Tag Archives: Services

CapMan Growth and Mandatum to accelerate Sofigate’s growth

Capman

Sofigate to boost its turnover towards EUR 500 million

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

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

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

Business technology a hot topic

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

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

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

Strong ownership by staff also

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

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

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

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

For more information, please contact:

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

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

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

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

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

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KKR to Acquire Majority Position in ERM

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KKR
May 17, 2021

Long-term Investment Focused on Growing the World’s Largest Pure-play Sustainability Consultancy

LONDON–(BUSINESS WIRE)– KKR, a leading global investment firm, today announced that it has signed an agreement to acquire a majority position in ERM, the world’s largest pure-play sustainability consultancy. KKR will acquire its position in the company from OMERS Private Equity and Alberta Investment Management Corporation (AIMCo), with ERM’s management team and Partners remaining as minority investors. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Over the last 50 years, ERM has built deep and broad technical expertise in environmental health, safety, risk and social matters with a first-class team of more than 5,500 purpose-driven consultants, including 580 partners, across 150 offices in over 40 countries. The Company supports its clients in every part of their organizations, from boots to boardroom, with a focus on operationalizing sustainability and implementing environmental, social and governance (ESG) best practices. ERM helps its clients shape their ESG strategies, as well as identify and address their key sustainability issues. Additionally, ERM partners with the world’s leading organizations to advance thought leadership in sustainability through its SustainAbility Institute.

Keryn James, ERM Chief Executive Officer, said: “At ERM, we are committed to working alongside every one of the world’s leading organizations to achieve their sustainability goals. This long-term partnership with KKR will allow us to expand and accelerate our client impact, and bring new capabilities and technologies to the business of sustainability.”

Mattia Caprioli, Tim Franks and Ken Mehlman, Partners at KKR, Franziska Kayser, Managing Director at KKR, and Rami Bibi, Director at KKR, said: “True expertise in sustainability and environmental matters is more important than ever. We are proud to invest in an organization like ERM and its partners, as they continue to help organizations implement ESG management best practices across their operations.”

As part of KKR’s investment, ERM Partners will continue to be shareholders in the business. KKR’s investment is being made through its Core Investments strategy, which represents capital targeting longer-term opportunities.

KKR is a long-standing client of ERM’s consulting services.

The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter 2021, subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions.

-ends-

About KKR

KKR is a leading global investment firm that offers alternative asset management and capital markets and insurance solutions. KKR aims to generate attractive investment returns by following a patient and disciplined investment approach, employing world-class people, and supporting growth in its portfolio companies and communities. KKR sponsors investment funds that invest in private equity, credit and real assets and has strategic partners that manage hedge funds. KKR’s insurance subsidiaries offer retirement, life and reinsurance products under the management of The Global Atlantic Financial Group. References to KKR’s investments may include the activities of its sponsored funds and insurance subsidiaries. For additional information about KKR & Co. Inc. (NYSE: KKR), please visit KKR’s website at www.kkr.com and on Twitter @KKR_Co.

About ERM

ERM is the business of sustainability.

As the largest global pure play sustainability consultancy, ERM partners with the world’s leading organizations, creating innovative solutions to sustainability challenges and unlocking commercial opportunities that meet the needs of today while preserving opportunity for future generations.

ERM’s diverse team of over 5,500 world-class experts in over 150 offices in more than 40 countries supports clients across the breadth of their organizations to operationalize sustainability. Through ERM’s deep technical expertise clients are well positioned to address their environmental, health, safety, risk and social issues. ERM calls this capability its “boots to boardroom” approach for its comprehensive service model that allows ERM to develop strategic and technical solutions that advance objectives on the ground or at the executive level.

For more information, please visit www.erm.com.

Alastair Elwen
Finsbury Glover Hering
+44 20 7251 3801
KKR@finsbury.com

Source: KKR

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Equistone acquires majority stake in digitalisation expert TIMETOACT GROUP

Equistone
07 May 2021

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

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

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

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

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

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

PR Contacts

GERMANY / SWITZERLAND / NETHERLANDS

Munich, Zurich, Amsterdam

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

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Ardian and PRGX announce acquisition close

Ardian

04 March 2021 Ardian North America Fund USA, New York

Ardian’s North America Direct Buyouts Completes Transaction, Positioning PRGX to Expedite Technology Roadmap and Accelerate Growth.

Michael Lustig Named PRGX CEO.

