by most of Aircall’s current investors (DTCP, eFounders, Draper Esprit, Adam Street Partners, NextWorldCap, Gaia), showing their renewed trust in the company’s vision.

Aircall was founded in 2014 with the belief that traditional business phone systems were hard to manage, siloed, and required heavy implementation costs and time. In an increasingly virtual world, businesses were lacking an easy-to-use solution that could integrate with other critical business applications, and support the communications needs of a dispersed and flexible workforce.

Over the past year, remote workforces accelerated digital transformation for companies of all sizes and, at the same time, their customers increased their expectations around personalized and convenient service. Aircall helps businesses meet those objectives by integrating its cloud-based solution into leading business softwares like Salesforce, Hubspot, Zendesk, Slack, Intercom and many others. This allows businesses to streamline workflows, providing more efficiency for their teams with better visibility, data and insights into their customers’ needs and their teams’ performances. Ultimately, the solution allows personalized experiences for their customers. Aircall was built to empower any professional to have richer conversations, and to allow the phone channel to be accessible, transparent, and collaborative.

Christian Resch, Managing Director at Goldman Sachs, said: “The past 12 months have been a catalyst for Aircall’s cloud based SaaS communication solution. In a hybrid work environment, users are looking to Aircall to provide an easy to use experience that is highly integrated into their workflows, thereby making the most out of every customer interaction. We are very excited to partner with Aircall, as the company looks to accelerate its growth and expand globally.”

Kirk Lepke, Executive Director at Goldman Sachs, added: “We have been following Aircall’s journey for some time and are delighted to be partnering with Olivier and the Aircall team to lead the Series D. The company has tremendous momentum within a huge category and a differentiated product strategy that will sustain significant growth for many years to come.”

Despite the challenges this past year has brought, Aircall achieved record-breaking growth across its business. The company saw more than 65 percent total customer growth year over year, and now has more than 8,500 customers worldwide. Aircall’s development relies strongly on internationalization, with more than a third of revenue generated in the United States. With offices in New York, Paris, Sydney and Madrid, Aircall recently passed the 450 employee mark and plans to recruit more than 260 new employees by the end of the year.

With this new funding round, Aircall will invest in the following:

  • Enrich its app ecosystem, specifically with new integrations covering all use cases, from e-commerce to financial services, Sales, Support, etc.
  • Expand globally, with new European offices in London and Berlin, and deeper investments in North America and APAC. Aircall plans to recruit more customer-facing teams to come closer to the customer needs, and to form strong partnerships, including with channels and resellers.
  • Partner with major telecommunications companies to bring its technology to every professional around the world, by leveraging local networks expertise.
  • Improve technology with new AI capabilities, additional productivity features for call centers: transcription & speech analytics for greater depth of productivity features for sales and support. Aircall will also enhance infrastructure capacities by providing additional points of presence to support local usage, while continuing to deliver additional capacity at scale, and provide a global standard of high quality for voice.

“Since the beginning of Aircall, we’ve helped thousands of companies to enrich their customer experience through voice channels, with more empathy than ever in the past year. We also witnessed an increasing demand for visibility and data about teams and performances.“ said Olivier Pailhes, co-founder and CEO of Aircall. “Now that hybrid, on-site or remote teams are likely here to stay, we’ll continue to work to achieve our vision, and empower every professional to have richer conversations. With that in mind, the investment by Goldman Sachs, and the renewed trust of our current investors validates this vision.”

###

About Aircall

Aircall is the phone system for modern business. An entirely cloud-based voice platform that integrates seamlessly with popular productivity and helpdesk tools. Aircall was built to make phone support as easy to manage – accessible, transparent, and collaborative.

Aircall believes that voice is the most powerful way to communicate with customers, prospects, candidates, and colleagues. It is designed to enable delightful moments of human connection. Aircall was founded in 2014 and has raised over $226 million in funding. With offices in New York, Paris, Sydney, and Madrid, the company currently has over 450+ employees.

https://aircall.io/

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Element Logic announces partnership with Castik Capital

Castik Capital

Funds managed by Castik Capital S.à r.l. (“Castik”) have entered into an agreement to acquire a majority stake in Element Logic, in partnership with its co-founder and CEO Dag-Adler Blakseth, co-founder Kjell Blakseth and the broader management team. Castik will jointly own the company alongside Element Logic’s founders, management team and employees.

Element Logic, headquartered in Kløfta, Norway, is a specialized integrator for automated warehouse solutions centred around the AutoStore® system. Founded in 1985, the company now employs 170 specialists across Europe who design, implement, deliver and service a wide range of automated and static warehouse automation solutions for customers in a range of industries across Europe, complemented by proprietary software and technology. Not only did Element Logic deliver the world’s first ten AutoStore® installations, but they have also implemented more AutoStore® solutions in 2020 than any other competitor worldwide. After delivering organic revenue growth at a c. 50% CAGR since 2014, Element Logic today has a leading market position in the Nordics and across Europe.

Element Logic’s focus on being a pure-play AutoStore® system provider has made it a trusted one-stop shop for warehouse automation solutions in Europe, underpinned by expertise and technology. Castik aims to further support Element Logic with its rapid organic expansion across Europe and to explore further avenues to expand its service and software capabilities, partly through selective M&A.

“We are thrilled to have Castik on board as our partner of choice with a great fit to Element Logic. Together we plan to continue our growth journey, while we retain the Element Way and the company’s unique culture, as Element Logic truly is a people business. There are an incredible number of exciting opportunities ahead of us that open up further when we add Castik’s support together with our competence, experience and ambitions”, says Dag-Adler Blakseth, co-founder and CEO of Element Logic.

“We are very excited to have the opportunity to partner with Dag-Adler Blakseth and the entire Element Logic team, and to support the company in its continued growth story. The company has grown tremendously over the last years in a market for warehouse automation that is still in its infancy,” Michael Phillips, Partner at Castik Capital, says.

Element Logic and the sellers were advised by Carnegie, CLP, Bain and PwC. Castik was advised by Skadden, Arntzen de Besche, Kearney, PwC and GCA Altium. Ares provided financing for Castik.

About Element Logic

For over 30 years Element Logic has been optimizing warehouse performance. In 2020, we installed more AutoStore® solutions than any other company in the world and we continue to create smart solutions to help warehouses deal with their customer’s increasing demand for fast deliveries. Our robotic solutions, software and consulting help businesses improve their value chains and to be more profitable. We optimize warehouses of all sizes in a wide range of industries including electronic components, parts distribution, consumer electronics, 3PL, pharmaceuticals, apparel, sports equipment, and more.

As the original AutoStore® partner, we have a wealth of experience designing, delivering, and installing tailormade solutions that improve customers workflow.

Element Logic has more than 170 employees in Europe and had a turnover of €100 million in 2020. Our headquarter is in Norway, with subsidiaries all over Europe.

For more information visit www.elementlogic.net.

About Castik Capital

Castik Capital S.à r.l (“Castik”) manages investments in private equity. Castik is a European multi-strategy investment manager, acquiring significant ownership positions in European private and public companies, where long-term value can be generated through active partnerships with founders and management teams. Founded in 2014, Castik is based in Luxembourg and focuses on identifying and developing investment opportunities across Europe. The advisor to Castik is Castik Capital Partners GmbH, based in Munich. Investments are made by the Luxembourg-based EPIC II Fund.

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