Category Archives: News

DIF Capital Partners sells US toll road Northwest Parkway

DIF

DIF Capital Partners (DIF) is pleased to announce that it has signed an agreement to sell its 33.3% stake in Northwest Parkway to VINCI Highways, subsidiary of VINCI Concessions, part of the VINCI group, global concession operator and construction company headquartered in France and listed on the Paris Stock Exchange. DIF is selling its stake in the toll road alongside its co-shareholders HICL Infrastructure PLC and funds managed by Northleaf Capital Partners in a joint sale for 100% of the equity interest in the project.

The Northwest Parkway toll road project (NWP) is a ca. 14km US toll road located in Denver, Colorado. Originally constructed in 2003, NWP comprises the northwest quadrant of the Denver Metropolitan area beltway. Among other purposes, the road serves as a vital connection between Northwest Denver and the Denver International Airport. The road was acquired by DIF in 2017, via its DIF Infrastructure IV (DIF IV) fund and co-investors, alongside consortium members.

Andrew Freeman, Partner and Head of Exits at DIF Capital Partners, said: “This successful exit represents a material transaction for DIF IV, after actively managing it through covid times back to normality, generating strong yield and now realising attractive returns for our investors.”

Closing of the transaction is subject to customary conditions and approvals, and is expected to take place in Q2 2024.

DIF was advised on the transaction by Evercore (financial), Kirkland & Ellis (legal), C&M (traffic & revenue), KPMG (accounting & tax) and Arup (technical).

About DIF Capital Partners

DIF Capital Partners is an infrastructure fund manager with over EUR 17 billion of assets under management. DIF was founded in 2005 and has a leading position in managing mid-market investments, primarily in Europe, North America and Australia.

DIF follows two strategies: its traditional DIF funds invest in lower-risk mid-sized infrastructure projects and companies in the energy transition (incl. renewables) and utilities sector, as well as PPPs and concessions. The firm’s CIF funds invest in small to mid-sized companies that will thrive in the new economy. These companies are typically active in the digital infrastructure, energy transition and sustainable transportation sector.

With a team of over 240 professionals in 11 offices, DIF offers a unique market approach combining global presence with the benefits of strong local networks and investment capabilities. DIF is located in Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Helsinki, London, Luxembourg, Madrid, New York, Paris, Santiago, Sydney and Toronto.

For more information, please visit www.dif.eu or follow us on LinkedIn.

Press contacts:
DIF Capital Partners: press@dif.eu

 

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JMI named to GrowthCap’s Top Growth Equity Firms of 2023

JMI Equity

JMI Equity is pleased to announce it has been named to GrowthCap’s list of The Top Growth Equity Firms of 2023.

This is GrowthCap’s tenth year running this award process and they began their evaluation process by assessing a set of over 400 firms. GrowthCap compiled their annual list by evaluating each firm’s unique capabilities, sector expertise, investment judgment, demonstrated value creation, senior partner composition, talent retention, firm evolution, and firm momentum, among other attributes. This year’s list of awardees is comprised of the best growth equity firms who have instituted integrity and instilled trust as a core part of their culture when interacting with each of their stakeholders—portfolio companies, limited partners, their employees, their industry colleagues and others.

Disclaimer: GrowthCap is a leading growth capital research and advisory firm. The criteria considered for this award is determined by GrowthCap which compiles its annual list by speaking with investors and CEOs across industries, evaluating firm attributes through nomination submissions, reviewing ESG commitment, and studying investment performance to form a holistic view. The award is the subjective determination of the party conferring the award and not of JMI Equity. JMI Equity submitted a nomination to be considered for, and once selected, paid to be included on, and to promote inclusion on, this list. JMI Equity received this award in 2024. For more information about GrowthCap, please see their website at growthcapadvisory.com. JMI is not responsible for the contents of any third-party website and has not confirmed the accuracy of any information provided therein.

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Leading Tennr’s $3.25M Seed Round: An Investment in Founders

Foundation Capital
Ideas / News / Leading Tennr’s $3.25M Seed Round: An Investment in Founders

02.28.2024 | By: Joanne Chen

When we led Tennr’s $3.25M seed investment in May 2023, the company was still iterating on product and didn’t have any revenue. Eight months later, Tennr surpassed $1M ARR. The rapid growth trajectory is a testament to the team, the company’s focus, and the urgency of the problem they’re solving.

Tennr is an automation platform for healthcare and financial services operations. It’s building in a space that I’ve studied for nearly a decade—RPA (robotic process automation). In the early 2000s, RPA promised to replace mundane and repetitive tasks with software bots. The industry had isolated cases of success, but overall adoption plateaued, falling short of becoming the enterprise-wide solution McKinsey prophesied in 2017 and 2019. It’s estimated that 30-50% of RPA projects fail, and even if they succeed, scale is difficult: only 3% of organizations scale the digital workforce with RPA.

