Herkules Private Equity Fund III (“HPEF III” or “Herkules”) is pleased to announce the sale of Puzzel AS (“Puzzel”). On 12 April 2019, HPEF III entered into an agreement to sell Puzzel, a leading European provider of cloud-based contact center software solutions, to Marlin Equity Partners.
During the Herkules ownership, Puzzel was transformed into a SaaS business. Significant investments were made into the software platform. Today, the company has a comprehensive multi-channel CCaaS solution that is both scalable and flexible, and designed to support contact centers of all sizes. The company combines its omni-channel technology with artificial intelligence capabilities to provide comprehensive, end-to-end customer interaction solutions in an age of digitization.As part of the Herkules value creation plan, Sales & Marketing was strengthened and Puzzel has experienced strong software growth across Europe that has been fueled by feedback and advocacy from market-leading customers.
In 2018, Puzzel was recognized as a Challenger in the Gartner Magic Quadrant report for Contact Center as a Service in Western Europe for the fourth consecutive year given its strong growth, functional capabilities, strengths in standards and compliance, customer service and support.Puzzel is headquartered in Oslo, Norway, with offices in six European markets including the U.K and the company serves more than 900 customers across 40 countries.“Puzzel’s leading position in the market, knowledgeable employees and pioneering technology platform positions them well to continue to successfully scale their business,” says Gert Munthe, Partner at Herkules Capital.
The exit process was advised by Carnegie Investment Bank, Wiersholm, PwC, and BCG. It was strong interest from both Industrial buyers and financial sponsors.
