Exclusive negotiations underway to sell Peopledoc to Ultimate software

Eurazeo

Eurazeo Croissance, the Eurazeo investment division that specializes in assisting fast-growing companies, today announced the start of exclusive negotiations to sell its interest in PeopleDoc alongside Accel Partners, Alven Capital and Kernel Investissements and PeopleDoc’s founders, to NASDAQ-listed and US-based Ultimate Software, a leading provider of human capital management (HCM) solutions.

Ultimate Software plans to acquire PeopleDoc for approximately $300 million, to be paid with a combination of cash and shares of Ultimate Software common stock, with approximately $75 million of cash to be paid at the closing and approximately $50 million of cash to be paid 12 months after the closing date. Ultimate Software expects that the PeopleDoc acquisition will have no material impact on Ultimate’s total revenues in fiscal year 2018.

Founded in 2007, PeopleDoc is a pioneer in HR software as a service (SaaS) with more than 1,000 customers in 180 countries. More than 4 million employees worldwide access their information and connect with their HR department using PeopleDoc. Clients enjoy major benefits in terms of productivity and security and reducing their environmental footprint. PeopleDoc has recently been mentioned by Forbes for advances in employee process automation and Inc. Magazine for helping define the category of HR Service Delivery. In 2014, PeopleDoc was named to the “Cool Vendors in Human Capital Management” list by Gartner. More information is available at www.people-doc.com.

Thanks to its positioning and the expertise of its Founders, PeopleDoc has enjoyed rapid growth since its creation. The company has undergone a significant ramp-up since Eurazeo’s investment in 2015, due in particular to the speed of its organic business growth in France but above all to its geographical expansion in the US, the UK, Germany and Canada.

Yann du Rusquec, Managing Director, Head of Eurazeo Croissance, stated: “We wish to thank Jonathan and Clément for the confidence they have shown over the past years. We take pride in our support of PeopleDoc and wish them the greatest success with the next stage of their development.”

Jonathan Benhamou, CEO and co-founder of PeopleDoc, added: “Today, I can measure how far PeopleDoc has come since its creation. Our company is entering a new phase in its development, the goal being to create a global HR leader. I would like to extend my warmest thanks to Eurazeo, Yann and his teams for their support over the last three years and their contribution to this great adventure.”

*** 

EURAZEO CONTACTS PRESS CONTACT CAROLINE COHEN HEAD OF INVESTOR RELATIONS E-mail: ccohen@eurazeo.com Tel: +33 (0)1 44 15 16 76 STEPHANIE MARIA-BAJARD DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS E-mail: smaria-bajard@eurazeo.com Tel: +33 1 44 15 80 44 HAVAS PARIS Mael Evin E-mail: mael.evin@havas.com Tel: +33 (0)6 44 12 14 91 For more information, please visit the Group’s website: www.eurazeo.com Follow us on Twitter, Linkedin, and YouTube

 

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Fortino Capital is investing in the international expansion of e-health company Dobco Medical Systems

Fortino Capital

Fortino Capital is investing EUR 2.2 million in Dobco Medical Systems, a Belgian software company specialising in online solutions for medical imaging. Fortino Capital will help Dobco Medical Systems’ management with the further development of their platform and their international expansion.

Dobco Medical Systems was founded in 2011 and quickly became the reference for online medical imaging in the Benelux. Their most well-known solution, the PACSonWEB platform, is used in 9 out of 10 Flemish hospitals. PACSonWEB is a secure cloud platform that provides an efficient way to exchange medical images and reports between all involved parties. Dobco is thus able to simplify complex processes within medical imaging and provide doctors and patients with medical information faster, more accurately and in a secure manner.

“Together with Fortino Capital, Dobco Medical Systems can take the next step and further scale up the company. Thanks to Fortino Capital’s knowledge of Software-as-a-Service, as well as their experience in putting companies on the map in an international context “, confirms Jan Dobbenie, CEO at Dobco Medical Systems.

Dobco’s aim is to further expand its platform and service offering both in Belgium and internationally to Norway, Switzerland, the Netherlands, France and Cyprus. With Fortino as its partner, the company is looking to strengthen its sales team so it can meet the increasing international demand.

Matthias Vandepitte, partner at Fortino Capital, explains: “We are impressed with the expertise at Dobco Medical Systems. Their commercial traction confirms the added value for their customers, as well as the potential for further international growth. This explains our enthusiasm to further grow the company together with the Dobco team.”

