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3i and LDC sell stakes in MKM Building Supplies to Bain Capital

3I

MKM Building Supplies (“MKM”), 3i Group plc (“3i”), LDC and Bain Capital Private Equity (“Bain Capital”) are pleased to announce they have signed a binding agreement for the sale of 3i and LDC’s stakes in MKM, the UK’s largest independent builders’ merchant, to Bain Capital. Management will retain a significant shareholding in the business.

3i’s 2006 investment, which was partially syndicated to LDC, has supported founder David Kilburn with the firm’s ambitious growth plans. Since 2006, revenues and profits have more than trebled. During this time, the business has also developed from a regional to a national player, expanding to 47 branches across the country. The business has consistently grown like-for-like sales well above listed peers through superior service and category expansion, generating revenues in excess of £284 million in 2016 and employing over 1,100 people.

David Kilburn, Founder and Executive Chairman of MKM, said: “MKM has enjoyed exceptional growth over the past twenty-one years and I would like to thank 3i and LDC for their long-term backing and support. We are looking forward to working with Bain Capital for the next stage in MKM’s development. The UK builders’ merchant market is anticipated to grow to £13 billion by 2020 and we expect to expand our UK branch network significantly.”

Matthias Boyer Chammard, Principal, Bain Capital Private Equity, said: “We were attracted to MKM’s best-in-class customer service, underpinned by its unique business model, which has enabled the firm to significantly outperform the market. Bain Capital has a strong track record of applying its expertise in the building materials and construction sectors to successfully grow companies, including Ibstock in the UK. We are delighted to have the opportunity to partner with the MKM management team to further expand the business throughout the UK.”

Jonathan Crane, Director, 3i Private Equity, said: “David’s leadership and MKM’s unique business model have driven impressive financial performance and a long-term track record of growth. We are proud to have supported David and the company during this period of transformation and wish them all the best with their exciting future expansion plans.”

Proceeds to 3i from today’s transaction will be c.£70m, and including £11m received by 3i since 2006, represent a 5.9x money multiple. Proceeds represent a 17% uplift over book value at 31 December 2016 and 31% as at 31 March 2016.

The transaction is subject to customary regulatory approvals. Subject to these approvals, the transaction is expected to complete by May 2017.

Rothschild acted as lead adviser to the selling shareholders alongside Addleshaw Goddard, as legal adviser, and PwC and OC&C who provided vendor due diligence assistance. Moelis & Company and PwC advised Bain Capital, with Ropes & Gray as legal adviser.

-Ends-

For further information, contact:

3i Group plc
Silvia Santoro
Investor enquiries
Tel: +44 20 7975 3258
Email: silvia.santoro@3i.com

Kathryn van der Kroft
Media enquiries
Tel: +44 20 7975 3021
Email: kathryn.vanderkroft@3i.com

LDC
Sophie Millward
Citypress
Tel: +44 7890 616 295
Email: sophie.millward@citypress.co.uk

MKM Building Supplies
Ian Middleton
Celicourt
Tel: +44 7885 508 527
Email: imiddleton@celicourt.uk

Bain Capital Private Equity
Edward Gascoigne-Pees
Camarco
Tel: +44 20 3757 4984
Email: ed.gascoigne-pees@camarco.co.uk

Notes to editors:

About MKM Building Supplies

MKM is the largest independent builders’ merchant in the UK and provides a one-stop-shop for branded building materials, timber, plumbing and heating, and a broad range of complementary categories including kitchens and bathrooms. Established in Hull in 1995 by David Kilburn and Peter Murray, MKM was built on the concept that skilled, local people who understand the needs of local customers, should serve the local trade. MKM is differentiated through its unique business model, centred around Branch Directors owning an equity stake in their branch and currently has 47 branches across England and Scotland, employing in excess of 1,100 people.

For further information, please visit: www.mkmbs.co.uk

About 3i Group

3i is an investment company with two complementary businesses, Private Equity and Infrastructure, specialising in core investment markets in Northern Europe and North America.

3i’s Private Equity team provides investment solutions for growing companies, backing entrepreneurs and management teams of mid-market companies with an EV typically between €100m – €500m. We back international growth plans, providing access to our network and expertise to accelerate the growth of companies across the consumer, industrials and business and technology services industries.

