Category Archives: News

Flexpoint Ford Partners with Accuserve to Continue Expansion and Growth Strategy

Aquiline

DENVER, March 28, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Accuserve Solutions (“Accuserve” or the “Company”), an independent managed repair services platform, and Aquiline Capital Partners LP (“Aquiline”), a private investment specialist in financial services and related technologies, announced today that they have reached an agreement for a majority investment from Flexpoint Ford (“Flexpoint”), a private equity firm specializing in investments in the financial services and healthcare industries. Flexpoint’s partnership is expected to accelerate Accuserve’s growth as it continues to develop value added property claims solutions for insurance carriers, homeowners, and contractors.

Accuserve is a fast-growing full-service managed repair and home services platform, connecting insurance carriers, homeowners, and contractors through a unified platform that simplifies the property restoration and claims process from incident through repair. The Company has invested significantly in technology to ensure improvement in the property claim workflow with the ultimate objective of removing pain points for all stakeholders.

Flexpoint’s investment, alongside the continued support from Aquiline, is expected to bring significant financial resources, industry expertise, and relationships to Accuserve to further drive continued growth and deliver industry-leading services to its customers. The partnership with Flexpoint will enable Accuserve to expand its contractor networks and service offerings in complementary markets, pursue strategic acquisitions, and enhance its sophisticated technology and data analytic tools.

Hunter Powell, Accuserve’s CEO, has led the company since 2020 and has grown Accuserve to become one of the leading companies in the managed repair market. Mr. Powell, alongside the existing management team, will continue to lead Accuserve during this next phase of growth.

“This investment in Accuserve marks a significant milestone for our Company. Flexpoint’s support will provide the capital and strategic insight needed to continue innovating and developing industry-enhancing solutions for our clients and enable Accuserve to execute on its long-term growth plan. We are grateful for Aquiline’s partnership and look forward to this next chapter,” said Hunter Powell.

Dominic Hood, Managing Director of Flexpoint, commented: “We are excited to partner with Hunter and the Accuserve team as they build an innovative managed repair experience that will deliver claims efficiency to insurance carriers as well as a high-quality experience for policyholders.”

Jennifer Kim, Principal of Flexpoint, added, “Our partnership with Accuserve and Hunter extends Flexpoint’s long track record of partnering with growth-oriented founders in the insurance sector. We look forward to working with Accuserve as it continues its strong growth trajectory.”

Aquiline will remain a significant minority shareholder and will continue to support the Company. “We are delighted to have been able to work so closely with Hunter and the management team over the last few years. We are very proud of their success in building Accuserve’s scale, team and technology and are excited to remain significant investors during this next phase of growth,” said Charles Janeway, Principal of Aquiline.

Waller Helms Advisors and Jefferies LLC acted as financial advisors to Accuserve and Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP acted as legal counsel in connection with the transaction. Piper Sandler & Co. acted as financial advisor to Flexpoint and Kirkland & Ellis LLP acted as legal counsel in connection with the transaction.

About Accuserve Accuserve is a full-service managed repair platform that provides concierge-style property restoration services. With expertise in water mitigation, interior general contracting, exterior restoration, as well as windows, Accuserve unifies its contractor and carrier partners in delivering an empathetic home restoration experience for property owners. Accuserve’s national network of contractors, partnered with its expert staff and supported by its innovative, unique training and customer support capabilities, deliver high levels of accuracy and tailored service. For more information, visit: www.accuserve.com

About Flexpoint Ford Flexpoint Ford is a private equity investment firm that has approximately $8.1 billion of regulatory assets under management and specializes in privately negotiated investments in the financial services and healthcare industries. Since the firm’s formation in 2005, Flexpoint Ford has completed investments across a broad range of investment sizes, structures, and asset classes. Flexpoint Ford has offices in Chicago, Illinois, and New York, New York. For more information, visit: www.flexpointford.com

Media Contact Prosek Partners on behalf of Flexpoint Ford | Email: pro-flexpointford@prosek.com

