Category Archives: News

Oakley Capital invests in Horizons Optical

Oakley Capital, the leading pan-European, mid-market private equity investor, is pleased to announce that Oakley Capital Origin Fund I is investing in Horizons Optical, a provider of medical software used to make premium spectacle lenses.

Origin is acquiring a majority stake in the business alongside CEO Santiago Soler, who will retain a significant share in the business and will continue to lead Horizons. As part of the agreement, Oakley is acquiring the shares in Horizons owned by Sherpa Capital, a leading private equity firm in Iberia.

Founded in Barcelona in 2017, Horizons’ proprietary and patented software is used by independent laboratories around the world to manufacture bespoke, ‘progressive’ lenses that can correct a range of eye conditions including short, mid and far sightedness as well as astigmatism, all in one lens. Lenses manufactured using Horizons’ patented technology are positioned in the highest value-added segments of the optical industry, standing out for their distinctive qualities and outstanding optical performance. 10 million lenses were produced with Horizons’ technology in 2023.

Horizon Optical

Horizons also provides equipment for opticians with the capability to scan consumers’ faces and measure relevant facial parameters for the manufacturing of lenses and frames.

Horizons has a strong, historical track record generating double-digit revenue growth. The fast-growing business is internationally diversified with Europe and the US each accounting for approximately a third of revenues, followed by APAC and South America.

Horizons operates in a lens market with strong, long-term growth prospects, underpinned by a growing ageing population and the increased incidence of vision conditions caused by excessive screen time on mobile phones and desktop computers. At the same time, Horizons is growing the market by developing tools to help opticians sell to more customers, including its recently-launched Mimesys virtual reality headset which enables optometrists to accurately measure customers’ eyes in order to produce bespoke lenses.

 

Oakley’s Investment

Oakley’s investment in Horizons reflects its strategy of partnering with founder-led, entrepreneurial businesses to help them innovate and accelerate growth.  Oakley will leverage its strong track record of building market leaders to help Horizon accelerate its international growth plans, taking market share as a high-quality, innovative solution for lens manufacturers and opticians looking to offer bespoke eyecare solutions for consumers, while also leveraging its strong market reputation for exceptional customer service. Oakley will also support investment into R&D and Sales & Marketing to ensure Horizons continues to win as an innovator and disruptor in its core markets.

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Oakley Capital invests in Spanish transport and logistics software business Alerce30.10.23

This will be Oakley’s sixth deal in Spain, following vLex, Seedtag, Alerce, Grupo Primavera (now part of Cegid), idealista, and several education assets, reinforcing its commitment to Iberia as a key investment destination. It will also be Origin I’s 9th investment after which the Fund will be c.75% invested.

Quote Peter Dubens

Horizons Optical has all the hallmarks of a typical Oakley deal: a disruptive market leader, with strong software IP and led by an exceptional management team. We look forward to working with Santiago to help the business realise its full potential, taking advantage of strong market growth drivers as well as leveraging our expertise helping to scale software businesses including Grupo Primavera in Iberia.

Peter Dubens

Founder and Managing Partner — Oakley Capital

Quote Santiago Soler

Our focus on quality, innovation and exceptional customer care have driven Horizons’ strong performance to date. Oakley clearly shares our values and so we are delighted to be partnering with the firm as we embark on the next stage of our expansion. We have travelled this path of growth alongside a strong partner in Sherpa Capital, to whom we are grateful not only for their investment in Horizons and belief in our potential but also for providing the company with a spirit of continuous improvement and excellence. We see enormous potential to further grow our international business, benefitting from Oakley’s expertise to expand our service offering and drive professional improvements across our business.

Santiago Soler

CEO — Horizons Optical

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KeyCorp and Blackstone Credit & Insurance Announce Forward Flow Origination Partnership

Blackstone

Partnership demonstrates commitment to providing relationship clients with capital and investing in high-return businesses

CLEVELAND, OH – Today, KeyCorp (NYSE: KEY, “Key”) announced a forward flow origination partnership with Blackstone Credit & Insurance (“Blackstone”) focused on Key’s Specialty Finance Lending (SFL) group. SFL is a leading asset-based lender serving clients nationally across middle market, growth capital, transportation, equipment, and other verticals. In connection with the partnership, Blackstone and Key closed a transaction on a seed portfolio of middle market fund finance facilities. Key will continue to originate, hold, and provide asset management services for new commitments across all sectors.

