Graphite Capital’s portfolio company nGAGE has acquired Henlow Recruitment Group, a rapidly growing QuantTech recruitment business operating in the UK, Europe and the Middle East. nGAGE’s fast-growing international operations and highly automated central service centre provide a strong platform to drive future growth in Henlow’s existing markets and increase penetration in the US market.
Altas Partners announced today that it has signed an agreement to acquire a significant interest in Hub International Limited (Hub), a leading full-service global insurance brokerage.
Headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, Hub International provides property and casualty, life and health, employee benefits, investment and risk management products and services. With more than 11,000 employees in offices located throughout North America, Hub’s vast network of specialists provides peace of mind on what matters most by protecting clients through unrelenting advocacy and tailored insurance solutions.
The transaction is expected to close before the end of 2018 and is subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals.
For more information, visit https://www.hubinternational.com/en-CA/
Toronto, Ontario and Dallas, Texas, October 17, 2018 – Onex Corporation (“Onex”) (TSX: ONEX) today announced it acquired a 42% interest in Ryan, LLC (“Ryan”) for $317 million, which values the company at $1.1 billion.
Headquartered in Dallas, Texas, Ryan is a leading global tax services and software provider with an integrated suite of federal, state, local, and international tax services, and is the largest firm in the world dedicated exclusively to business taxes. Its multi-disciplinary team of more than 2,200 professionals and associates serves over 14,000 clients, including many of the world’s most prominent companies.
“Onex is the ideal partner for us given its strong track record and focus on growing companies and supporting the management teams in which it invests,” said G. Brint Ryan, Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Ryan. “In recent years, we’ve significantly expanded our business, adding new service lines and growing our premium client roster. With the backing of Onex, we’ll continue this momentum to increase the value we bring to our clients.”
“Ryan is a trusted advisor to many of the world’s most respected organizations. This is a direct reflection of the caliber and values of Ryan’s people who are completely aligned with the success of their clients and work relentlessly on their behalf,” said Amir Motamedi, a Managing Director with Onex. “We’re delighted to be in business with Brint and his team and look forward to the years ahead.”
Onex invested $86 million of equity as a limited partner in Onex Partners IV. Onex expects to begin accruing fees on Onex Partners V, a $7.15 billion fund raised in 2017, once its previously announced acquisition of KidsFoundation closes later this year.
BofA Merrill Lynch acted as financial advisor and Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP acted as legal advisor to Onex. Baker & McKenzie LLP acted as legal advisor to Ryan.
About Onex
Onex is one of the oldest and most successful private equity firms. Through its Onex Partners and ONCAP private equity funds, Onex acquires and builds high-quality businesses in partnership with talented management teams. At Onex Credit, Onex manages and invests in leveraged loans, collateralized loan obligations and other credit securities. Onex has more than $33 billion of assets under management, including $6.8 billion of Onex proprietary capital, in private equity and credit securities. With offices in Toronto, New York, New Jersey and London, Onex and the team are collectively the largest investors across Onex’ platforms.
Onex’ businesses have assets of $48 billion, generate annual revenues of $31 billion and employ approximately 211,000 people worldwide. Onex shares trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the stock symbol ONEX. For more information on Onex, visit its website at www.onex.com. Onex’ security filings can also be accessed at www.sedar.com.
About Ryan
Ryan, an award-winning global tax services and software provider, is the largest Firm in the world dedicated exclusively to business taxes. With global headquarters in Dallas, Texas, the Firm provides an integrated suite of federal, state, local, and international tax services on a multi-jurisdictional basis, including tax recovery, consulting, advocacy, compliance, and technology services. Ryan is a six-time recipient of the International Service Excellence Award from the Customer Service Institute of America (CSIA) for its commitment to world-class client service. Empowered by the dynamic myRyan work environment, which is widely recognized as the most innovative in the tax services industry, Ryan’s multi-disciplinary team of more than 2,200 professionals and associates serves over 14,000 clients in more than 50 countries, including many of the world’s most prominent Global 5000 companies. “Ryan” and “Firm” refer to the global organizational network and may refer to one or more of the member firms of Ryan International, each of which is a separate legal entity. For more information on Ryan, visit its website at www.ryan.com.
