Gimv, together with other shareholders, has signed an agreement to sell its shares in Mackevision to Accenture. Headquartered in Germany, Mackevision is a market leader in Computer Generated Imagery (CGI). The acquisition will add state-of-the-art visualization capabilities to Accenture Interactive’s content production and digital services portfolio and strengthen its ability to create engaging customer experiences.

Mackevision (www.mackevision.com) was founded in 1994 and has a team of more than 500 employees with offices in Germany, the US, the UK, South Korea, China and Japan. They design and produce high-end 3D visualizations, animations and visual effects (VFX) for images, films and interactive applications, including sales and marketing, online product configurations, virtual showrooms and point-of-sale experiences. With clients that include global brands, Mackevision has achieved most notable success in the automotive industry – where CGI-based and ‘digital twin’ visualization has experienced some of the earliest adoption. From online vehicle configurators, to virtual dealer showrooms, to AR/VR product experiences, to batch catalog image creation, it has demonstrated what is possible with life-like virtual imagery. Mackevision has earned international acclaim for its work on the HBO Series “Game of Thrones” – for which it was awarded an Emmy.

Since Gimv’s investment in 2014, Mackevision successfully expanded globally with the opening of subsidiaries in China, South Korea and Japan but also reinforced its organization by completing the management team and by further professionalizing the company. Moreover, Mackevision realised an outstanding growth trajectory by almost tripling its revenues and by gaining key client references in all regions.

“Gimv’s effort to truly understand Mackevision, our business and our people, brought real added value during our alliance,” says Armin Pohl, CEO of Mackevision. “We are very thankful for the collaborative partnership over the last three years. We were able to implement our growth strategy and strengthen our market leadership, profitability and capacity for innovation. Our acquisition by Accenture is the next logical step in line with our strategy. Together, we are ready to take our business to the next level.”

Eric de La Vigne, Principal at Gimv, comments: “Mackevision’s management team has done a tremendous job in building the company to what it is today, having achieved a market leadership position globally and being referenced by the major automotive OEMs. We are very confident that the combination with Accenture will help the company to further grow in the automotive industry but also expand into new verticals and strongly benefit from the complementary offerings of Accenture.”

“The cooperation with the management of Mackevision can be seen as a textbook example where different success factors came together. Firstly and most essentially, there was a clear common and very ambitious goal on the development of the company. Secondly, the complementarity of both partners resulted in a fruitful collaboration, supported by a deep mutual trust. Last but not least, our co-operation has always been enriching and fun. Therefore, we are proud having achieved this together and are very happy to have found in Accenture the best next owner for Mackevision’s further development,” adds Sven Oleownik, Head of Gimv Germany.

Over the entire holding period, the investment in Mackevision generated a return well above Gimv’s long-term average return, with a positive impact on the last published equity value at 30 September 2017 of about EUR 0.7 per Gimv-share.

The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions. No further financial details on the transaction will be announced.

Red Points, the smart solution to digital content piracy and online counterfeits, has closed a $12 million Series B round led by European VC Northzone. Previous investors Mangrove and Sabadell Venture Capital also participated in the round.

Intellectual Property (IP) infringement is a huge global issue. According to the OECD, trade in counterfeit goods was valued at USD 0.5 trillion in 2015, amounting to 2.5% of global trade. In addition, the growth of digital properties has led to an expanding problem for brand owners in securing copyright protection across a proliferation of third party sites.

Barcelona-based Red Points has developed a unique cloud-based SaaS solution for IP infringement detection and removal. Founded by Josep Coll, who shortly after brought in David Casellas as co-founder and VP Sales, and with Laura Urquizu joining as CEO in 2014, the company’s easy-to-use platform enables clients to automate counterfeit and piracy identification and take down. This is achieved through an advanced keyword-monitoring system with image recognition to detect IP infringements wherever they occur. Thanks to machine-learning features, Red Points’ clients can rely on ever-evolving online protection that learns from their account history and identifies new threats to be removed. This reduces loss of sale, quality distortion, price erosion, and brand dilution for its customers.

CEO Laura Urquizu comments: “Technology is our weapon against the spread of online IP infringements worldwide. We invest heavily in cutting-edge systems for efficient and cost-effective detection, validation and enforcement of all types of online violation, and provide actionable business insights to brand owners. We currently remove more than 200,000 incidents of illegal products and content every month for brands and media companies on marketplaces, social apps and websites – with an efficiency rate of 96%”.

In 2017, Red Points achieved an impressive annual growth rate of 350%, and extended its customer base from 100 to 300 clients worldwide, with particular traction in Europe and the United States. To further leverage its strong US growth, Red Points will open an office in New York in February 2018.

Laura Urquizu adds: “With this new funding round, we will expand our global business operations in the US and Europe. Red Points is changing the game in online IP protection. We want to enable any brand, anywhere in the world, to stop the risk of piracy or counterfeiting damaging their consumers and reputation.”

Northzone’s Partner, Jessica Schultz comments: “The online counterfeit market moves very fast. There is a clear gap in the market for a technology solution that is scalable and flexible to the demands of the brand owners, and has strong relationships with the online properties where IP infringements are a problem. When we met the Red Points team, we were impressed with what Laura and her team had built. Thanks to their SaaS model and a product that is highly effective and at the leading edge of innovation, we believe they have a real competitive advantage compared to service-led offerings. Fundamentally, this is about empowering brand owners to protect what’s rightfully theirs. What Red Points has achieved to date is impressive, and the success is seen in the feedback from their current customers and global growth. Opening a US office is the next natural step, and we are excited to work with Laura and the Red Points team in building their global IP-infringement prevention solution.”

