It’s a tech-tastic Thursday, as we open with Accel-KKR signing a definitive agreement to sell Kerridge Commercial Systems to CapVest Partners.
Elsewhere in the software sector, Exponent Private Equity is set to make an investment in TestingCo.
We then finish on some take-private news, as Antin Infrastructure Partners secures bank guarantees for its pursuit of Spanish renewable energy company Opdenergy.
Management software
Accel-KKR this morning announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to sell Kerridge Commercial Systems (KCS), an ERP and business management software provider for distributors, wholesalers and related trades, to CapVest Partners.
KCS is headquartered in Berkshire, England.
Accel-KKR invested in KCS in 2015. During that time, KCS grew its overall revenue base more than four-fold, accelerated its organic revenue growth rate, expanded its percentage of recurring revenue and expanded its operating margins, according to a release.
KCS also completed several follow-on acquisitions that expanded into new geographies including North America and Continental Europe, such as the take-private acquisition of US-based MAM Systems in 2019.
“They achieved tremendous results and created a market leader in our eight years of working together,” said Tom Barnds, co-managing partner at Accel-KKR.
Accel-KKR’s recent platform investments in Europe include Basware, PayProp, and Symfonia.
Testing times
Also fresh off the presses this morning, Exponent Private Equity has reached an agreement to make an investment in TestingCo, an independent software testing platform in the Netherlands.
TestingCo provides software testing and quality engineering services for its blue-chip clients and their mission-critical systems.
Exponent’s Jeroen Regeur and Tim Easingwood will join TestingCo’s board.
Green Park Investment Partners, TestingCo’s existing partner, will continue as a shareholder and will remain on the board.
“The software testing market is growing globally, supported by increasing complexity of software systems and applications, new technologies, and accelerated digital transformation, and the Dutch market stands out as one of the most mature and sophisticated,” said Jeroen Regeur, partner at Exponent.
Powering on
Antin Infrastructure Partners, via its Flagship Fund V, has secured bank guarantees for its voluntary public offer for Spanish renewable energy company Opdenergy.
Banco Santander and Crédit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank’s Spanish branch are guaranteeing 60 percent and 40 percent respectively of the just under €866 million required for the deal – at €5.85 per share – according to a post on the BME Exchange yesterday.
Santander was one of the joint global coordinators and joint bookrunners on Opdenergy’s IPO in July last year, when it floated at a €4.75 valuation.
The post added that after conducting analysis, Antin does not believe it needs to obtain any competition law authorisation.
We first covered Antin’s offer for Opdenergy in mid-June. Check out that coverage for information on the premium and Opdenergy’s financials.
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