Atlanta & New York – March 4, 2021 – Ardian, a world-leading private investment house, and PRGX Global, Inc. (“PRGX”), a global leader in recovery audit and spend analytics services, announced the completion of Ardian’s acquisition of PRGX.

In addition, Michael Lustig has been named PRGX’s new Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Lustig, who serves as an advisor to Ardian, has over 15 years of experience in the source-to-pay industry, including having served as CEO of Apex Analytix, and during a prior tenure, as President and Chief Operating Officer of PRGX. He succeeds Ron Stewart, who will rejoin PRGX’s board of directors.

PRGX is the world’s largest Accounts Payable and Merchandise Recovery Audit firm, serving clients in more than 30 countries in North and South America, Europe, Asia and Oceania. Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, PRGX works with clients in the retail, grocery, consumer packaged goods, manufacturing, telecommunications, pharmaceuticals, natural resources, financial services, and transportation industries.

PRGX provides leading technology-enabled source-to-pay solutions to businesses by mining client data to deliver actionable insights that increase cash flow and profitability through cost reduction, business process improvement and risk management. PRGX’s advanced solutions include recovery audit, preventive audit, contract compliance, and advanced analytics, which leverage artificial intelligence and machine learning to minimize leakage, maximize value, optimize cash flow, and strengthen operations – creating a complete audit assurance program, not only recovering cash, but improving internal controls and resolving systemic issues to drive total improvement. The company leads its industry in protecting the privacy and security of client data through a robust combination of technical, administrative and physical controls, in addition to rigorous data privacy and security business practices.

With Ardian’s support, the company will develop core markets, including accelerating the roll-out of the company’s proprietary platform, the Verigon® Solution Suite, and grow strategic revenue streams, including the launch of new advanced analytics solutions. Ardian will leverage its global network and considerable experience in business services to help PRGX identify new markets while continuing to serve the company’s existing customer base.

“With digital transformation at the forefront of business strategies across the globe, PRGX’s state-of-the-art platform for recovery audit, contract compliance, advanced analytics, and predictive audits, is tremendously impressive,” said Vince Fandozzi, Head of Ardian North America Direct Buyouts. “We are enormously grateful for Ron Stewart’s leadership, and we’re excited to embark with PRGX on this next chapter under the guidance of Michael alongside the incredible PRGX team,” said Mr. Fandozzi.

“With market leadership, innovative technology and with the full support of Ardian, PRGX is well-positioned to help clients unlock unprecedented value from their source-to-pay data. I’m excited to work with PRGX’s outstanding team to produce value for our long-tenured clients,” said Mr. Lustig.

Todd Welsch, Managing Director, Ardian North America Direct Buyouts, added, “We look forward to working with the PRGX team, which under Ron’s leadership, has transitioned into a technology-enabled services and analytics powerhouse.”

Commenting on the news, Ron Stewart said: “Leading PRGX for the last seven years has been an extraordinary honor. As PRGX continues its technology transformation program, I’m excited about the company’s potential for future growth and expanded client value delivery, and look forward to working with Ardian and Michael.”

The transaction, which was initially announced on December 24, 2020, was approved by the majority of PRGX shareholders on March 2, 2021. In connection with the closing of the transaction, the company, which will continue to operate as PRGX Global, Inc., will be controlled by Ardian.

The Ardian North American direct buyout fund focuses on lower middle market buyouts, specifically middle market industrial and business service companies across a range of sectors in North America.

 

About PRGX

PRGX helps companies spot value in their source-to-pay processes that other sophisticated solutions didn’t get to before. Having identified more than 300 common points of leakage, we help companies reach wider, dig deeper, and act faster to get more value out of their source-to-pay data. We pioneered this industry nearly 50 years ago, and today we help clients in more than 30 countries take back $1.2 billion in annual cash flow. It’s why 75% of top global retailers and a third of the largest companies in the Fortune 500 rely on us. PRGX | See What You’ve Been Missing™.

Visit the website

 

About Ardian

Ardian is a world-leading private investment house with assets of US$110 billion managed or advised in Europe, the Americas and Asia. The company is majority-owned by its employees. It keeps entrepreneurship at its heart and focuses on delivering excellent investment performance to its global investor base. Through its commitment to shared outcomes for all stakeholders, Ardian’s activities fuel individual, corporate and economic growth around the world. Holding close its core values of excellence, loyalty and entrepreneurship, Ardian maintains a truly global network, with more than 700 employees working from fifteen offices across Europe (Frankfurt, Jersey, London, Luxembourg, Madrid, Milan, Paris and Zurich), the Americas (New York, San Francisco and Santiago) and Asia (Beijing, Singapore, Tokyo and Seoul). It manages
funds on behalf of around 1,000 clients through five pillars of investment expertise: Fund of Funds, Direct Funds, Infrastructure, Real Estate and Private Debt.

