Ardian enters exclusive discussions for the sale of its stake in Bricoprivé.com

admin March 31, 2018

Paris, 28 March 2018 – Ardian, a world-leading private investment house, today announces that it has entered into exclusive discussions with Florac Investissements to sell its stake in Bricoprivé.com, the leading private sales website for DIY, gardening and home improvements products. As part of the sale, the founders, Julien Boué and Marc Leverger, are reinvesting in the Company.

Founded in Toulouse in 2012, Bricoprivé offers a wide range of professional-quality products at affordable prices. This positioning, coupled with its founders’ significant expertise, has enabled the Company to achieve rapid and profitable growth, with revenues increasing fourfold from €28 million in 2015 to provisionally €100 million in June 2018. Since Ardian’s investment Bricoprivé has opened in three international markets (Spain, Italy and Portugal) and acquired two companies with complementary activities (Racetools and Noova) in 2017, all the while continuing to grow its core offering.

Ardian made its first investment in June 2015 and financed a second transaction in June 2016 to support the company’s strong growth.

Julien Boué, Co-Founder of Bricoprivé.com, said: “This deal is the logical continuation of Bricoprivé’s development. We have strengthened the company by developing its expertise and digital and logistical tools, started internationalisation and overcome the challenges of external growth. The success of our strategy has enabled us to achieve revenues of €100 million sooner than anticipated, which has generated requests from various stakeholders, leading the way to a natural next stage of our growth.”

Marc Leverger, Co-Founder of Bricoprivé.com, added: “We are pleased to welcome Florac as shareholders in Bricoprivé. This deal supports our continued ambitious growth. We would like to thank Ardian for its support during what have been key moments of our development, enabling us to reach significant milestones of growth. We are happy that Ardian will be by our side for the new stage of our development.”

Laurent Foata, Head of Ardian Growth, added: “The founders of Bricoprivé have managed to create a leading company and have reached a significant size in just five years, desptive a very competitive market. Their entrepreneurial talent has made all the difference and we are happy to support a deal which will allow Marc and Julien to continue the company’s growth.”

Romain Chiudini, Director at Ardian Growth, added: “We are happy to have supported Bricoprivé’s ambitions. The company was able to embark on a impressive growth trajectory through the rapid implementation of a shared strategy and the quality of its management team.”

LIST OF PARTIES INVOLVED

Ardian: Laurent Foata, Romain Chiudini
Bricoprivé: Marc Leverger, Julien Boué
Financial adviser (Seller): Rothschild Transaction R (Pierre Sader, Benjamin Osdoit, Romain Galven)
Legal Adviser: Jones Day (Renaud Bonnet, Florent Le Prado)
VDD: Eight Advisory: Christophe Delas

ABOUT BRICOPRIVÉ.COM

Created in October 2012 in Toulouse and managed by Julien Boué and Marc Leverger, Bricoprive.com is the first website for private sales dedicated to DIY, gardening and home improvement.
As a major player in e-commerce in the DIY sector in France, Bricoprive.com organizes private sales for its 3 million members for the sector’s main brands (Facom, Legrand, Caterpillar, AEG Powertools) in three different product ranges: DIY, gardening, home, professional textile, car/motorcycle and high tech.
In agreement with these brands, Bricoprivé organizes 7 to 8 private integrated sales daily (logistics, customer service, webmarketing, sales…) on all their overstock and end-of-life products.
Regarded as a central sales hub (4 logistics platforms in France, commercial coverage across the country), with its community of highly targeted members the website also represents an excellent communications platform for brands.
After 3.5 years of very strong growth, nearly 55 million euros in volume of business over the last 12 months and the recruitment of 105 employees, Bricoprivé begins a new stage of its development with the opening of its sites in Italy and Spain.

www.bricoprive.com

ABOUT ARDIAN

Ardian is a world-leading private investment house with assets of US$67bn managed or advised in Europe, North America and Asia. The company is majority-owned by its employees. It keeps entrepreneurship at its heart and focuses on delivering excellent investment performance to its global investor base. Through its commitment to shared outcomes for all stakeholders, Ardian’s activities fuel individual, corporate and economic growth around the world.

Holding close its core values of excellence, loyalty and entrepreneurship, Ardian maintains a truly global network, with more than 490 employees working from 13 offices across Europe (Frankfurt, Jersey, London, Luxembourg, Madrid, Milan, Paris and Zurich), North America (New York, San Francisco) and Asia (Beijing, Singapore, Tokyo). It manages funds on behalf of about 700 clients through five pillars of investment expertise: Fund of Funds, Direct Funds, Infrastructure, Real Estate and Private Debt.