Randy Paine, Head of Key’s Institutional Bank said, “SFL is a highly successful business that has been organically built over the past 15 years to serve a dynamic and fast-growing client base with increasing financing needs. The partnership with Blackstone, a long-trusted participant in this sector, will accelerate the growth of the business and be mutually beneficial to all stakeholders, especially our clients.”

“Key’s SFL group is a strong franchise with deep relationships with originators,” said Rob Horn, Global Head of Infrastructure and Asset Based Credit at Blackstone. “We are pleased to have closed this initial transaction and look forward to growing the relationship with SFL.”

Advisors
Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC and KeyBanc Capital Markets served as advisors to KeyBank.

About KeyCorp
KeyCorp’s roots trace back nearly 200 years to Albany, New York. Headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, Key is one of the nation’s largest bank-based financial services companies, with assets of approximately $188 billion at December 31, 2023. Key provides deposit, lending, cash management, and investment services to individuals and businesses in 15 states under the name KeyBank National Association through a network of approximately 1,000 branches and approximately 1,200 ATMs. Key also provides a broad range of sophisticated corporate and investment banking products, such as merger and acquisition advice, public and private debt and equity, syndications, and derivatives to middle market companies in selected industries throughout the United States under the KeyBanc Capital Markets trade name. For more information, visit https://www.key.com. KeyBank is Member FDIC.

About Blackstone
Blackstone is the world’s largest alternative asset manager. We seek to deliver compelling returns for institutional and individual investors by strengthening the companies in which we invest. Our more than $1 trillion in assets under management include global investment strategies focused on real estate, private equity, infrastructure, life sciences, growth equity, credit, real assets, secondaries, and hedge funds. Further information is available at www.blackstone.com. Follow @blackstone on LinkedIn, X (Twitter), and Instagram.

Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements can be identified by words such as “outlook,” “goal,” “objective,” “plan,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “project,” “believe,” “estimate” and other words of similar meaning. Forward-looking statements represent management’s current expectations and forecasts regarding future events. If underlying assumptions prove to be inaccurate or unknown risks or uncertainties arise, actual results could vary materially from these projections or expectations. Factors that could cause Key’s actual results to differ from those described in the forward-looking statements can be found in KeyCorp’s Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023, as well as in KeyCorp’s subsequent SEC filings, all of which have been filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and are available on Key’s website (www.key.com/ir) and on the Securities and Exchange Commission’s website (www.sec.gov). Forward looking statements speak only as of the date they are made and Key does not undertake any obligation to update the forward-looking statements to reflect new information or future events.

Contact
Elana Ferrari for KeyCorp
(412) 222-1476
elana_ferrari@keybank.com

Mariel Seidman-Gati for Blackstone
(646) 482-3712
mariel.seidmangati@blackstone.com

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Carlyle to provide financing for Ottobock

Carlyle

London, UK – Global investment firm Carlyle (NASDAQ: CG) today announced that it has co-led a consortium of investors to provide a financing solution of €1.1 billion to support the future growth of Ottobock (the “Company”), the global market leader in prosthetics. The financing will also support existing majority shareholder Professor Hans Georg Näder and the Näder Family’s buy back of EQT’s 20% shareholding in the business.

Headquartered in Duderstadt, Germany, with origins dating back more than 100 years, Ottobock is widely recognised for its innovative and market leading solutions in the fields of prosthetics and orthotics, dedicated to helping customers globally to strengthen their independence and maintain their quality of life. Ottobock, which has remained family-owned since inception, has more than 400 of its own patient care centres worldwide, providing a diverse range of high tech and customizable devices designed to help amputees’ mobility. The Company has sat at the forefront of industry innovation, evidenced by the introduction of the first micro-processor enabled knee as early as 1997. It has maintained its global market leadership position through a continuous focus on innovation and R&D, delivering cutting edge products in 135 countries. The Company currently employs more than 9,000 employees worldwide.

Carlyle Global Credit manages $188 billion in assets under management, as of December 31, 2023. It regularly pursues investments in privately negotiated capital solutions for both private equity sponsored and family or entrepreneur-owned companies.