Up until recently, the vast majority of RPA solutions used rules. They were brittle, costly to implement, and lacked AI. Even the ones that used AI only dealt with structured data (like spreadsheets). Recent advances in LLMs have led to a huge change in the industry. Today, LLMs can analyze unstructured data like complex documents, code, and emails, opening up the possibilities of what can be automated—and we believe 10x the market opportunity as a whole.

Investors recognize this, which has led to some recent frenzy. But I have personally been (and Foundation Capital as a firm!) investing in these RPA companies for years: I invested in business procurement automation tool Tonkean in 2019, and my partner Ashu Garg, invested in Ikigai in 2021, an AI platform for structured data. We also have another investment in stealth. These companies are able to focus on one or two processes and do them really well—and at a time where the technology is advancing, and more and more processes are ripe for automation, focus is how winners will emerge.

Before investing in Tennr, we spent eight months helping the team sharpen that focus.

They were obsessed with automating work people hated doing, but each time we met with Co-Founder and CEO Trey Holterman, he had a different approach that wasn’t quite working. We turned him down multiple times, but it was clear he and the team were maturing quickly. They iterated to understand what created value for customers; in one meeting, Trey told us he’d learned customers were so interested in Tennr’s approach that the company could charge $500 for customized product demos. In a short time, the team went from struggling with GTM to turning a demo into a revenue stream.

In another meeting, we brainstormed product positioning, realizing that not all customers were getting the same value by automating workflows. Healthcare and financial services did, so that’s where they focused. It’s an industry with massive document-processing needs—billing, claims, referrals, explanations of benefits, PDFs, hand-written notes—which takes a lot of time because the information is messy and input is done manually. Breaking down the automation steps was a process Trey and Co-Founder and CPO Diego Baugh recognized; as former professional rowers, it was like they were breaking down a training regimen.

Foundation Capital invests in amazing founders. Trey, Diego, and Tyler Johnson (CTO) were that and more. They brought innovation and dedication. We supported with expertise and networks: helping establish Tennr’s seed positioning, building its team, introducing them to customers, and finding advisors and investors. An early-stage company’s success is built on its founding team—and we’re there to support them.

 

Looking more broadly, there’s a sea change on the horizon in the RPA space and of applying AI to verticals. The combination of new technology and rote processes are leading to the emergence of new possibilities. If you’re an ambitious founder thinking about what’s next, I’d love to learn more about what you’re doing: jchen@foundationcap.com. It’s never too early.

Published on 01.31.2023
Written by Foundation Capital

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Nordic Capital makes majority investment in ActiveViam, provider of advanced analytics for financial institutions

Nordic Capital
  • The investment is made in partnership with ActiveViam’s founders and management to support and accelerate continued high-growth and expansion
  • Nordic Capital, a leading investor in banking software, will leverage its long-standing expertise and experience from accelerating digitization of the financial services industry 
  • The aim is to realize ActiveViam’s potential of improving the ever-growing needs of financial institutions’ regulatory compliance and real-time monitoring — as well as deep historical analysis — of performance, risk management and financial planning

 

Nordic Capital announced today it has acquired a majority stake in ActiveViam to support its next phase of growth. The investment is made in close partnership with ActiveViam’s founders and management who will invest alongside Nordic Capital.

ActiveViam is a leading provider of advanced analytics and decision-making solutions for financial institutions, including risk analytics and regulatory compliance software. The technology is purpose-built, scalable and handles massive datasets in sub-seconds. Founded in 2005 by industry experts, ActiveViam understands the data analytics faced by financial institutions across trading desks, risk and compliance, and its track differentiated core technology outperforms horizontal data aggregation and analytics tools.

ActiveViam serves a wide range of financial services organizations: Tier 1 and Tier 2 banks, hedge funds, asset managers, exchanges and regulators. The Company has lined up an extensive group of technology, system integrator, go-to-market and OEM partners, including Google, Accenture, AWS, Deloitte, ClickHouse, S&P Global, Snowflake, and Wolters Kluwer.

Financial analytics is a $10.4 billion addressable market growing at 13 percent a year, according to L.E.K. Consulting. Market drivers include continuous regulatory change, a focus on automation of manual processes, and an increasing need for a unified view of data spread across the fragmented IT ecosystem typical for large financial institutions.

As an experienced investor in the banking software sector, Nordic Capital aims to leverage its extensive expertise to scale the continued high organic growth of ActiveViam, by investing in the organization, driving continued excellence in R&D and new products, and by supporting partnerships and M&A.

