Tag Archives: Services

Altas Completes Sale of Capital Vision Services

Altas Partners

Altas Partners today announced that it has completed the sale of Capital Vision Services, LP (“CVS”), a leading provider of management services to vision care practices. CVS provides its affiliated, independent MyEyeDr. optometrists with a complete array of financial, marketing, human resources, and accounting services, along with managed care credentialing and claims processing.

CVS was sold to West Street Capital Partners VII, a fund managed by the Merchant Banking Division of Goldman Sachs. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

About Altas Partners

Founded in 2012, Altas Partners is an investment firm with a long-term orientation focused on acquiring significant interests in high-quality, market-leading businesses in partnership with outstanding management teams. The firm manages more than $6 billion on behalf of endowments, foundations, public pension funds, and other institutional investors. The firm’s past and present portfolio companies include University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences, Tecta America, Hub International, PADI, Medforth Global Healthcare Education, Capital Vision Services, and NSC Minerals. For more information, please visit https://www.altas.com.

For further information:

Aisha Sánchez
+1 (416) 306-9800
asanchez@altas.com

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Nordic Capital and Sampo become the largest shareholders in Norwegian Finans Holding

Nordic Capital

Nordic Capital Fund IX (“Nordic Capital”) and Sampo plc (“Sampo”) have together signed an agreement to acquire 17.47% of the shares in Norwegian Finans Holding ASA (“NOFI”) from Norwegian Air Shuttle ASA for a total value of NOK 2,218 mn (EUR 223 mn). Nordic Capital and Sampo have great sector expertise in financial services and have joined forces to realise an attractive investment opportunity and support NOFI’s further development as committed and active owners.

Established in 2007 and operating from a centralised platform in Oslo, NOFI is a fully digital bank that provides simple and competitive products to the retail customer market with a strong offering in personal loans, credit cards and savings. NOFI has more than 1.6 million customers and 84 employees based in Norway. NOFI was listed on Oslo Børs in 2016 and currently has a market capitalisation of approximately NOK 11 bn (based on the last price paid for the NOFI share on August 16, 2019).

Nordic Capital1) is one of the longest established and most active private equity investors in the Nordic region, investing in three core sectors comprising Healthcare, Technology & Payments and Financial Services. Nordic Capital has a strong track record from investments in the financial services sector, including Intrum, Nordax, Nordnet and Resurs Bank.

“Nordic Capital and Sampo have extensive experience and a strong track record in the financial services sector in the Nordic region and sees NOFI as an interesting company with strong growth potential. We look forward to becoming committed shareholders and support the company to become a leading pan-European financial institution, together with Norwegian Air Shuttle and their customer loyalty program, Norwegian Reward”, says Christian Frick, Partner and Head of Financial Services, Nordic Capital Advisors.

Completion of the acquisition will occur in two tranches, 9.97% with expected settlement on or around August 26, 2019, and the remaining 7.50%, which is subject to approval by the Norwegian Financial Supervisory Authority, will be acquired once regulatory approval has been obtained. Nordic Capital and Sampo expect to hold around 64% and 36%, respectively, of the joint shareholding.

Press contact

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

 

1) Nordic Capital refers to Nordic Capital Fund IX and any, or all, of its predecessor and/or successor funds or vehicles depending on the context.

 

About Nordic Capital

Nordic Capital is a leading private equity investor with a resolute commitment to creating stronger, sustainable businesses through operational improvement and transformative growth. Nordic Capital focuses on selected regions and sectors where it has deep experience and a proven track record. Core sectors are Healthcare, Technology & Payments, Financial Services and in addition, Industrial Goods & Services and Consumer. Key investment regions are the Nordics, Northern Europe and globally for Healthcare. Since inception in 1989, Nordic Capital has invested EUR 14 billion in over 100 investments. The most recent fund is Nordic Capital Fund IX with EUR 4.3 billion in committed capital, principally provided by international institutional investors such as pension funds. The Nordic Capital Funds and vehicles are based in Jersey. They are advised by several advisory entities, which are based in Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Germany, the UK and the US, any or all of which is referred to as the “Nordic Capital Advisors”. For further information about Nordic Capital, please visit www.nordiccapital.com

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Graphite Capital acquires global conference specialist Hanson Wade

Graphite

Graphite Capital, aleading UK mid-market private equity specialist,has backed the management buy-out of Hanson Wade, the market-leading conference organiser and provider of information services,focused primarily on the pharmaceutical and biotech industries.