For further information, please visit: www.3i.com

About LDC

LDC is part of the Lloyds Banking Group and backs ambitious management teams from UK-based companies seeking between £2m and £100m of equity for management buy-outs, institutional buy-outs or development capital transactions. From a UK network of 9 regional offices, LDC invests in a broad range of sectors and has particular experience in Construction & Property, Financial Services, Healthcare, Industrials, Retail & Consumer, TMT, Travel & Leisure and Support Services.

For further information, please visit: www.ldc.co.uk

About Bain Capital Private Equity

Bain Capital Private Equity (www.baincapitalprivateequity.com) has partnered closely with management teams to provide the strategic resources that build great companies and help them thrive since our founding in 1984. Our global team of approximately 220 investment professionals creates value for our portfolio companies through our global platform and depth of expertise in key vertical industries including consumer/retail, financial and business services, healthcare, industrials, and technology, media and telecommunications. In addition to private equity, Bain Capital invests across asset classes including credit, public equity and venture capital, and leverages the firm’s shared platform to capture opportunities in strategic areas of focus.

Regulatory information

This transaction involved a recommendation of 3i Investments plc.

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Ferd invests into improving fish health and sustainability within aquaculture

Forbedret fiskehelse og bærekraft i global oppdrettsnæring

Ferd has, through an equity issue and market transactions, achieved an ownership in Benchmark Holdings Plc of approx. 17%. Benchmark contributes to improved fish health and sustainability across aquaculture species, through sales of specialised nutrition, genetics and health products.

Benchmark is headquartered in the UK and was founded in 2000 by a visionary and energetic management team that during the past couple of years has completed a number of acquisitions in Norway, Belgium and Iceland. Benchmark has approximately 900 employees across 27 countries and reported a 2016 revenue of GBP 109 million and an EBITDA before R&D expenses of GBP 22m. Benchmark is listed on the UK AIM list with a market capitalisation just north of GBP 500 million.

The global aquaculture industry has grown by approximately 9% annually during the past 15 years, driven by an increasing population, increasing incomes and high demand for healthy food. The growth in aquaculture going forward is expected to become somewhat more moderate, mainly because there across all species have been substantial challenges related to fish health and sustainability. The salmon farming industry has developed more solutions for maintaining biological control than farmers for other species. However, the salmon industry still faces challenges with sea lice, disease outbreaks, reducing harvest weights, a loss from mortalities and escapes of approx. 20% per generation, in addition to rapidly increasing costs related to treatments. For other aquaculture species than salmon, efforts are only just beginning in relation to securing biological control and sustainability.

Ferd believes that Benchmark is uniquely positioned to contribute with sustainable and cost efficient solutions for improving fish health across aquaculture species. Benchmark’s activities mainly focuses on three segments:

  • A leading global position within sales of specialised feed and health products for shrimp and seabass / seabream through the subsidiary INVE. Benchmark delivers starter feeds for hatcheries, where there are particularly high quality requirements for growing robust fish
  • A leading global position with salmonid breeding and genetics, through the subsidiaries Salmobreed and Stofnfiskur, where advanced genetic selection is applied in order to pick individuals that grow fast and are resistant to particular biological challenges such as sea lice. Within breeding and genetics, Benchmark has recently expanded into the market for tilapia and shrimp
  • A major effort in developing treatments and vaccines. Benchmark has for many years sold the Salmosan sea lice treatment, and has since 2011 invested heavily into developing a pipeline of vaccines and for the construction of a state-of-the-art vaccine production facility. Benchmark launched its first in-house developed vaccine in 2016, and several launches are expected in the years to come targeting some of the largest challenges within aquaculture

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Acino to acquire Litha Healthcare in South Africa

Acino signed a deal with certain subsidiaries of Endo International plc to acquire Litha Healthcare in South Africa.

Litha Healthcare, headquartered in Midrand, Johannesburg, is a pharma group with around 160 employees providing products and services to public and private hospitals, pharmacies, general and specialist practitioners, as well as government law enforcement programs.

The acquisition is fully in line with Acino’s strategy to grow its business by entering selected high potential markets in the Middle East and Africa. The acquisition of Litha Healthcare gives Acino immediate access and a strong presence in South Africa, which is key for the company to become a significant player in the pharmaceutical landscape on the continent.

Closing of the deal is expected in the second quarter of this year.

Acino is part of the portfolio of Nordic Capital

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Cherwell Software Secures $50 Million Investment from KKR to Further Advance Service Management Leadership

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COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo., Feb. 27, 2017 — Cherwell Software, LLC, a leading provider of IT service management (ITSM) solutions, announced today that it has secured $50 million in funding from KKR, a global investment firm. KKR is making the investment through its Next Generation Technology Fund, which focuses on investments in software, security, Internet, digital media, and information services.