Emil Anderson, Partner, Nordic Capital Advisors, said: “We are impressed by the ActiveViam team and what they have achieved:  they empower financial organizations to reduce risk and increase revenue by making better decisions, faster. Forty percent of Tier 1 banks worldwide work with ActiveViam technology, and the company has an especially strong footprint in Europe and North America.  With Nordic Capital’s prior experience in banking software, network of senior advisors, and internal operations resources, Nordic Capital is well positioned to support ActiveViam in its next stage of growth. Nordic Capital is excited about partnering with the founders and management to continue the company’s remarkable growth journey.”

Kathy Perrotte, CEO and Co-Founder, ActiveViam, said, “Nordic Capital’s investment is a great opportunity for ActiveViam and great news for our clients, partners and employees. As a large and respected private equity investor, Nordic Capital deploys its significant operational expertise, strategic capabilities and inventive approach to accelerate the growth of the technology leaders it invests in.  Nordic Capital recognizes the power, speed and flexibility of the technology our team has created for our financial services clients, and we look forward to their support as we make further advancements and explore acquisition opportunities.”

Nordic Capital has over 30 years’ experience of accelerating growth of innovative technology companies and is set to leverage its deep sub-sector and operational knowledge to create value and further boost the Company’s ambitious growth plans. As a leading specialized Technology & Payments investor globally, Nordic Capital has to date made 29 technology investments in companies with an aggregate enterprise value of close to EUR 24 billion.

As part of the transaction, Guidepost Growth Equity, which first invested in ActiveViam in 2019, will sell all its shares.

Raymond James was the exclusive financial advisor to ActiveViam on this transaction, and Broadhaven acted as financial advisor to Nordic Capital.

The parties have agreed that the terms of the transaction will not be disclosed. The transaction was completed on February 27, 2024.

 

About ActiveViam

ActiveViam is a pure player specializing in risk data analytics for the financial services sector, one of the fastest moving and most regulated industries. The Company has approximately 160 employees across offices in New York, London, Singapore, Sydney, Hong Kong, Paris and Frankfurt.  ActiveViam has pioneered the use of high-performance analytics in finance, helping the largest investment banks, asset managers and hedge funds make better decisions, explain results with confidence, and simulate the impact of their decisions. ActiveViam’s mission is to deliver train-of-thought analysis on terabytes of data in the most cost-effective way so its customers can explain their results with confidence and model the scenarios that will optimize their business. For more information please visit: www.activeviam.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 EUR 23 billion in 140 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.”

 

Media contacts:

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

US media contact – Brunswick Group
NordicCapital@brunswickgroup.com


ActiveViam
Erica Fidel
Vice President, Marketing
Tel: +1 646 688 4442
e-mail: efi@activeviam.com

Hilary Condit
Communications Consultant
Tel: +1 914 886 5027
hco@ext.activeviam.com

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Fluid Topics announces a €15 million investment from Kennet Partners to expand in the United States and maintain its 45% annula growth rate

Kennet Partners

LYON, France – February 2024

Fluid Topics, the leading Content Delivery Platform for product information, announced today the successful completion of its Series B funding round. Kennet Partners, a growth equity investor focused on capital-efficient companies, has invested €15 million in the company to reinforce Fluid Topics’ premier position on the market by scaling operations across the United States and leveraging the potential of artificial intelligence in customer support applications. Existing investors include Ventech, the pioneering pan-European early-stage VC, and Credit Mutuel Innovation.

Founded in 1999 by Fabrice Lacroix, Fluid Topics pivoted in 2014 when it launched its Content Delivery platform, reinventing how people search, read, and interact with product documentation. “For complex products, documentation often runs to tens of thousands or even millions of pages. This makes it extremely difficult for maintenance and repair technicians to find their way around. Fluid Topics has revolutionized customer support by guiding technicians to the information they need at any stage of their service calls”, explains Fabrice Lacroix, CEO of Fluid Topics.

Specifically, Fluid Topics’ SaaS-based platform unifies all product knowledge from a company: technical documentation, datasheets, marketing material, multimedia and more. It then delivers it as actionable information tailored to the user in a contextualized, personalized, and secure way, via business applications and digital communication channels.

A global enterprise customer base

Having developed almost exclusively internationally, Fluid Topics now generates 60% of its sales in North America and 40% in Europe, particularly in Germany, Switzerland, Austria, and the Nordics, with steady annual growth of over 45%. The company is serving a prominent customer base, including Fortune 500 companies and industry leaders such as Liebherr, Siemens, Johnson Controls, and Teradata. Over the past years, Fluid Topics has become the go-to solution for tech companies of all sizes seeking to enhance user self-service, case deflection, customer support, and field service operations with distinctive business applications fueled by product knowledge.

The funding aims to maintain the growth rate achieved by Fluid Topics in recent years. The company expects to increase sales to over 25 million euros in the next 3 years, while its workforce plans to grow from 80 to 150 employees by 2027.