Hanson Wade’s management team is led by Tom Richardson, who has overseen a period of rapid expansion since being appointed chief executive in 2015. Between 2016 and 2018, the company’s portfolio of events almost doubled to 108 and its revenues increased by 117% to £22.6 million.

Hanson Wade is based in London, but generates the overwhelming majority of its revenues in the United States, where the addressable market is estimated at over $700 million. The global market for conferences is highly fragmented and growing strongly, providing Hanson Wade with scope to expand both organically and through acquisitions.Sarah McCaldin, who founded the business in 2008, and her family have reinvested in the company and Sarah will remain on the board as a non-executive director.

Hanson Wade has three conference divisions: pharma and biotech, which generates approximately three-quarters of revenues;construction and engineering;and human resources. The business benefits from high repeat bookings from both sponsors and delegates.The company also owns a fast-growing scientific data business, Beacon, which provides subscribers with access to a powerful database covering clinical trials and other research data in niche sectors of the bio-pharma industry.

Tom Richardson said: ‘We have been impressed by Graphite’s track record of growing innovative businesses, its understanding of the industry and its partnership approach to 22 working with management teams. Graphite shares our vision for the future and its expertise will be invaluable as we further expand the business internationally.’

Graphite partner Humphrey Baker commented: ‘The Hanson Wade management team has developed a differentiated model that enables the business to identify and respond to trends within its target markets,expanding the range of conferences it produces to gain first-mover advantage in attractive new niches. We also see strong potential in Beacon, which is proving a highly attractive data source for the scientific community. We look forward to working with Tom and his team to grow the business in the coming years.’Mike Tilbury, Head of New Investment at Graphite,Tony Saade and Liam McGivern also worked on the transaction.

Crescent Capital Group and HSBC provided the debt finance for the transaction.

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Ardian Private Debt provides financing to support Macquarie’s take-private of premier technical services group PLC (PTSG)

Ardian

London, August 2nd – Ardian, a world-leading private investment house, today announces the arrangement of a Unitranche Debt Facility to support Macquarie Principal Finance’s (Macquarie) take-private acquisition of PTSG, a market leading and previously UK AIM-listed B2B provider of safety-critical specialist testing, inspection, compliance and installation services.

PTSG has established itself as one of the UK’s leading providers of specialist health and safety testing services, including fire safety, lightning protection, electrical testing, façade access and fall arrest equipment services to a broad range of blue chip customers. Headquartered in West Yorkshire, England, PTSG employs around 1,200 people across 31 sites, servicing more than 180,000 buildings in the UK, across a wide range of industries.

Mark Brenke, Managing Director and Head of Ardian Private Debt, said: “We are delighted to be backing Macquarie and Management in leading PTSG through its next phase of growth. Management have a demonstrable record of delivering both organic and M&A-driven growth and we are looking forward to being part of the journey going forward. Ardian Private Debt’s involvement in this take-private deal highlights our track record of supporting resilient businesses and underlines our capabilities in executing complex, time and information-sensitive transactions, where significant trust is required between principals.”