KKR joins existing Cherwell investor, Insight Venture Partners, which has made a series of investments beginning in 2012. With the support of KKR’s funding, Cherwell will accelerate research and development and make strategic investments aimed at broadening and deepening its portfolio of IT and enterprise service management offerings.

Vini Letteri, a member of KKR’s Technology, Media & Telecommunications industry team, will be joining Cherwell’s board of managers.

“The IT service management market is a large and rapidly growing sector undergoing a period of disruption as new, emerging technologies replace older legacy systems. With IT teams’ increasing importance within organizations, ensuring there is no interruption to IT services and that customer satisfaction is high are paramount to any business,” said Vini Letteri, Director, KKR. “Since its founding, Cherwell has been entirely customer-centric in its focus and is led by a seasoned, passionate, and industry-leading management team. Its platform provides unparalleled value and the ultimate flexibility to its customers to operate in any industry and in any environment—on premises, cloud, or hybrid. We are really pleased to partner with them to help accelerate Cherwell’s future growth and leadership in this dynamic industry.”

Named by IDC as the fastest growing vendor in its 2015 Worldwide Problem Management Software Market Shares report, Cherwell has become a force multiplier for IT organizations that need to become more innovative and agile, while reducing the total cost of ownership (TCO) of their service management initiatives. The ITSM market is widely known for expensive, inflexible tools supplied by vendors whose business practices are characterized by confusing licensing models and punitive pricing.

Cherwell has driven strong growth in the ITSM market by delivering:

  • A codeless platform that enables rapid solution customization and hassle-free upgrades
  • A transparent and straightforward concurrent licensing model, along with predictable, all-inclusive pricing
  • A “customers first” philosophy which has resulted in 98%+ customer satisfaction rate

“IT teams are increasingly abandoning their legacy service management tools in favor of powerful, modern, and agile solutions that empower them to confidently tackle business challenges and opportunities,” said Craig Harper, Chief Executive Officer of Cherwell. “KKR’s investment in Cherwell is validation that our core principles and areas of focus will continue to drive phenomenal growth and fulfill our goal of being the best service management solution on the planet.”

The KKR investment follows a particularly strong 2016 for Cherwell. 2016 highlights included:

  • Record bookings and a record number of new customers, including marquis brands across transportation, financial services, healthcare, retail, government, manufacturing, and higher education
  • Acquisition of Advanced Marketplace, an IT consulting firm specializing in development of business solutions for the Cherwell® Service Management platform, signaling Cherwell’s commitment to accelerate its delivery of enterprise service management solutions
  • Appointment of Craig Harper as Cherwell’s Chief Executive Officer; and Patrick Malaperiman, Vice President, EMEA
  • Establishment of strategic partnerships with Microsoft® Azure® and Amazon Web Services (AWS), demonstrating Cherwell’s continued commitment to customer choice through flexible deployment options including on-premises, SaaS hosted by Cherwell, or hosted on the public cloud—and the ability to switch any time at no cost

“Cherwell’s continued double digit market share growth can be attributed to the flexible and competitive licensing, deployment, and pricing options of its platform,” said Robert Young, Research Director, ITSM and Client Virtualization Software, IDC. “Likewise, with the company’s recent product enhancements in the performance and scalability of its platform, as well as public cloud hosting options and integrations, IDC believes that Cherwell is well positioned to increase its enterprise adoption and maintain an aggressive growth trajectory.”

About Cherwell Software

A global leader in IT and enterprise service management, Cherwell Software empowers IT to lead through the use of powerful and intuitive technology that enables better, faster, and more affordable innovation. The Cherwell® Service Management platform is built from the ground up with a unique codeless architecture that enables rapid time to value, infinite flexibility, and frictionless upgrades every time—at a fraction of the cost and complexity of legacy solutions. Because of Cherwell’s focus on delivering solutions that are easy to configure, customize, and use, IT organizations extend the Cherwell platform to solve a wide range of IT and business problems. With an unwavering commitment to putting customers first and being easy to do business with, Cherwell enjoys 98%+ customer satisfaction. Cherwell has a global network of expert partners serving customers in more than 40 countries. Corporate headquarters are in Colorado, USA, with global offices in the United Kingdom, Germany and Australia.