Media Contacts

PRGX – Arketi Group

Grant Tucker

gtucker@arketi.com +01-404-819-1889

ARDIAN – The Neibart Group

Emma Murphy

emurphy@neibartgroup.com +01-347-968-6800

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Teneo extends global presence with acquisition of Deloitte’s UK Restructuring Services Business

CVC Capital Partners

Teneo, the global CEO advisory firm, today announced a major expansion of its international consulting capabilities with an agreement to acquire the Restructuring Services business of Deloitte UK. Teneo is a portfolio company of funds advised by CVC Capital Partners, who are making an incremental equity investment as part of this transformational transaction.

The transaction, which is subject to regulatory approval, further extends the range of market-leading advisory services that Teneo provides to business leaders, their boards, companies and a wide range of institutions around the world.

The Restructuring Services business of Deloitte UK, comprising more than 250 people including 27 partners, will add specialist expertise in distressed restructuring and insolvency to Teneo’s existing advisory capabilities in management consulting, risk, strategic communications, public affairs, investor relations, capital advice, talent and executive search. As a result, Teneo’s total headcount will increase to more than 1,100 employees.

The team joining Teneo represents one of the most comprehensive offerings of any distressed restructuring business in the UK and Europe, and will continue to focus on identifying the causes of underperformance, working collaboratively with key stakeholders to develop the best strategy for recovery and support implementation of the optimal solution.

Declan Kelly, Chairman and CEO of Teneo, said: “We are delighted to welcome Deloitte’s UK restructuring team to Teneo as we strengthen our worldwide consulting capabilities. The combination of the UK’s best distressed restructuring specialists with our existing advisory expertise will reinforce and extend Teneo’s position as the world’s leading CEO advisory firm. Teneo intends to use this acquisition to build a global restructuring practice leveraging our existing capabilities in the United States as well as through further M&A and organic growth.”

Daniel Butters, Head of Deloitte’s UK Restructuring Services business, will become Head of Restructuring for Teneo, a new business segment that will provide a wide range of services to help clients navigate periods of financial and operational underperformance or stress. This will draw on the proven capabilities of the team, which is structured across three primary service lines including corporate advisory, creditor advisory and insolvency. Together with his senior Leadership Team of Rob Harding and Ian Wormleighton, who have together with Daniel led the sale process, and the support of their 24 fellow partners, the group is excited to take the business to the next level with Teneo.

“We are very excited to join Teneo and believe that this is the perfect home for our partners and people,” said Butters. “Declan and the Teneo team share our vision to build the leading global restructuring firm. We have growth plans to scale our existing market leading business, clear support from our clients for our strategy and we believe that Teneo gives us the right platform to deliver this vision.”

Richard Houston, Senior Partner and Chief Executive at Deloitte UK, added: “We’re thrilled with this outcome. Our overriding priority throughout this process has been to ensure the stability and future success of the business as well as the individual progression and development of its talented partners and people. The deal announced today offers an exciting opportunity for that, and we wish Dan and the team every success for their future journey.”

Following completion of the transaction, terms of which are not being disclosed, Teneo’s UK presence will increase to more than 600 staff in multiple advisory disciplines serving many of Britain’s largest companies and institutions. The Teneo Restructuring team will operate from a network of London and regional offices, reflecting its existing national footprint.

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Olinn, a European professional equipment management group backed by Argos Wityu, announces the acquisition of Rentys, a specialist in operational leasing based in Belgium.

Argoswityu

This acquisition enables Olinn to become a leading provider of operational leasing in Belgium, with nearly 800 customers and 40 million euros of technological assets under management.

Neuilly-Sur-Seine, France, 18 January 2021 – Olinn, a specialist in equipment management and financing solutions (sourcing, operational leasing, stock management, fleet management, refurbishment, recycling) in the IT, mobile telephony, vehicle, medical equipment, and manufacturing sectors, announces the acquisition of Rentys, an independent leader in operational leasing based in Belgium.

Founded in 2001 by Christophe Maréchal, Rentys has enjoyed regular growth while expanding into IT operational leasing for the Private Business and Public Institution market and has already funded more than 150 million euros’ worth of technological equipment.