Taj Sidhu, Head of European and Asian Private Credit, said: “We are delighted to partner with the Näder family and the outstanding Ottobock management team. This transaction sits at the core of our strategy of providing flexible capital solutions to family-owned businesses that are leaders in their field. Ottobock has been a pioneer and champion for innovation in prosthetics and orthotics and we look forward to partnering with such an inspiring business on the next stage of its growth journey for the benefit of patients worldwide.”
Professor Hans Georg Näder said: “My family and I are delighted to have been able to agree this financing with such a high-quality group of lenders. My team and I very much look forward to working with Carlyle and the group over the coming years and I am confident that with their support Ottobock’s future growth is assured.”
About Carlyle
Carlyle (NASDAQ: CG) is a global investment firm with deep industry expertise that deploys private capital across three business segments: Global Private Equity, Global Credit and Global Investment Solutions. With $426 billion of assets under management as of December 31, 2023, Carlyle’s purpose is to invest wisely and create value on behalf of its investors, portfolio companies and the communities in which we live and invest. Carlyle employs more than 2,200 people in 28 offices across four continents. Further information is available at www.carlyle.com. Follow Carlyle on X @OneCarlyle and LinkedIn at The Carlyle Group.

Media contacts:
For Carlyle: 

Charlie Bristow
charlie.bristow@carlyle.com
+44 7384 513568

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CVC Credit provides debt facilities for the acquisition of Innovative Beauty Group by Fremman Capital

CVC Capital Partners

CVC Credit, the €40 billion global credit management business of CVC, is pleased to announce that it has agreed to provide the debt facilities to support Fremman Capital’s acquisition of Innovative Beauty Group (“IBG”), a beauty and personal care service provider, currently part of the Albéa group. CVC Credit will act as sole lender in this transaction.

IBG offers its clients a 360-degree product development service, with end-to-end product management capabilities addressing the more complex aspects of bringing a product to market, including the ideation of the product, formulation, filling, packaging solutions and marketing. The business leverages its extensive global network, with 10 offices across three different continents, to provide local expertise to its +200 customers. With creative and sourcing capabilities across North America, Europe, and Asia, IBG’s 300 employees offer unrivalled expertise across the entire Beauty and Personal Care value chain, acting as a true value-added partner to its customers.

Christine Weis, Managing Director at CVC Credit, said: “IBG is well-positioned in a dynamic and expanding market, with multiple opportunities to enhance its presence and capabilities across regions, products and customer groups.” Eva Boutillier, Managing Director at CVC Credit added: “We are excited to support IBG’s ambitions, as they begin the next stage of their growth story in partnership with Fremman Capital.”

Olivier de Vregille, Founding Partner of Fremman Capital, said: “We look forward to working with IBG CEO, Xavier Leclerc de Hauteclocque and his team, to accelerate the growth of the company. We have been following this industry for a long time and we strongly believe in the innovative IBG model which disrupts the traditional Beauty and Personal Care supply chain while driving excellence and best results for all stakeholders.”

John Empson, Managing Partner and Co-Head of Private Credit at CVC Credit, commented: “As part of the CVC Network we have the advantage of being able to tap in to the knowledge of CVC’s leading European private equity platform to assist in our diligence work and price discovery. In the case of IBG, CVC Credit’s ability to draw on the experience of CVC Germany and their sector knowledge gained through their investment in Douglas, Europe’s leading specialist cosmetics and beauty retailer, was crucial in winning this opportunity.”

The transaction is subject to customary regulatory approvals and consultation of the relevant employee representative bodies of the Albéa group and expected to complete in Q2 2024.

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Ardian completes acquisition of leading green data center platform Verne

Ardian

Ardian will support Verne with up to $1.2bn of commitment to fund an ambitious and sustainable expansion plan across Northern Europe
• Ardian is securing a newly green financing package underwritten by a group of tier 1 European and International banks
• Management will benefit from Ardian’s expertise in the region, its industrial approach and experience across the full digital infrastructure value chain

Ardian, a world-leading private investment house, has completed the acquisition of the entire share capital of Verne (formerly Verne Global), a leading data center platform headquartered in the UK and diversified across Northern Europe, from Digital 9 Infrastructure plc (D9), an investment company listed on the London Stock Exchange.

Investment rationale

Founded in 2012, Verne addresses a large and fast-growing market in Northern Europe, where it has consistently delivered access to cost-effective renewable energy and international connectivity spanning Europe and North America for its international clients.

Its highly competitive total cost of ownership to customers, green credentials and best-in-class availability makes Verne a market-leading choice for organizations running high-performance computing (HPC) workloads, notably AI, Machine Learning and Large Language Models (LLM).

Sustainability has also been at the heart of the company’s mission since its inception, helping customers to scale their digital infrastructure cost-effectively while reducing their carbon footprint. Verne currently operates with 100% renewable energy in Iceland and 100% decarbonized energy in Finland and the UK.

Its blue-chip customers include leading industrials, financial services, research and AI organizations.

