Hg, the Manager of HgCapital Trust plc ("HgT"), today
announces that it has agreed the partial sale of its investment in
team.blue to Canada Pension Plan Investment Board ("CPP
Investments").
CPP Investments joins Hg as well as founder and President of
team.blue Jonas Dhaenens and co-founder Ali Niknam, who remain
cornerstone investors alongside the wider management team led by
CEO Claudio Corbetta. Hg remains the largest single investor in
team.blue.
The terms of the transaction have not been disclosed and is
subject to customary conditions and regulatory
approvals.
HgT, whose shares are listed on the London Stock Exchange,
gives private and institutional investors the opportunity to
participate in all Hg's investments.
This transaction values HgT's investment in team.blue at
approximately £95.0 million. This would represent an uplift of
£21.8 million (30% or 4.8 pence per share) over the carrying value
of £73.2 million in the Net Asset Value ("NAV") of HgT at 31 March
2024. HgT will receive a net realisation of approximately £32.6
million from team.blue, having re-invested a portion of its
proceeds in the business alongside other institutional clients of
Hg. HgT's exposure to team.blue will be £62.4 million at closing
representing approximately 2.6% of NAV.
Note that these figures only relate to HgT's share of Hg's
overall investment in team.blue.
Based on the 31 March 2024 reported NAV, the pro-forma NAV of
HgT is expected to be £2.4 billion (or 516.0 pence per
share). HgT's available liquid resources, which includes the
undrawn bank facility of £375 million for future deployment
(including all announced transactions and the final dividend paid
in May) are estimated to be £624 million (26% of the pro-forma 31
March 2024 NAV).
team.blue welcomes new
investment from CPP Investments in transaction worth
€4.8bn
-
Investment
supports team.blue's position as Europe's leading digital
enabler for entrepreneurs and SMBs (small and medium-sized
businesses).
-
The transaction
values team.blue at €4.8bn making it one of the largest privately
owned technology companies in Europe, serving
3.3m SMBs/entrepreneurs
across 22 European countries with an unbroken 20y+ growth
track record.
-
The investment
is a significant milestone for the team, implying growth of
eight-times since Hg first invested in 2019. Today team.blue has
more than 2,500 fully committed colleagues, including many tech
entrepreneurs who have joined the group and continue to build the
business.
-
This new
investment will support team.blue's growth strategy, underpinned by
a vision to provide ever more valuable online tools for businesses,
with further AI-led product innovation.
-
CPP Investments
joins Hg as well as founder and President of team.blue Jonas
Dhaenens and co-founder Ali Niknam, who remain cornerstone
investors alongside the wider management team led by CEO Claudio
Corbetta. Hg remains the largest single investor in
team.blue.
-
Hg will provide
further funds to fuel product innovation and expansion through
acquisitions.
Gent, Belgium. 10th July, 2024.
team.blue, Europe's leading digital enabler for
entrepreneurs and SMBs, today welcomes a significant investment
from Canada Pension Plan Investment Board ("CPP
Investments".)
Today the business represents one of
the largest European digital solution providers to
3.3m SMB customers
across 22 countries. team.blue continues to expand its product offering
to cover all end-to-end and evolving needs of customers, helping
them to remain relevant, competitive and successful in their
digital journey. These solutions are designed to enhance security,
ensure GDPR compliance, boost visitor attraction and conversion
rates, improve customer engagement through various marketing tools
and to assist in both online and offline commerce
strategies.
The transaction values team.blue at
€4.8bn making it one of the largest privately owned technology
companies in Europe. This investment represents an important
milestone for the group - today team.blue has more than 2,500 fully
committed colleagues, including many tech entrepreneurs that have
joined, and thrived, with the business over the past five years to
continue its dynamic culture. team.blue is actively investing in
innovative products by joining forces with leading SaaS companies
in Europe that share the
same vision.
Jonas Dhaenens, Founder and
President, Claudio Corbetta, CEO, and Dawn Marriott, Executive
Chair of team.blue said: "This is a
truly significant moment for our team and the many entrepreneurs
who have joined us over the years. We are delighted to welcome CPP
Investments, a leading global institutional investor with values
that closely align with our own. CPP Investment's approach as a
long-term patient capital investor is perfectly suited to our
vision for sustained growth. Alongside our existing shareholders,
CPP Investments recognises the growth ahead, underpinned by our
plan to provide increasingly relevant online tools for businesses.
We thank Hg for their continued support and warmly welcome CPP
Investments as we pursue our ambitious growth plans
together."
"team.blue operates in an
attractive, resilient and growing online presence sector. Under its
current leadership, the business has executed on a successful
M&A strategy to expand its product offerings and local presence
across multiple European countries," said Hafiz Lalani, Managing Director, Global
Head of Direct Private Equity, CPP Investments. "We look
forward to working alongside Hg, a long-standing partner to CPP
Investments, and the team.blue founders and leadership team, to
support the platform as it continues on its journey to deliver on
multiple growth vectors by expanding its portfolio of SaaS
solutions, while delivering attractive risk-adjusted returns for
CPP contributors and beneficiaries."
Joris Van Gool, Nick Jordan
and Matthijs Deroo at Hg said: "It's
been incredible to see our thesis play out over the last five
years, with team.blue evolving into one of the largest tech
platforms in Europe. Together we are building a multibillion
category leader, offering multiple propositions for an ever-wider
group of SMBs, enabling both online presence and better business
success. We are proud of these achievements, partnering with
multiple entrepreneurs who are now part of the group, and with
ambitious plans to welcome many more in years to come. And today we
welcome CPP Investments as a new partner, whose well-placed trust
in a highly capable management supports a strong outlook for
growth."
team.blue was advised by Arma
Partners, EY, Bain, Deloitte, Linklaters and BearingPoint;
team.blue's shareholders were advised by Harris Williams, KPMG,
MacFarlanes and Norbruis Clement; and CPP Investments was advised
by Kirkland & Ellis, JP Morgan, OC&C and KPMG.
This transaction has been signed and
is subject to customary conditions and regulatory
approvals.
For
further details:
Hg
Tom Eckersley
+44 (0)208 148 5401
HgT
Laura
Dixon
+44 (0)20 8396 0930
Brunswick
Azadeh
Varzi
+44 (0)207 404 5959
Hg@brunswickgroup.com
About HgCapital Trust plc
HgCapital Trust plc, whose shares are listed on the London
Stock Exchange (ticker: HGT.L), gives investors exposure through a
liquid vehicle to a portfolio of high-growth private companies in
the software and services sector. The selection of new investments
and creation of value in these businesses are managed by Hg, an
experienced and well-resourced private equity firm with a long-term
track record of delivering superior risk-adjusted returns for its
investors. For further details, please see
www.hgcapitaltrust.com.
The contents of the Hg, HgT, CPP Investments and team.blue
websites are not incorporated into, and do not form part of, this
announcement.