This growth will be supported by opening a US team in 2024, whose mission will be to target the SMB market, which is more difficult to address from France.

Virtual assistants to guide technicians

The integration of Generative AI is the second major area of development. Artificial intelligence offers major opportunities for applications based on product content and strengthens the market position of Fluid Topics which has over 20 years’ experience in semantic search, natural language processing, and content governance. Specifically, Generative AI will enable virtual assistants to guide technicians while working on products, and answer their questions, even the most complex ones.

“Fabrice and the team have built an exciting business in a highly capital-efficient manner. We have been impressed by Fluid Topic’s strong financial performance and high-quality enterprise customer base. We are very excited to be partnering with the company to help it scale in the US and to further capitalize on the opportunities that AI enables,” said Hillel Zidel, Managing Director of Kennet.

Cillian Hilliard, Director, and Hillel Zidel, Managing Director at Kennet, will join Fluid Topics’ board of directors, alongside current members Claire Houry, General Partner at Ventech, and Maxence Valero, Investment Director at Credit Mutuel Innovation. Eric Barroca, founder and former CEO of Nuxeo, a Content Services platform for which Kennet helped accelerate the growth trajectory between 2016 and 2021, will also be appointed as an independent board member. Barroca’s successful development of Nuxeo and deep expertise in AI will further strengthen Fluid Topics’ commitment to strategic expansion.

“This funding round empowers us to accelerate in a market shifting rapidly towards solutions that transform operations and enhance competitiveness. As the leading platform, we take pride in offering cutting-edge technologies with utmost attention to security and seamless implementation,” said Fabrice Lacroix, CEO of Fluid Topics.

About Antidot:

Antidot is a SaaS company that leverages over 20 years of advanced research in semantic search, artificial intelligence, and content accessibility to develop Fluid Topics, the leading Content Delivery Platform for product information.

Fluid Topics unifies product content from all existing sources and delivers it as actionable information tailored to the user and situation. Serving Fortune 500 companies and tech organizations of all sizes, Fluid Topics is the go-to solution for tech companies seeking to enhance customer service and field service operations with distinctive business applications fueled by product knowledge. For more information, visit www.fluidtopics.com.

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Sagard acquires Groupe Acceo from Gimv

GIMV

On 27 February 2024, Sagard announces the acquisition from Gimv of Groupe Acceo, an independent French provider of engineering, inspection and certification services. Gimv will reinvest alongside them in this transaction.

Founded in 2003 near Marseille, Acceo has gradually expanded its offering to meet all the technical and regulatory needs of buildings. The Group has thus become a multi-service specialist covering 4 segments: Lifts, Health & Safety, Accessibility and Energy.

The Group provides a wide range of services to address building compliance, performance and sustainability issues across all these segments, including periodic and mandatory inspections, audits and technical assessments, asset management and monitoring solutions, compliance services and technical consultancy.

Acceo supports a highly fragmented and loyal customer base of more than 2,200 active customers, ranging from co-ownership associations to commercial building operators, local authorities and social housing.

In a market governed by constraints linked to the energy transition and growing concerns about health & safety, Acceo has built a differentiating and agile model in order to seize new regulatory opportunities. In particular, the Group benefits from close proximity to its customers, capitalising on its national network of branches and the digitalisation of its processes and services. Its unique, flexible model combines multi-specialist sales teams, capable of supporting customers in all their issues, with highly specialised technical teams in charge of carrying out assignments.

Since the acquisition by Gimv in 2016, the Group, which has posted solid organic growth, has also made 4 acquisitions that have enabled it to broaden its offering and geographical coverage, positioning Acceo as a consolidation platform in a fragmented market. With the appointment in 2021 of Jérôme Spencer as CEO, Acceo has continued the structuring of its organisation initiated in 2016 and has accelerated its development, particularly in the promising energy efficiency segment, bringing forecast sales for 2024 to over €50 million and the number of employees to 430 to date.

Following Sagard’s acquisition of Acceo, the Group’s management team (which will remain a key shareholder) will benefit from renewed all-encompassing support to pursue its further development, both organically and through mergers and acquisitions.

Jérôme Spencer, CEO of Acceo, comments: “I am very proud of what I have achieved with the Acceo teams over the last few years. I would like to thank Gimv for the quality of their guidance and their unwavering support before and after my arrival, which have been crucial to the Group’s success. They have been extremely trustworthy partners who have made a real contribution, and this fruitful and lasting collaboration has been a real boost to our development. With the quality and motivation of our teams, I’m very confident about Acceo’s future, and I’m delighted to be continuing the adventure with Sagard to pursue our ambitious growth strategy.

