Good morning Eurohubsters, Nina Lindholm here with the last Dealflow of the week.
This morning, we have a bit of a software focus, as Apax Partners-backed EcoOnline merged with the software division of another Apax portfolio company and we have a new round up story focusing on vehicle and fleet management software. Elsewhere, there is also a small update for those following the battle between Bain Capital and Triton Partners for the Finnish construction firm Caverion, and we have a new episode in our podcast series.
Environmental. Apax Partners-backed EcoOnline merged with the software division of fellow Apax portfolio firm Alcumus to create an environmental, health and safety (EHS) business technology company.
EcoOnline, headquartered in Oslo, Norway and established in 2000, develops software for creating safer and sustainable workplaces while ensuring compliance and environmental sustainability. Cardiff-based Alcumus is a global firm that offers risk management products.
Inflexion held a majority stake in Alcumus since 2015 and sold the firm to Apax Partners in 2022. The firm later made a minority investment in Alcumus through its Partnership Capital Fund. It is supporting the merger.
“As sustainability continues its climb up the business agenda, firms that can support companies on these journeys through EHS technology are increasingly important,” said David Whileman, head of partnership capital, Inflexion.
Our full reporting on the deal is available here.
On the road. Speaking of software, I wrote a story rounding up some recent deals in the sectors of fleet and traffic management. PE firms seem to be interested in companies that offer to solve issues in the sector with the use of technology and software.
Equistone, Battery Ventures and Main Capital are among the PE firms that I mentioned in my piece. You can check it out here.
You can also take a look at my previous round-up story, focusing on the luxury segment, available here.
Update. There is a small update or those following the saga of Bain Capital and Triton Partners battling to take control of Finnish builder Caverion.
Yesterday, Caverion announced that the Bain-led consortium, North Holdings 3, had received all necessary regulatory approvals for its voluntary recommended public tender offer for all the shares in Caverion Corporation.
This follows Bain’s amended offer for Caverion, covered in the Dealflow earlier this week. Bain’s original offer, made in November, was €7 per share. Triton came in on 10 January with an €8 per share rival bid. This week, Bain offered an immediate cash offer of €8 per share – matching Triton’s offer – or a fixed cash payment of €8.50 per share in nine months from the completion of the tender offer.
If you aren’t familiar with this story, you can catch up by reading Craig McGlashan’s deep dive into the duel.
Weekend listening. In the fourth episode of our miniseries Private Markets and the End of Cheap Money, PEI Group editors Adam Le, Graham Bippart and Alex Lynn discuss how currency fluctuations are creating opportunities for some investors; how currency hedging products are on the rise; how private capital capital has been moving away from China to regions such as Southeast Asia; and how private credit funds are stepping in to fill the role of banks more in some global regions than others.
You can listen to the podcast here.
You can also listen to the first three episodes in the series here, here and here.
That’s it from me. I hope you all have a great weekend. Craig McGlashan will write to you on Monday.
Cheers,
Nina