CAPITON SELLS SHARES IN GESS GROUP TO JR HOLDING AG

Gess Group is a personnel services company specializing in the placement of highly qualified employees. In September 2010 capiton acquired a majority stake in Gess. During the holding period the Group continued to grow and expanded its product portfolio by acquiring the two companies, Best Job IT and Graeber & Partner. In 2016 the Group generated sales of c. EUR 72m and currently employs approximately 1,850 employees.
About the transaction

gess group

With the transaction that has now been signed, capiton is selling its shareholding in the Gess Group to JR Holding AG, based in Ingolstadt, Germany. The JR Group was founded in 2009 and currently is a portfolio company of AUCTUS. The transaction is still subject to the approval of the antitrust authorities. The parties have also agreed not to disclose further details of the transaction.

 

 

capiton is an independent, partnerowned private equity company with funds of € 1.1 billion under management. At present, capiton’s portfolio consists of 10 medium-sized companies. In its capacity as provider of equity finance, capiton supports management buy-outs and supplies growth financing to established, medium-sized companies.

HERE COME THE ROBOTS… LIVINGBRIDGE INVESTS IN SYMPHONY VENTURES

 

This article was originally published in Real Deals 10.08.17

From food producers to investment banks, the robots are on the march – with investors hot on their heels.

Workforce automation will have a dramatic effect on the labour market around the world in the years ahead, offering huge opportunities to organisations able to manage the transition to robotics while up-skilling and retraining staff whose jobs will disappear. It’s a vision of the future that has sparked an investment boom.

Already, venture capital investment in automation businesses is doubling year-on-year according to CB Insights. Morningstar reports that robotics-themed investment funds have seen global inflows of $9bn over the past 12 months. Deal activity in the sector hit a new peak last year, with M&A transactions worth more than $19bn.

Livingbridge itself is an active investor. This month we announced a £3.5m Series A investment in Symphony Ventures, a global services firm focused on robotic process automation.

To see why investors are excited, look beyond the tech hype that sometimes dominates: this is a story about the transformation of the workplace. Indeed, for all the focus on the technology, automation is really the next logical step for organisations that have been embracing outsourcing for decades. If outsourcing offered the chance to reduce costs by moving repetitive and less valuable manual processing work to specialist providers, whether onshore or overseas, so automation can deliver further savings by stripping out human intervention altogether.

robots

Moreover, while the fact you don’t have to pay a robot worker may be enticing, cost is only the conversation starter for organisations considering automation. Just as attractive for many will be the quality of work that a robotised labour force can offer, as processes are delivered with complete consistency time after time, guaranteeing accuracy and standardisation.

This will be appealing for all organisations, but especially valuable in regulated industries such as financial services, where compliance requires businesses to follow prescribed procedures and to maintain auditable records of work for inspection and scrutiny.

Moreover, automation tools are evolving rapidly, offering many organisations an opportunity to move up the value chain with robotics applications. In industries such as professional services, for example, where many processes are already relatively codified and regular, accountants have begun using automation tools for the preparation of tax returns, while law firms are using similar technologies for basic legal tasks.

Even in less structured disciplines, automation is now making ground. Leading media organisations, for example, are already using news-writing bots to deliver content online and in print.

No wonder the automation market is expected to grow so rapidly. Estimates vary about scale and speed, but almost no-one disputes the enormous potential of automation technologies to have a massive impact on the future of work over the coming decades. Technology consultant IDC suggests the global robotics market could be worth $135bn by 2019, while McKinsey says half of today’s work activities could be automated by 2055 – and that this threshold could even be reached by 2035.

In practice, a range of factors will affect adoption rates. One crucial question centres on trust – how quickly will people feel confident enough about the technology to depend on it, particularly in safety critical contexts? Regulatory acceptance of automation may also lag the speed with which technology evolves.

Cost will also be an important factor. How rapidly will organisations recoup investments in automation technologies – and how will those costs compare to the cost of the human workforce, whether directly employed or provided by an outsourcer? Making these assessments will not always be straightforward: it will not be simple to calculate the returns generated by freeing up workers to perform higher value tasks, for example.

Nevertheless, these are questions of when rather than if. We are already seeing a number of large and profitable companies making inroads into automation – software businesses with a focus on automation and consultancies that advise on large-scale implementations, for example. The question now is where the next opportunities for investors are to be found.

We believe two areas are especially attractive. First, there is a huge need for implementation specialists with the expertise to help organisations adapt off-the-shelf automation software for their bespoke needs and combine tools to achieve their desired ends. These specialists are also developing their own proprietary intellectual property in the form of tools as they work with their end customers.

