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TRUE NORTH TO ACQUIRE RELIGARE HEALTH INSURANCE

(Single largest investment ever in the history of health insurance industry in India)

New Delhi/Mumbai, April 9, 2017 : Religare Enterprises Limited (“REL”) has entered into a definitive agreement with a consortium of investors led by True North (formerly India Value Fund) to buy out its entire stake in Religare Health Insurance Company Limited (RHI). The consortium includes domestic investors such as Mr. Gaurav Dalmia and Faering Capital. This transaction values RHI at INR 1,300 crores and REL currently has c.80% shareholding on a fully diluted basis in RHI. The transaction marks the single largest investment in a standalone health insurance company in India. The transaction is subject to necessary regulatory approvals.

Since commercial launch in July 2012, RHI has reported steady progress and emerged as a leading standalone health insurer in India. The business reported a Gross Written Premium (GWP) of Rs. 503 crores for the year ended March 31, 2016.

religare

Commenting on the transaction Vikram Nirula, Partner of True North said, “We have been closely evaluating the health insurance space and have been impressed by the quality of RHI’s management team and business. We believe that RHI would be an excellent platform for building an enduring health insurance franchise in India.”

Vishal Nevatia, Managing Partner of True North said, “We are delighted to add RHI to True North’s portfolio of financial services businesses and look forward to supporting the RHI management team in building the most admired health insurance business in India.”

Mr. Maninder Singh, Group CEO, Religare Enterprises Ltd. said, “We are confident that RHI will continue on its high growth trajectory under the new ownership. This sale is a continuation of REL’s strategy to consolidate and focus on its core businesses”

Mr. Anuj Gulati, CEO & MD, Religare Health Insurance Limited said, “We shall continue to deliver best in class health insurance products and services to our customers and partners, and remain committed to our core objective of – ‘building an institution that is relevant even beyond a hundred years’. We sincerely appreciate the faith reposed in us over the years by our founding promoters and are equally thankful for the belief that the new shareholders have vested in us.”

About Religare Enterprises Limited

Religare Enterprises Limited (REL) is the holding company for one of India’s leading diversified financial services groups. REL offers an integrated suite of financial services through its underlying subsidiaries and operating entities, including loans to SMEs, Affordable Housing Finance, Health Insurance and Capital Markets. REL is listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) and National Stock Exchange (NSE) in India.

As a group, Religare caters to almost every segment of the market from mass retail to affluent, HNIs, UHNIs, mid-size corporates, SMEs to large corporates and institutions. With over 7,000 employees, the group has a presence across more than 1,450 locations pan India.

LIVINGBRIDGE CALLS ON BUSINESS HEAVYWEIGHTS FOR STRATEGIC ADVISORY BOARD

Mid-market investor Livingbridge has formed a strategic advisory board.

The committee will provide “senior counsel and an informed external perspective on critical political, economic, social, regulatory and technological matters and how these might impact on Livingbridge’s business and investment strategy,” the firm said.

Dame Alison Carnwath, a Livingbridge non-executive director since 2001, will chair the board. Carnwath is current chair of Land Securities and also holds positions at Zurich, BASF and Evercore Partners.

Lord Livingston, former chief executive of BT Group and ex-UK minister of state for trade and investment, will also join the board, as will ex-Jupiter Fund Management chief executive Edward Bonham Carter.

Rounding off the board are Amee Chande, managing director for global strategy and operations at Chinese ecommerce giant Alibaba Group, and Andy Harrison, former chief executive of Whitbread, Easyjet and RAC.

