Tag Archives: Information technology

ARI Announces Strategic Growth Investment from TA Associates

TA associates

MILWAUKEE – ARI Network Services, Inc. (“ARI”), a provider of software and marketing solutions to dealers, equipment manufacturers and distributors in select vertical markets, today announced it has received a strategic growth investment from TA Associates, a leading global growth private equity firm.

True Wind Capital, a San Francisco-based private equity firm that completed a take-private transaction of ARI in August 2017, will remain the largest shareholder in the company. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Founded in 1981, ARI provides lead-generation, e-commerce, digital marketing, electronic catalog and dealer management solutions to dealers in end markets such as power sports, outdoor power equipment, marine, recreational vehicle, tire and wheel, aftermarket auto service, appliances and home medical equipment. The company’s suite of products are mission critical in helping dealers drive sales and manage operations. ARI has offices throughout the United States and around the globe.

“We are thrilled to complete an investment in ARI and help build upon the company’s outstanding record of supporting dealerships’ end-to-end technology needs,” said Ashutosh Agrawal, a Managing Director at TA Associates who will join the ARI Board of Directors. “We are confident that ARI is well positioned to continue to grow organically and through strategic add-on acquisitions, and look forward to contributing additional resources to support the ongoing momentum of the company.”

“ARI was built on the basis that manufacturers, distributors, dealers and service providers deserve premier solutions to automate and enhance their businesses,” said Roy W. Olivier, President and Chief Executive Officer of ARI. “In keeping with our roots, we believe it is critical to have value-add partners in place who are aligned with and supportive of our mission and goals. With True Wind retaining a significant stake in the business and TA Associates coming on board as a new partner, we feel fortunate to have two highly regarded investors at our side as we seek to continuously innovate and improve our suite of data-powered technology tools to enable our customers to drive sales. It is a pleasure to welcome TA to the ARI family.”

“We have thoroughly enjoyed our relationship with the entire ARI team since we successfully took the company private 18 months ago,” said Adam Clammer, a Founding Partner of True Wind Capital. “We are delighted to continue our relationship with ARI and are eager to begin working collaboratively with TA to help the company in its next phase of growth.”

In addition to Ashutosh Agrawal, Nicholas D. Leppla, a Vice President at TA Associates, will join the ARI Network Services Board of Directors.

About ARI Network Services
ARI Network Services, Inc. (ARI) offers an award-winning suite of SaaS, software tools and marketing services to help dealers, equipment manufacturers and distributors in selected vertical markets Sell More Stuff!™ – online and in-store. Our innovative products are powered by a proprietary data repository of enriched original equipment and aftermarket electronic content spanning more than 17 million active part and accessory SKUs and 750,000 equipment models. Business is complicated, but we believe our customers’ technology tools don’t have to be. We remove the complexity of selling and servicing new and used vehicle inventory, parts, garments and accessories (PG&A) for customers in the automotive tire and wheel aftermarket, power sports, outdoor power equipment, marine, home medical equipment, recreational vehicles and appliance industries. More than 23,500 equipment dealers, 195 distributors and 3,360 brands worldwide leverage our web and eCatalog platforms to Sell More Stuff!™ For more information on ARI, visit arinet.com.

About TA Associates
TA Associates is one of the largest and most experienced global growth private equity firms. Focused on five target industries – technology, healthcare, financial services, consumer and business services – TA invests in profitable, growing companies with opportunities for sustained growth, and has invested in more than 500 companies around the world. Investing as either a majority or minority investor, TA employs a long-term approach, utilizing its strategic resources to help management teams build lasting value in growth companies. TA has raised $24 billion in capital since its founding in 1968 and is committing to new investments at the pace of $2 billion per year. The firm’s more than 85 investment professionals are based in Boston, Menlo Park, London, Mumbai and Hong Kong. More information about TA Associates can be found at www.ta.com.

About True Wind Capital
True Wind Capital is a San Francisco-based private equity firm focused on investing in leading technology companies. True Wind is a value-added partner, providing support and expertise that is rooted in 75+ years of collective investing experience. True Wind’s founding partners have successfully invested more than $15 billion of equity in transactions with over $75 billion of value across a variety of industries, geographies, economic cycles and transaction types. True Wind targets investments in which they partner directly with management teams to support their pursuit of market leadership and its investment professionals have completed more than 50 platform investments. Visit www.truewindcapital.com for more information.

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KnowBe4 to Receive Significant Investment from KKR

KKR

Leading Security Awareness Training Platform Valued at More than $800 Million
 

TAMPA BAY, Fla., March 1, 2019 /PRNewswire/ — KnowBe4, the provider of the world’s largest security awareness training and simulated phishing platform, today announced that it has entered into an agreement to receive a sizable minority investment from leading global investment firm KKR, with participation from Ten Eleven Ventures.  The investment, which values the company at over $800 million, comes off the back of an exceptional 2018 for KnowBe4, which reached $120 million of bookings and revenue growth of 110 percent.