This news release may contain forward-looking statements that are based on Onex and Ryan management’s current expectations and are subject to known and unknown uncertainties and risks, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated or implied by such forward-looking statements. Onex and Ryan are under no obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained herein should material facts change due to new information, future events or otherwise.
Onex
Emilie Blouin
Director, Investor Relations
+1.416.362.7711
Ryan
Patty Sullivan
Director, Communications
+1.469.399.4721 or patty.sullivan@ryan.com
Questel, one of the world’s largest online intellectual property (IP) service providers, has acquired MultiLing, a global leader in patent translations, with the support of its financial investors IK Investment Partners and Raise.
Founded in 1988 and based in Utah, MultiLing leverages their advanced technology platform to provide the highest quality patent translation services in the most cost-effective manner. Led by its founder, Michael Sneddon, and supported by its 235 employees across eight countries, MultiLing serves 350 clients globally (mostly large corporations) in their process of international filing of patents.
This acquisition is part of Questel’s strategy to build a one-stop-shop offering. MultiLing’s translation activities are highly complementary and synergetic to Questel’s ITIP Foreign Filing activities. The enlarged group reaches an annual turnover of c. MUSD 100 and 500 employees worldwide. This consolidates its rank among the global leaders of the IP industry.
“MultiLing is the right fit for Questel both culturally and strategically,” says Charles Besson, Questel CEO. “Translation is a key part in the foreign filing process where Questel became the world leader in 2017.”
“This is the combination of two recognized players with more than 80 years of cumulated experienced in IP,” adds Michael Sneddon, CEO and founder of Multiling. “Our unique technology will also be used to improve the translated Questel patent databases which are searched and analysed in Orbit, its online software platform”.
“The transformational acquisition of MultiLing is a key milestone in the equity story of Questel and we look forward to partnering with MultiLing’s management team” said Dan Soudry, Managing Partner at IK Investment Partners.
For further questions, please contact:
IK Investment Partners
Dan Soudry, Managing Partner
Phone: +33 1 44 43 06 60
Mikaela Hedborg
Director Communications & ESG
Phone: +44 77 87 573 566
mikaela.hedborg@ikinvest.com
About Questel
Questel is one of the world’s leading intellectual property management companies, delivering complete software and service solutions for each stage of the innovation lifecycle. And, for both software and services, Questel leverages a comprehensive and unique collection of intellectual property and scientific databases.
With recent acquisitions of ITIP and MultiLing, Questel now delivers the world’s largest and highest quality services for foreign filing of patent applications and translations. These services, when added to Questel’s e-learning and general IP consulting, make Questel the final destination to fulfill the most critical IP and Innovation needs. For more information, please visit www.questel.com
About MultiLing
MultiLing is the world’s premier provider of intellectual property language translation and support with eight fully operational offices around the world and experts who can translate in more than 200 language pairs
New York, October 1, 2018 – A consortium led by Blackstone (NYSE: BX) today announced that private equity funds managed by Blackstone (“Blackstone”) – together with Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (“CPPIB”) and GIC – have completed the previously announced partnership transaction with Thomson Reuters (TSX / NYSE: TRI) for Thomson Reuters’ Financial & Risk (F&R) business. The Blackstone-led consortium now owns 55 percent of the equity in a new corporation created to hold the F&R business, and Thomson Reuters retains a 45 percent equity stake, at an overall valuation of US$20 billion. The Financial & Risk business is now known as Refinitiv.
Refinitiv is one of the world’s largest providers of financial markets data and infrastructure, providing leading data and insights, trading platforms, and open data and technology platforms that connect communities of trading, investment, financial and corporate professionals. It also provides leading regulatory and risk management solutions to help customers anticipate and manage risk and compliance.
Martin Brand, a Senior Managing Director at Blackstone, said: “We are pleased to close this landmark partnership transaction with Thomson Reuters. Blackstone is excited to invest in Refinitiv to pursue a business plan focused on accelerating growth through innovation, in partnership with Refinitiv’s customers.”