Dobco Medical Systems has a turnover of approximately EUR 3 million and currently employs 24 people. With this investment, Fortino Capital emphasises its role of providing growth capital to companies that are successful in their domestic market, such as Dobco Medical systems, to further grow on an international level. This venture capital investment is the tenth software investment in Fortino Capital’s portfolio.

Ardian arranges the Unitranche refinancing of Evernex

Ardian

Paris, July 17th 2018 – Ardian, a world-leading private investment house, today announces the arrangement of a Unitranche facility to refinance the existing debt of Evernex, a leading global provider of third party maintenance services for IT infrastructures and a Carlyle Europe Technology Partners portfolio company. The Unitranche package will also include a dedicated committed acquisition facility to finance future build-ups.

Founded in 1983, Evernex has built a broad global network over time covering 160 countries through 330 stocking locations and over 400 employees, of which 200 specialized engineers. This footprint enables the Company to support and maintain its customers’ locations 24/7, leveraging over 750,000 available spare parts from its inventory.

Evernex’s rapid growth can be explained by dynamic organic performance, enabled by the expansion of its operations into new geographies, as well as by a selective external growth strategy, with the aim of securing the Company’s leadership in its core markets and enhancing its service range. Evernex is indeed involved in a fragmented competitive landscape, which offers enticing consolidation opportunities, from which the company wishes to benefit as it did in 2016 with the acquisition of Nexeya. The Group intends to further capitalize on these opportunities to densify its network and continue supporting its customer base in their evolving IT hardware needs.

Carlyle acquired a majority stake in Evernex in 2015 (named CapVert Finance at the time) and the Company has now chosen Ardian Private Debt as financing partner, thanks to its tailor-made Unitranche financing, which combines flexibility and rapidity of execution.

“The acquisitive ambition of Evernex made the Unitranche choice an obvious one to unlock further opportunities and contribute to the continued growth of the business.” commented Jean-David Ponsin, Director in the Private Debt team of Ardian. Charles Villet, Associate Director at Carlyle Europe Technology Partners, added: “Ardian’s ability to deliver terms perfectly in line with the Company’s needs was key in this partnership. Ardian demonstrated a strong level of creativity and has set up a financing package particularly well suited to the story we wish to continue writing with Evernex.”

“We are delighted and excited to carry out this transaction alongside Carlyle Europe Technology Partners, to support a Company with such an impressive growth track record and quality management team.” said Olivier Berment, Co-Head of Ardian Private Debt and Managing Director. “Evernex’s preference for a Unitranche solution demonstrates the strength of this type of financing, especially in the context of fast-growing companies, by providing them with the flexibility and reactivity they need to unlock their full development potential.”

“With this Unitranche financing, our intention is to accelerate even further the execution of our original investment thesis and establish Evernex as the uncontested global leader in its market.” concluded Vladimir Lasocki, Managing Director at Carlyle Europe Technology Partners. “We are convinced that Ardian will prove to be a strong growth partner for Evernex in the long run, and will have the capacity to further finance the Group’s needs for its development.”

ABOUT ARDIAN

Ardian is a world-leading private investment house with assets of US$71bn 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 500 employees working from fourteen 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). It manages funds on behalf of around 700 clients through five pillars of investment expertise: Funds of Funds, Direct Funds, Infrastructure, Real Estate and Private Debt.
Ardian on Twitter @Ardian

ABOUT THE CARLYLE GROUP

The Carlyle Group is a global alternative asset manager with $201 billion of assets under management across 324 investment vehicles. Founded in 1987 in Washington, DC, Carlyle has grown into one of the world’s largest and most successful investment firms, with more than 1,575 professionals operating in 31 offices in North America, South America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia and Australia.

Carlyle Europe Technology Partners (CETP) is a pan-European growth & small-cap buyout fund predominantly investing in technology, media and telecoms companies. CETP seeks to partner with entrepreneurs and management teams and invest in businesses with substantial potential for growth which typically have enterprise values between €25m and €250m.

LIST OF PARTIES INVOLVED

Evernex: Stanislas Pilot, Stéphane Régenet, Farid Seddar.
Carlyle Europe Technology Partners: Vladimir Lasocki, Charles Villet.
Ardian Private Debt: Olivier Berment, Jean-David Ponsin, Clément Chidiac.
Financing Legal Advisor (Ardian): K&L Gates – Mounir Letayf, assisted by Adeline Roboam and Patrick Gerard-Boucher.