Saïk Paugam, Partner, and Jérôme Triebel, Managing Director at Sagard, added: “We are delighted to join forces with Jérôme Spencer and his team to support Acceo in its next phase of growth, particularly in the development of energy transition services and external growth. With Gimv’s support, the management team has achieved a remarkable track record and created a high-performance company that addresses the critical needs of its customers, with a DNA combining a sense of service, agility and proximity. We are therefore particularly proud to have convinced Jérôme Spencer and his team of our ability to support them in accelerating the Group’s development.

Nicolas de Saint Laon, Head of Gimv France and Francois-Xavier Rico, Principal Sustainable Cities, conclude: “We are very pleased to have supported Jérôme Spencer and his team in an ambitious growth strategy, which has enabled Acceo to change dimension and transform itself from a niche specialist into a multi-service reference player. From the outset, we have supported the Group in expanding its offering, both organically and through strategic acquisitions, focusing on the development of synergies and recurring services. Thanks to a dynamic strategy of investing in its digital tools and structuring its organisation, Acceo has been able to establish itself as a frontrunner in the regulatory challenges of energy efficiency. These growth and transformation projects are perfectly in line with the investment themes we wish to develop within our Sustainable Cities platform. We are delighted that Sagard will support Acceo in the next stage of its development, and we look forward to continuing our involvement as a minority shareholder alongside them.

This transaction has a positive impact on Gimv’s net asset value at 30 September 2023 of approximately EUR 1 per share. No further financial details will be disclosed.

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IES receives investment from the Apax Global Impact Fund

Apax

Integrated Environmental Solutions (IES) has announced today that it is set to receive strategic investment from the Apax Global Impact Fund, advised by Apax Partners LLP (“Apax”), in a move that is set to accelerate the company’s growth and more rapidly achieve its mission to decarbonise the world’s buildings.

The deal, which will see the Apax Global Impact Fund acquire a controlling stake, subject to customary antitrust approvals, marks the first climate-focused investment by the fund, with IES’s focus on decarbonisation aligning closely with Apax Global Impact’s thematic focus on reducing environmental harm and resource use.

IES delivers innovative technology solutions and consultancy services to help decarbonise buildings, communities, and cities. Supporting resource-efficient and cost-effective built-environments, IES simulates and analyses data to give those involved in the design, retrofit and operation of buildings the information needed to make smarter, more sustainable decisions.

Over the past 30 years, the company has made a significant global impact, helping to improve the energy and carbon performance of an estimated 1.5 million buildings worldwide.

This investment will enable IES to scale to meet the ever-increasing demand for sustainability-focused tech solutions from building designers, owners, and tenants. The built environment is a significant contributor to global greenhouse gas emissions. IES, which is home to the largest building physics analytics team in the world, is able to leverage its software and consultancy capabilities to tackle the built environment’s climate footprint, supporting clients to improve the energy efficiency and decarbonisation of complex buildings, adhere to regulatory and voluntary compliance, and ultimately reduce lifetime building energy costs and carbon emissions.

Don McLean, Founder and CEO, IES, commented: “I’m incredibly proud of the IES team for the success we have achieved over the last thirty years, and in Apax we have found a likeminded partner who is ideally placed to help us in the next stage of our growth journey. Buildings and cities have the potential to make the biggest impact in reducing carbon emissions globally. This investment, and the support of the Apax Impact team, will empower us to support ever more clients around the world in creating a built environment that is resource and energy efficient.”

Edward Donkor, Partner, Apax Global Impact team, said: “We couldn’t be happier to be partnering with Don and the entire IES team in their mission to decarbonise the built environment. This partnership marks the first climate-focused investment for the Apax Global Impact Fund, and we see huge potential for IES’s pioneering software.”

Chris Robinson, Principal, Apax Global Impact team, added: “As we collectively progress towards Net Zero goals, innovative technology such as that offered by IES will prove critical in the transition to a more sustainable future. We look forward to working closely with the IES team on our joint vision for the company, harnessing IES’s market-leading software to solve some of society’s biggest climate challenges.”

Apax was advised by Travers Smith (lead counsel), Alantra (M&A advisor), CIL (commercial advisor) and EY (financial and tax advisors). IES was advised by KPMG (financial, tax and legal advisor).

–      ENDS  –

About Integrated Environmental Solutions

IES is a global climate tech company delivering innovative technology solutions and consultancy services to decarbonise the built environment. Over the last 30 years, they have built a solid reputation as the leading global innovator in integrated performance-based building analysis and are now home to the largest building physics analytics team in the world.

Supporting energy-efficient, healthy and cost-effective built-environments, IES’ digital twin technology provides those involved in the design, retrofit and operation of buildings the information needed to make smarter, more sustainable decisions with confidence.