Follow Ardian on Twitter @Ardian

www.ardian.com

PRESS CONTACTS
ARDIAN
Headland
CARL LEIJONHUFVUD
cleijonhufvud@headlandconsultancy.com
Tel: +44 020 3805 4827

Categories: News

Tags: Retail

Growth company Midaxo continues to grow with a new round of funding – Finnvera was one of the early investors but is now making an exit

admin March 29, 2018

Midaxo, the Finnish developer of the award-winning cloud M&A platform, announces a €12.9m funding round comprising of €10.3m for the company and €2.6m for the existing shareholders – led by major growth investor Idinvest Partners, with the participation of the existing investors Tesi (Finnish Industry Investment) and EOC Capital. This B round brings Midaxo’s total funding to €18.6m and follows a period of sustained and rapid growth. In 2017, Midaxo more than doubled its revenue and expanded its customer base to hundreds of leading corporations, consultants, and private equity firms, including over 40 companies on the Fortune 1000 list, such as HP, Philips, Daimler and Verizon. With Additional Funding, Midaxo Reinforces Its Position as The Leading Provider Of M&A Software.

After successfully entering the US, Midaxo is now focused on expanding its European operations, including into the Nordic region. Midaxo has 70 employees across four offices in Boston, Helsinki, Amsterdam, and Riga. Headcount has doubled over the past year and is set to further increase as the company is actively looking to recruit a number of high-quality software developers in Helsinki.

Finnvera has been one of the investors enabling Midaxo’s growth and internationalisation.

– Our co-operation with Midaxo has been excellent and we hope all the best for them in the future. Now that our role as an early stage risk sharer has been fulfilled and Midaxo’s future is secured by capable investors, the time for our exit is right, says Heidi Ahonen, manager at Finnvera.

Midaxo helps companies run successful M&A and corporate development projects – minimizing deal risk and maximizing value creation.

– Virtually all larger corporations and 60% of mid-market companies actively use M&A to grow and accelerate their transformation. To consistently succeed in M&A, thought-leaders use purpose-built tools to drive systematic, transparent, and repeatable deal execution from opportunity identification through to integration. For example, their due diligence efforts take 50% less time and 50% less resources, enabling faster reaction and more thorough analysis. With its leading software, Midaxo is proud to support M&A professionals in their important and complex work, says Ari Salonen, CEO at Midaxo.

For further information, please contact:

Heidi Ahonen, manager, Finnvera Oyj
+358 400 606 122
heidi.ahonen(at)finnvera.fi

Ari Salonen, CEO, Midaxo Oy
+1 617 818 0501
ari.salonen(at)midaxo.com

Midaxo Oy’s cloud software helps companies succeed in mergers & acquisitions by driving an efficient end-to-end process from target identification and due diligence to integration. www.midaxo.com and @Midaxo

Categories: News

Tags: Software

Midaxo Raises €12.9 Million in Series B Funding to Accelerate Product Development and Expansion

admin March 29, 2018

With Additional Funding, Midaxo Reinforces Its Position as The Leading Provider Of M&A Software.

Midaxo helps companies run successful M&A and corporate development projects – minimizing deal risk and maximizing value creation. Commenting on Midaxo’s rapid expansion, CEO Ari Salonen says: “Virtually all larger corporations and 60% of mid-market companies actively use M&A to grow and accelerate their transformation. To consistently succeed in M&A, thought-leaders use purpose-built tools to drive systematic, transparent, and repeatable deal execution from opportunity identification through to integration. For example, their due diligence efforts take 50% less time and 50% less resources, enabling faster reaction and more thorough analysis. With its leading software, Midaxo is proud to support M&A professionals in their important and complex work.”

Midaxo also works closely with leading M&A consulting and private equity firms.“Our partnerships program covers all areas of M&A but is particularly relevant to post-merger integration where our partners help in-house teams maximize deal value,” says Ari Salonen.

In addition to strengthening its customer-facing team with the new investment, Midaxo will focus on developing Artificial Intelligence technology to enhance and support its customers’ M&A activity. “We are already the most widely adopted and faster growing M&A software. The additional funding allows us to capture the nascent market opportunity and to introduce significant innovations to benefit the deal-makers of the world,” said Kalle Kilpi, Head of Product at Midaxo.

“Digital transformation presents enormous opportunity for Midaxo – the company’s rapidly growing customer base, including Nokia and Danfoss, demonstrates that global companies are demanding a digitalized approach to M&A. Looking regionally, the Nordics is buoyant at the moment – 2017 deal value increased by 75% against 2016, with the upward trend set to continue into 2018. We are investing in Midaxo as we strongly believe the company can leverage this growth and will continue leading the digital M&A space, not just in the Nordics but globally. It’s truly exciting to see a Finnish company flourish and we are excited for the future,” says Keith Bonnici, Investment Director at Tesi.