Eli Nagler, a Managing Director at Blackstone, added: “We are excited to complete this transaction and look forward to supporting Refinitiv’s growth and continued technology advancements in the years ahead.”
Through this investment and carve out of F&R by the Blackstone-led consortium, the new Refinitiv business expects to invest in a number of key areas to serve its customer base, which currently includes 40,000 institutions in over 190 countries. This includes further investing in content coverage, AI and analytics across its open data platforms Elektron and Eikon for buy-side, trading, wealth and banking customers. It also plans to invest in enhanced capabilities for its leading platforms for trading, as well as in indices, risk management, and fighting financial crime.
“This is a unique moment in our 160-year history as the Financial & Risk business of Thomson Reuters now steps forward as Refinitiv,” said David Craig, CEO of Refinitiv. “We firmly believe that efficient, transparent and trusted markets are good for all and that Refinitiv’s role is at the heart of this, providing access to clean and consistent data on a global scale. With the backing of our investors, Refinitiv will continue to deliver the critical data, insights and open technology infrastructure that the market has come to expect while driving progress for our customers across trading, risk, banking, wealth and investment management and in areas such as financial crime and ESG investment. We look forward to exciting times ahead.”
Canson Capital Partners, BofA Merrill Lynch, Citigroup, and J.P. Morgan are acting as financial advisors to the Blackstone-led consortium, and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP is acting as legal counsel to the Blackstone-led consortium.
About Blackstone
Blackstone is one of the world’s leading investment firms. We seek to create positive economic impact and long-term value for our investors, the companies we invest in, and the communities in which we work. We do this by using extraordinary people and flexible capital to help companies solve problems. Our asset management businesses, with approximately $440 billion in assets under management, include investment vehicles focused on private equity, real estate, public debt and equity, non-investment grade credit, real assets and secondary funds, all on a global basis. Further information is available at www.blackstone.com. Follow Blackstone on Twitter @Blackstone.
About CPPIB
Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) is a professional investment management organization that invests the funds not needed by the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) to pay current benefits on behalf of 20 million contributors and beneficiaries. In order to build a diversified portfolio of CPP assets, CPPIB invests in public equities, private equities, real estate, infrastructure and fixed income instruments. Headquartered in Toronto, with offices in Hong Kong, London, Luxembourg, Mumbai, New York City, São Paulo and Sydney, CPPIB is governed and managed independently of the Canada Pension Plan and at arm’s length from governments. At June 30, 2018, the CPP Fund totalled C$366.6 billion. For more information about CPPIB, please visit www.cppib.com or follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook or Twitter.
About GIC
GIC is a leading global investment firm established in 1981 to manage Singapore’s foreign reserves. A disciplined long-term value investor, GIC is uniquely positioned for investments across a wide range of asset classes, including equities, fixed income, private equity, real estate and infrastructure. In private equity, GIC invests through funds as well as directly in companies, partnering with its fund managers and management teams to help world class businesses achieve their objectives. GIC has investments in over 40 countries and has been investing in emerging markets for more than two decades. Headquartered in Singapore, GIC employs over 1,500 people across 10 offices in key financial cities worldwide. For more information on GIC, please visit www.gic.com.sg.
About Refinitiv
Refinitiv is one of the world’s largest providers of financial markets data and infrastructure, serving over 40,000 institutions in over 190 countries. It provides leading data and insights, trading platforms, and open data and technology platforms that connect a thriving global financial markets community – driving performance in trading, investment, wealth management, regulatory compliance, market data management, enterprise risk and fighting financial crime. www.refinitiv.com
Blackstone Media Contact
Matt Anderson
Senior Vice President, Global Public Affairs
T: 212 390 2472
matthew.anderson@blackstone.com
CPPIB Media Contact
Darryl Konynenbelt
Director, Global Media Relations
416-972-8389
dkonynenbelt@cppib.com
GIC Media Contacts
Ms Mah Lay Choon
Senior Vice President, Communications
Tel: +65 6889 6841
E-mail: mahlaychoon@gic.com.sg
Ms Wendy Wong
Senior Vice President, Communications
Tel: +65 6889 6928
E-mail: wendywong@gic.com.sg
Refinitiv Media Contacts
Kate Reid
Head of Communications
T: +44 20 7542 2215
kate.reid@refinitiv.com
Lem Brewster
Director, Communications
T: +1 646-223-5147
lemuel.brewster@refinitiv.com
New York and Columbia, Maryland, 24 September 2018:Funds advised by Apax Partners (the “Apax Funds”) today announced the acquisition of Authority Brands, a leading North American franchisor of home services, from PNC Riverarch Capital. The financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Founded in 1996 and headquartered in Columbia, Maryland, Authority Brands is the parent company of two home services franchisors: The Cleaning Authority, which provides residential cleaning services to over 100,000 customers across the U.S.; and Homewatch CareGivers, which delivers at-home services including elderly, disabled and after-surgery care, as well as help for those living with dementia. Authority Brands operates over 300 franchises in the U.S., Canada and Latin America, supporting them to grow through the provision of marketing, technology and operational support.