David Waroquier, partner at Mangrove Capital Partners states: “Red Points is disrupting the way piracy and counterfeiting are being detected and resolved over the internet. The combination of a robust technology and an impressive team led by Laura Urquizu provides a highly efficient solution to manage what has become a huge and persistent pain for the industry globally. Their client’s successes to date and business acceleration shows that Red Points is consolidating its leadership position IP infringement detection and removal.”

International private equity firm Cinven announces that it has agreed to sell Northgate Public Services Limited (‘NPS’ or ‘the Group’) to Tokyo Stock Exchange listed NEC Corporation (‘NEC’, TSE: 6701) for a total consideration of £475 million.

Acquired by Cinven in December 2014, NPS is a leading provider of mission-critical software and Intellectual Property-led services to the public sector in the UK, Australia and Canada. The Group is headquartered in the UK and has more than 2,000 staff worldwide.

NEC is a leader in the integration of IT and network technologies that benefit businesses and people worldwide. The acquisition by NEC is set to deliver significant growth opportunities to NPS capitalising on NEC’s biometric and artificial intelligence technology as well as its global network across North America, Asia Pacific (‘APAC’) and other regions.

David Barker, Partner at Cinven, said:

“The sale of NPS has been achieved despite a challenging UK public spending environment; NPS has been able to deliver cost-effective services that greatly improve the collaboration and efficiencies of public sector organisations.

“This transaction will enable the enlarged Group to offer a wider set of software and services to its existing clients and to expand both geographically and by sector. I look forward to working with the NPS and NEC teams to make a success of the combination.”

Steve Callaghan, Chief Executive of NPS, commented:

“Our team has worked incredibly hard over the past two years to transform the Group operationally and financially, ultimately making NPS a highly attractive asset to NEC. We see this as the beginning of our next phase of development as we capitalise on the technical capabilities and market access provided by NEC. It’s an exciting time to be part of NPS.”

Completion of the transaction is expected by the end of January 2018. The transaction follows Cinven’s other recent realisations, including CeramTec, a leading global manufacturer of high performance ceramics (October 2017), and CPA Global, a leading Intellectual Property management and technology company (August 2017).

Cinven was advised on this transaction by DC Advisory (M&A), KPMG (financial), Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer (legal), Deloitte (tax) and OC&C (commercial).

Milan, January 9, 2017 – Ardian, a world-leading private investment house, together with the Founding Partner Paolo Benini and the top management, today announces the sale of a 100% stake in RGI, EMEA leading provider of software products and technology services to the insurance industry, to Corsair Capital.

Founded in 1987, RGI specialises in software development for insurance companies, covering the entire spectrum of insurance policy management through the provision of software and advisory services. The Group has a leading position in the European market with 100 clients including the world’s most prominent insurance companies to which it also offers application maintenance services. RGI employs around 800 people in EMEA.

Following Ardian’s profit sharing policy, the employees of RGI will receive a bonus for their valuable contribution to this success story. Ardian invested in RGI in 2014 in order to support the company in its international growth to become a ‘global company’. In 2016 RGI acquired a 100% stake in Kapia Solutions SAS, a French company operating in the same sector with a focus in the Life Insurance segment.

Corsair Capital is a leading private equity firm focused on the financial services industry and will be making a long-term strategic investment in RGI, which is well-positioned for growth in the attractive insurance technology industry.

Vito Rocca, CEO of RGI, stated: “I sincerely thank Ardian and the whole team of professionals for their important support to our international growth. Throughout its history, RGI has shaped the insurance industry as a digital influencer and we are confident that Corsair Capital will continue to foster our expansion into European markets and help us continue to deliver excellent service to our customers.”

Paolo Bergonzini, Head of Ardian Expansion in Italy, commented: “We have supported with passion the development of RGI’s business over the last three years. Together we have had much success thanks to RGI leadership in the reference sector and to its top management, with whom we have always had a relationship of trust and collaboration.”

Corsair Capital Managing Director, Raja Hadji-Touma, said: “We believe that the insurance industry has an increasing need for high quality core system solutions that help insurers streamline and digitise business critical processes. RGI’s comprehensive and modular offering has been widely recognized by clients and industry participants as a leading solution in the insurance market.  We are looking forward to working hand-in-hand with RGI’s management to further develop and expand RGI’s business opportunities internationally through our long-term strategic investment.”

ABOUT ARDIAN

Ardian is a world-leading private investment house with assets of US$66bn 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 480 employees working from twelve offices across Europe (Frankfurt, Jersey, London, Luxembourg, Madrid, Milan, Paris and Zurich), North America (New York, San Francisco) and Asia (Beijing, Singapore). It manages funds on behalf of 610 clients through five pillars of investment expertise: Funds of Funds, Direct Funds, Infrastructure, Real Estate and Private Debt.

www.ardian.com

ABOUT RGI

RGI is one of the leading providers of core systems to the insurance market, providing a comprehensive and modular offering which addresses core insurance processes including policy administration, market management, and sales and distribution. With a team of 800 professionals specialised in IT and insurance, and operating from 12 offices in Italy, Ireland, France, Germany, Tunisia and Luxembourg, RGI has digitised the business of more than 100 insurance companies and 300 brokers across different geographies.

www.rgigroup.com

ABOUT CORSAIR CAPITAL

Corsair Capital LLC, which includes a highly regarded private equity platform, is a leading investor in the financial services industry. Corsair Capital has invested across a range of geographies and in substantially all of the subsectors of the broad financial services industry including wealth & asset management, payments & financial technology, banking & specialty finance, insurance, and services. Corsair Capital has completed $7.6 billion in equity investments since its founding.

INVOLVED PARTIES

ARDIAN

M&A advisor: GCA Altium
Vendor due diligence legale: Gattai, Minoli, Agostinelli & Partners
Vendor due diligence fiscale: CBA
Vendor due diligence contabile: PwC
Vendor due diligence ESG: Indefi