“The strategic input from such an experienced, knowledgeable and diverse group of people will be invaluable in helping us anticipate, support and plan both our own development as a firm and that of our portfolio companies. In an increasingly complex global environment it is imperative to be well informed on current issues outside of our normal scope of activities,” Said Wol Kolade

KIMS GROUP RECEIVES INVESTMENT OF US$200 MN FROM TRUE NORTH

Mumbai, March 29, 2017: In one of the largest healthcare transactions in India, the Kerala Institute of Medical Sciences (KIMS) will partner with True North, a leading private equity fund. True North will invest over USD 200 million in the KIMS Group. This investment will be for the stake held by Ascent Capital Advisors India Pvt. Ltd & OrbiMed Advisors Llc and as a primary capital infusion to fund the growth plans of the KIMS Group across India and the Middle East. True North will hold around 40% stake in India. Dr. M. I. Sahadulla, Chairman of the KIMS Group, and his management team, with a board majority, will continue to run the Company both in India and the Middle East.

Commenting on the deal, KIMS Chairman, Dr. M.I. Sahadulla said, “Started by a group of professionals including Doctors and Management experts, our aim at KIMS has been to provide ethical, high quality healthcare with a focus on patient safety. Our goal is to ensure that the best facilities and expertise of international standards are made available to the people we serve. When considering the choices of an equity partner, we sought to join with a group that maintained high ethical values similar to ours, and with whom we could work with collaboratively to provide the best of healthcare facilities at an affordable cost. Our interactions with Vishal Nevatia, Founder of True North and Satish Chander, Managing Director of True North coupled with their impeccable record along with positive feedback from their existing portfolio companies gave us great confidence to partner with the firm. Together, with a shared value system, we hope to continue our growth and to become one of the largest Healthcare providers in India and the Middle East in the next 3 to 5 years.”

Satish Chander, Managing Director of True North commented: “We believe that private equity has a key role in funding Indian healthcare services to address the sector’s supply-demand gap. True North has played an active part by investing in the sector and it continues to be a key focus area for us. We have had the opportunity to evaluate numerous organizations in this space and have made nine investments across our different funds. We have known Dr. M.I. Sahadulla and his team for several years and we truly admire their pursuit to build a healthcare service enterprise of the highest caliber. We see their flagship Trivandrum facility as a testimony to their focus on pursuing excellence in clinical care as well as customer service. We also respect the approach that they have taken to build this enterprise on a foundation based on the highest values and ethics and we feel that this philosophy resonates very well with our principles. True North is very excited at the opportunity to partner with and support KIMS in its future growth aspirations. We are excited about the healthcare potential in India and the Middle East and believe that KIMS would be a good addition to our healthcare portfolio.”

About KIMS

Kerala Institute of Medical Sciences (KIMS) is a Healthcare Group providing quality healthcare services across India and the Middle East. KIMS was founded in 2002 by the Chairman Dr. M.I. Sahadulla and founding promoters, who leveraged their vast international healthcare experience to deliver high quality clinical care with courtesy, compassion and competence at an affordable cost. KIMS is the largest corporate hospital chain in Kerala and has over 1,500 beds across 6 hospitals. KIMS’ first and largest hospital in Trivandrum is a 650-bed multi-specialty quaternary care hospital. KIMS has emerged as one of the leading providers of medical services, research and academics in South India. The Group has a presence in the Middle East across 5 countries, with 2 hospitals and 6 medical centers, as well as one managed hospital. The Group’s combined turnover is in excess of INR 11 billion with a profitability of 11.5% and employs more than 6000 healthcare providers including 600 doctors.

About True North

True North (formerly known as India Value Fund Advisors – IVFA) was established in 1999 with a focus on investing in and transforming mid-sized profitable businesses into world-class industry leaders, built on the strong foundation of True North Values which are embodied within the principles of ‘The Right Way’.

Steered since its inception by Vishal Nevatia, True North has built deep knowledge and skills in the Indian markets and has successfully launched five separate investment funds with a combined corpus of over US$ 2 billion. True North’s insights and understanding of India has been sharpened over the last 17 years by investing over US$ 1 billion in more than 30 Indian businesses. It has successfully guided these companies in making the transition into well-established and large businesses that are valuable, enduring, socially responsible and is creating immense wealth for all stakeholders.