PRESS CONTACTS

ARDIAN
Headland
TOM JAMES
Tel: +44 207 3675 240
tjames@headlandconsultancy.co.uk

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KKR to Invest $400 Million in AppLovin

KKR

Investment will fuel company’s growth as it continues to scale its global mobile game discovery business

PALO ALTO, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– AppLovin announced today it has agreed to terms on a $400 million investment from KKR, a leading global investment firm. The partnership with KKR will accelerate AppLovin’s goal of giving app developers of all sizes the ability to finance, market, and grow their businesses.

Founded in 2012, AppLovin started as a leader in the mobile gaming user acquisition and monetization space and has expanded to offer a single, comprehensive platform that gives developers the ability to connect with consumers around the globe. In 2018, the company launched its own mobile gaming division, Lion Studios, which has already published multiple chart-topping games. The company is headquartered in Palo Alto with offices in San Francisco, New York, Dublin, Beijing, Tokyo, Seoul, and Berlin.

With accelerating revenue growth and profitability, AppLovin is a critical growth engine for mobile game developers around the world, helping to support fresh ideas and increase the healthy competition that drives game development innovation and a robust global gaming economy. To do so, the company reaches over 300 million daily active users and drives over one billion installs for gaming companies annually. Close to 90% of the top mobile gaming companies from around the world work with AppLovin. The company is well positioned for continued growth, with mobile gaming projected to be a $70.3 billion industry in 2018, growing over 25% year-over-year according to Global Games Market Report.

“We’re honored to be partnering with KKR, one of the best investment firms in the world,” said Adam Foroughi, CEO and co-founder of AppLovin. “This investment will further fuel the growth of our product and our investment in Lion Studios. KKR’s expertise will be invaluable as we continue to scale our company globally and help more app developers meet and exceed their business goals.”

“AppLovin is a robust, market leading platform in the high-growth mobile gaming market,” said Herald Chen, Member and Head of Technology, Media and Telecom at KKR. “We are excited to be backing the company and partnering with Adam Foroughi, an excellent entrepreneur, strategist and operator, and we look forward to supporting the expansion of its global mobile gaming platform through continued investment in AppLovin’s best-in-class products and services.”

KKR is making the investment primarily from its KKR Americas XII Fund.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch is serving as exclusive financial advisor to AppLovin and The Raine Group is serving as exclusive financial advisor to KKR on the transaction. Fenwick & West is serving as legal advisor to AppLovin and Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati is serving as legal advisor to KKR.

About AppLovin

AppLovin offers a comprehensive platform where app developers of all sizes can connect with their ideal consumers and get discovered. Founded in 2012, the company is focused on helping both indie and established mobile game developers grow with the expertise and insights they need to finance, market, and expand their businesses—all in one place. App developers view AppLovin as a trusted partner, the rare company that understands what it takes to succeed in the mobile app ecosystem and has the ability to help them reach their goals. Learn more at www.applovin.com.

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 manager partnerships 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 @KKR_Co.

AppLovin
Katie Jansen, 415-710-5305
press@applovin.com
or
KKR
Kristi Huller or Cara Major, 212-750-8300
media@kkr.com

Source: AppLovin

 

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Ardian takes a minority stake in the Spanish firm MKD

Ardian

Paris, July 2nd, 2018 – Ardian, a world-leading private investment house, today announces the acquisition of a minority stake in MKD, a Spain-based online platform that offers maintenance supervision and repair services for the fleet management sector.

Founded in 2014 by current CEO José Piñera, MKD has cemented its status as Spain’s leading platform for fleet managers wishing to outsource maintenance and repair services. With more than €20 million in sales and over 400,000 repairs made in Spain, MKD’s clients include top-tier companies from the car rental industry, including Europcar, Alphabet, Arval, Generali, Allianz and new players in mobility management. MKD has further extended its offer to individuals with the launch of Reparatuchoche.com.

José Piñera, CEO of MKD, said: “In order to speed up our development and reinforce our position as a leader, we decided to enter into a new phase of our development, which include seizing external opportunities and deploying new technological services. To support our vision, Ardian Growth stood out as the partner of choice given their excellent support in our build-up strategy prior to becoming shareholder, and their strong expertise in the digital sector.”

In addition to accessing Ardian Growth’s network and expertise, this partnership will help management consolidate the company’s leading position in the fleet management industry. In this rapidly expanding sector, MKD is one of the few players to have successfully developed interoperable services with a wide range of market players.

Bertrand Schapiro, Senior Investment Manager at Ardian Growth, said: “For more than a year, we built a strong relationship with José and MKD’s senior team, which helped us outline the terms and priorities of our partnership. The acquisitions of PTRZ and Fortius – that are taking place simultaneously with our investment – provide a good illustration of this”.