Second, higher-value ‘intelligent automation’ software that can help organisations’ decision-making will drive huge value. These businesses will help their clients go beyond the most manual tasks, developing specialist tools in their key verticals to move automation up the value chain. Artificial intelligence technologies have an important role to play here.

The future is exciting – and people aren’t as worried as is often imagined. CapGemini research, for example, suggests just 10% of office workers think automation will have a negative impact on their work, with many looking forward to being liberated from tedious and repetitive tasks. Automation can be a growth story for all to share, to the benefit of businesses, investors and the workforce too.

CITIC CAPITAL ACQUIRES FORMEL D GROUP WITH 3i

 

(Hong Kong, 17 July 2017)

CITIC Capital China Partners III, L.P., a buyout fund managed by the private equity arm of CITIC Capital Holdings Limited (“CITIC Capital”), is pleased to announce it has partnered with 3i Group plc (“3i”) to acquire Formel D, a global service provider to the automotive and component supply industry on 13 July 2017.

CITIC Capital’s investment amounted to approximately EUR72 million. Formel D has a strong track record and has outperformed the market over the last 10 years. Growing at an average of 17% p.a., Formel D differentiates itself through its global scale, premium customer relationships and comprehensive service offering: it is the only player offering quality services along the entire automotive value chain.

CITIC Capital and 3i plan to support Formel D’s international growth by rolling out its existing services to clients in other geographies, expanding its client base in Asia, and increasing its higher “value add” services such as vehicle test specification and virtual testing.

Boon CHEW, Senior Managing Director of CITIC Capital, commented: “The investment in Formel D is our first deal in Germany. We are happy to partner with the renowned investor 3i and are looking forward to jointly supporting the successful growth of Formel D. We are committed to adding significant value to the company’s development, in particular by using our expertise and network in Asia.”

 

FORMEL D

About Formel D

Formel D is a global service provider to the automotive and component supply industry. The company develops concepts and scalable solutions for quality assurance and process optimization along the entire automotive value chain – from development to production through to aftersales. Headquartered in Troisdorf near Cologne, the company was founded in 1993 and has over 7,000 employees at 80 locations in 19 countries worldwide. The company is managed by the Managing Directors Dr. Holger JENÉ, Dr. Jürgen LAAKMANN and Claus NIEDWOROK.

 

 

About CITIC Capital

Founded in 2002, CITIC Capital Holdings Limited is an alternative investment management and advisory company. The firm manages over USD20 billion of capital from a diverse group of international institutional investors. Core businesses include Private Equity, Real Estate, Structured Investment & Finance, and Asset Management. CITIC Capital currently employs over 250 staff members throughout its offices in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Beijing, Shenzhen, Tokyo and New York.

CITIC Capital’s private equity arm, CITIC Capital Partners, leverages its extensive resources to help companies realise their full potential in Asia, and has completed over 50 investments in the past years in China, Japan, the US and Australia. The firm currently manages USD4.8 billion of committed capital.

MASTER FRANCHISEE OF DOMINO’S PIZZA IN TURKEY, RUSSIA, AZERBAIJAN AND GEORGIA LISTS ON LSE

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DP Eurasia N.V. (DPEU.L), the exclusive master franchisee of the Domino’s Pizza brand in Turkey, Russia, Azerbaijan and Georgia, was welcomed to the premium listing segment of the Official List of the Financial Conduct Authority and to trading on the Main Market for listed securities of the London Stock Exchange.

DP Eurasia N.V. has successfully raised £148 million by placing 74.1 million existing and new ordinary shares with investors at a placing price of 200 pence per share. DP Eurasia’s market capitalisation on admission, based on the placing price, is approximately £291 million.

Founded in Turkey in 1996, DP Eurasia is the largest pizza delivery company in Turkey, the third largest in Russia and the fifth largest franchisee within the global Domino’s Pizza brand. The Group offers pizza delivery and takeaway/eat-in facilities at its 571 corporate and franchised stores (488 in Turkey, 76 in Russia, four in Azerbaijan and three in Georgia as at 31 March 2017). The Offer will provide a platform for the Group to execute its strategy for future growth, primarily focusing on innovation and online ordering, and the expansion of its store network, particularly, the planned roll-out of corporate stores in Russia.

turkven lse pic

Morgan Stanley acted as Sponsor, Sole Global Co-ordinator and Joint Bookrunner to the Company and Citi acted as Joint Bookrunner. The Company’s ticker is DPEU.