“KKR is an important strategic partner for KnowBe4 as we continue to grow worldwide and bring new-school security awareness training to new markets,” said Stu Sjouwerman, CEO of KnowBe4. “We have had 23 straight quarters of explosive growth and there is no slowing down. All organizations need to invest in the human side of their security defenses and there is no better way to build their capabilities than to continually train and test them on the constantly evolving threats that they will be exposed to.”

According to the 2018 Verizon Data Breach Report, phishing and pretexting represent 98 percent of social incidents and 93 percent of breaches. KnowBe4 helps organizations reduce their risk of an attack by educating users to recognize, report and avoid threats. KnowBe4’s market-leading approach to security awareness training and simulated phishing tests is designed to help employees make smarter security decisions. By building a ‘human firewall’ of users, KnowBe4 customers have an added line of defense on top of security technologies that cannot protect organizations by themselves. KnowBe4 continually produces fresh content, combined with simulated phishing tests, to continually educate users about threats such as phishing, malware and social engineering. KnowBe4’s platform is used by more than 23,000 organizations across a variety of industries, including highly regulated fields such as finance, healthcare, energy, government and insurance.

“We’ve seen global spending on cyber security solutions grow to $48 billion, yet despite this investment, breaches, and the severity of these breaches, continue to be on the rise – over 90 percent of which involve inadvertent human error. We believe employees represent an organization’s first and last line of defense. That is exactly why we are so excited to be investing in KnowBe4, the leading cyber security solution that goes beyond the infrastructure and prioritizes empowering employees to make smarter security decisions,” said Stephen Shanley, Director at KKR.

“We are thrilled to be working with a world-class management team who has consistently over-delivered and with the company’s existing investors, Elephant and Goldman Sachs, who have done a great job positioning the business for scale,” added Patrick Devine, Principal at KKR.

KKR will be making its investment through its Next Generation Technology Fund, which focuses on investments in software, security, Internet, digital media, and information services. KnowBe4 expects to use the funds to strengthen the company’s international expansion and to further invest in adding to their suite of highly innovative security training modules.

“Cyber security training that helps every employee do his or her part to defend against attacks, especially as related to preventing the sophisticated spear phishing attacks we’re currently seeing, is more critical than ever. For the multitude of companies grappling with how to educate their workforce on how to best identify and protect against persistent threats, KnowBe4 offers an effective solution that results in dramatic risk reduction and ROI,” said Mark Hatfield, Founder and General Partner at Ten Eleven Ventures.

About KnowBe4
KnowBe4, the provider of the world’s largest integrated security awareness training and simulated phishing platform, is used by more than 23,000 organizations worldwide. Founded by data and IT security expert Stu Sjouwerman, KnowBe4 helps organizations address the human element of security by raising awareness of ransomware, CEO fraud and other social engineering tactics through a new-school approach to security awareness training. Kevin Mitnick, internationally recognized computer security expert and KnowBe4’s Chief Hacking Officer, helped design KnowBe4’s training based on his well-documented social engineering tactics. Tens of thousands of organizations worldwide trust KnowBe4 to mobilize their employees as their last line of defense.

Number 96 on the 2018 Inc. 500 list, #34 on 2018 Deloitte’s Technology Fast 500 and #2 in Cybersecurity Ventures Cybersecurity 500. KnowBe4 is headquartered in Tampa Bay, Florida with European offices in England, the Netherlands, Germany and offices in South Africa and Singapore.

About KKR
KKR is a leading global investment firm that manages multiple alternative asset classes, including private equity, energy, infrastructure, real estate and credit, with strategic partners that manage hedge funds. KKR aims to generate attractive investment returns for its fund investors by following a patient and disciplined investment approach, employing world-class people, and driving growth and value creation with KKR portfolio companies. KKR invests its own capital alongside the capital it manages for fund investors and provides financing solutions and investment opportunities through its capital markets business. References to KKR’s investments may include the activities of its sponsored funds. For additional information about KKR & Co. Inc. (NYSE:KKR), please visit KKR’s website at www.kkr.com and on Twitter @KKRCo.

About Ten Eleven Ventures
Ten Eleven Ventures is the original venture capital firm focused solely on investing in digital security. The firm invests globally and benefits from its full investment spectrum view of digital security from seed to growth (via its Joint Investment Alliance with KKR Technology Group.) Since its founding in 2015, Ten Eleven Ventures has raised nearly $500m and invested in over fifteen leading cybersecurity companies including Cylance, DarkTrace, Optiv, Ping Identity, Twistlock, and Verodin. For more information, visit http://www.1011vc.com.

Contacts

For KnowBe4:
Sarah Hawley
(480) 292 4640
sarah@mockingbirdcomms.com

For KKR:
Kristi Huller or Cara Major
(212) 750 8300
media@kkr.com

For Ten Eleven Ventures:
Megan Dubofsky
mdubofsky@1011vc.com

 

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Axcel sells Conscia to Nordic Capital

Axcel

After a successful ownership period of close to four years, Axcel has signed an agreement to sell Conscia, one of the leading northern European providers of secure IT infrastructure solutions, to Nordic Capital Fund IX (Nordic Capital).