For more information see: www.iesve.com

About Apax & Apax Global Impact

Apax Partners LLP (“Apax”) is a leading global private equity advisory firm. For 50 years, Apax has worked to inspire growth and ideas that transform businesses. The firm has raised and advised funds with aggregate commitments of more than $65 billion. The Apax Funds invest in companies across four global sectors of Internet/Consumer, Tech, Services, and Healthcare. These funds provide long-term equity financing to build and strengthen world-class companies.

Apax Global Impact seeks out opportunities to support companies which deliver tangible societal and/or environmental impact. The strategy revolves around themes including Health & Wellness, Environment & Resources, Social & Economic Mobility, and Digital Impact Enablers. Apax Global Impact leverages the deep expertise of the Apax sector teams, the strength and global scale of the Apax platform globally, and the value creation potential of Apax’s Operational Excellence Practice.

For more information see: www.apax.com.

GLOBAL MEDIA CONTACT

Katarina Sallerfors

t: +44 20 7872 6300

Luke Charalambous

t: +44 20 7872 6300

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EQT X hits the hard cap, raising EUR 22 billion (USD 24 billion) in total commitments

eqt

In what is EQT’s largest ever fundraise, its flagship private equity fund raises EUR 22 billion (USD 24 billion) in total commitments, of which EUR 21.7 billion (USD 23.5 billion) are fee-generating assets under management, exceeding the EUR 20 billion (USD 21.6 billion) target

This represents a near 40 percent increase on EQT IX, thanks to strong support from existing and new investors, with a greater share of commitments coming from private wealth

EQT X builds on EQT Private Equity’s 30-year track record of strong performance, investing predominantly in the Healthcare, Technology and Tech-enabled Services sectors in Europe and North America

EQT is pleased to share that EQT X (the “Fund”) has held its final close, having raised EUR 22 billion (USD 24 billion) in total commitments, of which EUR 21.7 billion (USD 23.5 billion) are fee-generating assets under management. The fundraise exceeded the target size of EUR 20 billion (USD 21.6 billion) and represents a near 40 percent increase on EQT IX, which closed at EUR 15.6 billion in April 2021. It also represents one of the largest private equity funds ever raised.

The Fund received commitments from a broad range of investors, including pension and sovereign wealth funds, asset managers, and the private wealth segment. The latter made up an increased share of the total commitments, on the back of EQT’s recent strategic drive to offer the segment increased access to EQT funds with the launch of EQT Nexus. Fund investors were based across the Americas, Asia-Pacific, the Middle East, Europe and the Nordics.

EQT X is the latest fund in the EQT Private Equity strategy. For thirty years, the strategy has invested in the Healthcare, Technology, Tech-enabled Services and Industrial Technology sectors in Europe and North America, and over that time it has delivered a realized gross multiple on invested capital of 2.7x. The Fund has announced seven investments since June 2022, starting with the acquisition of Envirotainer, the globally leading provider of mission-critical transport services to the biopharma industry. Other investments include advanced medical components supplier Zeus, accounts receivable automation leader Billtrust, and animal pharmaceutical business Dechra Pharmaceuticals.

Per Franzén, Head of Private Capital Europe & North America at EQT and Chairman of the EQT Private Equity Investment Committees, said: “We remain focused on backing and futureproofing companies in attractive and resilient sectors, such as healthcare and technology, and have proven our ability to perform and return capital across cycles. We continue to invest in our sector expertise, sharpening our ownership model and developing our value-creation toolbox. Our thematic investment strategy and strong local presence are competitive advantages when sourcing opportunities, not least in a slower deal-making environment. EQT X is off to a strong start, having already announced four take-privates while offering substantial co-invest opportunities. We look forward to continuing to partner with our clients.”

Suzanne Donohoe, Chief Commercial Officer at EQT, said: “We would like to thank both our long-term and new clients for their support of EQT X. Around 70 percent of the commitments to the fund came from existing EQT IX investors, a testament to the long-term trust we have built together. We’re also grateful for the support from new clients, who recognized our 30-year track record of delivering strong and steady returns. We look forward to continuing to strengthen our partnerships for the next 30 years and beyond.”

As one of EQT’s eleven business lines, the EQT Private Equity team consists of more than 130 investment professionals spread across 15 offices in Europe and North America. They work with portfolio companies to accelerate growth, strengthen profitability and increase resilience through an active ownership model. They do this through hands-on support of management teams, employing long-term perspectives, and bringing deep expertise in areas such as AI, digitalization and sustainability. The teams also draw upon the expertise of EQT’s network of over 600 Industrial Advisors, who each bring experience leading companies in EQT Private Equity’s core sectors. EQT Private Equity works closely with EQT’s other private capital business lines, which include EQT Private Capital Asia, EQT Future, EQT Healthcare Growth, EQT Growth, and EQT Ventures.

EQT X is currently 30-35 percent invested (including closed and/or signed investments, announced public offers, if applicable, and less any expected syndication), based on the actual fund size.