Aslan Saranga, Chief Executive Officer of DP Eurasia commented: “DP Eurasia N.V. has a strong track record of delivering growth within its chosen markets using the proven Domino’s Pizza model that has delivered significant shareholder value in other listed master franchisees around the world. This is an exciting time for the Group as we look to accelerate our growth using the proceeds from the Offer to support our expansion in Russia and further invest in technology to maximise the delivery experience to our customers. We are looking forward to delivering for shareholders as we continue to execute our well-established business model.”

FSN CAPITAL III EXITS LAGKAGEHUSET

 

lagFSN Capital III has signed an agreement to sell its majority shareholding in Lagkagehuset.

 

Lagkagehuset is the leading premium bakery chain with 66 stores in Denmark and a presence in the UK. The company operates a premium concept focusing on high-quality artisanal breads, cakes and pastries as well as other food, teas and coffee. Its attractive quality products and proven concept is based on a business model with own bakery production and a scalable roll-out strategy. The stores in the UK under the “Ole & Steen” brand are the first phase of an international roll out, proving that the business model is highly scalable.

oleand steen

After several years of significant growth in the Danish market, and a recent launch in London, Lagkagehuset is now well positioned for further internationalisation with Nordic Capital as the new owner of the company. Nordic Capital will acquire the entire FSN Capital’s majority shareholding in Lagkagehuset A/S. At the same time, Nordic Capital will also acquire the two founders, Ole Kristoffersen’s and Steen Skallebæk’s shares in Lagkagehuset.

“Nordic Capital has in recent years made several investments in the food industry and sees great potential in supporting Lagkagehuset in its further expansion. Lagkagehuset has a great customer-oriented concept that delivers quality products every day and has created strong preferences for consumers in Denmark. Following a recent launch in London, the next step is now to evaluate and develop a plan for further internationalisation where we will level further with Nordic Capitals industry expertise within the retail sector. Nordic Capital is looking forward to support Lagkagehuset’s continued development and expansion in partnership with the the company’s strong management team,” says Michael Haaning, Partner at NC Advisory A/S, advisor to the Nordic Capital Funds.

“We started with Ole and Steen and two stores. Today, eight years later, there are 68 stores in Denmark and two in London. Lagkagehuset is above all a fantastic company with a unique culture and quality products. The two stores in London are the first expansion beyond Denmark’s borders. There will be 200 employees in London before this year’s end, so it’s gone far beyond our expectations. Against this background, I can proudly look back on our ownership period,” says Thomas Broe-Andersen, Partner at FSN Capital, advisor to the FSN Capital Funds.

“We have had a really great cooperation with our owners FSN. We are looking forward to the new ownership and we are exited to have found a strong partner in Nordic Capital with both the experience, industry knowledge and capital to support us in our continued growth journey to bring Lagkagehuset to the rest of the world. We have amazing employees and products and we expect continued high growth in the coming years”, says Jesper Friis, CEO of Lagkagehuset

Lagkagehuset has over the last couple of years professionalised the fresh bakery industry and has taken its concept international as a response to the increasing public focus on healthy quality food products. The Lagkagehuset chain has a high degree of flexibility of concept, ranging from large traditional bakery to smaller urban food-to-go outlets. Lagkagehuset’s business model which enables high quality at scale, has along with its strong brand and modern retail concept, been highly successful in the Danish market where the company now has 68 stores. The company reported revenues of DKK 665 million in 2016 and a total of 1,800 employees. The company grew by 20 per cent in 2016.

The parties have agreed not to disclose the financial terms of the transaction.

The investment is subject to approval by the relevant authorities.

FSN CAPITAL V ACQUIRES A MAJORITY STAKE IN HOLMBERGS SAFETY SYSTEM

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FSN Capital V (“FSN Capital”) has signed an agreement to acquire a majority stake in Holmbergs Safety System Holding AB (“Holmbergs”, the “Company”), a leading global supplier of mission critical safety systems to the child safety seat industry. Existing management and current owners will re-invest alongside FSN Capital and continue to own a material stake in the Company.

holmbergs

The Company has shown strong performance in recent years and established a global platform for continued expansion and holds a reputation for leading quality and engineering capabilities. The underlying child safety seat market is fast-growing and supported by favourable structural growth drivers such as stricter safety regulations and increased safety awareness.