ABOUT ARDIAN

Ardian is a world-leading private investment house with assets of US$96bn 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 610 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 970 clients through five pillars of investment expertise: Fund of Funds, Direct Funds, Infrastructure, Real Estate and Private Debt.

www.ardian.com

LIST OF PARTIES INVOLVED

Ardian Private Debt: Mark Brenke, Raaj Rabheru, Saam Serajian-Esfahan

PRESS CONTACTS

ARDIAN
Headland
EMMA RUTTLE
Tel: +44 20 3805 4816
eruttle@headlandconsultancy.com

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Bridgepoint exits Estera

Bridgepoint

Inflexion Private Equity is pleased to announce that it is supporting the acquisition of Estera, a leading global provider of funds, corporate and trust services from Bridgepoint. Following completion of the investment, Estera will be merged with Inflexion’s existing portfolio company Ocorian, forming a global corporate service and fund administration leader of significant scale.

The combined business will operate from 18 key global jurisdictions, including Bermuda, Cayman, Guernsey, Ireland, Jersey, Luxembourg and Mauritius. The businesses will have over 1,250 professionals globally, serving over 8,000 clients across the corporate service, fund administration and private client sector. Together, Ocorian and Estera, will provide a complete range of services to clients with multi-jurisdictional needs. In particular, Ocorian clients will benefit from Estera’s established North American presence (Bermuda, BVI and Cayman), while Estera clients will be able to leverage Ocorian’s strong links to the Middle East and Africa.

Farah Ballands, Estera Chief Executive, said: “This is a really exciting next step for our business and everyone who works for it. We are delighted that we will be combining with Ocorian, which with Inflexion’s support, will help us develop and grow the business even further. We look forward to implementing an ambitious joint growth plan.”

Stuart Layzell, Ocorian Chief Executive, commented: “This is a landmark transaction for Ocorian.  Together both businesses will be able to offer an enhanced service to their clients wherever they are located. The whole team looks forward to working with the team at Estera to take the enlarged business forward.”

Simon Turner, Managing Partner, Inflexion, commented: “Since carving out Ocorian from Bedell Cristin in September 2016, the business has successfully completed four acquisitions, significantly diversifying its client offering geographically. The combination of Ocorian and Estera is truly transformational, creating a global, market leading business of significant scale and we look forward to partnering with both teams to accelerate the growth of the joint business.”

William Paul, Partner and Head of Bridgepoint’s financial services team, commented:

“Estera has a reputation for high quality, client-centric services, and the expertise to deal with the complex needs of its clients. Alongside a strong management team, we have helped the business build market leadership positions globally across its product portfolio and accelerated investment in its platform as well as in selective acquisitions. We wish the company and its team continued success under its new ownership.”

This investment was made by affiliated funds advised by Inflexion Private Equity Partners LLP.

The transaction is subject to regulatory approval.

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KKR Enters Exclusive Negotiations with GBL for Webhelp Group

KKR

LONDON & PARIS–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Jul. 10, 2019– KKR, a leading global investment firm, announces today it has entered into exclusive negotiations to sell a majority stake in the Webhelp group to Groupe Bruxelles Lambert (“GBL”). GBL will invest alongside Webhelp’s co-founding shareholders, Olivier Duha and Frédéric Jousset, who would retain their role as founding executive directors, and Webhelp’s management team.

Founded in 2000, Webhelp is today one of the world’s leading providers of customer experience and business process outsourcing (BPO). The company develops innovative solutions combining consulting services, technological solutions and omni-channel processing capabilities with 50,000 employees in more than 35 countries. Since KKR’s acquisition in 2015, Webhelp has doubled in size as the result of an organic and external growth strategy that GBL aims to maintain and accelerate, together with the strong collaboration of the co-founders and management.

As a result of this transaction, GBL would acquire a majority stake in Webhelp on the basis of an enterprise value of €2.4 billion. It is expected that the legal documentation will be signed by the beginning of August for completion, after obtaining regulatory authorizations, within the course of Q4 2019.

Johannes Huth, Member and Head of KKR EMEA, and Stanislas de Joussineau, Director at KKR, said: “Our successful collaboration with Olivier and Frederic has turned Webhelp into a true European champion. The support we have provided to Webhelp builds on our track record in helping founder-led businesses realise their growth ambitions, and helping French companies expand internationally. We believe the company is strongly positioned for future growth and we wish Webhelp and GBL every continued success.”