Contact
Olof Svensson, Head of Shareholder Relations, +46 72 989 09 15
EQT Press Office, press@eqtpartners.com, +46 8 506 55 334

About

EQT is a purpose-driven global investment organization focused on active ownership strategies. With a Nordic heritage and a global mindset, EQT has a track record of almost three decades of developing companies across multiple geographies, sectors and strategies. EQT has investment strategies covering all phases of a business’ development, from start-up to maturity. EQT has EUR ‌​​232​‌ billion in total assets under management (EUR ‌​​‌130​‌ billion in fee-generating assets under management), within two business segments – Private Capital and Real Assets.

With its roots in the Wallenberg family’s entrepreneurial mindset and philosophy of long-term ownership, EQT is guided by a set of strong values and a distinct corporate culture. EQT manages and advises funds and vehicles that invest across the world with the mission to future-proof companies, generate attractive returns and make a positive impact with everything EQT does.

The EQT AB Group comprises EQT AB (publ) and its direct and indirect subsidiaries, which include general partners and fund managers of EQT funds as well as entities advising EQT funds. EQT has offices in more than 20 countries across Europe, Asia and the Americas and has more than 1,800 employees.

More info: www.eqtgroup.com

Follow EQT on LinkedIn, X, YouTube and Instagram

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Renovus Capital Partners Announces the Successful Close of a $325 Million Continuation Fund to Support the Exit and Future Growth of Four Portfolio Companies

Renovus

WAYNE, PA – February 27, 2024 – Renovus Capital Partners (“Renovus”), a Philadelphia-area buyout firm focused on founder-owned businesses in the Knowledge & Talent industries, announced today that it has closed its first multi-asset continuation fund (“Renovus Continuation Fund” or “CV”) of approximately $325 million. With the closing of the CV, Renovus has now raised over $1.5 billion of capital across multiple investment vehicles, marking a new milestone for the firm. The new fund was formed to recapitalize four portfolio companies from Renovus Capital Partners, LP (“Fund I”) and Renovus Capital Partners II, LP (“Fund II”). In addition, the Renovus Continuation Fund makes available an incremental $60 million of capital to fund strategic acquisitions for the CV portfolio companies. The formation and funding of the Renovus Continuation Fund was anchored by leading limited partners including funds managed by New 2ND Capital, RCP Advisors, Blackstone Strategic Partners, Montana Capital Partners, Unigestion, Arcano Partners and significant rollover from the three Renovus co-founders.

The four companies in the Renovus Continuation Fund (“CV Portfolio”) include:

  • Aretum – a Maryland and Virginia based technology and specialized services provider to 20+ federal civilian and military government agencies formed from the merger of Panum, a Renovus portfolio company, and Miracle Systems. For more information, please visit aretum.com;
  • ClinicalMind – a New York based full-service medical communication company specializing in scientific content development, strategic communications and technology solutions engaged by leading life sciences companies to help educate healthcare professionals about new and existing drugs. For more information, please visit clinicalmind.com;
  • Lockstep Technology Group – a Georgia based technology services company providing mission critical technology infrastructure, cloud solutions and IT management consulting to education, governmental and medical entities in the Southeastern U.S. For more information, please visit lockstepgroup.com; and
  • Phoenix East Aviation – a Florida based FAA certified pilot training school serving domestic and international students seeking to become commercial airline pilots. For more information, please visit pea.com.

The transaction enabled Renovus’ existing limited partners to realize significant gains with an opportunity to continue participating in the go-forward value creation. As a show of confidence in the CV, the Renovus’ founders are reinvesting the entirety of their capital investment and committing additional new capital to the Renovus Continuation Fund.

“The successful establishment of the Renovus Continuation Fund marks another significant milestone for Renovus as a firm,” said Atif Gilani, Founding Partner at Renovus. “The commitments that the CV received from top-tier investors validate our investment strategy and the strength of our portfolio. At the same time, the CV was approved unanimously by existing LPs, a strong vote of confidence in our work for them to date.”

Tjarko Hektor, the lead partner from New 2ND Capital, commented on the transaction, “We are delighted to form this long-term partnership with Renovus and are excited for what the future has in store as the firm continues to build on its commitment to its business and doing well for investors.”

Founding Partners Brad Whitman and Jesse Serventi added, “Renovus has meaningfully grown the companies in the CV portfolio since our original investment, and we are proud of their performance. With this infusion of new capital, we look forward to continuing to build them, further prove out our investment theses and deliver superior outcomes for all our stakeholders.”

Jefferies served as exclusive financial advisor through the partnership of its Private Capital Advisory and industry focused investment banking teams, with DLA Piper serving as Renovus’ legal counsel.