About Aquiline Aquiline Capital Partners LP is a private investment specialist based in New York, London, Philadelphia, and Greenwich. It invests across financial services and related technologies. The firm has $10.1 billion in assets under management as of September 30, 2023. For more information, visit: www.aquiline.com

Media Contact Apella Advisors | Email: aquiline@apellaadvisors.com

SOURCE Flexpoint Ford

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Rexford Industrial Acquires Blackstone Industrial Assets in Combined $1 Billion Investment

Blackstone

Los Angeles and New York – March 28, 2024 – Rexford Industrial Realty, Inc. (“Rexford Industrial”) (NYSE: REXR), a real estate investment trust focused on creating value by investing in and operating industrial properties located throughout infill Southern California, and Blackstone (NYSE: BX), today announced Rexford Industrial acquired approximately 3 million square feet of industrial properties pursuant to separate transactions with Blackstone Real Estate, including the Blackstone Property Partners strategy as well as Blackstone Real Estate Partners and Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust, for an aggregate purchase price of $1.0 billion.

The combined portfolio comprises 48 properties, totaling 3,008,000 square feet, acquired for $1.0 billion or $332 per square foot on average. The combined portfolio is 98% leased, with 99% of the property square footage located within core, infill submarkets in Los Angeles and Orange counties. In aggregate, the investments are expected to generate a weighted average initial unlevered cash yield of 4.7% and an anticipated stabilized unlevered cash yield of 5.6%. These investments were funded using proceeds from Rexford Industrial’s recent exchangeable senior note offerings and cash on hand.

“These strategic investments in exceptionally well-located, high-quality assets within infill Southern California, the nation’s highest-barrier and lowest supply industrial market, represent a significant opportunity to drive accretive cash flow growth, increased operating margins and long-term value creation,” stated Howard Schwimmer and Michael Frankel, Co-Chief Executive Officers of Rexford Industrial. “With these transactions, we are pleased to further our Blackstone relationship, and look forward to identifying opportunities for future collaboration. Looking forward, our total pipeline comprises approximately $300 million of investments under contract or accepted offer, bringing the aggregate year-to-date $1.4 billion of investments completed or in the pipeline, to a weighted average 5.0% anticipated initial unlevered cash yield and anticipated 5.7% stabilized unlevered cash yield.”

David Levine, Co-Head of Americas Acquisitions for Blackstone Real Estate, said, “These transactions represent an excellent outcome for our investors and demonstrate the strong institutional demand for high-quality assets in attractive markets like Southern California, where we own over 50 million square feet of warehouses. Logistics continues to experience near record low vacancy and remains a high conviction theme for Blackstone Real Estate globally; we are proud owners of $175 billion of warehouses around the world. Along with our portfolio company Link Logistics, we are pleased to work with Rexford on these transactions, who will be an excellent steward of these properties going forward.”

About Rexford Industrial
Rexford Industrial creates value by investing in, operating and redeveloping industrial properties throughout infill Southern California, the world’s fourth largest industrial market and consistently the highest-demand, lowest supply market in the nation. Rexford Industrial’s highly differentiated strategy enables internal and external growth opportunities through its proprietary value creation and asset management capabilities. Rexford Industrial’s high-quality, irreplaceable portfolio comprises 422 properties with approximately 49.1 million rentable square feet occupied by a stable and diverse tenant base. Structured as a real estate investment trust (REIT) listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker “REXR,” Rexford Industrial is an S&P MidCap 400 Index member. For more information, please visit www.rexfordindustrial.com.

About Blackstone Real Estate
Blackstone is a global leader in real estate investing. Blackstone’s real estate business was founded in 1991 and has US $337 billion of investor capital under management. Blackstone is the largest owner of commercial real estate globally, owning and operating assets across every major geography and sector, including logistics, residential, office, hospitality and retail. Our opportunistic funds seek to acquire undermanaged, well-located assets across the world. Blackstone’s Core+ business invests in substantially stabilized real estate assets globally, through both institutional strategies and strategies tailored for income-focused individual investors including Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust, Inc. (BREIT), a U.S. non-listed REIT, and Blackstone’s European yield-oriented strategy. Blackstone Real Estate also operates one of the leading global real estate debt businesses, providing comprehensive financing solutions across the capital structure and risk spectrum, including management of Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE: BXMT).