For further information, please contact:

Keith Bonnici, Investment Director, Tesi
+358 (40) 1799584
keith.bonnici@tesi.fi

Tesi (Finnish Industry Investment Ltd) is a venture capital and private equity company that accelerates companies’ success stories by investing in them directly and via funds. Tesi always invests together with other investors, providing them with access to high quality deal-flow in Finland. Our investments under management total 1 billion Euros and we have altogether 723 companies in portfolio. www.tesi.fi / @TesiFII

Alban WYNIECKI, Investment Director, Idinvest Partners
+33 (0) 6 19 39 77 15
aw@idinvest.com

Idinvest Partners is a leader in financing small and medium-sized companies in Europe.
www.idinvest.com

Ari Salonen, CEO, Midaxo Oy
+1 617 818 0501
ari.salonen@midaxo.com

Categories: News

Tags: Software

Partners Group and OPTrust to invest in US-based Superior Pipeline Company

admin March 29, 2018

Partners Group, the global private markets investment manager, acting on behalf of its clients, and OPTrust, a Canadian pension fund, have agreed to acquire a 50% joint control stake in Superior Pipeline Company (“Superior” or “the Company”), a leading midstream energy infrastructure company in the US. The stake is being acquired from US energy firm Unit Corporation (“Unit”, NYSE: UNT), which will continue to hold the remainder of the equity, in a transaction that values Superior at USD 600 million.

Founded in 1996 and based in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Superior is a full-service midstream energy company providing services to producers for gas gathering, processing, treating, compression, dehydration, transportation and marketing of natural gas and natural gas liquids. Today, the Company owns and operates three natural gas treatment plants, 13 processing plants, 22 active gathering systems, and approximately 1,455 miles of pipeline across the US. The majority of its revenues are generated from long-term, fixed-fee contracts.

Following the investment, Partners Group and OPTrust, together with Unit, will work closely with Superior’s management team, led by Bob Parks, to grow its existing gathering systems and processing plants organically and to identify attractive acquisition targets to expand the platform.

Bob Parks, Founder and President of Superior, comments: “We are excited to welcome Partners Group and OPTrust on board and look forward to leveraging their proven track records of investment in the infrastructure sector. At Superior, we are committed to being the best midstream provider in the industry and are convinced our new partners share the entrepreneurial mindset that will allow us to achieve this goal.”

Todd Bright, Partner, Head of Private Infrastructure Americas, Partners Group, states: “We see compelling relative value in the US midstream segment, which is benefiting from the ongoing shale revolution. The US has become a net exporter of natural gas for the first time in 60 years, and there is a fundamental need for infrastructure that facilitates the delivery of that gas to end users. Superior is a proven provider of that infrastructure.”

Gavin Ingram, Global Head of Infrastructure, OPTrust, adds: “OPTrust is very pleased to be partnered with Unit and Partners Group in Superior. Superior’s strong management team, diversified asset base and attractive growth prospects make it an exciting investment opportunity. Superior is an excellent strategic fit within our existing portfolio of midstream investments, and we look forward to capitalizing on the growth opportunities ahead of us.”

Superior is the latest addition to Partners Group’s substantial portfolio of North American natural gas infrastructure assets. The firm’s most recent transactions include its investment in the construction of the Raven project, an ethylene to butene-1 processing facility to be located in Baytown, Texas, and the USD 240 million private placement of 10.75% Class A Convertible Preferred Units of NGL Energy Partners LP (NYSE: NGL), a diversified midstream energy company. In 2015, Partners Group acquired a joint control stake in Sentinel Energy Center, an 800 MW California-based natural gas-fired power generation facility, while in 2014, it acquired a majority stake in Fermaca, a leading provider of long-haul natural gas transportation infrastructure in Mexico and the US.

Categories: News

Tags: Energy

Ratos forms new management group

admin March 28, 2018

To adapt the company to the next phase, Ratos has made changes to its management group and investment organisation. The changes mean that a total of five people leave their employment at Ratos.

Ratos’s management group will consist of:

Jonas Wiström, CEO
Helene Gustafsson, Head of IR and Press
Robin Molvin, Vice President
Anders Slettengren, Vice President
Magnus Stephensen, General Counsel
Carina Strid, Finance Manager

In conjunction with the change in management, Mikael Norlander, Senior Investment Director, and Lars Johansson, Senior Investment Director, both of whom were formerly members of Ratos’s management group, will be leaving their positions at Ratos.