This acquisition is part of the Group’s development strategy and will turn Olinn into a leading provider of operational leasing in Belgium, with nearly 800 customers and 40 million euros of technological assets under management.

Olinn currently has 200 employees generating nearly €175m in turnover and managing more than €500m of assets in Europe. To build a closer partnership with its customers, Olinn has expanded its geographic coverage throughout France, and has added six European subsidiaries in Belgium, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Germany, Italy and Spain.

Arnaud Deymier, President of the Olinn Group: “With Rentys, the Olinn Group is gaining expertise that is unmatched in Belgium, as well as strong relationships with partners, customers and financial institutions. Combining our offerings and skills will allow us to sustain both companies’ activities, increase our visibility, and create the conditions for strong growth, thanks to our dynamic and dedicated team.”

Christophe Maréchal, CEO of Rentys: “We are very happy to be joining the Olinn Group. Combining our respective skills will allow us to quickly provide new solutions and new services to all our customers. Like many of our colleagues in Europe, we realised that we needed to enter a new phase to consolidate our position and continue our development. The idea of joining forces with Olinn arose naturally.”

Karel Kroupa, Managing Partner at Argos Wityu, concludes: « The combination of Rentys and Olinn is fully in line with the Group’s European development strategy as led by Arnaud Deymier and his teams. This will enable clients to benefit from the complementary offers and skills of the two companies. »

– – –

Argos Wityu team: Karel Kroupa, Thomas Ribéreau, Vincent Yacoub

List of advisors

Olinn advisors
Legal: August Debouzy (Julien Aucomte, Olivier Moriceau, Laure Khemiri, Leslie Ginape, Maxime Legourd), Deloitte (Werner Van Lembergen, Jean-Philippe de Vinck)
Financial: Deloitte (Hrisa Nacea, Thibault Guglieri, Charline Borsus, Davy Simonneau, Armelle Bosset)
Tax: Deloitte (Wim Eynatten, Mathieu Henderikx), Arsene (Franck Chaminade, Charles Dalarun)
M&A : Degroof Petercam (Frédéric Hébrard, Florent De Liedekerke)

Seller advisors
Legal: Koan Law (Pierre Willemart – Elisabeth Bousmar)
M&A et Financier : PWC (Xavier Suin – Rodrigue Platteau – Guillaume Desrues – Célestin François – Quentin Janssens)

Contact Argos Wityu
Coralie Cornet
Communications Director
ccc@argos.fund
+33 1 53 67 20 63

About Argos Wityu
argos.wityu.fund

Argos Wityu is an independent European investment fund that supports companies in the transfer of business ownership. It has assisted more than 80 entrepreneurs, focusing its investment strategy on complex transactions with emphasis on transformation, growth, and close collaboration with management teams. Argos Wityu seeks to acquire majority interests and invest between €10m and €100m with each transaction. With €1bn under management and 30 years of experience, Argos Wityu operates from offices in Brussels, Frankfurt, Geneva, Luxembourg, Milan and Paris.

About Olinn
www.olinn.eu
Olinn, a European professional equipment management group, supports the development of companies and public bodies by thinking globally and sustainably.
Olinn remains involved during the entire life cycle of the equipment and offers solutions that incorporate sourcing, financing and associated services, including restoration and reconditioning.
With Olinn, companies combine performance with responsibility by choosing appropriate technology beachyspharmacy.com investment strategies rooted in a CSR approach.
With 200 employees, 60 of whom are disabled, the company generated revenues of €165m in 2019.
The group operates in 7 European countries with a network of 18 areas covering France, Switzerland, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Italy and Spain.
Almost 4,500 customers currently use the group’s comprehensive services.
Each year, Olinn has:

  • €450m of assets (IT, Mobile, Medical, Industrial, and Vehicles) under management,
  • more than €2bn of equipment financed,
  • 180,000 smartphones under management
  • fleet of 4,500 vehicles
  • 250,000 items of IT equipment reconditioned annually, saving 31Mkg of greenhouse gases.

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Astorg to acquire stake in Third Bridge from IK Investment Partners

ik-investment-partners

IK Investment Partners (“IK”) is pleased to announce that the IK Small Cap I Fund has reached an agreement to sell its stake in Third Bridge (“Third Bridge” or “the Company”) to Astorg. Financial terms of the transaction are not disclosed.