Olivier Duha and Frédéric Jousset, co-founders of Webhelp, said: “We thank KKR for its investment over the past four years and we welcome with confidence GBL in order to write together a new growth and investment phase. The management team has chosen to surround itself with a shareholder renowned for its longstanding support to companies with international ambitions such as Webhelp.”

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

About Webhelp
Webhelp is a global business process outsourcer (BPO), specialising in customer experience and payment services in addition to sales and marketing services across voice, social and digital channels.

From more than 150 sites in 36 countries with an approximately 50,000-strong team, our focus is on engineering performance improvements and delivering a real and lasting transformation in our clients’ operating models to generate financial advantage. We partner with some of the world’s most progressive brands including Sky, Shop Direct, Bouygues, Direct Energie, KPN, Vodafone, La Redoute, Michael Kors and Valentino.

Headquartered in Paris, France, the company has grown its revenues by more than 250% in the last 4 years by investing in its people, the environment they work in and developing its analytical and operating capability to deliver a transformational outsourcing proposition that addresses the challenges of an omni-channel world. More information can be found at www.webhelp.com

Forward-Looking Statements
This press release may contain forward-looking statements, identified by words such as “expect,” “aim,” “estimate,” “will,” “may” and “believe” or similar expressions. These forward-looking statements are subject to the inherent uncertainties in predicting future results and conditions. Certain factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those included in these forward-looking statements, and investors should not place undue reliance on such statements. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this press release, and KKR does not undertake any obligation to update or revise any of the forward-looking statements to reflect future events or circumstances, except as required by law.

Source: KKR

Media Contacts:
International
Alastair Elwen
Finsbury
Phone: +44 (0) 20 7251 3801
Email: alastair.elwen@finsbury.com

France
Olivier Blain
Adding Value Conseils
ob@addingvalueconseils.com
+33 6 72 28 29 20

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Litera Microsystems Acquires Workshare

HG Capital

Creating a Leading Supplier of Document Drafting Technology

The combination offers professionals a simplified end-to-end solution which simplifies the document drafting lifecycle.

Litera Microsystems today announces its acquisition of Workshare in a move that underlines the company’s focus on providing a seamless drafting experience for users across best-of-breed technologies. The deal will enable firms which currently use both suppliers to consolidate their relationships, simplify the process of updating software and rely on a single, world-class, support team for the full suite.

…

Earlier this year, Litera Microsystems partnered with Hg, a specialist private equity investor focused on software and service businesses based in London, Munich, and New York. Litera Microsystems was able to leverage Hg’s network and knowledge of the global legal software market to help drive this integration with Workshare, adding further products to the suite, for the benefit of existing and future customers.

Please find the full press release on the Litera Microsystems website.

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Fortino Capital Partners invests in Declaree, the innovative Dutch challenger in expense management

Fortino Capital

Fortino Capital Partners expands its portfolio of Travel & Expense management companies with its investment in Declaree, the innovative Dutch challenger.  Besides the acquisition of MobileXpense in Belgium and eBuilder Travel in Sweden, it is the third investment of Fortino Capital in the market of expense management.

Declaree was founded in 2014 by Bas Janssen, Bart Jochems and Jasper Spoor with the ambition of simplifying and facilitating paper-based and cumbersome expense management processes. Since then, Declaree has 20 employees and 750 clients mainly located in the Netherlands and Germany. In the Netherlands and Belgium, Declaree serves large customers such as KLM, Hunter Douglas, Schiphol and KPMG, as well as many small and medium-sized companies. For Germany, it is about companies such as Lemonaid, Suitepad and Lufthansa Group Business Services.