Laurent Foata, Head of Ardian Growth, added: “After our recent investment alongside T2O’s founders, this transaction highlights our aim to become a leading Growth Equity player for Spanish-based entrepreneurs looking for a sparring partner capable of supporting their development, both within Spain and internationally.”

ABOUT MKD
Founded in 2014 by current CEO José Piñera, MKD is a leading player in the supervision of maintenance and repair services for fleet managers. With over 250 experts and a large network of garages across Spain, the company offers through its online platform maintenance and repair cost optimization, and shorter “Vehicle off road” events.

ABOUT ARDIAN

Ardian is a world-leading private investment house with assets of US$71bn 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 500 employees working from fourteen 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). It manages funds on behalf of around 700 clients through five pillars of investment expertise: Funds of Funds, Direct Funds, Infrastructure, Real Estate and Private Debt.

LISTE DES PARTICIPANTS

MKD: José Piñera, Fernando Pérez Granero
Legal advisor: Gómez-Acebo & Pombo Abogados
Ardian: Laurent Foata, Bertrand Schapiro, Louise Gros
Legal advisor: EY (Francisco Aldavero Bernalte, Hector Gomez Ferrero)
Financial due diligence: Deloitte (Jordi Valls, Yannis Arago)
Tax due diligence: Deloitte (Santiago Doce, Ian Bueno)

PRESS CONTACTS

ARDIAN
Headland
CARL LEIJONHUFVUD
CLeijonhufvud@headlandconsultancy.com
Tel: +44 20 3805 4827

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Alpega expands its product portfolio with 4flow vista®, a leading transport planning and optimization software

Castik Capital

Alpega Group’s inet is strengthening its product offering with the integrated transport planning and optimization software 4flow vista®. With the acquisition of the rights to 4flow vista’s planning software, inet is now offering a seamlessly integrated TMS (“Transport Management System”) including planning, tendering, execution and highly developed analytics capabilities. Customers will benefit from higher visibility and flexibility, more automated processes and logistics cost savings of 20%+. Customers comprise mid-sized to large enterprises, some of which have saved more than €100m p.a. in logistics costs.

inet and 4flow are cooperating since 2003. Headquartered in Berlin, 4flow optimizes mid- and long term transportation requirements and networks, evaluating the best transport modalities, network structures and routes. The combination of inet products and 4flow vista® has already been deployed at various key customers such as Magna, Lear, Agco, Volvo and Robert Bosch. inet and 4flow plan to continue their joint product development in the future.

Following the acquisition of procurement software TenderEasy earlier in the year, the 4flow vista® addition allows Alpega to deliver an end-to-end solution to its global customers across different industries.

Alpega was formed in 2017 as a leading global logistics software company that offers end-to-end solutions covering all transport needs, including TMS solutions and freight exchanges and offering its customers the largest network of carriers in Europe. Key products comprise:

  • inet – TMS solution for complex, multi-modal global transportation networks including unique dynamic optimization capabilities
  • TenderEasy – Freight procurement solution that allows its customers to run tenders across verticals and geographies
  • Transwide – Modular TMS solution for shippers, logistics service providers and carriers to manage the end-to-end execution of transports
  • TAS-tms – Modular TMS solution that enables carriers and freight forwarders to manage the entire transport process
  • Teleroute, Bursa and 123cargo – Pan-European freight exchanges that connect to more than 50,000 carriers to offer and allocate shipments and trucks

About Castik Capital
Castik Capital S.à r.l. (“Castik Capital”) manages investments in private equity. Castik Capital 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 management teams.
Castik Capital has an investment horizon of up to ten years – longer than most other private equity funds. This enables Castik Capital to focus resources on its portfolio companies and ensure sustainable, long-term value creation.

Founded in 2014, Castik Capital is based in Luxembourg and focuses on identifying and developing investment opportunities across Europe. Investments are made by the Luxembourg-based fund, EPIC I SLP, the first fund managed by Castik Capital, which had its final close at EUR 1bn in July 2015.

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TA Associates to Invest in Compusoft

TA associates

BOSTON & SARPSBORG, Norway – TA Associates, a leading global growth private equity firm, today announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to invest in Compusoft, a leading provider of computer-aided design (“CAD”) software to the kitchen and bathroom retail industries.