Ambitious value creation plan

Based on these strong pillars, Ardian will support the expansion of Verne with up to $1.2bn committed investment through equity and debt to deliver an ambitious growth plan for Northern Europe supported by Verne’s strong and experienced management team.
As part of its value creation strategy, Ardian plans to multiply Verne’s existing sold capacity of 29 MW for 2023 by close to four times in the medium term.

Ardian will bring its investment experience to support Verne in the region, where the company benefits from construction and operating synergies across the geographies and a strong pipeline of opportunities. This includes existing sites and new locations, with a focus on Iceland, Finland, Sweden, and Norway, as well as potential opportunities more broadly in Northern Europe.

The Verne’s top tier management team, including highly experienced data center experts and seasoned professionals, will benefit from direct access to Ardian’s networks and multi-local approach, with various offices across Northern Europe. Verne will also work with Ardian’s Data Science team to apply new AI use cases in managing its data centers.

This acquisition builds on Ardian’s deep expertise in investing and managing assets across the digital infrastructure value chain and in its core markets, including the UK and Nordic countries.

Ardian currently has $31bn of assets under management (AUM) in direct infrastructure activities. It has $6bn deployed across different sub-sectors of digital infrastructure. Its investment portfolio of renewable energy in the Nordics currently aggregates to $3bn, notably wind parks totaling c. 500 MW and Nevel, the Finnish district heating company backed by Ardian in 2021.

This represents a Sustainable Investment in accordance with the EU Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR), meeting the environmental objective of the Fund through 100% eligibility to the EU Taxonomy with a clearly defined roadmap to reach alignment under Ardian’s ownership.

“With this new investment, the Infrastructure team continues to demonstrate its capacity to seize unique and value accretive opportunities in the European market to deploy our new flagship infrastructure fund.” Juan Angoitia and Benoît Gaillochet, Co-Heads of Infrastructure Europe, Ardian

“Having identified the company through our systemic matrix sourcing approach, looking through both a digital infrastructure and country specific lens, we identified Verne as a truly green data center compared with its peers globally.
This investment is fully aligned with our approach at Ardian of investing into platforms and delivering strong returns through major industrial strategy backed by an accelerated capex plan.  Ardian will support Verne’s top tier management team to match the incredible and fascinating customer AI-driven demand. With this investment, Ardian Infrastructure is now exposed to the whole digital infrastructure value chain capitalizing on global digitalization trends.” Gonzague Boutry, Managing Director – Digital Infrastructure, Ardian

“This is an exciting day for Verne as we become part of the Ardian platform. We have ambitious plans to continue growing the company and delivering sustainable data center solutions. We want to enable organizations to cost-effectively scale their digital infrastructure while reducing their environmental impact. We are hugely excited to be working with Ardian to help power our future.” Dominic Ward, CEO, Verne

ABOUT ARDIAN

Ardian is a world-leading private investment house, managing or advising $164bn of assets on behalf of more than 1,600 clients globally. Our broad expertise, spanning Private Equity, Real Assets and Credit, enables us to offer a wide range of investment opportunities and respond flexibly to our clients’ differing needs. Through Ardian Customized Solutions we create bespoke portfolios that allow institutional clients to specify the precise mix of assets they require and to gain access to funds managed by leading third-party sponsors. Private Wealth Solutions offers dedicated services and access solutions for private banks, family offices and private institutional investors worldwide. Ardian’s main shareholding group is its employees and we place great emphasis on developing its people and fostering a collaborative culture based on collective intelligence. Our 1,050+ employees, spread across 19 offices in Europe, the Americas, Asia and Middle East are strongly committed to the principles of Responsible Investment and are determined to make finance a force for good in society. Our goal is to deliver excellent investment performance combined with high ethical standards and social responsibility.
At Ardian we invest all of ourselves in building companies that last.

ardian.com

PRESS CONTACT

ARDIAN

HEADLAND

ardian@headlandconsultancy.com

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KKR To Support Ottobock With Capital Solution

KKR

London and Frankfurt, 15 March, 2024 – KKR, a leading global investment firm, announces today that a consortium of investors, co-led by KKR, has agreed to provide a €1.1 billion financing solution to support the future growth of Ottobock (the “Company”), a global market leader in prosthetics. The financing will also support existing majority shareholder Professor Hans Georg Näder and the Näder Family’s buy back of EQT’s shareholding in the business.

Headquartered in Duderstadt, Germany, with origins dating back more than 100 years, Ottobock is widely recognised for its innovative and market leading solutions in the fields of prosthetics and orthotics, dedicated to helping customers globally maintain or regain their freedom of movement. Ottobock, which has remained family-owned since inception in 1919, has more than 400 of its own patient care centres worldwide, providing a diverse range of high tech and customizable devices designed to help amputees’ mobility.