About KKR

KKR is a leading global investment firm that manages investments across multiple asset classes including private equity, energy, infrastructure, real estate, credit and hedge funds. KKR aims to generate attractive investment returns by following a patient and disciplined investment approach, employing world‐class people, and driving growth and value creation at the asset level. KKR invests its own capital alongside its partners’ capital and brings opportunities to others through its capital markets business. References to KKR’s investments may include the activities of its sponsored funds. For additional information about KKR & Co. L.P. (NYSE:KKR), please visit KKR’s website at www.kkr.com and follow us on Twitter @KKR_Co or #KKRTMTGrowth for related news on KKR’s TMT platform.

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reichweite² becomes part of Sovendus

Bregal unternehmerkapital

With the support of Bregal Unternehmerkapital, Karlsruhe-based online marketing firm Sovendus has acquired reichweite² beratung & medien GmbH, Ulm, thereby further strengthening its market position as the leader in check-out page marketing.

At the end of 2015 Bregal Unternehmerkapital acquired a minority stake in Sovendus. In the first half of 2016, Bregal supported the firm in its acquisition of the online marketing companies Tharuka and RMD Regional Marketing Deutschland.

Sovendus GmbH was founded in 2008. Its customers now include more than 850 online shops, numerous online portals, over 35 magazine publishers, 240 newspaper publishers and plenty of other product providers. Sovendus offers a whole range of marketing solutions for the check-out page of e-commerce shops and among others offers attractive deals and positive shopping experiences to generate additional sales, direct revenues and high-quality newsletter addresses for its shop partners. It also markets checkout pages and places regionally focused online offers on behalf of publishers. Together with the integrated services from Tharuka and RMD, this enables Sovendus to reach more than 20 million online customers a month in seven European countries.

reichweite² also addresses customers of online shops individually straight after an online purchase. It uses e-mails, call centres and offline campaigns to market subscriptions of newspapers and magazines, digital products such as audio books and non-print products. In addition to its Ulm location, the company, which was founded over 13 years ago, also has offices in Herisau, Switzerland. Its 400 customers include renowned publishing houses and well-known online shops as well as mail-order firms and agencies.

Together with reichweite², Sovendus will be able to further expand its customer base and product offering for check-out page marketing solutions. Furthermore, the proprietary technology developed by reichweite² will help Sovendus to strengthen its innovation leadership. The acquisition is also an important step for growing the partner network. We look forward to providing Sovendus with sustained support based on partnership as the company continues to grow.

Press contact:

IRA WÜLFING KOMMUNIKATION
Dr. Reinhard Saller
Phone: +49 89 2000 30-30
bregal@wuelfing-kommunikation.de

 

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Summa Equity acquires Lin Education

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Summa Equity has acquired Linfre Education AB from the founder and a handful of private investors. The founder and CEO Josef Lind will reinvest the majority of his proceeds, and the management team will also invest alongside Summa Equity.

Tommi Unkuri, Partner at Summa Equity, said: “We are very excited about concluding Summa Equity’ third investment, and the first one within the investment theme Changing Demographics. This investment also fits within another of our four themes, Tech-enabled business, where Education is a core segment. Through Lin Education we will contribute to the digitalisation of the Swedish educational system. In a time when learning is more important than ever, this is a field offering important challenges, but also huge opportunities. Being part of innovative solutions to some of the pressing challenges of our time, is a fundament in Summa Equity’s investment philosophy”.

Josef Lind, Founder and CEO of Lin Education, said: “We are very pleased to have Summa Equity as our new majority owner and partner, as this will help Lin Education take the next steps in our development. We are looking forward to a collaboration whereby we will strengthen our offering, press ahead to lead the development in educational content, and further develop our organisation. In Summa Equity we find a fit not only for our business, but also for our people and stakeholders.”

Lin Education was founded in 2007 by Josef Lind, and today has several hundred thousand digital tools and IT hardware (i.e. computers, laptops, tablets, etc.) in schools and preschools all over Sweden. Lin Education also offers learning, development and digitalisation training for its customers. Many thousand people are using the Lin Education’s proprietary digital content tools for learning. The company has some 90 employees working out of offices in Gothenburg, Stockholm, Malmö, Karlstad and Umeå. Revenue was SEK 569m in 2016.

Summa Equity will support the continued development of Lin Education and assist the Company in further growth through investments to develop existing as well as new products. Lin Education is expected to benefit from the trend towards increasing digitalisation of learning, in schools and in other environments.