Conscia is one of the leading providers of secure IT infrastructure solutions in northern Europe, with local offices in Denmark, Sweden, Norway and the Netherlands, where it builds, services and secures some of Europe’s most complex IT infrastructures. During Axcel’s ownership, Conscia has developed from a challenger in the Danish market to a market-leading player in Europe through significant organic growth and five successful bolt-on acquisitions.

Conscia has just completed the acquisition of NIL in Slovenia, which further strengthens the company’s position within managed IT security and network services and as the most competent provider of IT infrastructure solutions centred around Cisco in Europe. NIL is widely recognised in the industry for its extensive technical expertise.

“I’m very proud that Nordic Capital recognises our strong market position, which is the result of a well-executed strategy and an enormous effort from all the employees at Conscia. We’ve very much enjoyed our partnership with Axcel, which has been an integral part of driving our development. We’re now looking forward to the continued success of Conscia in partnership with Nordic Capital,” says Claus Thorsgaard, Conscia’s CEO.

Christian Bamberger Bro, who was responsible for the investment at Axcel, is very pleased with both the transaction and what the company has achieved.

“The management team and the entire organisation have done a fantastic job over the last four years in terms of successfully accelerating the development of Conscia,” says Christian Bamberger Bro. “As owners, we’re very proud to have been part of this journey and to see Conscia continue its success under the ownership of Nordic Capital. We wish them all the best in the years to come.”

Nordic Capital is delighted with the transaction.

“Nordic Capital is excited to partner with Conscia’s management team as the business continues its transformation into a true European champion. With the newly signed acquisition of NIL in Slovenia, Conscia has added a Security Operation Centre, which in combination with the strong Conscia culture and quality of people offer a great starting point to become a leading European provider of complex and secure network infrastructures with an increasing focus on managed services,” says Fredrik Näslund, Partner at the Advisor to the Nordic Capital Funds.

Conscia is the eighth company to be sold by Axcel’s fourth fund, launched in 2010. The transaction is expected to be completed within two months.

About Conscia
Conscia is a leading European provider of secure, reliable IT infrastructure solutions, with revenue of DKK ~2.0bn. Conscia strives to be the best partner for customers’ mission-critical IT infrastructure throughout the entire life cycle, and supports this through extensive insight gathered in a unique customer platform, CNS, which is the basis for industry-leading customer experience and satisfaction. At the same time, Conscia has the ambition to be the most attractive and admired place to work for talented IT infrastructure specialists with extensive technical expertise. The current Network of Knowledge is 500+ employees spread across five countries (Denmark, Sweden, Norway, the Netherlands and Slovenia). For further information, please visit www.conscia.com. 

About Axcel
Founded in 1994 by a group of Denmark’s largest financial and industrial institutions, Axcel is a Nordic private equity firm focusing on mid-market companies and has a broad base of both Danish and international investors. Axcel has raised five funds with total committed capital of more than EUR 1.8 billion to date. These funds have made 52 platform investments, more than 90 major add-on investments and 41 exits. Axcel currently owns eleven companies with combined annual revenue of around EUR 1.2 billion and some 6,000 employees.

Further information:

Axcel
Partner Christian Bamberger Bro
Tel.: +45 3336 6987
E-mail: cbb@axcel.dk

Managing Partner Christian Schmidt-Jacobsen
Tel.: +45 2178 3697
E-mail: csj@axcel.dk

Contact Axcel in Copenhagen or Stockholm.

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Nordic Capital builds on its strong track record within technology with the acquisition of Conscia, a leading provider of complex security and networking solutions

Nordic Capital

MARCH 01 2019

Nordic Capital builds on its strong track record within technology with the acquisition of Conscia, a leading provider of complex security and networking solutions Image

  • Conscia will continue its fast-growing expansion in Europe with the support of Nordic Capital as a new owner
  • Nordic Capital will invest to further strengthen Conscia’s market leading position and service offerings

Nordic Capital Fund IX (“Nordic Capital”) today announced the signing of the acquisition of Conscia, one of the leading security and networking infrastructure specialists in Northern Europe. In close partnership with the management team, Nordic Capital will support Conscia’s continued expansion and invest to further strengthen the Conscia’s market leading position and service offering.

Founded in Brøndby, Denmark in 2003, Conscia is one of the leading players in the Northern European IT infrastructure space within complex infrastructure solutions and managed services. Conscia builds and services some of Europe’s most complex IT security and networking infrastructures, and notably is recognised as one of the strongest integrators of Cisco solutions. Customers include some of the largest organisations within financial services, healthcare, and public sector organisations. Conscia has offices in Denmark, Norway, Sweden, the Netherlands and Slovenia.