Holmbergs is a joint global market leader in the fast-growing niche market of safety products and systems to the child safety seat industry. During the twelve months period ending on 30th April 2017 Holmbergs reported sales of SEK 316m and the Company has generated an organic sales CAGR of 18.5% 2014-2016. In partnership with FSN Capital, Holmbergs aspires to reinforce its strong market position and further accelerate international growth, primarily in Asia. Additionally, the Company intends to grow its adjacent secured transportation business, through both organic and inorganic initiatives.

“We are impressed by Holmbergs’ development over the last years and we are excited about the Company’s significant organic and inorganic growth potential. Holmbergs’ position as a market leader in a global niche market, supported by strong structural growth drivers, represents an attractive investment opportunity for FSN Capital and we are eager to support Holmbergs’ management team in the Company’s next growth journey”, says Marcus Egelstig, Principal at FSN Capital AB, acting as adviser to FSN Capital.

“It has been an exciting journey since I joined Holmbergs in 2008. We have successfully created a strong operational footprint with a joint leading position in all key markets and have consistently enjoyed double-digit growth with increasing profitability. We are recognized by our customers as a quality supplier in a market with strong underlying growth and is eager to continue the development together with our new principal owner FSN Capital”, says Anders Sandell, CEO of Holmbergs.

“The board is very proud of what the management team has achieved with the Company. Holmbergs has performed extremely well in all core markets and introduced new products, won new customers and continues to drive innovation forward. With a clear strategy for continued profitable growth, I am excited to continue to work with the Company under the FSN Capital ownership”, says Mikael Hägg, Chairman of the Board of Holmbergs.

INNOVA ACQUIRES 75% STAKE IN OFFICE SEATING BUSINESS PROFIM

 

RealDeals  17 May 2017

Innova Capital, the CEE-focused private equity house, has acquired a 75 per cent stake in Poland-based office seating manufacturer Profim.

Two of the founders of Profim, including its chief executive officer Ryszard Rychlik, will continue as shareholders.

In 2016 Profim generated around PLN470m (€112.12m) of revenues, of which 70 per cent were delivered through exports.

profim

The company’s distribution network includes over 1,000 dealers in 30 countries.

This is the tenth founder succession transaction executed by Innova Capital in recent years. A similar model was applied to deals including Dom Finansowy QS, Marmite, Neomedic, Mercor and Donako.

“Founder succession deals are the core transaction type for Innova,” senior partner Andrzej Bartos said.

VICTORIA INVESTMENT IN PHARMACEUTICALS BUSINESS, CELLERA FARMA

 

Stella Fontes, Valor – International. 8 May 2017,

VALOINT,

Taken from: Valor Economico S.A.

 

Son of the founder of Biosintética laboratory, Omilton Visconde Junior is known in the pharmaceutical industry for his ability to make money by setting up or buying companies that, after expanding, are sold at high multiples. This rationale guides his new bet, Cellera Farma, which is born in partnership with fund Victoria Capital Partners and has a R$400 million investment plan in four years.

In five or six years, when the annual revenue is around R$500 million, which would put Cellera in the group of medium-sized pharmaceutical companies, the goal is to sell the operation to a US or European laboratory that wants to enter the Brazilian market. Or allowing the exit of the private-equity fund, which now has an 85% stake bought through an IPO.

This was the case with Biosintética, sold by Mr. Visconde Junior in 2005 to Aché for R$600 million, and Segmenta, which became the country’s largest manufacturer of saline solution under his command and ended up in the hands of Eurofarma in 2010, for R$450 million. The businessman says that, after the sale of Biosintética, he was subject to a quarantine in the industry that did not cover the hospital market – and Aché had not taken in the package a parenteral-solution plant, used in hospitals, from which Segmenta was born.

Since then, Mr. Visconde Junior has participated in other deals. In 2011, he sold Prev Saúde, which manages drug benefits, to Orizon (which today has Cielo, Bradesco Seguros and Cassi as shareholders). In the following year, he joined Netshoes’s founder Marcio Kumruiam at Netfarma, the country’s largest online pharmacy, in which he owns a 70% slice – Mr. Kumruiam sold his stake in 2014.

In addition to maintaining this stake, Mr. Visconde Junior has established Mip Brasil Farma, which operates in the over-the-counter (OTC) drug market, and will now be incorporated into Cellera Farma. The new Brazilian pharmaceutical company will be headed by Nelson Libbos, an executive with 45 years of experience in the industry and stints as president at laboratories such as Hoescht, Aventis Farma, Farmasa and Teva Farmacêutica. Partner of Mr. Visconde Junior in other businesses and occasions, Mr. Libbos is a partner of Netfarma and works a consultant in the industry.

