• c.90% of the commitments of the first closing come from investors in Seaya’s
  predecessor vehicles
• Seaya’s first two funds rank among the top-quartile of their respective vintages
• Seaya was the first financial investor in Glovo and Cabify, Spain’s first unicorns,  and continues to be the largest financial shareholder in both companies
• Seaya III has already made its first investment in a European technology company that uses computer vision and artificial intelligence

Madrid, 5 October 2020. Seaya Ventures, Spain’s leading Venture Capital firm, has announced today that its third fund, Seaya Ventures III, has reached a first close of €85 million. With a target size of €125 million, the fund will remain open to new investors for the next few months.

Seaya Ventures III comes to the market only two years after the final closing of the previous fund. Seaya’s first two funds delivered above-market returns, ranking among the top-quartile of their respective vintages.

“We are honoured to have our investment thesis validated with nearly 90% of the commitments of the first closing coming from existing Limited Partners (LPs) of our predecessor vehicles,” said Beatriz González, founding partner of Seaya Ventures.

The new fund will follow Seaya’s strategy of investing in outstanding and mission-driven founders. Seaya aims to invest mainly in top Southern Europe tech companies, partnering with companies and contributing to their international expansion. By leveraging its local knowledge with a global ecosystem, Seaya can help companies scale and become regional and global leaders.

Seaya is known for taking significant stakes in companies, becoming the reference investor for founders and providing them with sustained hands-on support. The fund will continue to focus on leading Series A and B rounds, being able to invest up to €20 million per company throughout several rounds. Seaya partners exclusively with companies that target long-term, sustainable growth, which hold themselves to the highest professional and ethical standards.

Seaya views the current Covid crisis as a catalyst for exponential growth in technological innovation as demonstrated by the digital transformation that has taken place in just a few months and that in regular circumstances would have taken years. This strong digital transformation is being reflected in the types of deeptech companies that Seaya III is currently considering for potential investment, which are in sectors ripe for disruption such as healthtech, edtech and fintech.

“Seaya’s goal is to partner with the best founders and support them to make their global vision become a reality. Founders that are mission-driven and look for long-term sustainable growth have proven that they are more resilient and have a larger positive impact on society”, said Beatriz González, founding partner of Seaya Ventures.

“Through Seaya’s high-conviction investment strategy we become a major shareholder in our companies and we build a strong relationship with the founders, supporting them during their exponential growth, not only by providing capital but also with our know-how and global network”, explained Antonio Giménez de Córdoba, partner of Seaya Ventures.

Since 2013, Seaya has invested in 26 disruptive tech companies that have become leaders in their respective industries, including Cabify and Glovo, Spain’s first two unicorns. Seaya led the first institutional rounds in both companies and remains their largest financial shareholder. Other investments include Savana, a medical technology company accelerating health science by unlocking the clinical value embedded within the Electronic Health Records; Wallbox, a leading designer, manufacturer and distributor of the most advanced smart charging solutions for electric vehicles; and Buguroo, a cybersecurity company that uses data analytics to help digital businesses protect themselves from online and mobile fraud.

Seaya’s aggregate portfolio is currently worth more than €3 billion, after having attracted over €1.2 billion in funding from Europe, USA and Asia, as well as having created 4,500 direct and 240,000 indirect jobs. At present, including the new funds raised, Seaya has €250 million of assets under management.

Seaya III has already completed its first transaction, leading a Series A investment in a European technology company that uses computer vision and artificial intelligence. The new investment will be officially announced in the next few weeks.

About Seaya Ventures

Based in Madrid, Seaya Ventures has been backing the best entrepreneurs and teams in Southern Europe since 2013. Seaya focuses on supporting founders in scaling their businesses, enabling them to become global leaders. For more information visit www.seayaventures.com.

Christophe Bavière promoted Senior Managing Partner of Eurazeo and Head of Investment Partners

Paris, 5 October 2020

Eurazeo is a leading global investment company with more than €18.5 billion in assets under management and provides investors with valuable access to investment strategies diversified across asset classes, industry sectors and geographies. Currently, 65% of these assets are directly invested in companies’ equity or real assets. Similarly, the Group’s activities in private debt and secondary transactions make it a European leader in these areas and have seen steady growth for several years.