Since inception, Conscia has grown rapidly through targeted acquisitions, double digit organic growth, and successful strategy execution. The company has projected revenues of approx. DKK 2.0 bn (EUR 270 mn) for 2019 and over 500 employees. Conscia has received several partnership awards over the years, to include Cisco North Customer Experience Partner of the Year 2018. Conscia has today more than 200 technical consultants. In addition, it has developed a unique asset management software solution called Conscia Network Services (CNS).

“Nordic Capital is one of the most prominent and experienced investors in the Nordic Tech sector with a long and proven track record of growing businesses. They are therefore the perfect partner to support Conscia’s continued international expansion strategy, which will be anchored around our deep technical expertise, a unique customer platform, ‘CNS’, and our ‘customers first’ approach. We look forward to take our ambitions to the next level,” says Claus Thorsgaard CEO, Conscia Holding.

“Nordic Capital is excited to partner with Conscia’s management team as the business continues its transformation into a true European champion. With the newly signed acquisition of NIL in Slovenia, Conscia has added a Security Operation Centre, which in combination with the strong Conscia culture and quality of people offer a great starting point to become a leading European provider of complex and secure network infrastructures with an increasing focus on managed services,” says Fredrik Näslund, Partner at the Advisor to the Nordic Capital Funds.

This acquisition is the eighth investment by Nordic Capital’s latest fund, Nordic Capital Fund IX with EUR 4.3 billion in committed capital, and builds on Nordic Capital’s recognised expertise and outstanding track record in the Tech sector. Nordic Capital has made eleven Technology and Payment platform investments and more than 40 add-ons since 2001.

Conscia is being acquired from Axcel, and management. The management team will re-invest, continuing as minority owners together with Nordic Capital as majority owner.

The parties have agreed to not disclose any financial details. The transaction is subject to customary regulatory approvals.

 

Media contacts:

Nordic Capital

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

Conscia

Dorthe Dahlin Irvold, Director of Communication
Tel: +45 2042 9611
e-mail: di@conscia.dk

 

About Conscia:

Conscia is a leading European provider of secure, reliable IT infrastructure based on solutions from Cisco supplemented with other category vendors with DKK ~2.0B in revenue. Conscia strive to be the best partner for customers mission critical IT infrastructure throughout the entire lifecycle. And supports this through deep insight gathered in a unique customer platform, ‘CNS’, which is the basis for industry-leading customer experience and satisfaction. At the same time Conscia has the ambition to be the most attractive and admired place to work for talented IT infrastructure specialists with deep technical expertise. The current Network of Knowledge is 500+ employees spread across 5 countries (Denmark, Sweden, Norway, The Netherlands, and Slovenia). For further information about Conscia, please visit www.conscia.com

 

About Nordic Capital

Nordic Capital is a leading private equity investor in the Nordic region 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 proven track record. Core sectors are Healthcare, Technology & Payments, Financial Services, Industrial Goods & Services and Consumer & Retail, and key regions are the Nordics, Northern Europe, and globally for Healthcare. Since inception in 1989, Nordic Capital has invested EUR 13 billion in over 100 investments. The most recent fund is Nordic Capital Fund IX with EUR 4.3 billion in committed capital, principally provided by international institutional investors such as pension funds. The Nordic Capital Funds and vehicles are based in Jersey and are advised by advisory entities, which are based in Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Germany and the UK. For further information about Nordic Capital, please visit www.nordiccapital.com

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Finnish cyber security company Arctic Security closes a funding round with prominent Finnish investors to accelerate growth

FEBRUARY 28, 2019

Arctic Security is proud to announce a follow-on investment to the company’s series A round by notable private entrepreneurs and investors Mikko Kodisoja, Ilkka Paananen and Georg Ehrnrooth. The new investors’ expertise in global growth companies strengthens Arctic Security’s investor base which also includes original investor CapMan Growth. The additional funds will be used to accelerate the company’s international growth in the cyber security market.

Arctic Security, established in 2017, had a very successful first year of operation, launching Arctic Hub and Arctic Node products and achieving over Euro 2,000,000 of international sales. The company’s products harmonize and categorize cyber threat information from over 100 threat intelligence feeds and then match these indicators to the actual owners of the impacted assets. This automated and intelligent correlation of the threats creates actionable data which can be used by organizations both to protect themselves in real time and to reduce future risk. Together Arctic Hub and Node deliver unparalleled scalability in integrated cyber defense from individual enterprises to multinational corporations.

“Enterprises are struggling with cyber threats and need automated solutions to integrate actionable cyber threat intelligence into their defenses. This investment will help us to bring our proven products available to a wider enterprise audience worldwide” says David Chartier CEO of Arctic Security.

About Arctic Security                                                

Arctic Security is a company based in Oulu, Finland with offices in Helsinki, San Francisco and Singapore. The company’s devoted team is composed of international experts with extensive knowledge and experience in working in the cyber threat intelligence industry. The organization is led by CEO David Chartier, a long-term cyber security professional and the former CEO of Codenomicon.