The True North team has been structured with a balanced mix of 9 Investment and 16 Business Managers, who bring with them several hundred man-years of industry experience to achieve the above objective.

FSN CAPITAL IV ACQUIRES A MAJORITY STAKE IN ACTIVE BRANDS

FSN Capital IV has signed an agreement with Holta Invest to acquire a majority stake in Active Brands AS, a leading Nordic supplier of premium sporting goods brands. Holta Invest, existing management and founders will re-invest alongside FSN Capital and continue to own a material stake in the company.

Active Brands manages a portfolio of well-established sports apparel and equipment brands, including Kari Traa, Dæhlie, Bula and Sweet Protection. The company has achieved great success in recent years, and has delivered strong growth from an efficient and scale-able platform.

Based on a talented and dedicated workforce, Active Brands has consistently outperformed the Nordic market for sporting goods by generating organic annual growth of 30% since 2013. From a strong Norwegian base, the company has gradually expanded into new geographies, and in 2016 approximately 30% of net sales were generated outside of Norway.

In partnership with FSN Capital, Active Brands aspires to reinforce its strong position in the Nordics and further accelerate international growth, through both organic and inorganic initiatives.

“We have admired Active Brands for a long time and have been impressed by the platform created by Holta Invest and the management team’s ability to develop truly unique brands with significant international growth potential. Our ambition is to build on Active Brands’ leading position in the Nordics and support further growth in North America and Central Europe together with our new partners”, says Erik Nelson, Partner at FSN Capital Partners AS, acting as adviser to FSN Capital IV.

Active Brands CEO, Espen Krogstad, is pleased with the acquisition by FSN Capital.

“On behalf of the employees and management team of Active Brands, I am pleased to have FSN Capital as a new majority owner. Active Brands has developed in a fast pace and is today amongst the leading companies in the Nordic sporting goods industry. We are delivering solid growth across all geographies and I look forward to further developing the company”, says Espen Krogstad.

Holta Invest will retain a 20% ownership stake in Active Brands post the transaction.

”We established Active Brands in 2010 with the objective of taking a leading role in the consolidation of the Nordic sporting goods industry. Since then, Active Brands has developed into a great business with a talented team, strong brands and a scalable platform. The company has a strong position in the Nordics and has successfully entered large international markets. We are proud of the development of Active Brands and we are honored to get FSN Capital on board as a new majority owner. We believe in a promising future for the company and we are excited to continue our ownership of Active Brands together with FSN Capital”, says Dag Teigland, Chairman Active Brands and CEO Holta Invest.

The transaction is subject to regulatory approvals from the Norwegian competition authorities.

LIVINGBRIDGE INVESTS IN STOWE FAMILY LAW

Livingbridge, the mid-market private equity firm, has invested in Stowe Family Law LLP, the largest family law firm in the UK with 10 offices nationally including a flagship office in central London.

The investment will be used to fuel the growth of the firm by building a larger national footprint, opening up to 30 additional offices over the next five years, as well as building on SFL’s strong IT platform and management team.

Livingbridge believes that the law firm has enormous potential to serve more of the UK.

Daniel Smith, of Livingbridge, said:

“Stowe Family Law is a great success story. Under Marilyn’s ownership it has become the largest specialist family law firm in the UK, consistently delivering outstanding service and outcomes for its clients. Livingbridge is delighted to have the opportunity to invest in SFL and work with the team. The business is in fantastic shape with a talented team of leaders, solicitors and staff who are at the top of their game. We look forward to working with SFL to continue delivering great client service and to grow the business further.”

Livingbridge has invested in over 100 entrepreneurial companies, particularly in consumer markets and professional services, supporting recruitment firms such as Frank Recruitment Group, Staffline and The Up Group as well as Kingsbridge, the specialist insurance broker, and Broadstone, the pensions and employee benefits provider.