The Company has sat at the forefront of industry innovation, evidenced by the introduction of the first micro-processor enabled knee as early as 1997. It has maintained its global market leadership position through a continuous focus on innovation and R&D, delivering cutting edge products across EMEA, APAC, the Americas and Africa. The Company currently employs more than 9,000 employees worldwide.

Professor Hans Georg Näder, owner and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Ottobock, said: “To continue our successful strategy as a purely family-owned company, we needed to find the right strategic and solutions-orientated partner. KKR has a long history of helping German family businesses achieve their growth ambitions, as well as the agility and creativity to provide customised capital solutions. This strategic partnership will enable us to continue building on our strong market position under the leadership of our CEO Oliver Jakobi and his management team.”

Christian Ollig, Partner and Head of the DACH Region at KKR, added: “We have followed Ottobock for many years and are delighted to support the Näder family’s and management’s strategy for Ottobock in the future. KKR’s financing support of Ottobock follows KKR’s decade-long tradition to support families in the DACH region to realise their growth and innovation ambitions.”

KKR is making the investment in Ottobock primarily through its credit funds and accounts.

KKR’s diversified and multi-asset investment platform enables flexibility to support ambitious companies with a suite of comprehensive, bespoke capital solutions, further enhanced by the firm’s global experience and operational capabilities. In Germany, this model along with KKR’s partnership approach, strong local presence and large global platform, enables companies to grow and globalise.

Closing of the investment remains subject to the satisfaction of customary conditions.

— Ends —

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

Media Contacts

FGS Global
Alastair Elwen
KKR-Lon@FGSGlobal.com
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7251 3801

 

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Additional capital for app NeoTaste to continue international expansion.

Burdaprincipal

 

Last summer, Burda Principal Investment (BPI) led NeoTaste’s Series A funding round. Now, the growth capital provider of Hubert Burda Media is also participating in the next round. The app-based solution for connecting restaurants with their customers convinced BPI with its early traction, scalability, and network effects.

 

Scalability and network effects convinced BPI early on

The company raised €15.1 million in the current Series A extension which was led by European venture capital fund Earlybird.

The app is based on bringing consumers and restaurants together on the platform to create a win-win situation. Consumers receive exclusive dining deals and restaurants can expand their customer base. The service is free of charge for restaurants and funded by a subscription model on the consumer-side. Over the past six months, BPI’s portfolio company has shown impressive growth figures: In August 2023, 300,000 users were able to choose from around 1,300 restaurants in 13 German cities. Today, 750,000 consumers use the app, which provides them access to deals in more than 3,000 restaurants across 27 German cities. And the offer is continuously growing: the start-up is currently adding one new city to their offering every week.

Aiming for further international expansion and new features

Apart from expanding to multiple German cities, NeoTaste has also started to go international this year. Amsterdam, the first city outside of Germany, was launched in February and the capital from the current funding round will be used to continue international expansion. NeoTaste aims to make the app available in numerous additional German and European cities by the end of the year. Additionally, NeoTaste is planning new features to further enhance the digital interaction between restaurants and customers, including direct reservation capabilities.

“Our investment in NeoTaste in the summer of 2023 was a clear commitment to the company’s impressive growth and potential. The success beyond our expectations, especially in terms of expansion and internationalisation, reinforces our enthusiasm,” says Friedrich von Wulffen, Investment Manager at BPI.

“We look forward to continuing to work with Hendrik, Tobias and the entire team – now alongside Earlybird as a new and strong partner,” adds Julian von Eckartsberg, Managing Director Europe at BPI.

“”The last six months of collaboration between NeoTaste and BPI have been an incredible journey. Julian and Friedrich recognised the potential of NeoTaste early on and placed a lot of trust in us. We are very pleased that we have been able to turn this trust into action and results at an early stage. Receiving further capital just six months after the last funding round opens new doors for us. After a successful partnership so far, we are delighted that BPI is again participating in this round and continues to place its trust in us”, explains NeoTaste CEO Hendrik Sander.

Win-win for restaurants and consumers

NeoTaste Co-Founders Hendrik Sander and Tobias Düser launched the app in September 2021. After using the time during the covid pandemic, when restaurants were closed, to prepare their platform, NeoTaste was subsequently launched with first deals in Hanover. While subscribers benefit from offers – such as ‘two main courses for the price of one’ – the restaurant can use NeoTaste to promote itself, generate new customers and receive customer reviews.