The investment is expected to close in the third quarter of 2018. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Compusoft’s main products, Winner Design and Innoplus, provide design and sales support to kitchen and bathroom retailers, respectively. The user-friendly CAD systems include proprietary databases of graphic elements, pricing information and language translations from more than 2,800 digital manufacturer catalogues. They also feature fully-integrated graphics displayed in real‐time 3D. Additional Compusoft products allow individuals to easily design and view kitchens or bathrooms in 3D on a smartphone or tablet. The company also offers back-office customer relationship management (CRM) and process management software systems for small and large businesses. Founded in 1989 in Sarpsborg, Norway, Compusoft operates in 14 countries across Europe, as well as South Africa and Australia, and serves approximately 12,00o customers, including leading global manufacturers and retailers.

“Compusoft is among the industry leaders in Europe, with a high quality business model and an impressive history of sustained growth,” said Naveen Wadhera, a Managing Director at TA Associates who will join the Compusoft Board of Directors. “We look forward to partnering with Compusoft, which fits squarely within our focus on profitable businesses with strong management teams and proprietary products and services, to help the company capitalize on its strategy and accelerate growth.”

“Given our mission to create measurable added value for our customers, we believe TA Associates, with their well-earned reputation for helping businesses reach their full potential, is an ideal partner for Compusoft,” said David Tombre, Chief Executive Officer, Compusoft. “We have enjoyed notable organic and acquisitive growth over the course of our nearly 30-year history and are confident that TA can help us build on that success. We welcome the opportunity to work with TA as we explore opportunities for continued expansion.”

“As the demand for kitchen and bathroom modeling services continues to rise, we expect interest in Compusoft’s unique offerings and capabilities to expand further across Europe and other regions,” said J. Morgan Seigler, a Managing Director at TA Associates who will also join the Compusoft Board of Directors. “Importantly, Compusoft’s innovative technology provides customers with a user-friendly experience to develop fully-customized spaces to meet their individual needs and desires. With the company’s leading market position, we anticipate continued meaningful growth for Compusoft.”

Goodwin is providing legal counsel, while Alvarez & Marsal and KPMG are providing consulting services to TA Associates. Kvale is providing legal counsel and ABG Sundal Collier is serving as financial advisor to Compusoft.

About Compusoft
Founded in 1989 in Sarpsborg, Norway, Compusoft provides sales, management, communication, web and business solutions for the kitchen and bath industry. The company’s advanced CAD software solutions offer dynamic sales tools for retailers, helping them lead customers through the entire planning process, from sketch to fully installed kitchen or bath. With a focus on creating added value for its customers, Compusoft combines the development of high-quality software with a dedication to customer service. Compusoft operates in 14 countries across Europe, as well as South Africa and Australia. For more information, please visit www.compusoftgroup.com.

About TA Associates
Now in its 50th year, 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 nearly 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 $1.5 to $2 billion per year. The firm’s more than 80 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.

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Bomgar Acquiring Avecto to Create Leading Privileged Access Management Solution

Franciso Partners

  • Avecto adds market-leading endpoint privilege management to Bomgar’s Privileged Identity and Access solutions, resulting in a best-in-class Privileged Access Management (PAM) portfolio.
  • Combined solution will enable companies to defend against privileged access threats, and improve compliance, productivity, and performance.

Atlanta, GA – Bomgar, a leader in identity and access management solutions for privileged users, today announced it will acquire Avecto, a global leader in endpoint privilege management. Avecto’s Defendpoint technology combines privilege management and application control, making it easy to protect thousands of endpoints by making admin rights removal simple and scalable. Pairing Avecto with Bomgar’s privileged account and session management technology will enable businesses to fully implement the principle of least privilege and defend themselves against today’s most prevalent threats.

Forrester estimates that 80% of security breaches involve privileged credentials. Privileged accounts are coveted targets for attackers and must be protected from both internal and external threats. Bomgar’s solutions protect privileged accounts, passwords, and credentials, while securing the remote access pathways commonly exploited in these attacks. Avecto’s technology adds another layer of defense at the endpoint by allowing organizations to remove excess admin rights, only elevating privileges for approved applications and actions.

The addition of Avecto will also help the thousands of IT admins and support professionals using Bomgar’s Remote Support solutions to securely manage privileged access to desktops and workstations with minimal user interruption.

“With the addition of Avecto, Bomgar now offers one of the most comprehensive PAM platforms for managing and protecting privileged access,” said Matt Dircks, CEO of Bomgar. “Our companies share a passion for developing security solutions that users love because they’re quick to deploy, intuitive, and don’t impede productivity. We’re excited to combine forces with Avecto’s team, customers, and partners to develop new, innovative ways to mitigate the risks of privileged threats.”