Forward-Looking Statements
This press release includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws and the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as “outlook,” “indicator,” “believes,” “expects,” “potential,” “continues,” “identified,” “may,” “will,” “should,” “seeks,” “approximately,” “predicts,” “intends,” “plans,” “estimates,” “anticipates,” “confident,” “conviction,” or other similar words or the negatives thereof.  These may include financial estimates and their underlying assumptions, statements about plans, objectives, intentions, and expectations with respect to positioning, including the impact of macroeconomic trends and market forces, future operations, repurchases, acquisitions, future performance and statements regarding identified but not yet closed acquisitions. Such forward-looking statements are inherently uncertain and there are or may be important factors that could cause actual outcomes or results to differ materially from those indicated in such statements. Rexford Industrial and BREIT believe these factors include but are not limited to those described under the section entitled “Risk Factors” in Rexford Industrial’s and BREIT’s respective prospectus and annual report for the most recent fiscal year, and any such updated factors included in Rexford Industrial’s and BREIT’s periodic filings with the SEC, which are accessible on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov. These factors should not be construed as exhaustive and should be read in conjunction with the other cautionary statements that are included herein (or in Rexford Industrial’s and BREIT’s public filings). Except as otherwise required by federal securities laws, each of Rexford Industrial and BREIT undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise.

Contacts:

Rexford Industrial
investorrelations@rexfordindustrial.com

Blackstone
Jeffrey Kauth
Jeffrey.Kauth@Blackstone.com

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KeBeK Private Equity, together with Apicem Investments, invests in Askové, a leading designer and builder of thermoplastic equipment and turn-key process installations in air and water technology.

Kebek

Schijndel, March 27, 2024 – Belgian investment fund KeBeK Private Equity, together with Dutch
company Apicem Investments, has reached an agreement on the acquisition of a majority stake in
Askové. The current Managing Director of Askové, Leon Heemskerk, will remain involved as a minority
shareholder and will transfer the day-to-day management of the company to Lars Claassen,
Managing Partner of Apicem Investments.

Askové designs and builds high-quality process equipment based on thermoplastics. Over the years,
Askové has specialized in process technology, mechanical and control solutions for the treatment
and cleaning of fluids and emissions, in both biological and chemical ways. In doing so, Askové has
focused on finding practical and eƯicient solutions to problem situations concerning odor treatment
and handling of (contaminated) gases and chemical fluids in industrial processes. Furthermore,
Askové also specializes in the storage, transport and dosing of chemicals in the process industry.
The company works for a number of Water Boards, drinking water companies and renowned
industrial and food companies, among others.

Askové invests in research and development to create innovative process solutions that meet the
needs of its customers to comply with increasingly stringent regulations. This includes designing new
equipment and improving existing products to increase eƯiciency, reliability and safety.
The company is committed to long-term relationships with its customers and provides
comprehensive customer service and support. This includes training of customer personnel,
preventive maintenance, repairs and technical support to ensure that equipment continues to
perform optimally.

The company has approximately 35 dedicated employees. In recent years, Askové has experienced
substantial sales growth. Significant growth is also expected in the future, driven by the increasing
interest in biological purification and nitrogen issues, but also by expanding application areas and
broadening Askové’s product range, with continuity of high quality operations as a fixed value.

For more information:
Askové – www.askove.com

Leon Heemskerk: l.heemskerk@askove.com or +31 650 515141
Apicem – www.apicem.nl
Lars Claassen: l.claassen@apicem.nl or +31-(0)6-4342 5511

At Apicem Investments, we are passionate about entrepreneurship and believe in the power of
collaboration with a personal touch. We pursue strong partnerships with our portfolio companies
and investors, leveraging our expertise, network and personal experience to help them grow and
prosper.