Underscoring the appeal of its investment strategies to investors, Eurazeo reached new heights with its fundraising bringing in €2.4 billion in 2019. Following a robust first half of this year, with €1.2 billion raised in unfavourable and uncertain market conditions, Eurazeo expects to build on this momentum over the remainder of the year, driven in particular by the success of the Eurazeo Growth III fund. This performance is not only the result of the renewed commitment and confidence of the Group’s long-standing institutional investor partners, but is also driven by Eurazeo’s increasing ability to attract new international partners.

In line with this growth trajectory and in order to offer investors services of the highest standards, Eurazeo today announced that it is strengthening its function dedicated to institutional investors and wealth management structures by bringing together the veteran management teams of Eurazeo and Idinvest. The Group’s teams who focus on maintaining and developing these relationships, are staffed by some 30 investment professionals. They are divided by specialisation, for each geographic region and type of investor (sovereign wealth funds, pension funds, insurance companies, wealth managers, strategic industrial partners, etc.) and cover all market segments seeing rapid growth (venture capital, growth equity, private debt, asset-backed securities, secondary transactions, funds of funds, real assets, and small and mid-cap buyouts).

Under the leadership of Christophe Bavière, appointed as Senior Managing Partner of Eurazeo and Head of Investment Partners, these teams will work to consolidate the Group’s leading position among French investors, increase its market share among international investors, particularly in the United States, Europe, the Middle East and Asia, and further diversify its client portfolio: from retail investors to large sovereign wealth funds, insurance companies and international pension funds.

By strengthening its ability to offer its investors the best possible service, Eurazeo is intensifying the execution of its growth strategy across all its activities, building on its capacity to generate predictable and recurring revenue over the long term, consolidating its international business network to an even greater degree, and reaffirming its ambition to become the benchmark player among investment platforms in Europe.
Christophe Bavière, Senior Managing Partner of Eurazeo, said:
I am very happy with these responsibilities, which confirm the ambitions of our Group. We serve our clients with a range of funds as well as dedicated investment solutions. We also offer them targeted and diversified investment vehicles, which go hand in hand with a robust approach to managing ESG factors.

About Eurazeo
• Eurazeo is a leading global investment company, with a diversified portfolio of €18.5 billion in assets under management, including €12.9 billion from third parties, invested in over 430 companies. With its considerable private equity, real estate and private debt expertise, Eurazeo accompanies companies of all sizes, supporting their development through the commitment of its nearly 300 professionals and by offering in-depth sector expertise, a gateway to global markets, and a responsible and stable foothold for transformational growth. Its solid institutional and family shareholder base, robust financial structure free of structural debt, and flexible investment horizon enable Eurazeo to support its companies over the long term.

• Eurazeo has offices in Paris, New York, São Paulo, Seoul, Shanghai, London, Luxembourg, Frankfurt, Berlin and Madrid.

• Eurazeo is listed on Euronext Paris.
• ISIN: FR0000121121 – Bloomberg: RF FP – Reuters: EURA.PA
EURAZEO
EURAZEO

15 September 2020

Intermediate Capital Group (ICG) is pleased to announce that it has opened an office in Milan, headed by Luigi Bartone, Head of ICG Italy; he will be joined by Giulio Piccinini, Managing Director, previously based in London.

Luigi Bartone joined ICG in 2004 from AT Kearney and holds an MBA from INSEAD. ICG has invested regularly in the region ever since.

Giulio Piccinini joined ICG in 2017 from Vision Capital. Prior to his private equity investment career, Giulio worked in the investment banking division of Bank of America Merrill Lynch and as a management consultant at Bain & Co. Giulio holds an MBA from New York University.

Commenting on ICG’s move to establish an office in Milan, Luigi Bartone, Managing Director, Head of Italy, said, “Italy is a significant market for ICG and the opening of a permanent office strengthens our presence and commitment to the country. There is plenty of activity in Italy and with an office in Milan we will capture even more opportunities across asset classes; we will be closer to our portfolio companies, and to entrepreneurs and management teams willing to partner with ICG to accelerate their companies’ growth”.