This investment is the second investment from the Livingbridge 6 fund, which completed fundraising in September 2016.

Stowe Family Law was founded by Marilyn Stowe, who is best known for her market-leading client service and expert handling of all types of matrimonial disputes alongside her work freeing Sally Clark, the mother wrongly jailed for the murder of her two sons in 1999 in one of Britain’s most famous miscarriages of justice. Mrs Stowe took on the case for free and in her own time after suspecting the case against Mrs Clark was flawed.

Since it was founded over 30 years ago, the practice has acted for over 20,000 clients and built a network of 10 offices across the UK.

The deal will allow Mrs Stowe, one of the country’s top family lawyers, to explore new opportunities, using her expertise as a family lawyer and campaigner for justice as well as her reputation as a successful businesswoman.

Marilyn Stowe, founder of Stowe Family Law said:

“I will always be involved with the firm, and I am particularly thrilled it will continue to bear my name. It has been my most important ambition for this firm and its clients to thrive following my departure and I have achieved this with Livingbridge. Today also marks an incredible personal milestone for me, having built Stowe Family Law up over decades from a converted cobbler’s shop in East Leeds. The families and individuals that my fantastic team and I have helped have always been at the heart of my career. I went into the legal profession to give back to society and to fight injustice and that’s a legacy I know will be continued by all my colleagues at Stowe Family Law. I’m now very much looking forward to exploring new opportunities to use my experience to help address some of the issues that matter most to me.”

Charles Hartwell, CEO of Stowe Family Law, said:

“Thanks to Marilyn, and with the investment from Livingbridge, the future looks very strong for our firm and our clients. We have a great team, offering exceptional service in difficult cases and the investment will allow us to take our personal service to a much wider audience across the country. We will always pride ourselves on our expertise, authority and commitment to delivering straightforward advice in a professional and caring way.”

CAPITON ACQUIRES A MAJORITY STAKE IN THE GEMACO GROUP

About the Company

Gemaco is a leading provider of full-service merchandising and promotional marketing solutions for global industry and fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) customers. Gemaco’s service offering allows its clients to outsource all business processes related to promotional merchandising – from trend analysis, design, procurement and logistics to distribution, quality control, IT and cost management.

Gemaco dark

For more than 20 years, Gemaco has been active as the premium supplier of promotional products, sales promotion solutions and fulfilment programs across a wide range of sectors. The Company’s 13 locations make it one of the very few providers able to serve large corporates on a global scale. Gemaco employs around 290 people, of which 110 are based at its headquarters in Mechelen (Belgium), and generated sales of € 90 million in 2016.

Transaction summary

Gemaco is a proprietary transaction which was identified through capiton’s targeted sector approach in the area of “marketing procurement / promotional merchandise” leading to an exclusive sales process.

capiton acquires the Gemaco Group together with Management from the family office Saffelberg Investments and will support the further internationalization of the business. Financing of the transaction is provided by capiton’s current investment vehicle, capiton V, and banks.

Based on its strong market positioning, capiton and management are planning to grow the business both organically as well as through targeted acquisitions.

The transaction remains subject to approval from competition authorities. Buyers and sellers have agreed not to disclose the financial terms of the transaction

THE FOUR KEY SECTORS OF TRUE NORTH

True North has now restructured its business and investment management Teams as per sector specialisations:

1 – Financial Services

2 – Consumer

3 – Healthcare

4 – Technology products and services

The firm over the years, has developed deep-rooted expertise in sectors like healthcare, consumer focused industries (like media and entertainment, radio taxi, retailing, food services) and financial services. It will now add technology products and services to its portfolio.