KeBeK Private Equity – www.kebek.be
Gerd Smeets: Gerd.Smeets@kebek.be or +32 2 66 99 022

KeBeK is an independent Belgian investment fund that invests in solid, medium-sized companies
with an identifiable potential for further value creation. KeBeK actively supports the management
team of its participations in the implementation of the jointly defined business strategy. KeBeK
usually takes controlling interests, without however taking an operational role. The fund is managed
by 4 partners who have worked together for many years and have a proven track record in the private
equity industry. KeBeK’s resources are provided by recognized institutional investors, family oƯices
and successful entrepreneurs.

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Mutares with successful fiscal year 2023: Net income of Mutares Holding increases to EUR 102.5 million – dividend of EUR 2.25 per share planned

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Mutares
  • Net income of Mutares Holding for fiscal year 2023 increases by 41% to EUR 102.5 million (previous year: EUR 72.9 million); Revenues of Mutares Holding grow by 46% to EUR 103.6 million (previous year: EUR 71.1 million)
  • Dividend planned to increase by 29% to EUR 2.25 per share for fiscal year 2023 (previous year: EUR 1.75)
  • Group revenues increase by 25% to EUR 4,689.1 million (previous year: EUR 3,751.7 million), Group EBITDA at EUR 756.9 million (previous year: EUR 181.5 million), boosted by effects from the transactions
  • Adjusted EBITDA of EUR 3.5 million (previous year: EUR -32.7 million) reflects the progress made in restructuring and developing the portfolio
  • Early refinancing and placement of a new senior secured floating rate bond with a current total volume of EUR 250 million

Munich, March 28, 2024 – Mutares SE & Co. KGaA (ISIN: DE000A2NB650) today published figures for the fiscal year 2023. Mutares recorded significant growth both at Company level (“Mutares Holding”) and at Group level (“Mutares Group”). In addition to continued promising momentum on the acquisition side with 16 completed acquisitions of portfolio companies, Mutares also completed 7 exits in the fiscal year 2023, including the sale of Special Melted Products (“SMP”), the largest exit in the Company’s history to date.

Net income of Mutares Holding grows by 41% to new record level

The net income of Mutares Holding for the fiscal year 2023 increased to EUR 102.5 million, compared with EUR 72.9 million in the previous year. The successful sale of Special Melted Products (“SMP”) made a significant contribution to this result.

The revenues of Mutares Holding result from consulting services to affiliated companies and management fees and increased by 46% to EUR 103.6 million in the fiscal year 2023 (previous year: EUR 71.1 million). The increase is a result of the expansion of the operational consulting business.

The Mutares Group generated revenues of EUR 4,689.1 million in the fiscal year 2023 (previous year: EUR 3,751.7 million). Group EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) in accordance with IFRS amounted to EUR 756.9 million in the fiscal year 2023 (previous year: EUR 181.5 million), boosted by gains from bargain purchases of EUR 727.2 million (previous year: EUR 262.0 million) and the positive contribution from exits in the fiscal year. Adjusted EBITDA, adjusted in particular for the effects of regular changes in the composition of the portfolio, amounted to EUR 3.5 million for the fiscal year 2023 (previous year: EUR -32.7 million) and reflects the encouraging progress made in restructuring and developing parts of the portfolio.

The Group’s cash and cash equivalents amounted to EUR 520.2 million as at December 31, 2023, and thus increased significantly compared to the previous year’s reporting date (December 31, 2022: EUR 246.4 million). As at the reporting date, the equity ratio was 26% compared to 24% as at December 31, 2022.

High transaction momentum with largest exit in the Company’s history

The fiscal year 2023 was once again characterized by a high level of transaction momentum. On the acquisition side, Mutares completed a total of 16 acquisitions in the four segments Automotive & Mobility, Engineering & Technology, Goods & Services and the newly created Retail & Food segment.

Thanks to the balanced maturity and size of the portfolio, the focus is also increasingly on activities on the exit side. In the fiscal year 2023, Mutares completed a total of 7 sales of portfolio companies. Among these, the sale of SMP was the most successful exit in the Company’s history to date with a cash inflow for the Mutares Holding Company of around EUR 150 million.

