THE WORLD’S LARGEST INDUSTRIAL SECTOR IS UNDERGOING DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION:

• EQT acquires shares from the previous investor TA Associates and the founder of thinkproject, Thomas Bachmaier
• All previous shareholders and the management team of thinkproject commit to significant reinvestment in the company
• thinkproject will further accelerate the expansion of its market leadership in the digitalization of the AECO industry

Munich, 16 November 2020 – thinkproject, Europe’s leading SaaS provider for construction and engineering projects, today announced a new stakeholder, global investor EQT. EQT will acquire a majority stake from the previous investor TA Associates as well as from Thomas Bachmaier, founder of thinkproject. All previous shareholders and the management team of thinkproject will make a significant reinvestment in thinkproject to further accelerate the growth of the European market leader in construction intelligence solutions. thinkproject has more than 450 employees in 18 offices across 11 countries. thinkproject supports around 2,750 private and public asset owners, project developers and general contractors with users in more than 60 countries to digitally map the entire life cycle of construction projects. Reference projects that were or are being realized with the help of thinkproject’s Construction Intelligence Platform include BMW World in Munich, the Fehmarn Belt Tunnel between Germany and Denmark, Elbe Philharmonic Hall in Hamburg, Hong Kong International Airport, and more. The transaction is expected to be closing by the end of the year, subject to regulatory approvals.

World’s largest industry far behind in digitization
With 13 percent of global GDP, the construction industry is the largest industrial sector in the world. In terms of the degree of digitalization and an annual productivity growth rate of only 1 percent, the industry is lagging. Global initiatives to completely digitize the entire life cycle of construction projects, from designing and building to operating, will lead to fundamental disruption in the construction industry. thinkproject already offers the AECO (Architecture, Engineering, Construction and Owner-operated) industry SaaS (Software as a Service) solutions to avoid time and cost overruns, thus minimizing these considerable risks in the industry.

Florian Funk, Partner at EQT Partners and Investment Advisor for EQT, said: “thinkproject has delivered an impressive growth story through organic growth and strategic acquisitions in a highly fragmented market. The digitalization of the construction industry offers enormous growth opportunities, we are only at the beginning of a disruptive change. EQT will use its entire platform, including its digital and sustainability expertise, its local presence, its domain expertise and its network to further accelerate thinkproject’s expansion. We look forward to working with TA Associates and thinkproject’s management team to create a global champion who will lead the way and pioneer the digitization of the world’s largest industry.”

Morgan Seigler, Managing Director at TA Associates, said: “Since our investment four years ago, the thinkproject management team has demonstrated an exceptional commitment to the company’s strategic growth initiatives and customers. We believe that these efforts have helped thinkproject transform into Europe’s leading SaaS provider of construction intelligence solutions for the AECO industry. We are thrilled to welcome EQT as our new partner, and we look forward to working with them alongside thinkproject’s management team during the company’s next phase of growth.”

Gareth Burton, CEO of thinkproject, added: “We are excited to continue the next phase of our journey with our new majority shareholder EQT and with the continued support and commitment from TA Associates. Both have deep enterprise software experience, which make them ideal partners to further accelerate our growth. The digitalization of the construction industry is one of the most exciting projects in the global economy. thinkproject is a leader in AECO software, a fast-growing market where we continue to win market share. This is where we believe that we can help our customers create the most value, by enabling them to capitalise on the promise of digital transformation in our industry, gaining insights and knowledge from their data across the entire design, build and operate lifecycle. thinkproject’s proposition in the market is compelling and differentiated, which, when combined with the market opportunity, provides all the right ingredients for continued growth”.

Arma Partners acted as exclusive financial advisor to thinkproject.

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About thinkproject

Based in Munich, Germany, thinkproject is a global leader in construction intelligence, unlocking the potential of people and information through digital technologies to enable better industry results. It is the leading Europe-based construction and engineering SaaS provider with 2,750 customers, more than 250,000 users in over 60 countries, and over 450 employees.

More info: www.thinkproject.com

About EQT
EQT is a purpose-driven global investment organization with more than EUR 75 billion in raised capital and over EUR 46 billion in assets under management across 16 active funds. EQT funds have portfolio companies in Europe, Asia-Pacific and North America with total sales of more than EUR 27 billion and approximately 159,000 employees. EQT works with portfolio companies to achieve sustainable growth, operational excellence and market leadership.

More info: www.eqtgroup.com

About TA Associates
TA Associates is a leading global growth private equity firm. Focused on targeted sectors within five industries – technology, healthcare, financial services, consumer and business services – TA invests in profitable, growing companies with opportunities for sustained growth, and has invested in more than 500 companies around the world. Investing as either a majority or minority investor, TA employs a long-term approach, utilizing its strategic resources to help management teams build lasting value in high quality growth companies. TA has raised $33.5 billion in capital since its founding in 1968 and is committing to new investments at the pace of over $3 billion per year. The firm’s more than 100 investment professionals are based in Boston, Menlo Park, London, Mumbai and Hong Kong.

Press contact: Fabian Pecht / Samet Simsek, Havana Orange GmbH, thinkproject@havanaorange.de, +49 (89) 92 131 51 – 78/70