The acquisition by the Apax Funds will help the company accelerate its growth, both organically and through strategic acquisitions, as it looks to expand internationally and offer additional services. It also presents digitization opportunities as Apax intends to leverage its significant experience in this area to help Authority Brands provide enhanced software, digital marketing and systems to support its franchise partners. Under the terms of the acquisition, Authority Brands’ management team, led by Chief Executive Officer Rob Weddle, will remain in place.
Rob Weddle, CEO of Authority Brands, said: “We are very excited about the experience and depth the Apax team brings to this new partnership. Authority Brands has a vision to become the leading franchisor of home services by providing unparalleled business ownership opportunity to its franchisees and delivering first-class service to consumers. We are confident Apax shares in this vision and expect a bright future for Authority Brands.”
Ashish Karandikar, Partner at Apax Partners, said: “We have been attracted to the home services market for some time, due to its size, fragmentation and attractive growth rate. We have been impressed by Authority Brands’ established franchise network, experienced management, and strong track record of growth.
“We look forward to working with management and all franchise partners to accelerate growth, both organically and through M&A, as well as to leverage Apax’s significant experience in international expansion and digitization.”
About Authority Brands
Headquartered in Columbia, Maryland, Authority Brands, LLC is the parent company of two leading home service franchisors, The Cleaning Authority and Homewatch CareGivers. Together, these brands provide recurring home services through more than 300 franchise locations in the U.S., Canada and Latin America. Authority Brands is dedicated to supporting individual franchisee growth through providing strong marketing, technology and operational support.
About Apax Partners
Apax Partners is a leading global private equity advisory firm. Over its more than 35-year history, Apax Partners has raised and advised funds with aggregate commitments of over $50 billion. The Apax Funds invest in companies across four global sectors of Tech & Telco, Services, Healthcare and Consumer. These funds provide long-term equity financing to build and strengthen world-class companies. For more information see: www.apax.com.
Media Contacts:
For Authority Brands
Nikki Rode, Fish Consulting | +1 954-893-9150 | nrode@fish-consulting.com
For Apax Partners
Global Media: Andrew Kenny, Apax | +44 20 7 872 6371 | andrew.kenny@apax.com
USA Media: Todd Fogarty, Kekst | +1 212-521 4854 | todd.fogarty@kekst.com
UK Media: Matthew Goodman / James Madsen, Greenbrook | +44 20 7952 2000 | apax@greenbrookpr.com
Senior team has fully reinvested to further company’s mission to drive innovation in the legal marketplace
CVC Capital Partners (“CVC”) today announced that funds managed by CVC will make a majority interest investment in UnitedLex, the pioneer of enterprise legal services for the world’s leading corporations, law firms, and universities. The transaction is subject to customary regulatory approvals. The UnitedLex senior leadership team has fully reinvested in the transaction to further the company’s mission to lead the revolution of the practice of law and legal services delivery and to drive innovation in the legal marketplace.
The investment represents one of the largest transactions to date with any legal services provider. It comes on the heels of UnitedLex closing deals worth $1.5 billion in total contract value over the last 18 months.