LOS GROBO SELLS 75% OF ITS EQUITY TO THE FUND VICTORIA CAPITAL

After a year of stormy negotiations, when they decided to sign the agreement at exactly 3am, the printer failed. What seemed impossible, happened: they run out of toner. The transaction that changed the history of Los Grobo Group, one of the main agribusiness players, was finalized hours later. In this context, Victoria Capital Partners makes a capital injection of US$ 100 million into the Company. Furthermore, for an undisclosed amount, it buys 75% of the Company which has annual revenues of US$ 550 million, 700 employees, 50,000 hectares of crops, ventured into agrochemicals with Agrofina, leads the precision agriculture with Frontec in association with INVAP, produces seeds and even offers financial services through a mutual credit guarantee company.

Victoria Capital acquires the stock that was still owned by the Brazilian Vinci group and by Gabriela and Andrea Grobocopatel. Gustavo and his other sister Matilde remain as shareholders. Grobocopatel will continue to be President and Horacio Busanello, CEO. “The entire team stays”, Grobocopatel assured Clarin.

What’s new about this multi-million dollar transaction, is the type of investors that Victoria Capital is partnering with, the IFC, the investment vehicle of the World Bank, the Dutch bank FMO and the University of Texas which invest in Argentina for the first time.

Victoria Capital, on the other hand, has been with us for decades. This fund, which is a successor of the well-known DLJ, made its first investment with the purchase of Peñaflor, the powerful wine conglomerate, is a shareholder of Zucamor (cardboard containers) and the seeds producer Satus Ager. They split from Credit Suisse in 2011, discarded the DLJ name and adopted Victoria, in honor of the only vessel that survived the Magellan expedition. With offices in New York, Sao Paulo, Bogotá and Buenos Aires, Victoria has investments in the Colombian construction company Corona, the publishing company Santillana in Spain and Arcos Dorados, the McDonald’s franchise. Itau bank acted as financial advisor in this transaction.

grupo-los-grobo – Aren’t you afraid of an unfavorable market scenario as a consequence of Trump’s triumph?

-If there is a competitive and sustainable industry in Argentina, it is the Agriculture. We are a financial investor group with no time urgency. We have many years ahead of us, say Carlos García and Santiago Cotter, partners at Victoria.

–Why do you sell part of the group?, Grobocopatel was inquired.

-We try to take advantage of the current political and economic scenario. We now count with a great global platform with top investors. Nowadays, we need to have access to knowledge and capital. We cannot grow without access to capital. We want our company to transcend the family and Argentina.

“We will double in size in a short period of time. Cost of money is part of being competitive. A new whole scenario opens up”, added Busanello.

Going forward, they will strengthen Los Grobo as a leader in services that integrate the producer’s needs in one place.

One of the first new segments they focus on at this stage is legumes, such as yellow pea, Canadian lentil and chickpea, that they have already started to sow. “It can be a boom very similar to that of soybean, with India increasingly demanding this type of products”, Grobocopatel added enthusiastically.

LIVINGBRIDGE SERVES UP FIRST DEAL FROM NEW FUND WITH ACQUISITION OF RHUBARB

Livingbridge, the mid-market private equity firm, today announces its investment in rhubarb, the premium food and beverage operator. The deal is the first investment from its new £660m fund, Livingbridge 6.

Originally established in 1996 as an events business, rhubarb expanded its rhubarb activities in 2003 to include the operation of lease and concession contracts at iconic, high footfall locations, initially by providing high-end catering at Ascot Racecourse.

Today, the company operates long term contracts at venues including the Sky Garden at the ‘Walkie Talkie’ building in London, the Royal Albert Hall and events at the Goodwood Estate. It also provides bespoke catering solutions at around 600 events per year for a broad range of clients, from high profile charity galas for 2,000 guests to small, intimate dinners in country venues.

With offices in London and Surrey, the firm now employs 248 full time members of staff alongside over 900 temporary staff.

rhubarb is the first investment from the Livingbridge 6 fund, which completed fundraising in September 2016 and targets companies with enterprise values typically between £20m and £125m. The investment in rhubarb is also Livingbridge’s third in the food and drink sector having invested in Pho, the Vietnamese fast casual restaurant in 2012, and Bistrot Pierre, the regional French bistrot group in 2015.