According to Gartner, “The privileged access threat landscape is growing with a higher risk of enabling cyberattacks and severe consequences.” Gartner recommends that, “in order to deliver effective privileged IAM capabilities technical professionals should… acquire and deploy commercial PAM solutions to automate foundational capabilities such as privilege credential discovery, protection, session monitoring, privilege elevation and delegation, and audit controls.”

The acquisition will result in an integrated PAM offering with market-leading capabilities for:

Privileged Account Auto-Discovery: Reliably discover and secure the widest range of privileged accounts across enterprises.

Credential Management & Rotation: Change thousands of privileged passwords across an enterprise in minutes.

Privileged Session Management: Securely manage, monitor, and control privileged access sessions.

Privileged Elevation and Delegation: Making the removal of admin privileges and whitelisting of trusted applications achievable across all endpoints.

Audit and Compliance: Record and track all privilege access across your environment.

“The combination of Avecto’s and Bomgar’s technology will enable companies to quickly and easily automate critical PAM capabilities while also improving end-users’ ability to do their jobs and support the business,” said Mark Austin, co-founder and co-CEO of Avecto. “We’re thrilled to join the Bomgar family and jointly lead the market in developing solutions that address today’s most pervasive and dangerous challenges.”

“It’s exciting to be joining a company that genuinely cares as much as Avecto does about its employees, customers, and partners,” said Paul Kenyon, co-founder and co-CEO of Avecto. “The combination of our teams will not only ensure Avecto’s customers and partners continue to receive the stellar service and support that is a hallmark of our business, but also benefit from the additional solutions and capabilities that Bomgar brings to the table.”

Terms of the transaction, which is expected to close July 31, 2018, will not be disclosed. For more information, please visit www.bomgar.com. Results International acted as exclusive financial adviser to Avecto.

About Bomgar

Bomgar’s secure access solutions enable customers to easily support people, access and protect endpoints, and defend privileged credentials to fight cyber threats and speed business performance. More than 15,000 organizations around the globe use Bomgar to deliver superior support services and reduce threats to valuable data and systems. Bomgar clients include some of the world’s leading IT outsourcers, systems integrators, software vendors, healthcare organizations, government agencies, universities, financial institutions, and retailers. Bomgar is privately held with offices in Atlanta, Jackson, Washington D.C., Frankfurt, London, Paris, and Singapore. Connect with Bomgar at www.bomgar.com, the Bomgar Blog, or on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

About Avecto

For organizations seeking to prevent breaches without hindering productivity, Avecto Defendpoint combines best-in-class privilege management and application control software, making admin rights removal simple and scalable across desktops and servers to ensure compliance, security, and efficiency.

Since 2008, the company has enabled over 8 million users across the world’s biggest brands and most highly-regulated industries to successfully work from the safety of standard user accounts while enjoying the flexibility of admin accounts.

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EQT acquires Saxo Payments Banking Circle

eqt

  • EQT VIII and EQT Ventures, in partnership with Saxo Payments Banking Circle’s founders and other co-investors, to acquire Saxo Payments Banking Circle
  • Saxo Payments Banking Circle’s unique banking platform enables cross-border payments with reduced complexity, time and cost
  • EQT to support Saxo Payments Banking Circle’s continued growth by leveraging the entire EQT platform, including around 25 years of experience in future-proofing companies as well as accelerating hyper-growth businesses, deep TMT expertise, and a global industrial network

The EQT VIII fund (“EQT VIII”) and EQT Ventures fund (“EQT Ventures”) (jointly “EQT”) have together with company founders and other co-investors entered into an agreement to acquire Saxo Payments Banking Circle (“Banking Circle” or “the company”) from Saxo Bank A/S and other minority owners. EQT VIII will have the majority ownership.

Founded in 2013, Banking Circle is a next-generation provider of mission-critical infrastructure for online cross-border payments. Today, Banking Circle is processing around EUR 60 billion run-rate annual payment volumes for several high-profile customers using direct clearing access through partnerships with blue-chip partner banks. The global cross-border payments market is driven by an increasing need for faster and less costly payments, compliance, and transparency, resulting in one of the fastest growing segments within the payments ecosystem.

EQT will support the continued acceleration of Banking Circle’s growth strategy, in current and new geographies, as well as the expansion of the product portfolio. Through EQT, Banking Circle will get access to both operational and financial resources to drive innovation and investments in technology development and talent acquisition. The company will also be able to leverage the entire EQT platform, including deep TMT sector expertise, local presence and EQT’s global network of Industrial Advisors. Banking Circle’s current management team, including founders and co-CEOs Anders la Cour and Laust Bertelsen, will continue to lead the organization, building on a strong track record of growth.