Founded in 2006, UnitedLex provides enterprise legal services to its clients, which include more than 25% of the Global Fortune 500, across 18 countries. UnitedLex’s year-over-year growth has been purely organic, enabling a singularity of culture focused on delivering significant client value and providing its professionals a unique home to extend the current boundaries of client solutions through the “art of the possible.” The company has created a one of a kind legal services platform: a consulting, technology, and resource solutions company; an international law firm constellation; and a law firm resource platform – all focused on the areas of contracts and commercial transactions, litigation, intellectual property, consulting, and compliance.
Daniel Reed, CEO of UnitedLex, said, “I am very pleased to welcome CVC as our partner in what marks an important milestone in UnitedLex’s evolution. As Europe’s largest private equity firm with current and past portfolio companies such as Breitling, AlixPartners, and Formula 1, CVC has the geographic reach, sector expertise, scale, and significant capital that will undoubtedly help us expand our technology development and provide clients with unique financial structuring as part of our industry-changing solutions.”
Siddharth Patel, Senior Managing Director at CVC, commented, “UnitedLex has a multi-billion-dollar opportunity ahead of it, with legal services being one the few remaining verticals that is early in the penetration curve of technology, consulting, and solution delivery. UnitedLex continues to innovate with game-changing engagements with the world’s leading companies. Now is the perfect time for us to provide significant capital to enhance its growth and scale, the beginnings of which we’ve already seen in its impressive financial performance, customer wins, and pipeline of opportunities.”
Amit Soni, Managing Director at CVC, added, “We are excited to partner with UnitedLex and its excellent management team and to provide necessary capital to pursue both strategic acquisitions in a consolidating space, as well as transformational client wins. We have known the company for many years and have been impressed by its consistent track record of growth and ability to design and deliver unique solutions in the enterprise legal space.”
Folmer Equity Fund II Ky, a fund managed by Folmer Management Oy, is making an
investment in marine sector by acquiring a majority stake in Europlan Engineering Oy. As
part of the transaction, Hermann´s Finland Oy, a company specialized in demanding interior
solutions, becomes a wholly-owned subsidiary of Europlan Engineering group.
Europlan Engineering Oy, founded in 1990, is a leading Finnish marine technology project management company.
The core business of Europlan Engineering Oy consists of challenging turn-key projects for both domestic and
international clients. The company provides solutions for global cruise ships, superyachts and construction industry.
The company’s project management capabilities as well as its flexible network of subcontractors enable large-scale
global projects. The estimated revenue of the company for the current fiscal is ca. 55 MEUR.
The current owner and Managing Director of the company, Jari Savola, will continue as the Managing Director and
minority shareholder of the company with 40% equity stake. Moreover, the previous owner of Hermann´s Finland Oy,
Heikki Nieminen, will stay with the company.
“I wanted a partner that will ambitiously pursue the company to the next level through all aspects of the company. With
the large global orders in the backlog, we need particularly high standards as a company. We look forward continuing
to exceed the expectation levels of our clients”, says Jari Savola, The Managing Director of Europlan Engineering Oy.
“The prevailing megatrend of growth within the cruise ship industry provides us tailwind. Moreover, considering the
business climate, the opportunity to expand into new business segments is attractive”, says Sami Tuominen, the
Managing Director and Partner of Folmer. “Europlan Engineering Oy consists of group of experienced special talents
of the Finnish marine industry. Hermann´s Finland Oy offers exceptional production engineering capabilities. Together
the companies make a globally-recognized pioneer”, adds Johanna Marin, the Investment Director and Partner of
Folmer.
For more information:
Managing Director, Partner Sami Tuominen, Folmer Management Oy, tel. +358 40 708 4905,
sami.tuominen@folmer.fi
Managing Director, Europlan Engineering Oy, jari.savola@europlan.fi
Europlan Engineering Oy is a project management company providing its domestic and global clients with turn-key
solutions. The company services its clients within global cruise ship, superyacht and construction industry.
www.europlan.fi
Hermann´s Finland Oy is a production engineering company that specializes in demanding interior solutions. The
key competencies of the company are craft work, creative design and know-how in modern manufacturing methods.