It’s Mr. Libbos who tells how Cellera Farma was born and what is the long-term strategy. “We already have a good production platform and now are hiring the team in the market,” he says, adding that the entire board is already in place. On the production platform, just over a month ago, Victoria Capital Partners and Mr. Visconde Junior completed the purchase of Canadian group Valeant’s generic and similar-drug plant in Indaiatuba, São Paulo, for an undisclosed amount.

The acquisition includes the R$400 million investment package in four years, which includes at least one more purchase, Mip Brasil Farma, which belongs to Mr. Visconde Junior. With the merger of Mip into Cellera, for an amount not yet defined, Mr. Visconde Junior’s 15% stake in Cellera will increase.

The plant’s acquisition was already approved by the Administrative Council for Economic Defense (Cade) and also involved the Caladryl product line, acquired by Valeant from Johnson & Johnson in 2012. Mr. Libbos says the brand will be reformulated and the line will grow, also focused on solar protection.

In addition, Cellera is born with an outsourcing-production contract for the Canadian pharmaceutical company for seven years. Today, the plant’s capacity utilization rate is only 20%, which gives a large margin to expand the portfolio.

Generics and similar drugs are not the focus of the company’s strategy, which plans to launch a probiotic next year and already negotiates brand licenses and formulas with foreign laboratories that do not yet operate in the country. The areas of dermatology, neuroscience and OTC (prescription drugs) are on radar.

Mr. Libbos explains that the contact with Valeant regarding the Delta Therapeutic Institute, the Indaiatuba operation official name, began just over two years ago, when the Canadians refused a first proposal jointly presented by the fund and Mr. Visconde Junior. About a year ago, Valeant itself sought out potential buyers, and after a new due diligence, the deal was closed.

With debt of nearly $30 billion, Valeant put a number of assets in non-strategic markets for sale, and during a conference call in February, chief Executive Joe Papa cited ongoing divestitures in Brazil, Indonesia and Vietnam.

Victoria Capital Partners, in turn, has in its investment portfolio, among others, the Argentine group Los Grobo, Brazil’s Elemidia, Chilean gym chain Energy and is the controlling shareholder of Oncoclínicas, the largest private-sector network of oncology centers in Latin America, whose revenues should reach nearly R$1 billion this year.

“Cellera will be a big business platform in your area,” says Mr. Visconde Junior. It complements his investment portfolio a 30% stake in the Doutor Agora outpatient network.

Valor Economico S.A.

TRUE NORTH INVESTS IN HOME FIRST FINANCE

 

Home First Finance Company India Pvt Ltd (HFFC) is a dedicated housing finance company that was set up in 2010. HFFC aims to serve the housing loan needs of low and middle income customers who are purchasing their first homes. HFFC was founded by former MphasiS Chairman – Jaithirth (Jerry) Rao and former Citibank Consumer Banking Head – P.S Jayakumar. The company has disbursed housing loans worth more than Rs 1,000 crores to over 10,000 families across 30 cities in the country.

HFFC has raised capital from Bessemer Venture Partners and Tata Capital Growth Fund in earlier rounds. The Company has been in discussions with prospective investors for raising around US$ 50 million for its growth. The Company and its shareholders are now in advanced stages of discussions with True North, a leading private equity fund to invest around US$ 100 million and acquire a majority stake in HFFC.

HFFC

Commenting on the deal, Mr Jerry Rao said “HFFC has emerged as an outstanding company that leverages technology intelligently in order to ensure a quality customer experience at the base of the pyramid. My association with Home First has been and remains a source of great personal pride”

Commenting on the deal, Manoj Viswanathan, Chief Executive Officer of HFFC, said “HFFC has built a strong presence in the affordable housing finance segment in the country. We want to continue our bias towards using technology to create innovative products and processes for housing finance customers in India. True North has a great reputation for investing in mid-sized entities like HFFC and nurturing them into industry leaders. We are pleased to partner with them as we embark on this journey”

Divya Sehgal, Partner at True North commented “We have been keen to participate in the massive opportunity being offered by the Indian affordable housing sector.  Towards this, we had an opportunity to evaluate many affordable housing finance companies in India.  We believe that HFFC has a unique team and culture of doing business in a very transparent and socially responsible manner, which is a philosophy that resonates very well with True North.  Since inception, the HFFC team has been able to grow the business at 50%+ CAGR in a profitable and prudent manner by leveraging latest technological tools. We are very excited about the prospect of supporting the HFFC team in building a leading and socially responsible affordable housing finance business in India.”