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Contrast Security Closes $65 Million Series D Funding Round

AXA

Round led by new investor Warburg Pincus validates the visionary approach of Contrast’s
innovative software security platform

Los Altos, Calif., Feb. 28, 2019 – Contrast Security, the pioneer in embedding vulnerability
analysis and exploit prevention directly into modern software, today announced it has completed
a $65 million Series D funding round led by new investor, Warburg Pincus. Existing investors,
including Battery Ventures, General Catalyst, M12 (Microsoft’s Venture Fund), AXA Venture
Partners and Acero Capital all participated in the oversubscribed round. This brings the
company’s total funding raised to $122 million. This investment will strengthen Contrast
Security’s position as the leading platform to enable secure DevOps. The funding will accelerate
the company’s technology innovation, field operations, international expansion along with
significant growth in its customer-success team. These investments are all in order to meet the
rapidly increasing demand for the company’s modern approach to software security.
Businesses today are developing software at breakneck speeds fueled by modern approaches
such as Agile, DevOps, microservices, APIs, cloud-native apps and PaaS environments. This
creates a major gap between the demands for faster software development and the challenges
brought about by legacy software security tools. Contrast Security is a pioneer in creating a new
approach, leveraging patented binary instrumentation to protect applications at every point in
their lifecycle. Modern software requires an equally modern security model that can protect the
integrity of the business with innovative security safeguards built directly into the software as
they are developed and deployed.

“Everything about software today is different, from the increased dependence on third-party and
open source components, to microservices and API-centric architectures, and complex cloud
deployments. However, many companies still are trying to rely on 15-year-old legacy security
tools for their modern software stacks. This approach leaves them with restricted software
development capabilities or living with substantial enterprise risk of a data breach,” said Alan
Naumann, CEO at Contrast Security.

Modern software requires businesses to embrace innovative and modern software models,
changing the rules of engagement. For example, companies such as Slack created a revolution
in workforce collaboration built for modern software. AppDynamics and Atlassian have changed
the way performance management and issue tracking can be done seamlessly across business
functions. Modern software is built with innovative tools that are collaborative, cross-functional
and highly integrated. Contrast Security is breaking decades-old constraints as the first and only
software security platform that is built for the modern software era.
“With strong support from enterprise customers, key industry analysts validating our visionary
approach and extraordinary backing from top tier investors, we anticipate becoming the
essential foundation for modern software security with accurate and continuous software
protection. We are thrilled to have Warburg Pincus join us as a partner in this journey,” said
Naumann.

Contrast Security has experienced strong corporate growth and fast-yielding financial
performance in FY’2018 including:
• Overall ARR growth of >120%+ year-over-year
• Net upsell & expansion rates of >135%
• Significantly increased customer base with the addition of 520 new companies using
Contrast solutions
• 500 percent year-over-year growth in the number of $1 million or greater transactions
“Alan and the team at Contrast Security have built a formidable platform with a next-generation
approach to application security. Our market research shows that companies around the globe
are investing in Digital Transformation and software development initiatives. High speed
DevOps software and rapid cloud adoption create an enormous security risk if legacy tools are
used. These mega-trends create a uniquely large opportunity for Contrast Security,” said Brian
Chang, Managing Director at Warburg Pincus. “We are excited to back Contrast Security and to
further validate their position as a new, modern and truly scalable approach to application
security.”

Contrast Security’s unified platform includes its flagship products, Contrast Assess and Contrast
Protect, that work continuously across popular development approaches (DevOps, Agile,
Waterfall, etc.) and technologies (Cloud, Containers, Open Source Software, etc.) to enable
protection throughout the software lifecycle. Contrast Security’s platform allows IT executives to
finally close the chasm between the number of applications needed to run the business and the
resources needed to secure them. In 2018 alone, Contrast Security discovered over 1,900,000
vulnerabilities and protected against over 52,000,000 confirmed applications attacks across
billions of transactions.
“A major business goal at Comcast is to speed up the development process and shorten time to
market. This objective challenged us to identify next generation application security technology
that could provide us constant and accurate feedback for our application portfolio. Many tools
that claim to target this accelerating pace are nothing more than DevOps marketing lipstick on a
traditional tooling pig,” said Larry Maccherone, DevSecOps Transformation Lead at Comcast.
“However, Contrast fundamentally transforms the equation around vulnerability detection and
runtime protection. It fits the emergent DevOps mental model perfectly which is more than can
be said of any tool developed with the security specialist as its primary user.”
In addition, Contrast Security recently announced Community Edition, a free, full-strength,
DevSecOps solution that allows development, security and operations teams to deliver secure
software on time to meet growing business requirements. This free solution is designed to help
small teams building Java applications and APIs protect against the most commons security
flaws, including the Open Web Application Security Project (OWASP) top 10 vulnerabilities.

