Paris, 3 October 2018 – Reaffirming its ambitious long-term growth and value-creation strategy, Altamir has decided to expand its investment policy and make commitments to two new funds:  Apax Development, launched by Apax Partners SAS in the small-cap segment in France; and Apax Digital, launched by Apax Partners LLP, which invests worldwide in technology companies.

Altamir’s objective is to seize new investment opportunities in dynamic markets, while capitalising on the competitive advantages offered by Apax Partners: sector expertise and an ability to create value through digital transformation, acquisitions and internationalisation.

After consulting with Altamir’s Supervisory Board, the Board of Directors of Altamir Gérance decided to commit €15m to the Apax Development fund and $5m to the Apax Digital fund, keeping in mind that these amounts will be invested over the next 3-4 years.

Apax Development

Following the 2017 acquisition of EPF Partners, a renowned specialist in the small-cap segment in France, Apax Partners SAS is now launching the Apax Development fund, for which it aims to raise €225m. France’s small-cap segment is a large, dynamic market, attractive in terms of price and corporate growth potential.

The investment strategy consists in taking majority stakes in companies with an enterprise value of up to €100m in Apax’s four sectors of specialisation: TMT, Services, Consumer and Healthcare. This strategy complements that of the other funds managed by Apax Partners SAS, which invest in companies with a valuation in excess of €100m.

In March 2018, Apax Development made its first investment in Eric Bompard, the European leader in cashmere.

Apax Digital

Drawing on more than 30 years of experience and deep investment expertise in the technology and telecommunications sectors, Apax Partners LLP created a dedicated team in 2017, which raised $1.1bn for the Apax Digital fund.

The investment strategy is to take minority or majority stakes in enterprise technology and consumer internet companies that are smaller than companies in which the Apax VIII LP and Apax IX LP funds invest and are located in Apax Partners LLP’s geographical scope, i.e. Europe, North America, Brazil, China, India and Israel.

Apax Digital currently has four investments. They include two consumer internet companies, US company Moda Operandi (leading luxury fashion e-commerce platform) and Chinese company So Young (aesthetic medical treatments marketplace), and two enterprise tech companies, US company Wizeline (high-end software product development) and Solita (one of Finland’s largest digital transformation services companies).

Portfolio reporting

Given the smaller size of the investments that will be made via Apax Development and Apax Digital, Altamir’s investment in each fund will appear as a single line in Altamir’s portfolio, without the detail of underlying investments realised by these funds.

About Altamir

Altamir is a listed private equity company (Euronext Paris-B, ticker: LTA) founded in 1995 and with nearly €800m in assets under management. Its objective is to provide shareholders with long term capital appreciation and regular dividends by investing in a diversified portfolio of private equity investments.

Altamir’s investment policy is to invest via and with the funds managed by Apax Partners SAS and Apax Partners LLP, two leading private equity firms that take majority or lead positions in buyouts and growth capital transactions and seek ambitious value creation objectives.

In this way, Altamir provides access to a diversified portfolio of fast-growing companies across Apax’s sectors of specialisation (TMT, Consumer, Healthcare, Services) and in complementary market segments (mid-sized companies in French-speaking European countries and larger companies across Europe, North America and key emerging markets).

Altamir derives certain tax benefits from its status as an SCR (“Société de Capital Risque”). As such, Altamir is exempt from corporate tax and the company’s investors may benefit from tax exemptions, subject to specific holding-period and dividend-reinvestment conditions.

For more information: www.altamir.fr

Contact

Agathe Heinrich

Tel: +33 1 53 65 01 74

E-mail: investors@altamir.fr

1 October 2018

Apax Partners is pleased to announce it has won the inaugural “Editors’ Award” (in America) for GlobalLogic at the Private Equity International Operational Excellence Awards 2018. The awards celebrate best practice in value creation across the private equity industry.

GlobalLogic is a leader in digital product engineering services helping blue chip clients design, build, and deliver their digital products.