The production of the company is built on IT-based design techniques and rigorous modelling. www.hermanns.fi
Folmer Management Oy is a Finnish private equity company investing in Finnish SMEs. Folmer creates value through
active development work. Folmer provides companies with support and professional experience – a requirement for
success. www.folmer.fi
Folmer Equity Fund II Ky benefits from the support of the European Union under the Equity Facility for Growth
established under Regulation (EU) No 1287/2013 of the European Parliament and the Council establishing a
Programme for the Competitiveness of Enterprises and small and medium enterprises (COSME) (2014-2020).
Businesses can contact selected financial institutions in their country to access EU financing: www.access2finance.eu.
CapMan Growth Fund successfully exits Fluido Oy
– the Finnish growth company becomes part of an international technology frontrunner
CapMan Growth Fund has, together with its other owners, signed an agreement on selling its holdings of Fluido Oy, the leading Salesforce partner in the Nordics, to Infosys, a global technology company. Fluido will continue to operate as an independent company. The acquisition is the first exit for the CapMan Growth Fund, established in 2017. The fund held a 29 per cent stake in Fluido, with the investment providing significant returns.
Fluido is one the largest and longest tenured independent Salesforce Platinum Consulting Partners in Europe. The company provides consulting, development and integration services tailored to clients’ needs, supporting clients in digitalising their business and creating excellent cloud services experiences with Salesforce technology. Fluido is headquartered in Espoo, with offices also in Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Slovakia. The company’s team of nearly 250 professionals comprises 30 different nationalities.
“We are very pleased with our investment in Fluido. The company is a true Finnish success story. Together with the founders, management and personnel, we have succeeded in growing its revenue nearly fivefold during our ownership due to domestic growth and fast internationalisation. We shared a goal of turning Fluido into the leading Nordic player in its industry, which we have achieved with great success. Exceptional company management and committed personnel have made this achievement possible,” says Juha Mikkola, Managing Partner of CapMan Growth.
“Cooperation with the CapMan Growth team has been truly enjoyable for us. With the help of their persevering support, we have been able to grow fast and profitably and expand our operations into international markets. The current acquisition will provide us with a unique opportunity to serve our global clients even better. We also value the fact that we will continue as our own business under the Fluido brand after the transaction, treasuring our unique culture this way,” states Kai Mäkelä, Founder and CEO of Fluido.
Additional information:
Juha Mikkola, Managing Partner, CapMan Growth, Tel. +358 50 590 0522, juha.mikkola@capman.com
Kai Mäkelä, Founder and CEO, Fluido, Tel. +358 44 213 9812, kai.makela@fluidogroup.com
CapMan Growth is the partner for growth companies seeking capital and know-how for growth and M&A activities. CapMan Growth makes only minority investments in both private and public companies that operate in sufficiently large markets and are able to leverage their innovative services and solutions both in Finland and internationally. Our investment criteria further include professional and committed management, innovative service/product, proven business plan, growing revenues, significant market potential and unique competitive advantage.The objective of Growth investment activities is to find unlisted target companies with the potential to grow rapidly, to make significant minority investments in them and, as an active investor, to develop their value so as to achieve returns in excess of the market average through long-term ownership. Our recent investments include Arctic Security Oy and RealMachinery Oy.
CapMan is a leading Nordic private asset expert with an active approach to value-creation in its target companies and assets. We offer a wide selection of investment products and services. As one of the Nordic private equity pioneers we have developed hundreds of companies and real estate and created substantial value in these businesses and assets over the last 28 years. CapMan employs today approximately 120 private equity professionals and has approximately €2.8 billion in assets under management. We mainly manage the assets of our customers, the investors, but also make investments from our own balance sheet. Our objective is to provide attractive returns and innovative solutions to investors. Our current investment strategies cover Real Estate, Buyout, Russia, Credit, Growth and Infra. We also have a growing service business that currently includes procurement services (CaPS), fundraising advisory (Scala Fund Advisory), and fund management services. www.capman.com
Fluido is the leading Salesforce Consultancy and Partner in the Nordics. Fluido’s customers include both large globally operating enterprises and growth companies across industries in all Nordic countries. Fluido offers consulting, development and integration services tailored for customer needs to help them reach their goals, transform and create outstanding customer experiences by utilizing Salesforce technology. Fluido’s headquarters are in Espoo, Finland, with additional offices in Denmark, Norway, Slovakia and Sweden. www.fluidogroup.com
CapMan Plc
Communications
Ludviginkatu 6
00130 Helsinki
Finland
Investment will foster continued growth of global claims management provider
MEMPHIS, Tenn. and NEW YORK, Sept. 12, 2018 /PRNewswire/ — Sedgwick, a global provider of technology-enabled risk, benefits and integrated business solutions, announced today that affiliates of funds managed by The Carlyle Group (NASDAQ : CG ) have agreed to become the majority owner of Sedgwick in a transaction valued at approximately $6.7 billion. Current majority shareholder KKR will fully exit its position following the transaction. Funds managed by Stone Point Capital LLC and Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ), together with Sedgwick management, will remain minority investors.