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Blackstone Completes Acquisition of Rover

Blackstone

SEATTLE- February 27, 2024 – Rover Group, Inc. (“Rover” or the “Company”), the world’s largest online marketplace for pet care, today announced the completion of its acquisition by private equity funds affiliated with Blackstone (“Blackstone”) in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $2.3 billion.

The transaction was previously announced on November 29, 2023 and was approved by Rover stockholders at Rover’s special meeting of stockholders held on February 22, 2024. With the completion of the acquisition, Rover stockholders are entitled to receive $11.00 in cash for each share of Rover common stock they owned immediately prior to the closing. Rover’s common stock has ceased trading and will be delisted from the Nasdaq Stock Market.

“The closing of this transaction is an important milestone in Rover’s history and marks the start of the next chapter in our story,” said Aaron Easterly, co-founder and CEO of Rover. “We are excited to officially partner with Blackstone to leverage their resources and deep expertise to further our mission of making it possible for everyone to experience the unconditional love of a pet.”

Sachin Bavishi, a Senior Managing Director at Blackstone, said, “Aaron and the Rover team have done an incredible job building a leading digital marketplace for pet services. We’re thrilled to embark on this partnership, bringing Blackstone’s scale and resources to further accelerate Rover’s growth and innovation, and enhance Rover’s strong value proposition relative to alternatives.”

Advisors
Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC acted as lead financial advisor to Rover, and Centerview Partners LLC also acted as a financial advisor to Rover and delivered a fairness opinion to Rover’s Board of Directors with respect to the proposed transaction. Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, Professional Corporation acted as legal counsel to Rover.

Evercore acted as lead financial advisor and Moelis & Company LLC also acted as a financial advisor to Blackstone, and Kirkland & Ellis LLP acted as legal counsel to Blackstone.

About Rover Group, Inc.
Founded in 2011 and based in Seattle, Rover is the world’s largest online marketplace for pet care. Rover connects pet parents with pet providers who offer overnight services, including boarding and in-home pet sitting, as well as daytime services, including doggy daycare, dog walking, and drop-in visits. To learn more about Rover, please visit www.rover.com.

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 communication may contain forward-looking statements, which include all statements that do not relate solely to historical or current facts, such as statements regarding the Company’s impacts of the merger with a private equity fund managed by Blackstone (the “Merger”), the Company’s delisting from the Nasdaq Stock Market, and other statements that concern the Company’s expectations, intentions or strategies regarding the future. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by the following words: “may,” “will,” “could,” “would,” “should,” “expect,” “intend,” “plan,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “predict,” “project,” “aim,” “potential,” “continue,” “ongoing,” “goal,” “can,” “seek,” “target” or the negative of these terms or other similar expressions, although not all forward-looking statements contain these words. These forward-looking statements are based on the Company’s beliefs, as well as assumptions made by, and information currently available to, the Company. Because such statements are based on expectations as to future financial and operating results and are not statements of fact, actual results may differ materially from those projected and are subject to a number of known and unknown risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to: (i) the effect of the Merger on the Company’s business relationships, operating results and business generally; (ii) risks that the Merger disrupts the Company’s current plans and operations; (iii) the Company’s ability to retain and hire key personnel and maintain relationships with key business partners and customers, and others with whom it does business; (iv) risks related to diverting management’s or employees’ attention from the Company’s ongoing business operations; (v) the amount of costs, fees, charges or expenses resulting from the Merger; (vi) potential litigation relating to the Merger; (vii) risks that the benefits of the Merger are not realized when or as expected; (viii) continued availability of capital and financing and rating agency actions; and (ix) other risks described in the Company’s filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”), such as the risks and uncertainties described under the headings “Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements,” “Risk Factors,” “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and other sections of the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K, the Company’s Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, and in the Company’s other filings with the SEC. While the list of risks and uncertainties presented here is considered representative, no such list or discussion should be considered a complete statement of all potential risks and uncertainties. Unlisted factors may present significant additional obstacles to the realization of forward-looking statements. Consequences of material differences in results as compared with those anticipated in the forward-looking statements could include, among other things, business disruption, operational problems, financial loss, legal liability to third parties and/or similar risks, any of which could have a material adverse effect on the Company’s consolidated financial condition. The forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made. Except as required by applicable law or regulation, the Company undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

The information that can be accessed through hyperlinks or website addresses included in this communication is deemed not to be incorporated in or part of this communication.

Contacts

FOR ROVER
Investors
Walter Ruddy
(206) 715-2369
Walter.Ruddy@rover.com

Media
Kristin Sandberg
(360) 510-6365
Kristin.Sandberg@rover.com

FOR BLACKSTONE
Media
Matt Anderson
(518) 248-7310
Matthew.Anderson@blackstone.com

Mariel Seidman-Gati
(646) 482-3712
Mariel.SeidmanGati@blackstone.com

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