Third Bridge is a leading global research organisation, serving over 1,000 of the world’s private equity funds, hedge funds, mutual funds and management consulting firms. The Group’s primary activities focus on generating interview content and connecting experts with investors to help them make better investment decisions. As part of this, the firm conducts thousands of consultations and interviews every week, providing its clients with viewpoints on companies and markets across the globe.

Third Bridge was founded in 2007 and today employs 1,000 people across eight offices in North America, Europe and Asia. The Company’s three original co-founders Emmanuel Tahar, Joshua Maxey and Rodolphe De Hemptinne will be reinvesting the significant majority of their proceeds into the new transaction and will continue in their existing leadership roles. IK first invested in Third Bridge in 2017, and since then the Company has significantly grown its top line, expanded the product offering across global jurisdictions and strengthened its leadership position in the investment research market.

Astorg will join the co-founding shareholders to support the next stage of growth for Third Bridge as it continues to grow its footprint and develop new services.

Completion of the transaction is subject to legal and regulatory approvals.

Emmanuel Tahar, CEO and co-founder of Third Bridge said: “Third Bridge has enjoyed a fantastic partnership with IK over the last three and a half years. The team was aligned with our strategy from day one and has supported our strong growth during this period. We are excited to partner with Astorg as we look to expand into new markets and scale the business further.”

Arnaud Bosc, Partner at IK and advisor to the IK Small Cap I Fund said:“We are very proud of our partnership with the Third Bridge team. In just over three years, Third Bridge has achieved an impressive expansion in the US and has managed to significantly broaden its product offering. We wish Emmanuel and his team the best for the future.”

François de Mitry, Managing Partner at Astorg, commented: “As a significant user of primary research services, Astorg has witnessed first-hand the high growth that the market has experienced over the past five years and we are highly confident that the market will continue on its double-digit growth trajectory.” Benoît Ficheur, Partner at Astorg added: “We have been extremely impressed by Third Bridge’s track record of consistently outperforming market growth through ensuring outstanding quality of service. We are very excited to have the opportunity to partner with the founders and management through the next stage of the company’s journey.”

For further questions, please contact:

IK Investment Partners

Maitland/AMO
James McFarlane
Phone: +44 (0) 7584 142 665
jmcfarlane@maitland.co.uk

About IK Investment Partners

IK Investment Partners (“IK”) is a Pan-European private equity firm focused on investments in the Benelux, DACH, France, Nordics and the UK. Since 1989, IK has raised more than €13 billion of capital and invested in over 140 European companies. IK supports companies with strong underlying potential, partnering with management teams and investors to create robust, well-positioned businesses with excellent long-term prospects. For more information, visit www.ikinvest.com

About Astorg

Astorg is a leading independent private equity firm with over €9 billion of assets under management. We work with entrepreneurs and management teams to acquire market leading global companies headquartered in Europe or the US, providing them with the strategic guidance, governance and capital they need to achieve their growth goals. Astorg enjoys a distinct entrepreneurial culture, a long-term shareholder perspective, and a lean decision-making body. We have valuable industry expertise in healthcare, software, business-to-business professional services and technology- based industrial companies. Astorg has offices in London, Paris, New York, Frankfurt, Milan and Luxembourg. For more information about Astorg: www.astorg.com

About Third Bridge

Third Bridge was founded in 2007 and today employs a team of more than 1,000 across eight offices in North America, Europe and Asia. The Group’s primary activities focus on generating interview content and connecting experts with investors to help them make better investment decisions. As part of this, the firm conducts thousands of consultations and interviews every week, providing its clients with viewpoints on companies and markets across the globe. Third Bridge serves over 1,000 of the world’s top private equity funds, hedge funds, mutual funds and management consulting firms. For more information visit www.thirdbridge.com

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Baird Capital Portfolio Company ‘Arrive’ Merges with ‘FlashParking’

Baird Capital

Baird Capital portfolio company Arrive Mobility, Inc. (Arrive) has merged with FlashParking, Inc. (FlashParking). This combination creates the only end-to-end touchless digital mobility platform joining FlashParking’s cloud-based mobility hub operating system with Arrive’s demand management platform facilitating consumer procurement, wayfinding, and digital payments for parking and related services. The combined entity will offer B2B and B2C seamless digital parking solutions and mobility technologies to increase operational efficiency for thousands of parking operations and provide frictionless, fully digital consumer parking and mobility experiences to millions of consumers.

Baird Capital invested in Arrive (formerly “ParkWhiz”) in 2015. For the full news release about the merger, click here.