For further information please contact:

ICG
Alicia Wyllie
Co-Head of Corporate Communications
Tel: +44 (0)203 201 7994
Mobile: +44 (0)7808 610080
Email: alicia.wyllie@icgam.com

Helen Gustard
Co-Head of Corporate Communications
Tel: +44 (0)203 201 7760
Mobile: +44 (0)7932 486928
Email: helen.gustard@icgam.com

Maitland/amo
Sam Turvey
Partner
Tel: +44 (0)207 379 5151
Mobile: +44 (0)78 2783 6246
Email: sturvey@maitland.co.uk

About ICG
ICG is a global alternative asset manager with over 30 years’ history.

We manage €45.6bn* of assets in private debt, credit and equity, principally in closed-end funds. We provide capital to help companies grow through private and public markets, developing long-term relationships with our business partners to deliver value for shareholders, clients and employees. We operate across four asset classes – corporate, capital market, real asset and secondary investments. In addition to growing existing strategies, we are committed to innovation and pioneering new strategies across these asset classes where the market opportunity exists.

ICG is listed on the London Stock Exchange (ticker symbol: ICP). Further details are available at: www.icgam.com . You can follow ICG on LinkedIn.

^*as at 30 June 2020

Read the press release

Impact – 24.9.2020

 

Highlights of the review period:  

• Tesi made new investments and commitments amounting to 183 M€ during the first half of the year. These included:  
  • a 65 M€ commitment to the KRR IV fund-of-funds  
  • a total of 45 M€ in commitments to venture capital and private equity funds  
  • direct investments amounting to 23 M€  
  • altogether 50 M€ in stabilisation investments
• The KRR IV fund-of-funds managed by Tesi raised a total of 175 M€
• Tesi’s Finnish portfolio funds raised new capital amounting to 333 M€
• Tesi’s international partners invested altogether 49 M€ in Finnish companies.  

 

  

Tesi’s CEO Jan Sasse comments on the review period:  

“The COVID-19 pandemic produced a shock both in the global economy and in Finnish companies. The full effects of this shock will not become clear until well into the future. Tesi’s role in this special situation is to ensure through financing that there are still innovative, viable companies providing employment in Finland after the crisis has passed. Towards this end, we have collaborated extensively with growth companies, our state owner, the venture capital and private equity sector and other stakeholders by creating new financial instruments for growth companies as well as by producing status reports to aid decision-making.  

Growth companies financed by the VC/PE market play a crucial role in achieving transformative and sustainable economic growth. Tesi invests in companies’ growth and over the long term develops the VC/PE market. Just before the coronavirus crisis, together with Finnish pension and insurance companies, we established the new KRR IV fund-of-funds that invests in Finnish VC/PE funds.  

Before the COVID-19 struck, Finnish funds had raised large volumes of capital, specifically on the venture capital side. Consequently, the pandemic has not hampered fundraising to a large extent, apart from some individual funds. In the spring, the prospects for follow-on financing for venture capital and private equity backed companies were also good. More traditional SMEs encountered  difficulties the most, as COVID-19 had a direct impact on their business operations. We launched a fast-track stabilisation program precisely for these companies that were facing an acute liquidity crisis. In the first half of the year, we invested 50 M€ from the stabilisation program in altogether nine companies. We will continue to offer stabilisation financing as the market situation demands. 

On the venture capital side, Finnish start-ups raised a record amount of capital in the first half of the year, despite the COVID-19 crisis. Time will tell whether the pandemic will impact the operations of international investors in the future. Tesi was involved in large venture capital rounds (Swappie, Varjo Technologies, ICEYE), where we utilised the EFSI investment programme set up in collaboration with the EIB. For earlier-stage companies, we offer Venture Bridge financing that will give start-ups more time for raising larger financing rounds.  

Despite the challenging business environment, our net profit for the review period was €7 million. Tesi has solid resources for long-term investment operations that emphasise sustainable development and positive societal impacts. Capitalisation by the Finnish state has also given Tesi the resources to ensure the supply of financing for the duration of the crisis should the pandemic be prolonged.”

Business environment  

Before the COVID-19 pandemic struck, Finnish funds had raised large volumes of capital, especially on the venture capital side. As a result, the coronavirus pandemic has so far not widely impacted the fundraising of Finnish funds to a large extent. Individual funds have faced some difficulties in raising the target size on schedule due to the market uncertainty. 

Based on the market pulse survey conducted by Tesi, Finnish Venture Capital Association and Business Finland Venture Capital in May, Finnish investors are fairly well placed to provide follow-on financing for their portfolio companies. 