The investment from Livingbridge, will help rhubarb’s continued growth across the UK and internationally with the overall aim of doubling in size in the next four years. In addition, Richard Prosser, who has private equity expertise within the global leisure, travel and tourism industries, will be joining as Chairman on completion of the deal.

PB Jacobse, CEO of rhubarb, said:

“We are very excited to be working with Livingbridge on the next stage of our development, particularly in light of their knowledge of the food and beverage market through their existing investments. We are ideally positioned to benefit from positive market trends and current consumer tastes and, with a good level of visibility over our existing contracts, as well as a strong pipeline of new growth opportunities, we are confident of building on the strong momentum we have generated to date.”

Benoit Broch, Director at Livingbridge said:

“rhubarb’s management team have done a fantastic job in growing the business over recent years, securing a number of high profile contracts and creating a premium, differentiated brand that is highly valued by consumers and businesses alike. The company have long-term contracts at some fantastic locations and a strong pipeline of future growth opportunities and we are very much looking forward to helping them expand their offering both throughout the UK and overseas.”

LIVINGBRIDGE SIGNS UP TO £23 MILLION EXCLAIMER INVESTMENT

Mid-market private equity firm Livingbridge has invested £23 million in Exclaimer, the largest global provider of email signature software. The investment is the last primary investment from Livingbridge 5, the firm’s £360m fund raised in 2012.

exclaimer

Exclaimer, headquartered in Farnborough, Hampshire, was founded in 2000 by business partners Andrew Millington, Gary Levell and Chris Crawshay and today provides software to over 25,000 customers in more than 100 countries including blue-chip firms such as the BBC, Audi, Sony and McDonalds.

The Group is an accredited Microsoft Gold partner and its products support the full array of Microsoft‘s email solutions including MS Office 365, Microsoft’s rapidly growing cloud deployed business platform. Exclaimer’s software gives users complete flexibility and control over email signatures and disclaimers, ensuring regulatory compliance whilst enabling consistent brand promotion and innovative marketing campaigns.

There are currently over one billion active business email mailboxes worldwide. Cloud mailboxes currently make up 40% of the total but this is forecast to rise to 70% by 2020. This transition, combined with the increasing necessity for Compliance and Marketing teams to own the email signature, represents an immediate opportunity for Exclaimer.

The investment is the 13th and final investment from the Livingbridge 5 fund which has included investments in Direct Ferries, Frank Recruitment and Metronet, although additional funds remain to finance growth strategies and M&A opportunities for existing investments.

The investment from Livingbridge in Exclaimer will see the business invest in expanding relationships with partners, add scale by broadening its suite of products and invest further in infrastructure and customer services to ensure Exclaimer capitalises on its market leading position.

The deal was led by Matthew Caffrey, Xavier Woodward and Mo Aneese. Exclaimer was advised by Jamie Hope, Emmet Keating and Mike Falzon from Catalyst Corporate Finance.

Commenting on the investment, Andrew Millington, Chief Executive Officer of Exclaimer said:
“In the last 16 years we have taken a very simple concept and turned it into a global success. The investment from Livingbridge will enable us to push on even further, adding scale and firepower to our business while still maintaining our entrepreneurial culture of innovation to ensure our customers continue to receive excellent product and services. We are delighted to be working with the Livingbridge team and I know I speak on behalf of the whole team when I say that we are incredibly excited about our future.”

Matthew Caffrey, Partner at Livingbridge said:
“Exclaimer is an impressive company with great technological focus which has demonstrated an ability to iterate their software to lead their market. Our experience of working with high growth tech businesses, combined with Exclaimer’s strong management team and award winning reputation, means that the business is extremely well placed to capture the opportunity that the rapid expansion of MS Office 365 brings.”