About Contrast Security
Contrast Security is the world’s leading provider of technology that embeds highly effective
vulnerability analysis and exploit prevention directly into modern software. Contrast’s patented
deep security instrumentation is the breakthrough technology that enables highly accurate
assessment and always-on protection of an entire application portfolio, without disruptive
scanning or expensive security experts. Only Contrast has sensors that work actively inside
applications to uncover vulnerabilities, prevent data breaches, and secure the entire enterprise
from development, to operations, to production. More information can be found at
www.contrastsecurity.com or by following Contrast on Twitter at @ContrastSec.

About Warburg Pincus
Warburg Pincus LLC is a leading global private equity firm focused on growth investing. The
firm has more than $43 billion in private equity assets under management. The firm’s active
portfolio of more than 180 companies is highly diversified by stage, sector and geography.
Warburg Pincus is an experienced partner to management teams seeking to build durable
companies with sustainable value. The firm is a leading investor in security companies, with
current investments including CrowdStrike, BitSight, eSentire, Cyren and Zimperium, among
others. Founded in 1966, Warburg Pincus has raised 17 private equity funds, which have
invested more than $73 billion in over 855 companies in more than 40 countries. The firm is
headquartered in New York with offices in Amsterdam, Beijing, Hong Kong, Houston, London,
Luxembourg, Mumbai, Mauritius, San Francisco, São Paulo, Shanghai and Singapore. For
more information, please visit www.warburgpincus.com.

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Aptean Partners with TA Associates and Vista Equity Partners to Accelerate Growth

TA associates

Alpharetta, GA – Aptean, a leading global provider of mission-critical, industry-specific enterprise software solutions, announced today that it will receive a joint investment from TA Associates (“TA”) and Vista Equity Partners (“Vista”).

Together with Aptean’s executive management team, TA and Vista plan to accelerate Aptean’s growth as the company aims to continue providing best-in-class manufacturing ERP, supply chain and compliance solutions to its customers globally.

TA and Vista will be equal partners, each investing new equity to acquire Aptean from the separate Vista fund that initially invested in the company in 2012. Moving forward, the partnership between TA and Vista will provide Aptean with the benefits of two experienced investment partners, enabling the company to leverage TA’s global add-on acquisition origination and integration capabilities alongside Vista’s proven operational expertise with the aim of positioning Aptean for substantial organic and inorganic growth.

“We are thrilled to partner with TA and Vista as we enter this next phase of growth,” said TVN Reddy, CEO of Aptean. “Over the past year, we streamlined and re-focused Aptean’s product portfolio through the divestitures of Aptean’s public sector, healthcare, and vertical business applications assets. We believe Vista’s continued commitment and TA’s new perspective will equip us with the external resources, capital, and expertise to further strengthen and advance Aptean as the market leader in manufacturing ERP, supply chain and vertically-focused compliance solutions globally.”

Leading up to this investment, Vista and Aptean’s leadership team executed on a plan to focus the company’s product portfolio exclusively on Aptean’s industry-specific ERP, supply chain and compliance solutions. In July 2018, Aptean announced the divestiture of its public sector and healthcare assets, and in October 2018, the company sold its vertical business applications assets. As a result, Aptean is now solely positioned to invest in its core, vertical solutions and continue the development of next-generation SaaS products for its customers.

“We are very pleased to be investing in Aptean, one of the leading manufacturing ERP, supply chain and compliance software providers globally,” said Hythem El-Nazer, a Managing Director at TA Associates. “With its global and loyal customer base, talented management team and accelerating focus towards delivering cloud products, we believe Aptean is well positioned to take advantage of organic and inorganic strategic initiatives. Furthermore, we are confident that the combination of the breadth of value-add capabilities that TA and Vista bring will help enable further acceleration in growth. We are excited about the next chapter of Aptean and are committed to ensuring the business has the resources necessary to continue to innovate and bring new products and functionality to customers.”

“We see a tremendous opportunity for Aptean’s continued growth as we partner with TA during the next phase of value creation,” said Marc Teillon, a partner at Vista Equity Partners. “The company’s sharp focus positions it to take advantage of vertical-specific market requirements that necessitate purpose-built solutions. We look forward to working with TA and Aptean’s leadership team to maximize the opportunities within the existing product set while remaining focused on acquisitions to meaningfully expand Aptean’s product depth and geographic footprint through acquisition.”

DLA Piper served as the legal advisor to TA Associates. Atlas Technology Group served as the financial advisor to Vista, and Kirkland & Ellis and Ropes & Gray served as legal advisors.

The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to close during the second quarter of 2019.

About Aptean
Aptean is a global provider of mission-critical, industry-specific software solutions. Aptean’s purpose-built ERP and supply chain management solutions help address the unique challenges facing process and discrete manufacturers, distributors, and other focused organizations. Aptean’s compliance solutions are built for companies serving specific markets such as finance, healthcare, biotech and pharmaceuticals. Over 2,500 organizations in more than 20 industries across 54 countries trust Aptean’s solutions at their core to assist with running their operations. To learn more about Aptean and the markets we serve, visit www.aptean.com.