In the first half of 2020, Finnish start–ups raised a record amount of capital, 330 M€, despite the coronavirus pandemic (Source: Talouselämä). Valuations of venture capital backed companies have remained broadly the same.  

The more conventional venture capital backed companies and business models (software, digitalisation) have been the winners of the COVID-19 situation. The business operations of these companies have mostly fared well. Securing financing is more challenging for companies that are raising Series A funding rounds yet lack a longer-term track record, and for more atypical business models, in which the presence of, for instance, industrial investors has become emphasized in recent years.  

The main concern now with regard to Finland’s GDP is the prospect of falling demand on the global market for the goods and services of more traditional SMEs and of Finland’s export sector. Also, established consumer-driven businesses have encountered serious challenges. 

Investments 

During the first half of the year, Tesi made new investments amounting to 183 M€ (76 M€ in H1 2019). These included a commitment to the KRR IV fund-of-funds, commitments to VC/PE funds, direct investments, and stabilisation financing.  

Tesi made commitments to funds totalling 45 M€. Four of these commitments were to Finnish funds (Superhero Venture Fund 2020, Icebreaker Fund II, GOS Private Debt I, Verso III), and one was to an international fund to be announced later. New capital raised by Tesi’s Finnish portfolio funds totalled 333 M€. Tesi made a commitment of 65 M€ to the 175 M€ KRR IV fund-of-funds. Co-investors in KRR IV are the pension/insurance companies Ilmarinen, Keva, State Pension Fund of Finland, Elo, LähiTapiola and Veritas. The KRR fund-of-funds managed by Tesi invest in Finnish venture capital and growth funds.  

Tesi made direct investments amounting to 23 M€ in 14 companies. Three of these were initial investments totalling 11 M€ (Upcloud, Nordic Rescue Group, Swappie). Follow-on investments totalling 12 M€ were made in altogether 11 companies. 

In April, Tesi launched a 150 M€ stabilisation financing program for mid-sized companies in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Stabilisation investments differ from Tesi’s normal investments and offer companies facing an acute liquidity crisis financing to overcome the situation. Tesi made nine investments amounting to 50 M€ under the stabilisation programme. These companies employ some 8,200 people in Finland.  

In mid-June 2020, Tesi launched Venture Bridge for companies that have previously raised at least seed financing from professional venture capital investors and have had to postpone their next external financing round due to COVID-19. No investments under the programme had yet been made in June. By 10 September 2020, Tesi has made investments decisions totalling 2.4 M€ in altogether five companies (Blidz, Disior, Matchmade, Fake Production, Revonte). 

Financials

Profit after taxes for the review period was 7 M€ (13 M€ in H1 2019). The strong result of 36 M€ by funds can be explained by the good first half of the year, which saw several positive exits. Direct investments produced a net loss of 12 M€, which mainly resulted from the decrease of the fair value of the portfolio companies at more mature stages, and the weakening of their business environment due to the corona pandemic. The weakened market situation also reflected to financial securities as they produced a loss of 10 M€. 

The balance sheet total amounted to 1.288 B€. The largest change in shareholders’ equity, 1.245 B€, was the state capitalisation of 150 M€ intended for Tesi’s new investment programs.  

In preparation for any worsening of the economic situation, the Finnish state committed a further 250 M€ for capitalising Tesi in the 2020 supplementary budget IV. The additional capital will be channelled flexibly, according to the market situation, into venture capital investments, Tesi’s stabilisation program and investments in funds over the next two years to mitigate the disruption caused by the COVID-19. The appropriations from the supplementary budgets already paid, and those to be paid in the future, will be returned to the Finnish state after Tesi’s exits. 
  
Tesi’s investments under management at the end of the review period totalled 1.6 B€. In addition to Tesi’s own investments and commitments, the figure includes investments made by the KRR funds-of-funds and managed by Tesi as well as the European Investment Bank’s capital earmarked for the EFSI co-investment programme.  

Events after review period and prospects for year end  

After the review period, Tesi gave a commitment to CapMan Growth Equity Fund II and made a direct investment in Varjo Technologies. Tesi also made Venture Bridge investments totalling 2.4 M€ in five companies.  

Despite the coronavirus pandemic, Finnish start-ups raised a record amount of capital during the first half of 2020. The impacts of the pandemic on international venture capitalists’ activity remains to be seen. The negotiations for many of the large financing rounds that took place in the summer and early autumn were already initiated before the pandemic struck. 