“We are proud of Saxo Payments Banking Circle’s development and growth. As investor and incubator, we have supported the company with our core competencies in foreign exchange as well as developing and managing global fintech solutions. It is not an easy task to build fintech solutions that create value and are long-term sustainable, but the company has done what few succeed in. We see EQT as the ideal partner for the next part of the journey and we are confident that Saxo Payments Banking Circle will thrive and continue its impressive growth trajectory. We look forward to continuing a close collaboration with the company and EQT, leveraging our technology and market access”, says Kim Fournais, founder and CEO of Saxo Bank.

Anders la Cour and Laust Bertelsen, co-CEOs at Banking Circle comment: “We would like to thank Saxo Bank for a great partnership and look forward to a close collaboration in the years to come. We are excited to partner with EQT. With their support, we will be ideally positioned to continue innovating to serve our customers even better and continue our rapid growth.”

“We have followed Banking Circle for several years and are impressed by the company’s management team and unique innovation capabilities. Saxo Bank and Banking Circle’s management team have built an innovative, secure, and highly automated platform to make competitive, faster, and more transparent payments across borders. EQT is looking forward to supporting Banking Circle and the management team on their continued growth journey and in building a leading global payments infrastructure player. The cooperation between EQT VIII and EQT Ventures enables Banking Circle to benefit from the full EQT platform”, says Mads Ditlevsen, Responsible Deal Partner and Partner at EQT Partners, Investment Advisor to the majority owner EQT VIII.

“We’re excited to partner with the entrepreneurs behind Banking Circle and support them in building the next generation infrastructure for cross-border payments,” says Hjalmar Winbladh, Partner at EQT Partners and Investment Advisor to EQT Ventures. “Cross-border payments is a large and rapidly growing market dominated by traditional players. Banking Circle has built a disruptive solution with a strong value proposition. The customer feedback is excellent and the company’s traction is evident looking at the triple digit growth of the business.”

The transaction is expected to close in Q4 2018, subject to approval from financial regulators.

Contacts
Mads Ditlevsen, Partner at EQT Partners, Investment Advisor to EQT VIII +45 2325 0158
Hjalmar Winbladh, Partner at EQT Partners, Investment Advisor to EQT Ventures +46 708 323286
EQT Press office +46 8 506 55 334
Banking Circle Press office (Harrison Sadler) +44 208 977 9132 bankingcircle@harrisonsadler.com

About Banking Circle
Banking Circle is a rapidly growing payments infrastructure platform that enables faster, competitive and more transparent payments clearing, reducing complexity relative to the traditional correspondent banking network. Today, Banking Circle has around 85 employees and is headquartered in Denmark, with offices in Denmark, Luxembourg and the UK. The company is processing around EUR 60 billion run-rate annual payment volumes for several high-profile customers using direct clearing access and partnerships with blue-chip partner banks.

More info: www.bankingcircle.com

About EQT
EQT is a leading investment firm with approximately EUR 50 billion in raised capital across 27 funds. EQT funds have portfolio companies in Europe, Asia and the US with total sales of more than EUR 19 billion and approximately 110,000 employees. EQT works with portfolio companies to achieve sustainable growth, operational excellence and market leadership.

More info: www.eqtpartners.com

About Saxo Bank
Saxo Bank Group (Saxo) is a leading Fintech specialist focused on multi-asset trading and investment and delivering ‘Banking-as-a-Service’ to wholesale clients. For 25 years, Saxo’s mission has been to democratize investment and trading, enabling clients by facilitating their seamless access to global capital markets through technology and expertise.

As a fully licensed and regulated bank, Saxo enables its direct clients to trade multiple asset classes across global financial markets from one single margin account and across multiple devices. Additionally, Saxo provides wholesale institutional clients such as banks and brokers with multi-asset execution, prime brokerage services and trading technology, supporting the full value chain delivering Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS).

Saxo’s award winning trading platforms are available in more than 20 languages and form the technology backbone of more than 100 financial institutions worldwide. Founded in 1992 and launching its first online trading platform in 1998, Saxo Bank was a Fintech even before the term was created. Headquartered in Copenhagen Saxo Bank today employs more than 1500 people in financial centers around the world including London, Paris, Zurich, Dubai, Singapore, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Tokyo.

