Canada Pension Plan Investment Board on its acquisition of a 30 per cent stake in BGL Group, an operator of price comparison websites in the UK and France, including comparethemarket.com and LesFurets.com.
EQT on the sale of its minority stake of 37 per cent in Sportradar, a sports betting and digital entertainment platform, to a consortium consisting of Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and Technology Crossover Ventures.
General Atlantic on its equity investment in the European online marketplace for DIY and gardening products, ManoMano.
Gulf Capital on the sale of its portfolio company Destinations of the World, a travel platform, to Webjet, a publicly listed company on the Australian Securities Exchange.
TPG on its acquisition of a majority stake in Transporeon, a German cloud-based transport logistics platform.
Hellman & Friedman–Blackstone consortium on its acquisition of Scout24, a Germany-based digital marketplace.
Cinven on its acquisition with Canada Pension Plan Investment Board of Hotel beds Group, the Spain-based online hotel booking platform.
CVC on the acquisition of a 60 per cent stake in Tipico, the Malta-based online sports betting platform and casino operator.
Cinven on the sale of Northgate Public Services Limited, an enterpriseIT and software company for government and public services, to NEC Corporation
Cinven on the sale of Host Europe Group, a website hosting company to US domain registrar GoDaddy.
Marlin Equity Partners on its acquisition of the digital marketing applications business of Teradata Corporation, a provider of database and analytics related products and services.
Warburg Pincus on its investment in Blue Yonder, a cloud-based platform for predictive applications. Freshfields further advised Warburg Pincus, Otto Group and Blue Yonder’s founders on the sale of the company to JDA Software.
TPG on its acquisition of a majority stake in leading cyber security business part of Intel’s spin-off of McAfee into McAfee. This transaction occurred as a stand-alone business valued at circa US$4.2bn.
Warburg Pincus and United Internet on the acquisition of Strato, the web hosting business of Deutsche Telekom.
H.I.G. on its acquisition of an undisclosed stake in Infinigate Holding, a Switzerland-based company engaged in the distribution of IT security solutions.
Cinven on its acquisition of One.com, the Denmark-based web hosting services company.
Montagu on its recommended cash offer for Servelec Group plc, a UK-based software and technology company
One Equity Partners on its acquisition of Lutech, an Italian IT systems integration and solutions provider.
One Equity Partners on the sale of all shares in Engineering Ingegneria Informatica, a joint stock company listed on the Mercato Telematico Azionario that provides a full suite of IT services including systems integration, application development and maintenance, and IT outsourcing.
Permira on the acquisition of majority stake in P&I Personal & Informatik Group, a German provider of integrated HR software.
Warburg Pincus on the acquisition of a 33.33 per cent stake in the business applications division of United Internet.
Warburg Pincus on its acquisition of Supplier Assessment Services, a provider of technology-enabled, third-party pre-qualification and health and safety accreditation services in the UK, from Capita.
General Atlantic on its acquisition of a minority stake in powercloud, a Germany-based enterprise software platform for energy supply companies.
Cinven on the sale of Visma, a Norwegian enterprise systems integration provider, to a group of investors led by HgCapital and the management of Visma.
A consortium led by Partners Group on the €4.6bn acquisition of Techem Group, a leading smart metering solutions firm based in Germany.
Montagu on its acquisition of Wireless Logic, a software business that provides machine-to-machine and internet of things platform services, from CVC’s growth fund.
Warburg Pincus on the acquisition of a majority stake in Inexio, a provider of high-speed internet access services to business and residential customers in south-west Germany.
Blackstone on its acquisition of Schenck Process, an industrial automation provider.
Hivest Capital Partners on its acquisition of an undisclosed stake in Eolane Group, a French electronic and connected solutions provider.
Cobepa on its acquisition of a majority stake in Scalian Group, a systems engineering and real-time, high-criticality embedded software provider.
Five Arrows Principal Investments on the preparation of a committed staple financing solution in relation to the exit process arranged by Bencis Capital Partners for its Dutch portfolio company Voogd & Voogd, an insurtech platform.
Gulf Capital on its acquisition of a majority stake in Geidea, a Saudi Arabian payment solutions business.
Nordic Capital on the divestment of its holding in global payment company Bambora to Ingenico Group.
Hellman & Friedman on its US$5.3bn takeover of Nets, a leading provider of digital payment services across the Nordic region – followed by advising Nets on its merger with Concardis, the leading German merchant payments provider.
Permira on its £600m acquisition of the Lowell Group, a credit management and financial analytics services company.
Waha Capital, an Abu Dhabi-listed investment company, on its acquisition of a stake in Dubai-based Channel VAS, a fintech company providing innovative credit services to mobile users in the Middle East, Africa, Asia and Europe.
Warburg Pincus on its acquisition of a 35 per cent shareholding in Avaloq Group, a banking software provider.
Warburg Pincus on its pre-IPO investment in Vietnam Technological and Commercial Joint Stock Bank, a leading digital bank in Asia.