Dividend proposal of EUR 2.25 per share

Mutares pursues a dividend policy with which the shareholders are to participate directly and continuously in the Company’s success and at the same time the short and medium-term development of Mutares can be driven forward. In the fiscal year 2023, Mutares resolved an annual minimum dividend of EUR 2.00 per dividend-bearing share as part of an update of the dividend policy. In extraordinarily successful fiscal years, the Company will also consider in the future, when proposing the appropriations of profits, the extent to which the remaining retained net profit will also be distributed in the form of a possible bonus dividend. For the fiscal year 2023, the Management Board and Supervisory Board will propose the distribution of a dividend totaling EUR 2.25 per share at the Annual General Meeting on June 4, 2024. This dividend amount consists of a minimum dividend of EUR 2.00 per share in line with the communicated long-term dividend policy and an additional proposed bonus dividend for the fiscal year 2023 of EUR 0.25 per share.

Outlook

Against the background of the transactions concluded and signed in the fiscal year 2023, the assumptions regarding further intended transactions in the course of the year and the plans for the individual portfolio companies, the Management Board expects revenues for the Mutares Group to increase to between EUR 5.7 billion and EUR 6.3 billion in the fiscal year 2024.

The annual net income of Mutares SE & Co. KGaA should regularly be in a range of 1.8% to 2.2% of the consolidated revenues of the Mutares Group. Based on expected revenues for the Mutares Group of EUR 6.0 billion on average, the Management Board therefore expects a net income of EUR 108 million to EUR 132 million in the fiscal year 2024. All sources from which the net income of Mutares SE & Co. KGaA is generally fed, namely revenues from the consulting business on the one hand and dividends from portfolio companies and, in particular, exit proceeds from the sale of investments on the other, are expected to contribute to this.

Mutares will publish its Annual Report 2023 on April 11, 2024, and invites analysts, investors and members of the press to a conference call at 2:00 p.m. CEST on this day to provide a deeper insight into the developments of the fiscal year 2023 and the outlook for the fiscal year 2024.

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Metaview’s tool records interview notes so that hiring managers don’t have to

Fly Ventures Logo
Kyle Wiggers@kyle_l_wiggers / 

Illustration of a group of applicants waiting outside a door for a job interview.

Image Credits: lemono / Getty Images

Siadhal Magos and Shahriar Tajbakhsh were working at Uber and Palantir, respectively, when they both came to the realization that hiring — particularly the process of interviewing — was becoming unwieldy for many corporate HR departments.

“It was clear to us that the most important part of the hiring process is the interviews, but also the most opaque and unreliable part,” Magos told TechCrunch. “On top of this, there’s a bunch of toil associated with taking notes and writing up feedback that many interviewers and hiring managers do everything they can to avoid.”

Magos and Tajbakhsh thought that the hiring process was ripe for disruption, but they wanted to avoid abstracting away too much of the human element. So they launched Metaview, an AI-powered note-taking app for recruiters and hiring managers that records, analyzes and summarizes job interviews.

“Metaview is an AI note-taker built specifically for the hiring process,” Magos said. “It helps recruiters and hiring managers focus more on getting to know candidates and less on extracting data from the conversations. As a consequence, recruiters and hiring managers save a ton of time writing up notes and are more present during interviews because they’re not having to multitask.”

Metaview integrates with apps, phone systems, videoconferencing platforms and tools like Calendly and GoodTime to automatically capture the content of interviews. Magos says the platform “accounts for the nuances of recruiting conversations” and “enriches itself with data from other sources,” such as applicant tracking systems, to highlight the most relevant moments.

“Zoom, Microsoft Teams and Google Meet all have transcription built in, which is a possible alternative to Metaview,” Magos said. “But the information that Metaview’s AI pulls out from interviews is far more relevant to the recruiting use case than generic alternatives, and we also assist users with the next steps in their recruiting workflows in and around these conversations.”

Metaview

Image Credits: Metaview

Certainly, there’s plenty wrong with traditional job interviewing, and a note-taking and conversation-analyzing app like Metaview could help, at least in theory. As a piece in Psychology Today notes, the human brain is rife with biases that hinder our judgement and decision making, for example a tendency to rely too heavily on the first piece of information offered and to interpret information in a way that confirms our preexisting beliefs.