Ends

For more information, please contact:

Tommi Unkuri, Lead Partner, Summa Equity, +46 70 508 1196, tommi.unkuri@summaequity.com

Josef Lind, CEO, Lin Education, +46) 704 385 827, josef.lind@lineducation.se

About Lin Education

Lin Education is a Swedish Education Technology company founded in 2007 as distributor of IT hardware (i.e. computers, laptops, tablets) to Swedish schools. The Company has since also expanded into segments for digital content, training and supplementary services for a digital learning environment, and today has a position as a leader in the Swedish market for digitalisation of the educational system. Lin Education has demonstrated strong double digit revenue growth annually over the past three years.

About Summa Equity

Summa Equity was formed in 2016 by partners with a shared vision of building a leading specialised private equity firm in the Nordic lower mid-market, positioned to capture the investment opportunity provided by the thematic megatrends expected to drive growth over the long term. The Firm focuses on sectors related to four megatrend driven themes: resource scarcity, energy efficiency, changing demographics and tech-enabled businesses. Summa Equity closed its first fund in February 2017 with commitments of SEK 4.5 billion.

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New Portfolio Company: Xsens AS

Investinor

Investinor and lead investor Proventure invests MNOK 25 in oiltech startup Xsens.

Xsens is based in Bergen, Norway and offers patented technology for measuring flow rates in oil and gas pipelines.

Measurement of flow rates in the oil and gas industry represents a billion dollar market globally. The measuring instruments available on the market today, must either be inserted into the liquid and gas flow, or penetrate the pipe walls to work properly. They are easily disturbed by e.g. scaling (deposits inside the pipes), and their accuracy will deteriorate over time.

Xsens has developed a proprietary technology for measuring flow rates accurately from the outside of the pipes, enabling significant cost reduction, improved technical integrity and long term stability.

The Xsens technology can monitor flow rates in pipelines on the seabed, in process facilities onboard platforms and vessels (where oil, gas and sludge are separated), as well as in onshore processing plants.

─ This investment enables us to grow the company internationally, and to realize an ambitious product launch, says Chairman of Xsens Christopher Giertsen.

─ The main advantage of the Xsens technology is cost savings. Xsens offers solutions with the same accuracy as its competitors, but at a substantially lower price. They are set to grab a significant market share, says Investment Director of Investinor Jan Morten Ertsaas.

─ This is a very exciting company spun out from Christian Michelsen Research (CMR) in Bergen, which has a long tradition of developing world-leading measurement technology for the oil industry. They have once again managed to develop a product that could provide significant savings for the industry, says Managing Partner of Proventure Terje Eidesmo.

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Telia Company to acquire Fält Communications AB

Telia

Telia Company accelerates its activities within the Smart Cities space by acquiring Fält Communications AB (Fältcom), a leading and well established company in the growing Nordic connected public transportation market.

“Fältcom is a market leader in Scandinavia and has recently seen early success internationally. The combination of great products and services, and talented and passionate people, will position the combined companies to become the leading provider of Smart Public Transport services whilst laying a foundation for further expansion in the Smart Transport & Logistics and Smart City space,” says Brendan Ives, Head of Telia Company’s emerging businesses unit Division X, and continues: “This is also fully in line with our ambition to find digital solutions to societal challenges such as climate change while making cities more liveable”

Swedish company Fältcom was founded in 1998 and is headquartered in Umeå. The company has roughly 40 employees. Fältcom’s systems make it possible for customers to monitor and control devices in one place on the globe from another. The company today has more than 160,000 installations, of which 40,000 are online, in buildings, vehicles, and customized IoT solutions. Fältcom is the market leader in Scandinavia for mobile platforms on buses, and every speed camera in Sweden is equipped with its technology. For 2016, Fältcom had preliminary revenues of SEK 83 million.

Fältcom’s main owners SEB Venture Capital and Nordic VC Industrifonden together own 93 percent of Fältcom and the employees own the remaining 7 percent. The acquisition is expected to close in February. The parties have agreed not to disclose the purchase price.

“Fältcom and Telia Company share a common belief that open platforms and ecosystems are key to unleashing the endless possibilities of IoT. Having achieved a market leading position, we are really excited to be part of Telia Company. Together we’ll strengthen our market position, open up significant growth potential and accelerate the rate at which we can create value for our customers and partners,” says Mikael Långström, CEO of Fältcom.