“At Sedgwick, taking care of people is at the heart of everything we do, and I am proud that The Carlyle Group appreciates the value our colleagues create when they put our caring counts® philosophy into practice,” said Dave North, president and CEO of Sedgwick. “We are humbled by the confidence they have shown in our business model, and we look forward to partnering with Carlyle on developing and delivering innovative solutions for our clients around the world. We are grateful for the strong and value-added partnership with KKR over the last handful of years.”
On an annual basis, Sedgwick handles more than 3.6 million claims and has fiduciary responsibility for claim payments totaling more than $19.5 billion.
Stephen H. Wise, Managing Director and Global Head of Healthcare for The Carlyle Group, said, “Dave North and Sedgwick’s world-class management team have built the company into an industry leader over the last two decades. We are excited to collaborate with Sedgwick, which has distinguished itself by constantly improving the claims management and loss adjusting process to the benefit of all key stakeholders, including its colleagues, customers, insurance companies and brokers.”
“We are pleased to partner with the exceptional management team and highly talented colleagues of Sedgwick. We look forward to participating in Sedgwick’s next chapter of growth and innovation and working with the company as it builds out its global platform to meet the increasingly complex needs of its clients around the world, while leveraging the One Carlyle network,” said John C. Redett, Carlyle Managing Director and Co-head of Global Financial Services.
“We have greatly valued our partnership with Sedgwick and its exceptional management team,” said Tagar Olson, director of Sedgwick, Member of KKR, and head of KKR’s financial services investing efforts. “We look forward to watching the company’s continued success in delivering high quality technology-driven insurance solutions to clients and consumers around the globe.”
The parties are working to close the deal later this year, subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals.
Equity capital for the investment will come from Carlyle Partners VII, an $18.5 billion fund that focuses on buyout transactions in the U.S., and Carlyle Global Financial Services Partners III, L.P., a dedicated financial services buyout fund.
BofA Merrill Lynch served as financial advisor to Sedgwick, and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP served as legal advisor. BofA Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley and KKR Capital Markets are expected to provide debt financing for the transaction. Morgan Stanley and Sandler O’Neill + Partners, L.P. served as financial advisors to Carlyle, and Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz served as legal advisor.
About Sedgwick
Sedgwick is a leading global provider of technology-enabled risk, benefits and integrated business solutions. The company provides a broad range of resources tailored to clients’ specific needs in casualty, property, marine, benefits and other lines. At Sedgwick, caring counts®; through the dedication and expertise of more than 21,000 colleagues across 65 countries, the company takes care of people and organizations by mitigating and reducing risks and losses, promoting health and productivity, protecting brand reputations, and containing costs that can impact the bottom line. For more, see sedgwick.com.
About The Carlyle Group
The Carlyle Group (NASDAQ : CG ) is a global alternative asset manager with $210 billion of assets under management across 335 investment vehicles. Carlyle’s purpose is to invest wisely and create value on behalf of its investors, many of whom are public pensions. Carlyle invests across four segments – corporate private equity, real assets, global credit and investment solutions – in Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, the Middle East, North America and South America. Carlyle has expertise in various industries, including aerospace, defense and government services, consumer and retail, energy, financial services, health care, industrial, real estate, technology and business services, telecommunications and media, and transportation. The Carlyle Group employs more than 1,625 people in 31 offices across six continents.