The question is, does Metaview work — and, more importantly, work equally well for all users?

Even the best AI-powered speech dictation systems suffer from their own biases. A Stanford study showed that error rates for Black speakers on speech-to-text services from Amazon, Apple, Google, IBM and Microsoft are nearly double those for white speakers. Another, more recent study published in the journal Computer Speech and Language found statistically significant differences in the way two leading speech recognition models treated speakers of different genders, ages and accents.

There’s also hallucination to consider. AI makes mistakes summarizing, including in meeting summaries. In a recent story, The Wall Street Journal cited an instance where, for one early adopter using Microsoft’s AI Copilot tool for summarizing meetings, Copilot invented attendees and implied calls were about subjects that were never discussed.

When asked what steps Metaview has taken, if any, to mitigate bias and other algorithmic issues, Magos claimed that Metaview’s training data is diverse enough to yield models that “surpass human performance” on recruitment workflows and perform well on popular benchmarks for bias.

I’m skeptical and a bit wary, too, of Metaview’s approach to how it handles speech data. Magos says that Metaview stores conversation data for two years by default unless users request that the data be deleted. That seems like an exceptionally long time.

But none of this appears to have affected Metaview’s ability to get funding or customers.

Metaview this month raised $7 million from investors including Plural, Coelius Capital and Vertex Ventures, bringing the London-based startup’s total raised to $14 million. Metaview’s client count stands at 500 companies, Magos says, including Brex, Quora, Pleo and Improbable — and it’s grown 2,000% year-over-year.

“The money will be used to grow the product and engineering team primarily, and give more fuel to our sales and marketing efforts,” Magos said. “We will triple the product and engineering team, further fine-tune our conversation synthesis engine so our AI is automatically extracting exactly the right information our customers need and develop systems to proactively detect issues like inconsistencies in the interview process and candidates that appear to be losing interest.”

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Imerys enters into exclusive negotiations for the sale of its assets serving the paper market

Flacks Group

Imerys today announces that it has entered into exclusive negotiations with Flacks Group for the
contemplated divestment of its assets serving the paper market.
Flacks Group is a US investment firm based in Miami, Florida, specialized in acquisitions of mid-size
corporate spin-offs and carve-outs.

The completion of the contemplated transaction is subject to the fulfillment of customary conditions
for this type of transactions, including regulatory approvals and relevant work council consultations.
The transaction is expected to be completed in the course of 2024.
These activities are operated by approximately 900 employees in 24 plants in the Americas and Asia,
as well as certain locations in Europe. These activities represented about €370m in sales in 2023.
*******
Imerys is the world’s leading supplier of mineral-based specialty solutions for the industry with €3.8 billion in revenue
and 13,700 employees in 54 countries in 2023. The Group offers high value-added and functional solutions to a wide
range of industries and fast-growing markets such as solutions for the energy transition and sustainable construction, as
well as natural solutions for consumer goods. Imerys draws on its understanding of applications, technological
knowledge, and expertise in material science to deliver solutions which contribute essential properties to customers’
products and their performance. As part of its commitment to responsible development, Imerys promotes
environmentally friendly products and processes in addition to supporting its customers in their decarbonization efforts.

Imerys is listed on Euronext Paris (France) with the ticker symbol NK.PA.

Analyst/Investor Relations:
Cyrille Arhanchiague : +33 (0)1 49 55 64 84
finance@imerys.com
Press contacts:
Claire Garnier : +33 (0)1 49 55 64 27
Hugues Schmitt (Primatice) : + 33 (0)6 71 99 74 58

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Wide Group acquires Milan-based Assileo Broker SRL

Pollenstreet

Pollen Street today announces that Wide Group has completed the acquisition of Assileo Broker Srl (“Assileo”). Assileo is a Milan-based commercial broker with capabilities across transportation, construction, energy and corporate insurance, with a presence in Milan and Genoa. The business was founded in 2000 by current management, who will remain in the business post completion.