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Bregal Unternehmerkapital partners with Embassy, a Swiss luxury watch retail company

Bregal unternehmerkapital

Lucerne – Embassy Jewel AG, headquartered in Lucerne, Switzerland, has gained an additional shareholder, Bregal Unternehmerkapital, serving as a partner for growth. The agreement was signed by the owners – Petra and Patrik König. With the support of Bregal Unternehmerkapital, the luxury watch retail company plans to foster further growth. Both parties agreed to not publish further details about the transaction.

Since its foundation in 1970 by Kurt König, the father of Petra and Patrik König, Embassy has grown steadily. Today, Embassy is one of the five largest retail companies in the Swiss watch market and stands for the highest level of quality for more than 45 years. The highly respected and well-known retail company operates five attractively located stores in Lucerne, the Swiss watch capital, as well as one shop in St. Moritz. With watches and jewelry from distinguished brands as Breguet, Blancpain, Cartier, Jaeger-LeCoultre, IWC, Vacheron Constantin, Audemars Piguet, Breitling and numerous other manufacturers, Embassy appeals to an international clientele. Consequently, Embassy continues to thrive on Lucerne’s tourism strategy, which follows highest quality standards and class. Together, the shareholders plan further investments to strengthen the branch network and the in-store infrastructure to implement an even more personalized customer approach.

“We are delighted to join forces with the ideal partner Bregal Unternehmerkapital who will support our long-term growth plans” notes Embassy’s CEO Patrik König. “Bregal itself is part of a family-owned retail business, which has grown over generations and shares our values.” Florian Schick, Managing Partner of Bregal Unternehmerkapital GmbH, adds: “Our philosophy is to collaboratively support the growth of small and medium-sized enterprises with capital, know-how and an international network of experts to create lasting values in a long-term relationship. Embassy has exceptional growth potential in an attractive market. We are glad to support Embassy’s next growth phase together with Petra and Patrik König and the current management team around Patrick Frischknecht.”

Embassy store

The stake in Embassy represents the sixth investment by the current fund, and is the second transaction in Switzerland. At the end of 2016, Bregal had acquired a majority stake in Kunststoff Schwanden AG, a supplier of complex plastic parts and components in the Swiss canton of Glarus as part of a succession arrangement.

About Bregal Unternehmerkapital

Bregal is part of a family-owned business that has been built up over generations. Its investment activity is free of institutional constraints, based on long-term commitment and independent of developments in the financial markets. Bregal identifies companies, with strong management teams, that are regarded as market leaders or “hidden champions” in their particular segment. Flexible financing and transaction structures enable Bregal to acquire both minority and majority stakes. In doing so, Bregal is also able to handle complex industry spin-offs, management buy-outs and succession situations in a sensitive, non-dogmatic manner. Bregal aims to help companies to achieve a sustained improvement in sales and profitability, and provides them with capital, proven financial expertise and access to a broad network of entrepreneurs and industry experts.

Media contact

IRA WÜLFING KOMMUNIKATION GmbH
Florian Bergmann Ohmstr. 1, D-80802 Munich
Tel. +49 89 2000 30-30
E-Mail bregal@wuelfing-kommunikation.de
www.wuelfing-kommunikation.de/en

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Gimv leads EUR 10.3 million follow-on round to accelerate Itineris’ international growth

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GIMV

Gimv leads EUR 10.3 million follow-on round to accelerate Itineris’ international growth

Gimv and Gimv managed Gimv Arkiv Tech Fund II jointly invest EUR 7.8 million in Itineris (www.itineris.net), a Belgian software solutions company that has developed UMAX, a Microsoft-based software solution managing the meter-to-cash processes at utility companies. Next to Gimv, other existing investors PMV and CEO-founder Edgard Vermeersch jointly put EUR 2.5 million on top, lifting the total financing round to EUR 10.3 million.

With four clients in the US under contract, a strengthened leadership for the UMAX North American business, a geographical extension of its focus in Europe with several new customer wins and revenues topping EUR 43 million, 2016 was a key year for Itineris.

The funds will be used to further support the growth of the company. Next to investing in the improvement of its UMAX-solution for its existing customers, and extending its reach with new customers in both Europe and North-America, the company is also considering some acquisition opportunities.

After earlier financings in November 2013 and May 2015, this is the third investment round of Itineris in which Gimv acts as lead investor. It clearly shows Gimv’s willingness to provide larger financing tickets to ambitious entrepreneurs willing to scale up and accelerate the growth of their company in order to become  leading in their sector.

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