“I look forward to continuing to focus on Ratos’s development, and would like to extend my sincere thanks to Mikael Norlander and Lars Johansson, who have both made a major contribution during their time at Ratos. During his many years at the company, Mikael carried out important work in several of our portfolio companies, including the successful development and listing of Arcus, the sale of Haglöfs and the recent transformation of Bisnode. As Acting CEO of Ratos, Lars initiated the restructuring that is now being carried out and has played a pivotal role in the changes to our company portfolio in recent years,” says Ratos’s CEO Jonas Wiström.

Following these organisational changes, Ratos’s investment organisation will consist of nine individuals.

For further information, please contact:
Jonas Wiström, CEO, +46 8 700 17 00
Helene Gustafsson, Head of IR and Press, +46 8 700 17 98

Categories: News

Tags: Investments

Hg announces acquisition of Mobility Concept

admin March 28, 2018

Hg has announced today the acquisition of Mobility Concept GmbH, a leading B2B fleet leasing company, headquartered in Germany. Hg has acquired Mobility Concept from Unicredit Leasing GmbH, a wholly-owned subsidiary of UniCredit Bank AG (“HypoVereinsbank”) as well as from the founders. The closing of the transaction is still subject to regulatory approval.

The terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Founded in 2000, Mobility Concept is focused on the B2B auto leasing space. It operates a fleet of approximately 25,000 vehicles under contract and focuses on blue-chip customers within its core sectors, mostly as a sole supplier.

Mobility Concept sits in the Hg investment ‘sweet spot’, with a strong and predictable business model, including recurring revenues and a loyal customer base.

This investment continues Hg’s strategy to develop technology-enabled service providers in the automotive financing space and is the result of considerable sector work undertaken in recent years. This includes prior investments in Zenith (vehicle leasing services), Epyx (an electronic network serving vehicle fleet operators and repair shops), Eucon (a platform for automotive parts pricing data), Parts Alliance (a buying group and distribution network for after-market car parts) and, most recently, MeinAuto.de (a leading B2C online platform for new car purchases).

Mobility Concept will, together with MeinAuto.de, be part of Mobility Holding, a platform set-up by Hg to acquire businesses in the automotive distribution and financing space. Mobility Holding seeks to support its business in the development of innovative long-term mobility solutions for their customers, leveraging best-in-class technology and digital capabilities (for further references please refer to http://www.mobility-holding.de).

Justin von Simson, Managing Partner and Head of the Munich Office at Hg, said: “Mobility Concept is one of the leading B2B leasing platforms in Germany with outstanding customer service and highly skilled employees. This partnership represents an exciting proposition, combining Mobility Concept’s long-standing customer base and very efficient organisation/execution processes, with Hg’s expertise in the automotive services sector.”

Florian Wolff, Director at Hg, commented: “Our investment in Mobility Concept is a result of a long-term focus on the car leasing and distribution space and reflects the Hg approach to sector based, insight driven investing. We look forward to partner with Mobility Concept for the next chapter of their development”.

Naveen Kohli, CSO of Mobility Concept said: “The step to partner with Hg makes sure our customers can rely on our high service levels and allows us to develop our services further to preserve the high customer loyalty we enjoy today. Hg is the ideal partner for us due to its profound knowledge in and focus on forward looking mobility concepts.”

Categories: News

Tags: Car industry

EURAZEO PATRIMOINE completes the acquisition of C2S GROUP

admin March 28, 2018

Eurazeo Patrimoine, the Eurazeo division specializing in investments in tangible assets, is pleased to Announce the acquisition of C2S Group from Bridgepoint. C2S Group is the eighth largest private clinic operator in France and a regional leader in Auvergne, Rhône-Alpes and Burgundy Franche-Comté.

Capitalizing on recent investments in modernizing the group and improving its operating performance, C2S will continue to accelerate its development strategy, particularly through external growth and confirm its position as a benchmark health care provider in the Central-Easternregion. It will be supported by Eurazeo Patrimoine’s experience in accompanying companies, combined with its real estate management expertise.

Eurazeo Patrimoine and Bridgepoint signed an agreement in January 2018 for the purpose of this transaction. Eurazeo Patrimoine has currently invested c.€103 million for 87% of the share capital, alongside management. Group medical practitioners and a minority co-investor are expected to enter the share capital at a later date.