Wide Group is the leading technology-led commercial broking consolidator in Italy, and the acquisition of Assileo will expand both the group’s scale and capability in the Milan market and add a presence in Genoa. Wide has a strong M&A pipeline of potential targets to build on the momentum of this acquisition, driven by a highly fragmented insurance broking market in Italy, with significant potential for synergistic consolidation.

Gianluca Melani, Co-founder & Managing Director of Wide Group, commented:

“We are thrilled to welcome Flavio Sestilli, Michele Leonarduzzi and Giovanni Battista Campo, and all the colleagues from Assileo Broker into the Wide Family. With this operation, we mutually enrich ourselves with a history and expertise in insurance that has been passed down for three generations, along with new synergistic skills that align with the current setup of our operational model. This operation reaffirms the excellence and innovation we aim to offer to our consultants and their respective clients.”

Ian Gascoigne, Partner at Pollen Street Capital, added:

“We are pleased to welcome Assileo to the Wide family. Assileo adds additional specialist insurance expertise, scale and geographic reach to Wide’s offering, and builds on the strong momentum Wide is seeing in its acquisition strategy.”

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ASSA ABLOY acquires Nomadix and Global Reach in the USA and UK

Melker Schorling
ASSA ABLOY has signed an agreement to acquire Nomadix and Global Reach, leading US and UK based providers of Wi-Fi access and engagement platform solutions for the hospitality and commercial real estate industry. The companies offer a comprehensive tech platform of hardware, software and analytics tools to securely connect and engage with customers and devices via Wi-Fi networks.

“I am very pleased to welcome Nomadix and Global Reach into the ASSA ABLOY Group. This acquisition is an exciting technological addition to the ASSA ABLOY Group and will reinforce our current offering within the hospitality business, and provide complementary growth opportunities,” says Nico Delvaux, President and CEO of ASSA ABLOY.

“Nomadix and Global Reach are excellent additions to Global Solutions and will with their strong technical expertise expand our portfolio and end-to-end offering for our hospitality business and adjacent verticals. I look forward to working with the experienced teams to continue the successful journey,” says Stephanie Ordan, Executive Vice President and Head of Global Technologies business unit Global Solutions.

Nomadix and Global Reach were founded in 1998 and have some 120 employees. The main offices are located in Los Angeles and London. Nomadix and Global Reach operate as two separate entities under a central top management and ownership, and will be part of Global Solutions business area Hospitality.

Sales for 2023 amounted to about MUSD 30 (approx. MSEK 300) with a strong EBIT margin. The acquisition will be accretive to EPS from the start.

The acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to close during the second quarter of 2024.

 

For more information, please contact:

Nico Delvaux, President and CEO, tel. no: +46 8 506 485 82
Erik Pieder, CFO and Executive Vice President, tel. no: +46 8 506 485 72
Björn Tibell, Head of Investor Relations, tel. no: +46 70 275 67 68, e-mail: bjorn.tibell@assaabloy.com

About ASSA ABLOY

The ASSA ABLOY Group is the global leader in access solutions. The Group operates worldwide with 61,000 employees and sales of SEK 141 billion. The Group has leading positions in areas such as efficient door openings, trusted identities and entrance automation. ASSA ABLOY’s innovations enable safe, secure and convenient access to physical and digital places. Every day, we help billions of people experience a more open world.

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A1 Electronics joins Metis Group

GIMV

Eindhoven, 27 March 2024 –Metis Group has entered into an agreement with Strukton to acquire A1 Electronics, a provider of electronics manufacturing services, located in Almelo, the Netherlands. With A1 Electronics joining Metis, as per today, the group further strengthens its position in the growing electronics market.

A1 Electronics and its subsidiary Buca Electronics provide electronic manufacturing services focused on the high-mix, low-volume segment, servicing ~100 customers. The current management team consisting of Rudy and Rob Oude Vrielink, and Lamber Voortman, will participate as minority shareholders and maintain their roles as managing directors of A1 to ensure continuity and support further growth of the company.