Identify whether your target is defined as a medical device and therefore subject to regulation. Under EU law, software and apps qualify as a medical device if they are intended by the manufacturer to be used for the purpose of diagnosis, prevention, monitoring, treatment or alleviation of disease irrespective of whether they act directly or indirectly on the human body. Our healthcare specialists can help you understand how the implementation of the EU Medical Devices Directive impacts the valuation of your target as the transition period to May 2020 is underway.
Successfully acquire data-driven medtech businesses. Analytics and AI are game changers for the healthcare industry – from drug development to clinical trials, self-care to distribution. Underpinning the growth of digital health are the handling and application of personal (and often sensitive) data – an incredible value driver, but an equally incredible liability if not adequately governed and protected due to the proliferation of more stringent data protection regimes globally. We can help you diligence the data practices of your medtech target, and its rights to the data, to protect the value of your investment.
Determine whether Brexit is a deal-breaker. Participation in single marketing authorisation, coverage under the Unified Patent Court and increased customs checks and costs are key uncertainties faced by healthcare and pharma as the Brexit deal remains under negotiation. We can help you assess the impact of these factors on the value of your target to protect your investment.
Invest in UK medtech targets as the regulatory landscape evolves. The UK Government has committed to harmonising the regulation of medicines with the EU, strengthening its legislative powers. As the government works towards its 2023 deadline, our specialists can guide you on regulatory developments that will impact your investment strategy in the sector.
EQT on its acquisition of Siemens Audiology Solutions, a hearing aid manufacturer.
Permira on its acquisition of TBS Group, a listed Italian clinical engineering, ICT and telecare integrated services company.
Warburg Pincus on the sale of shares in Kontron, a listed provider of embedded computer technology, to S&T, an Austrian supplier of IT solutions.
Nordic Capital on its sale with Avista Capital Partners of a 19.95 per cent stake in ConvaTec Group, a medical products and technology company, to Novo.
Apollo on its acquisition of an 80.1 per cent stake in Lumileds Holding, a lighting solutions company.
CVC on its acquisition of a minority stake in QA Limited, a UK-based digital education provider.
High-growth tech businesses are increasingly holding off going public in favour of ‘mega-round’ financing from private investors – driving up the value of the business ahead of listing aspirations.
Exit dynamics are one of the biggest issues for sponsors playing in this space. These sponsors have de ned horizons to deliver returns, unlike typical growth investors whose approach is more open-ended. The strongest players may be able to negotiate an obligation that the business will be sold or listed within a given time frame – or agree rights that enable them to force their way out. But those that cannot are increasingly taking multiple minority stakes as a route to overall control, effectively turning buyouts into a two- or three-stage process.
Minority investments offer few board seats, although with directors being driven to act independently, even controlling positions may not enable owners to influence strategy to the extent they did in the past. This is particularly so in regulated sectors, but the Securities and Exchange Commission’s hard line with Elon Musk suggests that autocratic leadership styles are on borrowed time in every industry.
It is also harder to raise leverage from a minority position (where dividends may be the only source of security), meaning sponsors are increasingly chasing businesses with the highest growth potential. Yet, our finance team has significant experience advising on holdco financing arrangements, and stands ready to support acquirers on such arrangements.
A sovereign wealth fund on its Series B investment in Klook, a Hong Kong-based travel activities booking platform.
The Abraaj Group, as one of several investors, on the US$30m Series B equity financing of Ninja Van, a last-mile logistics and delivery platform in Southeast Asia.
The Abraaj Group on its top-up investment in Careem, an app-based, peer-to-peer, ride-hailing service in the Middle East and North Africa.
General Atlantic and other global private equity funds on their Series B, C, C+ and D round investments in Sea (previously named Garena Online), a Southeast Asian consumer internet platform.
Temasek on its Series D investment in Mafengwo, a Chinese online travel platform.
A sovereign wealth fund on its Series D investment in FraudMetrix, a China-based anti-fraud and credit risk management platform.
GIC on the US$300m Series D financing round led by Insight Venture Partners in N26, a Germany-based digital bank.
Series funding or investments in a listed company will normally result in a minority stake. Maintaining oversight over the governance of the company needs to be carefully considered.
Investors typically hold an illiquid security and have no automatic ability to control the timing of a liquidity event – therefore they need contractual rights to assert influence/control.
Investors also address investment risk by seeking a dividend/liquidation preference so that their return is prioritised over that of the founders/management and early- stage investors.
Minority investments lack traditional control aspects and have a higher risk profile, so investors seek stronger downside protection as well as higher returns on their invested capital (and protection of this potential high return) to compensate for this risk.
Strategic investors may negotiate co-operation rights to obtain access to technology or other commercial/priority rights alongside their equity participation – these are often not concrete rights and subject to related- party transactions approvals.
We can help you thoroughly diligence your growth investments, focusing on the following areas:
Our team can assist you in navigating antitrust and foreign investment considerations, including ling requirements, remedies associated with substantive overlap concerns and foreign investment controls.