Expense management is a challenge for many organisations. Many companies still use inefficient methods for these processes. Thanks to Declaree’s mobile and web application, they are capable of reducing the time spent on the internal management of expenses by almost 75 per cent, while also getting more grip on the expenses itself by increased transparency.

Fortino Capital Partners started its growth journey in travel & expense management by investing in MobileXpense in Belgium and eBuilder Travel in Sweden. These two players mainly focus on multinational and governmental organisations that need to comply with many different and often complex rules in all countries active in.

Matthias Vandepitte, partner at Fortino Capital, explains: “Declaree offers a genuinely innovative solution which has already served hundreds of companies of all sizes. We are really impressed by what the team of Bas, Bart and Jasper have built over the past years, and we see enormous potential for the future. That is why we are particularly proud of being able to support the internationalisation of Declaree in Europe with our expertise and investment. We look forward working together on our joint growth aspirations.”

Bas Janssen from Declaree concludes: “The past five years, we have heavily invested in developing our product and scaling in the Netherlands and Germany. To realize the next step in our growth we have searched for a strategic investor with knowledge and experience in international expansion. We are convinced to have found the right strategic partner in Fortino Capital.”

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Teneo announces partnership with CVC

Investment will further expand and develop Teneo’s position as the world’s leading CEO advisory firm.

Teneo, the global CEO advisory firm, today announced it has reached an agreement with funds advised by CVC Capital Partners (“CVC”), a leading global private equity and investment advisory firm, to make an investment in the company.

The transaction, which is subject to regulatory approval and other customary closing conditions, will result in CVC Fund VII becoming the new private equity partner to Teneo, replacing BC Partners, which became an investor in the company in 2015. The terms of the new investment are not being disclosed.

Since the investment from BC Partners four-and-a-half-years ago, Teneo has more than tripled its global headcount to over 800 people and has also completed nine acquisitions, increasing its global presence to 19 offices in 12 countries.

The investment by CVC Fund VII will provide significant opportunity for the continued growth of Teneo’s operations through organic investment and acquisition focused across its four operating segments: Strategy & Communications; Management Consulting; Risk Advisory; and Capital Advisory.

“We are very pleased to welcome CVC as our new private equity partner,” said Declan Kelly, Chairman and CEO of Teneo. “The new partnership will enable us to further expand our operations around the globe to best serve the growing needs of our clients. I also want to thank the great team at BC Partners for their partnership and support of our business over the last several years.”

“CVC is excited to be entering a new partnership with Teneo,” said Christopher Stadler, Managing Partner at CVC. “We have been very impressed with the firm’s growth since it was founded in 2011 as well as its dedication to going above and beyond to deliver for its clients around the globe. We are very much looking forward to working closely with the management team to help execute their ambitious growth plans moving forward.”

“During our successful partnership, Teneo has nearly doubled EBITDA, both organically and through strategic acquisitions,” said Justin Bateman, Partner at BC Partners. “Since our initial investment in 2015, Teneo has executed nine acquisitions, which have been instrumental in expanding its geographic footprint, broadening its service offerings and continuing to build the company’s brand – positioning it as the leading global CEO and board advisory firm in the world.”

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Genstar Capital Announces Agreement to Acquire Advarra from Linden Capital Partners

Partnership with Management to Continue Growing Industry-Leading Compliance Business Focused on Increasing Safety and Efficiency in Clinical Trials

SAN FRANCISCO, June 6, 2019—Genstar Capital (“Genstar”), a leading private equity firm focused on investments in targeted segments of the healthcare, software, industrial technology, and financial services industries, announced today that it has recently signed a definitive agreement to acquire Advarra (“Advarra” or the “Company”), a leading provider of compliance solutions that are critical to the drug development process, from Linden Capital Partners (“Linden”), which intends to reinvest in the Company via a minority investment upon completion of the transaction.