NeoTaste
Founding members of Neotaste: Tobias Düser and Hendrik Sander

NeoTaste
Through the B2C platform, restaurants can offer exclusive deals and users can discover new locations
by Katharina Richter
Senior PR Manager, Hubert Burda Media
katharina.richter@burda.com

 

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D2X Becomes First in EU to Obtain MiFID MTF Licence for Crypto Derivatives, Secures Series A Led by Point72 Ventures

Fortino Capital

AMSTERDAM, March 14 – D2X, a Netherlands-based crypto derivatives exchange for institutions, has secured a $10 million Series A led by Point72 Ventures. Other participants in the round included GSR Markets alongside existing investors Fortino Capital, Tioga Capital, Jabre Capital Partners, Picus Capital, and TRGC.

The investment comes as D2X reaches a pivotal milestone by becoming the first entity in the EU to obtain a MiFID MTF license for crypto derivatives. Granted by the Dutch Authority for Financial Markets (AFM), the license authorizes D2X to operate a regulated trading venue for cash-settled crypto futures and options.

Set to launch in Q2 this year, D2X will be the first in Europe to list regulated crypto derivatives 7 days a week. Through a partnership with a Tier-1 EU credit institution, the trading venue facilitates off-exchange collateral accounts. By bringing together features from traditional finance and crypto, D2X meets the growing institutional demand for digital assets, reinforced by connectivity from Talos and liquidity from market-makers, such as Flow Traders.

With the support of prominent investors and a first-mover advantage in the region, D2X is well-positioned to bridge the gap between digital assets and traditional finance for institutions. The MiFID II license will also allow D2X to operate under the upcoming MiCA regime.

Frederic Colette, incoming Chief Executive Officer at D2X, commented: “With the approval of our MiFID licence, we are aiming to set a new benchmark for reliability in the digital assets space. D2X is paving the way for financial institutions to safely enter the crypto derivatives market, and we are dedicated to ensuring their security and success every step of the way.”

Theodore Rozencwajg, Co-Founder & Chief Commercial Officer at D2X commented: “Financial institutions face a tough choice when deciding where to trade. Regulated trading venues have limitations in trading hours and capital efficiency while crypto-native exchanges present credit risk and remain largely unregulated. D2X solves this and we are thrilled to launch later this year – a pivotal moment in our ambition to pioneer next-generation market infrastructure.”

Adam K. Carson, Partner at Point72 Ventures commented: “Point72 Ventures is thrilled to support D2X on its mission to revolutionise the crypto derivatives market. Their dedication to providing a regulated trading venue for institutions, coupled with their innovative approach, has the potential to make transformative changes in the industry. We’re excited to be part of this journey.”

 

About D2X

D2X is launching the first regulated (MiFID II) crypto futures & options trading venue out of the Netherlands to facilitate the institutional adoption of the asset class. Operational 7-days-a-week, D2X facilitates off-exchange collateral accounts in partnership with a Tier-1 EU credit institution. The company aims to bridge the gap between traditional finance and the digital asset ecosystem. Its initial product listing is set to feature cash-settled EUR-denominated BTC and ETH derivatives. For more information, please visit d2x.com.

Media Contact
Tanya Levchenko
Marketing & Communications Specialist
+31 202 26 2321
press@d2x.com

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819 Capital Partners acquires Direct Diagnostics from Sanquin Health Solutions

819 Capital Partners

819 Capital Partners (819) has acquired Direct Diagnostics from Sanquin Health Solutions (SHS). The acquisition is accompanied by an additional growth investment from 819.

 

 

Direct Diagnostics (www.directdiagnostics.nl) utilizes advanced technology to provide actionable recommendations and personalized healthcare solutions. The mission is to empower individuals to make informed decisions about their health, leading to a higher quality of life via preventative diagnostic tests. Direct Diagnostics aims to transform the healthcare system from disease control to disease prevention.

Acquisition addressing the growing interest in preventive diagnostics

With the acquisition, 819 is tapping into the growing interest in home diagnostics among consumers and companies. This trend is driven by high healthcare demand and constrained healthcare supply. Direct Diagnostics is a strong player in this regard, partly due to its wide range of tests, reliability, and ease of use.

Sven Kempers, managing partner at 819: “Sanquin, along with the Direct Diagnostics team, has built a great company with a strong focus on quality. With us, Direct Diagnostics enters a new phase, including internationalization.”

Rogier van den Braak, managing director of Sanquin Health Solutions (SHS), explains that SHS is selling the company to enable further growth: “For SHS, the sale of Direct Diagnostics is logical because the company was ready for the next step. With its entrepreneurship and experience, 819 can realize further expansion.”