The mutual strategic-operational collaboration with Metis will enable A1 Electronics to achieve an acceleration of growth and further increase the added value for its customers. A1 complements Metis Group with its very high-mix, low-volume production capabilities, and adds potting and cable assembly capabilities. Whereas Metis’ extensive engineering, technology and higher volume production capabilities will be beneficial for A1’s customers.

Reinier Beltman, CEO of Metis Group, remarks: “Following the launch of the Metis Group earlier this year, we are excited to welcome A1 Electronics to the Group. With over 23 years of experience, A1 Electronics is a very valuable addition. Joining forces will accelerate our joint growth path. We are looking forward to work with Rob, Rudy, Lamber and the team”.

Rudy Oude Vrielink, Managing Director of A1, adds: “We are excited to join Metis Group and are pleased to have found a partner that endorses our philosophy and enables us to provide even more added value to our customers. We look forward to the collaboration with Metis”.

Boris Wirtz, chairman of Metis Group’s Supervisory Board, concludes: “As Supervisory Board we are pleased to welcome A1 to the Metis Group. The acquisition fits perfectly in our buy-and-build strategy which is focused on creating a group of high-quality electronics companies that complement and strengthen each other, whereby we concentrate on realizing synergies through continued knowledge and best-practice sharing”.

About A1 Electronics
Established in 2001, A1 Electronics has developed into a one-stop provider of electronics manufacturing services (EMS). The Company specializes in assembling printed circuit boards and integrated finalized products. Its capabilities include SMT, THT, cable assembly, box-build, testing, potting, logistics and lifecycle management services.

A1 Electronics distinguishes itself through its seamless integration of quality and delivery performance. Its commitment to excellence begins with qualified and skilled personnel, supported by a state-of-the-art machine park that adheres to the latest industry guidelines and certifications.
The company has demonstrated its commitment to social responsibility, notably through its subsidiary Buca Electronics, which exclusively employs individuals with a distance to the labor market.

For more information about A1 Electronics, please visit https://www.a1electronics.nl

About Metis Group
Metis Group is a group of electronics companies that provide development, manufacturing and product life cycle management services to customers in a variety of markets. With a combined revenue of well over EUR 130M+ and a strong and committed workforce of 500+ employees across multiple locations in the Netherlands including Eindhoven, Veendam, Drachten and Almelo; Metis Group is ready to support its partners with high-tech electronics solutions.

For more information about Metis Group and its subsidiaries, please visit https://metis-group.nl

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GDS Holdings (NASDAQ:GDS) Announces Landmark US$587 million Equity Raise for its International Business

Princeville Capital

GDS Holdings (GDSH) Limited, a leading developer and operator of high-performance data centers in China and Southeast Asia, announced that GDSH’s wholly-owned subsidiary, GDS International (GDSI), that acts as the holding company for GDSH’s international data center assets and operations, has entered into definitive agreements with Princeville Capital and other leading international private equity investors including Hillhouse, Rava Partners, Boyu Capital, and Tekne Capital to invest in GDSI’s US$587 million Series A. This transaction is a significant step forward for GDSI in obtaining dedicated financing for the development of its current significant data center pipeline, as well as further international expansion.

 

GDSI was established in 2022, with its corporate headquarters in Singapore. Its portfolio currently comprises 330 MW of data center capacity in service and under construction and a further 340 MW held for future development across strategic locations in, among others, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia. GDSI has secured commitments and reservations from customers for over 200 MW of capacity, of which over 70 MW is already revenue-generating.

 

“I am delighted to announce this landmark capital raising, which is a big step forward in our strategy to obtain dedicated financing for the development of our international business on a standalone basis,” said Mr. William Huang, Chairman and CEO of GDSH and Chairman of GDSI. “Within a short period of time, we have established market-leading positions in the major hub markets of Hong Kong and Singapore-Johor-Batam. We see tremendous opportunities for growth in these markets as well as in other new markets which we are currently evaluating. This equity issue benchmarks the significant value, which we have created for our shareholders. We look forward to additional achievements by our international business, further emulating our success in China.”

 

GDS Announcement: https://investors.gds-services.com/news-releases/news-release-details/gds-announces-landmark-us587-million-equity-raise-its

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