The second half of the year is likely to be challenging for more traditional SMEs. The challenges are, however, sector and company-specific. Shortened order books will have wide consequences for engineering companies. Furthermore, Finland having a post-cyclical economy, the full impacts will not be seen until later. 

Tesi’s deal flow is normalising. Tesi is, however, well prepared for worsening conditions for growth companies by ensuring the fund-raising of VC/PE funds, expanding its role in direct venture capital investments, both in Venture Bridge and in larger financing rounds, and by offering stabilisation financing to mid-sized companies that were profitable pre-coronavirus.  

The key driver of Tesi’s operations is to make a positive social impact. The main methods for promoting positive social impacts are channelling capital to companies that will use their expertise and solutions to make a net impact on society that is as beneficial as possible and producing information on the impacts of operations.

Read in more detail:

Tesi’s performance and results H1 2020 

For further information, please contact: 

Jan Sasse, CEO, Tesi
jan.sasse@tesi.fi, +358 40 861 9151 

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

 

On March 30, 2020, the Board of Directors of Ratos decided to withdraw the proposal for a dividend for fiscal year 2019, due to the market instability and uncertainty factors about COVID-19’s medium-term financial effects. In addition, it was stated that the Board of Directors had an intention to call the shareholders to an Extraordinary General Meeting later in the year to resolve on a dividend, if the market had stabilized at this time and the company’s visibility in earnings had normalized. The Board of Directors has now assessed the company’s financial performance and cash position and concluded that a reinstatement of the dividend is appropriate. Therefore, the Board of Directors has decided that the company shall call for an Extraordinary General Meeting on 22 October, 2020, to decide on a proposal of a dividend of SEK 0.65 per share to be paid for the fiscal year 2019. Ratos will repay the governmental grants that have been received in Sweden related to the COVID-19 situation. Further details regarding the Extraordinary General Meeting will be provided shortly in a separate notice for the meeting.

For further information, please contact:
Jonas Wiström, CEO Ratos, tel: +46 8 700 17 00
Helene Gustafsson, Head of IR- and Press Ratos, tel: +46 70 868 40 50, email: helene.gustafsson@ratos.se

This press release contains insider information that Ratos AB is required to disclose under the EU Market Abuse Regulation. The information was submitted for publication, through the contact person set out above, at 6:00 pm CET on 22 September, 2020.

About Ratos:
Ratos is a business group consisting of 12 companies divided into three business areas: Construction & Services, Consumer & Technology and Industry. In total, the companies have SEK 38 billion in sales and EBITA of SEK 1.8 billion. Our business concept is to develop mid-sized companies headquartered in the Nordics that are or can become market leaders. We enable independent mid-sized companies to excel by being part of something larger. People, leadership, culture and values are key focus areas for Ratos. Everything we do is based on Ratos’s core values: Simplicity, Speed in Execution and It’s All About People.

New York, September 22, 2020 – Blackstone (NYSE: BX) priced its offering of $500 million of 1.600% senior notes due 2031 and $400 million of 2.800% senior notes due 2050 of Blackstone Holdings Finance Co. L.L.C., its indirect subsidiary. The notes will be fully and unconditionally guaranteed by The Blackstone Group Inc. and its indirect subsidiaries, Blackstone Holdings I L.P., Blackstone Holdings AI L.P., Blackstone Holdings II L.P., Blackstone Holdings III L.P. and Blackstone Holdings IV L.P.  Blackstone intends to use the proceeds from the notes offering for general corporate purposes.

The notes were offered and sold to qualified institutional buyers in the United States pursuant to Rule 144A and outside the United States pursuant to Regulation S under the Securities Act of 1933.

The notes have not been registered under the Securities Act of 1933 or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an applicable exemption from the registration requirements of the Securities Act of 1933 and applicable state laws.

This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to purchase the notes or any other securities, and shall not constitute an offer, solicitation or sale in any state or jurisdiction in which such an offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful.  This press release is being issued pursuant to and in accordance with Rule 135c under the Securities Act of 1933.

Investor and Media Relations Contacts

Weston Tucker
Blackstone
Tel: +1 (212) 583-5231
tucker@blackstone.com

Matthew Anderson
Blackstone
Tel: +1 (212) 390-2472
matthew.anderson@blackstone.com