The Apax Funds acquired GlobalLogic Inc. in 2013, seeking to scale the business to provide engineering expertise across diversified industries on a truly global scale. Under the Funds’ ownership, and together with management, the company invested in sales and marketing capabilities to both seek out and develop areas of expertise. Through both organic growth and M&A, the company expanded into numerous new geographies across the world, including establishing engineering centres across Europe and Asia. In addition, Apax’s Operational Excellence Practice (“OEP”) supported the business in several ways, including redefining their internal IT strategy and leading a finance improvement initiative. The result of these initiatives saw an acceleration in growth as both revenue and EBITDA more than doubled as GlobalLogic solidified its position as a leading global product engineering company.

The Apax Funds sold their stake in GlobalLogic across two tranches: half was sold in January 2017; and the remaining stake was sold in August 2018 in a transaction which valued GlobalLogic at over $2bn.

INVESTOR AB (publ) intends to invite noteholders of its outstanding EUR 600,000,000 4.875 per cent. notes due 2021 (ISIN: XS0466670345) (the “Notes”) to tender any and all of their Notes for purchase for cash (the “Offer”). The intended purchase price is expected to include a customary premium.

In conjunction with the Offer, Investor AB is considering a potential issue of new notes, subject to market conditions, under its EUR 5,000,000,000 Debt Issuance Programme.
Part of the proceeds from the new issue will be used for purchasing the Notes. The rationale of the Offer and the new issue is thus to proactively manage upcoming debt repayments and to extend the average debt maturity profile of Investor AB. Notes repurchased pursuant to the Offer will be cancelled and will not be re-issued or re-sold.

Please note that further information, which among other things will set out certain important restrictions, regarding the intended Offer is expected to be made available shortly and will be found on: http://www.londonstockexchange.com/exchange/news/market-news/market-news-home.html

This information is, with respect to Investor AB’s outstanding Notes, such information that Investor AB is obliged to make public pursuant to the EU Market Abuse Regulation. The information was submitted for publication, through the agency of the contact person set out below, at 09.30 CET on September 4, 2018.

Waterland Private Equity expands its Swiss activities with an office in Zurich. This enables Waterland to get closer to Swiss entrepreneurs and local markets. The team will be working closely with the offices in Munich and Hamburg, and will help to continue fostering international growth while leveraging synergies between the locations.

“Switzerland is a highly interesting market, and we are a very attractive growth partner for mid-sized companies in the region. This is demonstrated by our current engagement in Tineo – previously Quickline Business,” says Jörg Dreisow, Managing Partner at Waterland. “With our buy & build experience, financial strength, European office network and new proximity, we will be able to help Swiss companies expanding their potential, realising their growth targets and thereby creating added value for SMEs.”

Alongside its current investment Tineo, Waterland has already successfully engaged in Swiss transactions in the past, for example, in the establishment of Switzerland’s largest private nursing home operator Seniocare.

Potential for growth at Tineo

Tineo is an integrated enterprise solution provider of data centres, fibre optic connections, high-speed internet and VoIP services with state-of-the-art infrastructure and a broad customer base. “The independent company is in an excellent position to intensify the pursuit of its organic and inorganic growth strategy in the fragmented Swiss market. With its clear focus on the enterprise segment, Tineo will be able to generate substantial added value for its customers,” explains Dr Gregor Hengst, Principal at Waterland. “Further, there are many other interesting, well-positioned companies with excellent products that could benefit from a partnership with Waterland.”

A new financing model of the EIB and Tesi will invest EUR 100 million to growth-oriented SMEs and innovative mid-cap companies over the next eight years.

The European Investment Bank (EIB) and the investment company Tesi (Finnish Industry Investment) have agreed on a financing programme to channel funding in support of the growth of Finnish companies. The operation is guaranteed under the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI), central pillar of the Investment Plan for Europe of the Juncker Commission. The financing to be managed by Tesi targets a total of EUR 100 million to promising companies, equally split between the EIB and Tesi. Furthermore, the funding is structured to be complemented by private sector co-investments with another EUR 100 m, totalling EUR 200 m of new investments to the benefit of SMEs and mid-caps.