Advarra is a leading provider of institutional review board (IRB), institutional biosafety committee (IBC) and research quality and compliance services, which are mandated by regulatory agencies for all trial protocols, patient forms, site initiations and trial modifications. The Company serves leading pharmaceutical, biotechnology, medical device and contract research organizations (CROs), as well as academic medical centers, hospital systems, investigative site networks, and therapeutic research consortia, and has relationships with over 3,200 institutional sites. Advarra is headquartered in Columbia, MD and was formed through the merger of Chesapeake IRB and Schulman IRB in 2017; in March 2019, the Company completed its acquisition of Quorum Review.

David Golde, Managing Director of Genstar, said, “Genstar has a long track record of building industry-leading businesses in the pharmaceutical services sector through our investments in CRF Bracket, ERT, and PRA Health Sciences, among others. We were extremely impressed with the market leading platform that Pat Donnelly and his team have built in the regulatory compliance segment of clinical trials. We are excited for Advarra to continue leveraging its leading reputation in the IRB and regulatory compliance industry, while expanding, both organically and through strategic acquisitions, into other ancillary services to better serve its customers.  Genstar looks forward to collaborating with Advarra’s management team to further its mission with all of the constituencies that depend upon safe and efficient progress of pharmaceutical research.”

Pat Donnelly, Chief Executive Officer of Advarra, said, “IRBs are required and critical to the drug development process and the increasing complexity of clinical trials and need to adhere to evolving and strict FDA guidelines will continue to drive the importance of our services. Advarra is devoted to enhancing the safety of clinical trial subjects around the world and to improving the efficiency of clinical trial execution for all stakeholders including sponsors, academic institutions, hospital systems, and CROs. This new partnership with Genstar augments our resources to further the important mission of our Company and to continue to unlock value for our customers. On behalf of the management team, we are grateful for Linden’s strong stewardship over the last several years.”

Tony Davis, President and Managing Partner at Linden, said, “We are proud to have played a role scaling Advarra into a truly differentiated platform as the industry-leading IRB, which is a result of our targeted value creation initiatives over the last three and a half years, most notably significantly investing in infrastructure and strategic acquisitions. The Company is very well positioned to continue on its growth trajectory, building on a long history of outperformance, superior human subject protection and leading therapeutic area specialization. We are excited about our intention to invest alongside Genstar and continue to support Advarra through its next phase of growth.”

Jefferies is serving as lead financial advisor and Houlihan Lokey is serving as co-financial advisor to Linden and Advarra. Kirkland & Ellis LLP is serving as legal counsel to Linden and Advarra in connection with this transaction. Ropes & Gray LLP is serving as legal counsel to Genstar.

About Advarra

Advarra, headquartered in Columbia, MD, provides institutional review board (IRB), institutional biosafety committee (IBC), and global research compliance services to clinical trial sponsors, CROs, hospital systems, academic medical centers, and investigators. Its robust regulatory expertise and innovative technology ensure the highest standards of research review are met, while putting participants first and meeting complex human research protection oversight requirements. Advarra supports all phases of research across multiple therapeutic areas. Visit www.advarra.com.

About Genstar Capital

Genstar Capital (www.gencap.com) is a leading private equity firm that has been actively investing in high quality companies for over 30 years. Based in San Francisco, Genstar works in partnership with its management teams and its network of strategic advisors to transform its portfolio companies into industry-leading businesses. Genstar currently has approximately $17 billion of assets under management and targets investments focused on targeted segments of the healthcare, software, industrial technology, and financial services industries.

About Linden Capital Partners

Linden Capital Partners is a Chicago-based private equity firm focused exclusively on investing in the healthcare industry. Linden’s strategy is based upon three elements: i) healthcare specialization, ii) integrated private equity and operating expertise, and iii) strategic relationships with large corporations. Linden invests in middle market platforms across the medical products, specialty distribution, pharmaceutical, and services segments of healthcare. For more information, please visit www.lindenllc.com.

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MEDIA INQUIRIES:

Contact: Chris Tofalli
Chris Tofalli Public Relations
914-834-4334

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