Elsemieke Hackenitz, CEO of Direct Diagnostics, confirms Direct Diagnostics’ strong position in the market and sees many opportunities through the acquisition: “I am proud of the team and look forward to the growth and development Direct Diagnostics will undergo in the coming period.”

Increasing consumer demand and regulatory requirements

Direct Diagnostics’ comprehensive proposition provides immediate value to its users. Preventive diagnostics empower consumers to take more control over their health, to improve, protect, or maintain it.

Sven Kempers: “Direct Diagnostics brings a lot of value to customers, including through the product design and usability. Additionally, the product is developed under Sanquin’s high-quality standards, ensuring high reliability in test results.”

Earlier this week, the Dutch Healthcare Authority (NZa) concluded that the four major health insurers are not doing enough to grant customers access to healthcare. Insured individuals have a (legal) right to timely, accessible, and high-quality care. Direct Diagnostics aims to contribute to better and accessible healthcare, particularly in primary care.

The shortage of general practitioners is also increasing, leading to waiting times and travel distances for appointments. Direct Diagnostics can support with its extensive range of tests; self-examination allows patients with abnormal values to be seen more quickly by the GP, enabling more targeted follow-up investigations. This is a win-win for our healthcare system.

Investment for further growth

Direct Diagnostics will use 819’s growth investment to further expand the company, including (international) B2C and B2B markets. 819 invests in Direct Diagnostics through its 819 Evergreen Fund I.

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Nordic Capital to invest in leading digital insurance payments network One Inc to drive continued growth and product innovation

Nordic Capital

Strategic investment will support One Inc’s mission to digitalize and modernize the insurance industry

Nordic Capital, one of the most active and experienced investors in Technology & Payments globally, today announced that it will join Great Hill Partners, a private equity firm that invests in high-growth, disruptive companies, as an investor in One Inc (the “Company”), a digital payments platform specializing in modernizing the insurance industry in North America. Great Hill Partners invested in One Inc in 2020 and will retain an equal stake to Nordic Capital alongside a significant continuing investment from the Company’s current management team.

Founded in 2012, One Inc’s mission is to help insurance companies digitalize and modernize payments through cutting-edge technology that places customers at the center of every transaction. From premium payments to claims disbursement, One Inc strives to ensure a frictionless experience, merging all payment flows into one comprehensive platform. One Inc Digital Payments Platform is designed to integrate with modern and legacy insurance core systems, engaging policyholders through the channels they use most while securely processing payments through those same channels. Today, the Company has close to 500 employees, handles annual payments of USD 70 billion, and has one of the largest networks in the industry with over 700,000 vendors. One Inc proudly serves over 240 customers in the insurance industry, including Amica Insurance, MAPFRE, SageSure, Tower Hill Insurance, Wawanesa Insurance, and others.

The insurance industry faces a landscape defined by digital transformation, economic shifts, and environmental disruption, prompting it to innovate and optimize. One Inc’s payment network is well-positioned to accelerate and drive transformation, currently demonstrating over 65% year-over-year revenue growth.

Nordic Capital has over 30 years of experience accelerating the growth of innovative technology companies and is set to leverage its deep sub-sector and operational knowledge to create value and boost One Inc’s ambitious plans. Nordic Capital also has a long history of investing in partnerships with owners, founders, and management. It has made 30 technology investments in companies with an aggregate enterprise value of over EUR 24 billion. It made its first investment in Payments 20 years ago and has since partnered with several innovative payment companies, including Point International, Bambora, Trustly, and PayWithMyBank. In addition, Nordic Capital has invested in a variety of financial services businesses – including insurance carriers – for many years, bringing an extensive network of industrial advisors and an in-house operations team. This transaction represents Nordic Capital’s third investment in an innovative software company in North America in the last couple of months.

Fredrik Näslund, Partner and Head of Technology & Payments, and Mohit Agnihotri, Partner, Nordic Capital Advisors, said: “Nordic Capital is a longtime admirer of One Inc, which has stood out for solving the unique and complex challenges of digital payments in the insurance industry. Through its innovative solutions, the Company is transforming and simplifying payments for the entire insurance ecosystem benefitting carriers, consumers, and vendors alike. The management team, together with Great Hill Partners, has achieved impressive results. Nordic Capital is thrilled to be joining them for the next leg of the Company’s growth journey and utilizing our combined deep sector experience, extensive network, and active owner approach to fuel One Inc’s ambitious growth plans even further.”