About TA Associates
TA Associates is one of the largest and most experienced global growth private equity firms. Focused on five target industries – technology, healthcare, financial services, consumer and business services – TA invests in profitable, growing companies with opportunities for sustained growth, and has invested in more than 500 companies around the world. Investing as either a majority or minority investor, TA employs a long-term approach, utilizing its strategic resources to help management teams build lasting value in growth companies. TA has raised $24 billion in capital since its founding in 1968 and is committing to new investments at the pace of $2 billion per year. The firm’s more than 85 investment professionals are based in Boston, Menlo Park, London, Mumbai and Hong Kong. More information about TA Associates can be found at www.ta.com.

About Vista Equity Partners
Vista Equity Partners is a U.S.-based investment firm with offices in Austin, Chicago, New York City, Oakland, and San Francisco with more than $46 billion in cumulative capital commitments. Vista exclusively invests in software, data, and technology-enabled organizations led by world-class management teams. As a value-added investor with a long-term perspective, Vista contributes professional expertise and multi-level support towards companies to realize their full experience in structuring technology-oriented transactions, and proven management techniques that yield flexibility and opportunity. For more information, please visit www.vistaequitypartners.com

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AUCTUS successfully exits IT Buy-and-Build platform valantic

Auctus

Munich, February 2019: AUCTUS Capital Partners and Rohde Invest exit a majority stake in the leading IT group valantic. CEO Dr. Holger von Daniels stays invested and CEO. The company provides consultancy and software plus managed services in the fields of Digitization, SAP and Financial Services Automation.

Exercising an active Buy-and-Build strategy supported by both organic and inorganic initiatives, valantic became the leading and one of the fastest growing digital solution providers in the DACH-region. Since its foundation in 2012, 9 integrations of digital specialists expanded the group to approximately EUR 120 million in revenues in 2018.

valantic, headquartered in Munich, is represented in 20 locations worldwide, thereof 16 in the DACH-region. Today, more than 800 consultants and developers serve over 1.000 customers – including 19 of 30 DAX companies – across different industries in every aspect of their digitization projects. The company is known for an agile competence center structure and customer orientation, resulting in a customer retention ratio of 96%. The initial foundation goal of building a one-stop-shop for digitization was successfully achieved.

Dr. Nicolas Himmelmann, Partner at AUCTUS, comments: „We are proud of having supported and enhanced the company since its foundation. We look back at a dynamic development with an annual growth rate in revenues of approximately 60% as well as a successful cooperation based on partnership.”

With more than 25% shareholding, Dr. Holger von Daniels and the management team will remain as significant shareholders. The highly experienced executive team and the organisational structure offer the ideal basis for continuous growth. Raymond James advised the shareholders on the transaction.

The deal was led by Dr. Nicolas Himmelmann.

About AUCTUS Capital Partners AG

AUCTUS Capital Partners AG is a private equity fund founded by entrepreneurs. With over 200 successfully executed transaction in the last 18 years, AUCTUS is the leading private equity investor in the German-Speaking SME sector. The investment focus is on Buy-and-Build strategies that create market leaders via consolidation national and international companies. 15 experienced investment professionals with more than 100 years of private equity experience form the investment team. The current AUCTUS portfolio generates sales well above EUR 1 billion in revenues at double-digit margins. Within the last five years AUCTUS received dozens of awards for being the best German-speaking fund as well as for being the best Buy-and-Build fund. In 2018 AUCTUS was awarded the best continuous PE fund manager worldwide. AUCTUS manages fund capital of more than EUR 500 million.

Contact AUCTUS: 
AUCTUS Capital Partners AG
T +49 (0) 89 15 90 700-19
Email: info@auctus.com
www.auctus.com

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Kryon, Leading Innovator of Robotic Process Automation and Process Discovery, Raises $40 Million

Aquiline

NEW YORK, Feb. 26, 2019 /PRNewswire/ — Kryon®, a leading robotic process automation (RPA) company enabling enterprises to achieve continuous process optimization and change the way employees work, today announced the completion of its Series C financing round of $40 million led by OAK HC/FT. Both Aquiline Technology Growth and Vertex Ventures – the firms that had led Kryon’s Series B round – have also exercised their option to expand their previous investments.

Kryon intends to use the funds to continue development of its innovative technology and penetration into new geographies by expanding its sales and marketing teams and opening additional offices around the globe.

“RPA is one of the fastest-growing industries, and Kryon is leading the pack with their innovation and technology,” said Tricia Kemp, Co-Founder and General Partner of OAK HC/FT. “Kryon’s revolutionary product, Process Discovery, has distinguished itself as a key driver to RPA adoption, and we believe that the company will continue to be a leading force in the industry. The company has already forged some key partnerships with companies such as Microsoft, IBM, Software AG, EY and many more.”