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About C2S Group

C2S Group is the eighth largest private clinic operator in France and a regional leader in Auvergne, Rhône-Alpes and Burgundy Franche-Comté. It operates 11 clinics, primarily specializing in short and medium-length stays in general medicine, surgery and follow-up care. It also owns the buildings for seven of its clinics. The group has around 500 medical practitioners, who are partners in the group’s governance and nearly 1,800 employees. In 2017, it treated over 250,000 patients (75% as outpatients) and reported revenue of €161 million.

About Eurazeo

With a diversified portfolio of approximately €15 billion in assets under management, including €1 billion from third parties, Eurazeo is a leading global investment company with offices in Paris and Luxembourg, New York, Shanghai and Sao Paulo. Its purpose and mission is to identify, accelerate and enhance the transformation potential of the companies in which it invests. The firm covers most private equity segments through its five business divisions – Eurazeo Capital, Eurazeo Croissance, Eurazeo PME, Eurazeo Patrimoine and Eurazeo Brands. Its solid institutional and family shareholder base, robust financial structure free of structural debt, and flexible investment horizon enable Eurazeo to support its companies over the long term. As a global long-term shareholder, the firm offers deep sector expertise, a gateway to global markets, and a stable foothold for transformational growth to the companies it supports.

Eurazeo is listed on Euronext Paris.

ISIN: FR0000121121

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Bloomberg: RF FP

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Reuters: EURA.PA

Categories: News

Tags: healthcare

Ardian arranges a Unitranche financing to support the acquisition of Cyrus Group by its management and employees

admin March 28, 2018 No Comments

Paris, 28 March 2018 – Ardian, a world-leading private investment house, announced today that it has provided a Unitranche financing to support the management of Cyrus Group, led by Meyer Azogui, and its employees in their acquisition of the Group’s entire capital.

The Unitranche financing arranged by Ardian will give Cyrus’ management and employees the financial resources to acquire the minority stake held in the Group by BlackFin Capital Partners, a firm which supported Cyrus in 2012 to accelerate its growth strategy. The transaction increases the stake of Cyrus’ managers and employees, making them the sole shareholders. Beyond the reorganization of the shareholding, the financing also includes an additional committed debt facility to further support the Group’s acquisition strategy.

Founded in 1989, Cyrus is one of the leading independent wealth management advisory firms in France, with €3.4 billion in assets under management. Cyrus specialises in wealth strategy and investment consulting, with its key expertise lying in private wealth management. Since 2010, the Group operates an asset management business (Invest AM) and a property consulting business (Eternam), which have helped upscale assets under management. Cyrus has a workforce of 175, including 60 financial advisors, with 13 offices in France and one in Israel.

Since its inception, the Group has been majority-owned by its employees, due to its management’s desire to share value creation amongst employees.
Guillaume Chinardet, Head of Private Debt France at Ardian, said: “We were impressed by Cyrus Group’s track record and the reputation and professionalism of its teams. With a view to a long-term partnership, we are pleased to be able to support Meyer Azogui and the company’s management in its ambitious growth strategy.”

Meyer Azogui, CEO of Cyrus Group, added: “As a major player in wealth management, we want to continue to grow without losing the values which characterise us and which are part of our culture. We support human accomplishment before managing the fruits of this success. With Ardian, we will be able to accelerate our growth while respecting this human dimension.”

ABOUT CYRUS GROUP

Founded in 1989, Cyrus Group is one of the leading independent wealth management advisory firms in France, with €3.4 billion financial assets under management. Structured around 3 complementary business lines (portfolio management, real estate and asset management) across 14 sites, Cyrus Group offers its high-end customer base of entrepreneurs, executives and wealthy families with wealth management consulting services and financial and real estate investment solutions to suit their needs. The company has a workforce of 175, including 60 asset consultants.
www.cyrusconseil.fr
Follow Cyrus on Twitter @CyrusConseil
Facebook and LinkedIn

ABOUT ARDIAN

Ardian is a world-leading private investment house with assets of US$67bn managed or advised in Europe, North America and Asia. The company is majority-owned by its employees. It keeps entrepreneurship at its heart and focuses on delivering excellent investment performance to its global investor base.
Through its commitment to shared outcomes for all stakeholders, Ardian’s activities fuel individual, corporate and economic growth around the world.

Holding close its core values of excellence, loyalty and entrepreneurship, Ardian maintains a truly global network, with more than 490 employees working from thirteen offices across Europe (Frankfurt, Jersey, London, Luxembourg, Madrid, Milan, Paris and Zurich), North America (New York, San Francisco) and Asia (Beijing, Singapore, Tokyo). It manages funds on behalf of c.700 clients through five pillars of investment expertise: Fund of Funds, Direct Funds, Infrastructure, Real Estate and Private Debt.

Follow Ardian on Twitter @Ardian

www.ardian.com