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Levine Leichtman Capital Partners Portfolio Company Trinity Consultants Acquires AWN Consulting

Levine Leichtman

LOS ANGELES, CA , January 6, 2021
Trinity Consultants, Inc. (“Trinity”), a portfolio company of Levine Leichtman Capital Partners (“LLCP”), announced that it has acquired AWN Consulting International Limited (“AWN Consulting”). AWN Consulting, based in Dublin, Ireland, provides environmental, acoustics, and risk management consulting services to industrial and public sector clients throughout Ireland and Europe.

Trinity is a leading provider of regulatory-driven environmental, health & safety and engineering consulting services. Trinity specializes in highly technical, compliance-driven services with a core presence in air quality and an expanding presence in adjacencies such as commissioning, qualification and validation, process safety management, toxicology, acoustics and water quality. Trinity operates from over 70 offices worldwide, with a national U.S. footprint and a presence in key international markets. Trinity was founded in 1974 and is headquartered in Dallas, Texas.

Jay Hofmann, President and CEO of Trinity, commented, “We are pleased to bring AWN Consulting onto the Trinity platform. The acquisition further bolsters Trinity’s core capabilities and strategically expands our geographic presence into Ireland.”

Andrew Schwartz, a Partner at LLCP, stated, “We are excited to demonstrate our continued support of Trinity through this acquisition. AWN Consulting strengthens Trinity’s ability to provide regulatory and compliance support to its clients across the globe.”

Trinity is a portfolio company of Levine Leichtman Capital Partners Fund V, L.P.

About Levine Leichtman Capital Partners

Levine Leichtman Capital Partners, LLC is a middle-market private equity firm with a 37-year track record of investing across various targeted sectors, including franchising, professional services, education and engineered products. LLCP utilizes a differentiated Structured Private Equity investment strategy, combining debt and equity capital investments in portfolio companies. This unique structure provides a less dilutive solution for management teams and entrepreneurs, while delivering growth and income with a significantly lower risk profile.

LLCP’s global team of dedicated investment professionals is led by seven partners who have worked at LLCP for an average of 21 years. Since inception, LLCP has managed approximately $11.2 billion of institutional capital across 14 investment funds and has invested in over 90 portfolio companies. LLCP currently manages approximately $7.3 billion of assets – including its most recent flagship fund, Levine Leichtman Capital Partners VI, L.P., which closed in 2018 with $2.5 billion of committed capital – and has offices in Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Charlotte, Miami, London, Stockholm and The Hague.

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CVC Credit supports DMS Governance’s buy and build growth strategy

Debt facilities provided by CVC Credit have enabled five add-on transactions since 2019

CVC Credit is pleased to announce that it has further supported DMS Governance (“DMS”) by providing incremental facilities for two add-on opportunities: MDO in August and Montlake in November. CVC Credit has supported DMS since 2019, when it acted as the sole lender for the MML Capital Partners led management buyout.

Founded in 2000, DMS is a global provider of governance, risk and compliance solutions to leading investment funds and managers with aggregate assets under management exceeding US$350 billion. The business operates three separate divisions; Fund Governance, Risk and Compliance, and European Fund Management Solutions, which provide high-quality professional services across a diverse range of investment fund structures and strategies.

Headquartered in Luxembourg, MDO is an independent fund service supplier focused on the provision of management company services. The business manages over 55 funds with AUM of over €31 billion. MontLake is an independent fund services provider headquartered in Dublin. The business specialises in the provision of on and off-platform management company services to European regulated funds. It has an AUM of more than €7 billion, comprising 76 funds managed by over 60 investment managers.

Derek Delaney, CEO of DMS Governance, commented: “The Montlake and MDO mergers are truly accretive to DMS’ existing offering. They augment our product suite and expand our geographic footprint, as well as adding a fantastic new group of valued staff and clients. Our partners, MML and CVC have been integral in seeing these transactions through to fruition and we are grateful for their support and ongoing conviction in our growth strategy.”

Chris Fowler, Managing Director in CVC Credit’s European Private Credit business, added: “CVC Group has a broad track record of investing in the fund services space, through investments such as TMF Group in CVC Capital’s Fund VII. This enabled us to validate the high quality of the DMS platform, team and market opportunity when providing the initial acquisition financing and subsequent follow-on capital to support their buy and build programme, which has included five add-on transactions under MML’s ownership. We continue to see considerable value creation opportunities for Derek and his team and are pleased to continue to support them on their next phase of growth.”

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