This financial mechanism supplements EIB funding in the form of equity type loans and equity financing by Tesi. The financing of EUR 15–30 million per company is targeted to growth-oriented SMEs and innovative mid-cap companies. In addition, each financing round must involve at least the same amount in private capital. This may be used e.g. to boost growth, internationalisation and product development.

“Finland has succeeded very well in making use of the financial instruments offered by the EU, which is also our Government’s objective. This applies, in particular, to funding from EFSI. The financing programme of Tesi and EIB published today is the first of its kind adopted in the Nordics. It will add to the available sources of risk finance and remove financial bottlenecks faced by growth companies. The programme will significantly boost the growth of innovative growth companies and mid-cap companies that are vital for our national economy and employment,” says Minister of Economic Affairs Mika Lintilä.

“The new financial model enables larger financing rounds than before and diversifies the financing structures of growth-oriented companies. It boosts the growth and internationalisation of companies and improves their ability to make significant investments. We are very happy to partner with EIB and channel equity financing of the EFSI to Finnish companies,” says CEO of Tesi Jan Sasse.

Competitiveness to European companies

Traditionally, the EIB has to large extent offered financing to companies in the form of loans and guarantees, which means that for EIB this is a rather new type of financing. Tesi is EIB’s first partner in the Nordics that channels EFSI-guaranteed financing to companies as direct capital investments.

”I think this operation is one to be proud of.” added EIB vice-president Alexander Stubb. “The platform is designed to fill-in market gaps in the Finnish equity investment landscape, which hinders companies’ development and internationalisation. Two of the priorities under the investment schemes supported by the EU are to support SMEs and to work together with National Promotional Institutions, so I believe we hit the bull’s-eye here.”

The European Fund for Strategic Investment EFSI is part of the Investment Plan for Europe, the Juncker plan. The aim is to secure the access to funding, investments and economic growth for European SMEs.

Jyrki Katainen, Commission Vice-President responsible for Jobs, Growth, Investment and Competitiveness, said: “The Investment Plan’s European Fund for Strategic Investments was designed to facilitate small and medium-sized enterprises gain access to finance they need to expand, innovate and create jobs. So far, around 700,000 small businesses across Europe are expected to benefit. I am delighted that, with today’s transaction, the Investment Plan will allow Finnish firms to benefit from EUR 100 million in financing opportunities.”

Press contacts:
EIB: Tim Smit, +352 691 286423, t.smit@eib.org – Twitter #EIB60 and Instagram
Tesi: Jan Sasse, CEO, +358 40 861 9151, jan.sasse@tesi.fi
European Commission: Siobhan Millbright, +32 22957361, Siobhan.millbright@ec.europa.eu – Twitter #investEU
MEE: Jukka Ihanus, +358 50 463 9929 and Jyrki Orpana, +358 50 409 4457, Twitter @Tem_uutiset

Background information:

The European Investment Bank (EIB) is the long-term lending institution of the European Union owned by its Member States. It makes long-term finance available for sound investment in order to contribute towards EU policy goals. In 2017, the Bank made available in excess of EUR 1.3 billion in loans for Finnish projects.

About The Investment Plan for Europe
The Investment Plan for Europe focuses on strengthening European investments to create jobs and growth. It does so by making smarter use of new and existing financial resources, removing obstacles to investment, and providing visibility and technical assistance to investment projects. The European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI) is the central pillar of the Juncker Plan. It provides a first loss guarantee, allowing the EIB to invest in more, often riskier, projects. So far, the projects and agreements approved for financing under the EFSI are expected to mobilise EUR 335 billion in investments and support around 700 000 SMEs across all 28 Member States. Find the latest EFSI figures by sector and by country here, or see the FAQs.

SME Small- and medium-sized enterprise
Enterprise which has fewer than 250 employees and an annual turnover not exceeding EUR 50 million or an annual balance-sheet total not exceeding EUR 43 million.

Mid-cap 
Company which has fewer than 3,000 employees and an annual turnover not exceeding EUR 300 million.