Matt Vettel and Nick Cayer, Managing Directors at Great Hill Partners, said: “One Inc has been at the forefront of helping to shape the future of the insurance industry through digitalization and transformative products that seek to make the payment process as seamless as possible. Led by a seasoned and talented management team, the Company has consistently demonstrated its ability to innovate for customers. Since our initial investment in One Inc, the business has rapidly grown volume processed by 13x and is still early in market adoption, so we continue to have strong conviction in its potential to further scale. We welcome Nordic Capital to the investor group and look forward to combining our expertise with their deep industry experience to support the Company’s continued growth.”

Ian Drysdale, CEO of One Inc, said: “We have built an amazing business in collaboration with our insurer clients by putting them at the center of everything we do. We continue to see exponential growth and excellent customer loyalty, underscoring the strength of our model and industry-leading payments network of more than 700,000 vendors. The sector experience and resources that Nordic Capital and Great Hill bring to this partnership will fuel additional product innovation and drive new opportunities for growth as we continue to provide solutions that improve efficiency and boost revenue for today’s insurers.”

In addition to One Inc, Great Hill’s current portfolio of financial technology and payment companies includes NMI, Paytronix, Vanco and VersaPay. Prior financial technology and payment investments include Accelerated Payment Technologies, AffiniPay, BillMatrix, Chrome River, Confirmation.com, Custom House, MineralTree and Vigo.

Terms of the transaction were not disclosed, and the investment is subject to customary regulatory approvals.

Raymond James, J.P. Morgan and TD Cowen are serving as financial advisors and Goodwin Procter LLP as legal advisor to One Inc. William Blair is serving as financial advisor and Kirkland & Ellis as legal advisor to Nordic Capital.

 

About One Inc

One Inc is modernizing the insurance industry through a unified and frictionless payment network. Focusing only on the insurance industry, One Inc helps carriers transform their operations by reducing costs, increasing security, and optimizing customer experience. The comprehensive end-to-end digital payments platform provides expanded payment options, multi-channel digital communications and rapid digital claim payments, even for more complex insurance use cases. As one of the fastest-growing digital payments platforms in the insurance industry, One Inc manages billions of dollars per year in premiums and claim payments. For more information, please visit www.oneinc.com.

 

About Nordic Capital

Nordic Capital is a leading sector-specialist 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 long history. Focus sectors are Healthcare, Technology & Payments, Financial Services, and Industrial & Business Services. Key regions are Europe and globally for Healthcare and Technology & Payments investments. Since inception in 1989, Nordic Capital has invested over EUR 25 billion in more than 145 investments. The most recent entities are Nordic Capital XI with EUR 9.0 billion in committed capital and Nordic Capital Evolution with EUR 1.2 billion in committed capital, principally provided by international institutional investors such as pension funds. Nordic Capital Advisors have local offices in Sweden, the UK, the US, Germany, Denmark, Finland, Norway, and South Korea. For further information about Nordic Capital, please visit www.nordiccapital.com.

“Nordic Capital” refers to, depending on the context, any, or all, Nordic Capital branded entities, vehicles, structures, and associated entities. The general partners and/or delegated portfolio managers of Nordic Capital’s entities and vehicles are advised by several non-discretionary sub-advisory entities, any or all of which are referred to as “Nordic Capital Advisors.”

 

About Great Hill Partners

Founded in 1998, Great Hill Partners is a private equity firm targeting investments in high-growth companies across the software, digital commerce, financial technology, healthcare, and digital infrastructure sectors. With offices in Boston and London, Great Hill has raised over $12 billion of commitments and invested in more than 95 companies, establishing an extensive track record of building long-term partnerships with entrepreneurs and providing flexible resources to help middle-market companies scale. Great Hill has been recognized for its industry leadership, being ranked #4 in the 2023 HEC Paris-Dow Jones Mid-Market Buyout Performance Ranking on March 6, 2024, which evaluated fund performance of 632 leading private equity firms between 2010-2019[1]. For more information, including a list of all Great Hill investments, visit www.greathillpartners.com.

 

Media contacts:

Nordic Capital
Katarina Janerud
Communications Manager, Nordic Capital Advisors
+46 8 440 50 50
katarina.janerud@nordiccapital.com

US media contact – Brunswick Group
NordicCapital@brunswickgroup.com


Great Hill Partners
FGS Global
greathill@fgsglobal.com
+1 212 687-8080


One Inc
Ana Pallas
Stanton Public Relations & Marketing
apallas@stantonprm.com
+1 415 867-6262

 

 

[1] Great Hill Partners did not submit a nomination to be considered for this list nor did it pay to be selected to/included on the list.

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