More info: www.home.saxo

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HQ Equita acquires r2p and Open Access to build a leading player in the fast-growing market for intelligent digital public transport solutions

HQ Capital

Bad Homburg, 9 July 2018. HQ Equita Beteiligungen V GmbH & Co. KG, advised by HQ Equita GmbH (“HQ Equita”), has signed an agreement with the Swedish investor Alder Fund I AB (“Alder”) to acquire a majority stake in r2p GmbH (“r2p”), based in Flensburg. Simultaneously, HQ Equita will acquire Open Access Pty Ltd (“Open Access”) based in Sydney, to become a subsidiary of r2p, thereby extending the group’s global reach to Australia, Southeast Asia, and North America.

Founded in 2009 with headquarters in Flensburg, r2p is a rapidly growing technology group in the intelligent transport market, which develops both proprietary hard- and software, offering products and components for use in moving vehicles, stations and control centres. Alder, a Sweden-based growth investor, which focuses on majority investments in the sustainable technology sector, acquired r2p in 2012. Since then, r2p has made several add-on acquisitions in Denmark and the UK and has founded subsidiaries in Brazil and Switzerland, resulting in a competitive international presence. The current setup is enhanced by a close co-operation with Open Access, an Australian provider of technology and solutions for integrated passenger information and audio communication systems, active throughout Australia, Southeast Asia and through partners in North America. Upon closing of the transaction, HQ Equita will combine and integrate r2p and Open Access into one group to realise the untapped cross-selling potential arising from the two companies’ complementary product portfolios, applications and geographies. The combined group also seeks to become an active industry consolidator – aiming to acquire complementary technology and product solutions and to further increase its global delivery and service capabilities.

The management teams of both r2p and Open Access remain significant shareholders and are committed to growing the company further through active management and development of the group.

Henrik Flygar, Partner at Alder, says: “We have worked closely with r2p to build a strong international platform. With HQ Equita we have found a new owner for r2p, who has the necessary financial resources and network to continue to drive the group’s organic and inorganic growth. r2p will certainly benefit from HQ Equita’s sector expertise.”

Ulrik Rasmussen, CEO of r2p, adds: “With HQ Equita as our new owner, we will be able to consolidate the existing group, and build the required structures to accommodate further growth. The entire r2p management team is highly committed to further developing the group into a leading provider of intelligent transport solutions.”

Brendan Dooley, CEO of Open Access explains: “Open Access and r2p align well with respect to geographical coverage, technology and management experience. The merged group is well positioned to deliver compelling integrated solutions to the market. We look forward to working closely with HQ Equita.”

Hans J. Moock, Managing Director of HQ Equita, emphasizes: “The underlying intelligent transport market is expected to continue to grow at attractive double-digit rates in the next years. With the acquisition of r2p and Open Access, we seize the opportunity to participate in this promising growth case close to and overlapping with a product market we know well from our previous investment in MEN Mikro Elektronik. r2p’s integrated solutions portfolio and its cutting-edge technology combined with an extraordinary management team makes this acquisition an ideal platform for future inorganic growth.”

The parties have agreed not to disclose the purchase price and other details of the contractual agreement. The closing of the transaction is expected for mid-July.

HQ Equita was supported in the transaction by the following advisors: DC Advisory (M&A, Debt Advisory), Gleiss Lutz (Law, Sales Contract, Taxes), civity Management Consultants (CDD), Rödl & Partner (FDD), Aon (Insurance, W&I), ERM (Environment, ESG).

Alder was supported in the transaction by the following advisors: Lincoln International (M&A), Deloitte (Finance, Taxes), White & Case (Law, Purchase Agreement).

About r2p

Headquartered in Flensburg, Germany, r2p is a globally active provider of IP-based system solutions for public transport covering communication, security and monitoring applications. The fully integrated portfolio of hard- and software products for passenger and fleet flow management r2p offers include CCTV, Passenger Information Systems (PIS), Passenger Announcement (PA), passenger counting, infotainment and fleet management with real-time data transfer and analysis for rail and road vehicles. The group has a network of subsidiaries in Denmark, the UK, Switzerland and Brazil. r2p currently employs around 117 people.  For further information, please refer to www.r2p.com

About Open Access

Headquartered in Sydney, Australia, Open Access primarily provides solutions for integrated passenger information and audio communication systems in the public transportation space. The group has a subsidiary in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and employs c. 53 people. It is primarily active in Australia, Southeast Asia and through partners in North America. For further information, please refer to www.oa.com.au

About Alder

Alder is a Swedish growth investor within the sustainable industry sectors focused on investments in proven and established companies with strong growth potential. Alder currently manages investment funds with committed capital of approximately EUR 200 million. For further information, please refer to www.alder.se

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