Kryon Process Discovery™ has greatly impacted the automation landscape, proving to significantly accelerate the time it takes for enterprises to scale RPA deployment and reduce implementation time by up to 80 percent. Process Discovery, in conjunction with Kryon’s RPA solutions, creates a unique end-to-end RPA experience – dramatically lowering the total cost of ownership and enabling enterprises to achieve continuous process optimization. Since launch, Kryon Process Discovery has begun to fundamentally change the way enterprises view RPA – replacing subjective guesswork with objective analysis, while minimizing the work that a company’s employees must perform before they can start automating processes.

“We are excited to bring on such a well-respected strategic investor that shares our vision of holistic RPA,” said Harel Tayeb, CEO of Kryon. “Kryon has seen tremendous growth in the past year, bolstered by the release of Process Discovery. With this new funding, we plan to accelerate our efforts to provide enterprises with today’s most innovative RPA solutions, enable them to ‘automate the automation’ through Process Discovery and pave the way for them to realize the dream of a robot for every employee.”

Known for its business-centric approach, unique technological innovations and utilization of artificial intelligence in its RPA and Process Discovery platforms, the company achieved a year-over-year sales increase of more than 100% in 2018 and brought on board veteran executives: Richard French, Chief Revenue Officer, Julie Shafiki, Chief Marketing Officer and Jim O’Gara as VP, Global Partners.

Dan Petrozzo, Venture Partner at OAK HC/FT, will join Kryon’s Board of Directors and Matt Streisfeld, Principal at Oak HC/FT, will join as a Board Observer.

To learn more about Kryon, please visit https://www.kryonsystems.com/.

 

ABOUT KRYON

Kryon is a leader in enterprise automation, offering the only platform on the market which encompasses both Process Discovery and Robotic Process Automation (RPA). This end-to-end solution maximizes ROI and cuts implementation time by 80%. Powered by proprietary AI technology, Kryon Process Discovery™ automatically generates a comprehensive picture of business processes, evaluates them and recommends which ones to automate. Kryon offers attended (desktop) RPA, unattended (virtual-machine-based) RPA and a hybrid combination of both. The company’s award-winning platform is used by enterprises worldwide, including AIG, Allianz, American Express, AT&T, Ernst & Young, Ferring Pharmaceuticals, HP, Microsoft, Santander Bank, Singtel Optus, Verizon and Wyndham Hotel Group. Interact with Kryon on Twitter, LinkedIn and Kryon Community

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 $1.1 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.

 

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AnaCap-backed heidelpay Group acquires PoS specialist Alpha-Cash

Anacap

The heidelpay Group further strengthens its position as leading omnichannel payment provider
The AnaCap-backed (http://www.anacapfp.com) heidelpay Group, one of the fastest-growing fintech service providers in Germany today announces the acquisition of point-of-sale specialist Alpha-Cash Payment GmbH.
The purchase of Alpha-Cash Payment GmbH is already heidelpay Group’s second investment in 2019 following the acquisition of “PayLater” and collection specialist UNIVERSUM Group, which quickly became an integral part of the heidelpay Group back in late January (for background information via http://www.anacapfp.com/media/25435/january-22-2019-anacap-backed-payment-services-provider-heidelpay-acquires-universum-group-in-germany.pdf)

This latest acquisition of Alpha-Cash, the debit and credit card terminal specialist, with offices based in Rostock and Leipzig respectively, will further accelerate the heidelpay Group’s impressive recent track record of growth, with revenue and EBITDA increasing 41% and 93% from FY17 to FY18.
Alpha-Cash Payment GmbH is now the third company within the heidelpay Group allowing cashless payments to be transacted at the point of sale (“PoS”). The group acquired Hamburg-based StarTec Payment & Service GmbH back in October 2017, followed in May 2018 by the purchase of Avanti Technology Graf GmbH, the leading commercial network provider in the Munich region.

Mirko Hu llemann, founder and CEO of the heidelpay Group, comments: “Bricks-and-mortar retailing and e-commerce are increasingly converging. Payment service platforms now need to provide a seamless, omnichannel payments experience across e-commerce and PoS thus enabling retailers to offer their customers a truly satisfying shopping experience. The purchase of Alpha-Cash strengthens our position in this extremely fragmented area of PoS and expands our presence in the east and north-east of Germany respectively.”

Philipp Zwirner, responsible for the PoS division at the heidelpay Group, comments: “Our network covering bricks-and-mortar PoS is growing ever bigger and more closely-knit. We offer one of the most powerful payment platforms and are concentrating on bringing real omnichannel to life by linking bricks-and-mortar retailing with online trading. This enables us to offer our customers an all-in-one payment solution from a single source.”

Tassilo Arnhold, Managing Director at AnaCap Financial Partners LLP, comments: “This latest acquisition continues the heidelpay Group’s buy and build strategy and represents the second deal for the company in 2019 alone and the fifth since our original involvement with the platform in 2017. The heidelpay Group continues to develop as a leading online and point of sale payment services provider in the DACH region.”
The financial details for this arrangement were not disclosed.

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