Category Archives: Geen categorie

Elbrus Capital investment in CIAN GROUP

15 January 2015 – The private equity fund, advised by Elbrus Capital, became one of the shareholders in CIAN GROUP, the leader among Russian property websites. Deal structure included both sale of existing shares and subscription for new shares. Size of the investment and stake acquired were not disclosed.
CIAN GROUP will use investment proceeds to finance regional expansion and further product development, as well as to increase its brand awareness.

“The deal with Elbrus Capital is important to us from many perspectives, including the one that it helps us diversify the shareholder structure. We welcome a new professional financial investor with established track record of investing in large Internet and media businesses and supporting them in their further regional development and expansion” – commented Maxim Melnikov, CEO of CIAN GROUP.

“It’s not the first time investment in Internet and online classifieds sectors for Elbrus Capital. Recently it was announced that the fund became a shareholder in HH.ru, the leading online recruitment portal. We believe that Elbrus Capital resources and experience will facilitate the successful implementation of CIAN GROUP strategy” – said Mikhail Lukianov, Strategy and Investment Director at CIAN GROUP.

“CIAN GROUP is an example of successful and promising Internet company which resources are one of the most sought and popular in Runet. We are confident that online classifieds sector will continue growing even in turbulent economic times in the country, and CIAN, with its strong management team, supported by the founders and the shareholders, will achieve further superior results” – commented Dmitri Krukov, Managing Partner at Elbrus Capital.

AIFMD permit granted to Waterland Private Equity Investments B.V.

Bussum, 29 December 2014

Waterland Private Equity Investments B.V. has announced that it received a permit on 15 December 2014 to manage an investment institution as defined in Article 1.1 of the Financial Supervision Act.

Waterland Private Equity Investments B.V. (“Waterland”) has announced that it has received a permit on 15 December 2014 to manage an investment institution as defined in Article 1.1 of the Financial Supervision Act. This is the so-called AIFMD permit, which is mandatory for alternative investment fund managers in Europe with assets of more than €500M under management. Waterland has appointed Orangefield Nederland as the depositary for the private equity funds that Waterland manages (Waterland Private Equity Fund IV and Waterland Private Equity Fund V). Clifford Chance advised Waterland throughout the process of obtaining the permit.

Waterland merges MEDIAN and RHM

Düsseldorf/Berlin/Deidesheim, December 18, 2014

MEDIAN Kliniken and RHM Group are to become one company. Today, the majority shareholder of both companies, the private equity investor Waterland has announced this step. This was made possible after the acquisition of MEDIAN Kliniken by Waterland Private Equity Fund V has been completed on December, 15. The result is a hospital group with 72 clinics, about 12,000 beds and approximately 9,500 employees.

Carsten Rahlfs, principal of Waterland and head of the Düsseldorf office, explains the merger: “The healthcare industry is subject to a significant transformation especially in light of the demographic shift in Germany. To participate in this development is a very interesting business challenge and opportunity. After the acquisition of MEDIAN Kliniken, the second hospital operator in Germany, the merger of our two investments is the next logical step. Both groups complement each other regionally very well. Through targeted investments, we will expand the rehabilitation segment close to acute care in particular, but also offer concepts to retain employees in working life in healthy conditions. We also see additional opportunities for organic growth and acquisitions.”

Merger in two steps

As a first step, a common management of both companies has been formed. The MEDIAN board will be complemented by CEO André M. Schmidt and Roland Seebauer as CFO. Philipp Cremer will stay in charge as COO for MEDIAN. To assure a proper changeover, Daniel Koch will remain CFO for a transitional period of time. Klaus-Dieter Stocker will remain Director for RHM Kliniken. Following his own wish, Hartmut Hain, CEO of MEDIAN, will leave the company at years end and in good agreement. Mr. Rahlfs thanks Mr. Hain as well as Mr. Koch for their personal commitment and contribution to the successful development of MEDIAN Kliniken.

In a second step during the course of 2015 the combination of the two companies will be completed as a legal merger. The headquarters of the combined company will be in Berlin, Deidesheim is maintained as a further location. Beginning with the date of the legal merger the group will operate under a new name.

Strong provider of rehabilitation and highly specialized acute care

The merger will create a new, even more powerful care provider with 72 rehabilitation facilities, acute care hospitals and nursing homes altogether. “We are looking forward to see the growing together of two successful hospital operator to a joint corporation,” said Jörg Dreisow, Managing Principal of Waterland.

For the employees nothing changes

For employees who have been informed in advance in a letter from the management, nothing will change. “We are a reliable employer and want to motivate all employees to actively participate in the change,” said the new CEO André M. Schmidt: “To this end we as the new management will visit in the coming weeks all locations in person, looking for an on-site dialogue. We will unite the best of the know-how of these two outstanding and established clinic groups in the coming months – for the sake of our patients and employees.” For the patients also nothing changes with respect to the usual high standard of care.

Mail.Ru Group sale of Headhunter business to investor consortium led by Elbrus Capital

Mail.Ru Group Limited  (LSE: MAIL, hereinafter referred as “the Company” or “the Group”), today announces the sale of 100% of HeadHunter shares to an investor consortium led by Elbrus Capital for RUR 9.85 billion.  
The deal is expected to close in Q1 2015 and is subject to third-party approval.
Mail.Ru Group has been the owner of HeadHunter, the leader in the online recruitment segment in Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Belarus, and Azerbaijan, for 6 years. During that time HeadHunter has established its leading position in the Russian market, as its monthly audience has grown from 4 to 14 mln unique users, its resume database has increased from 3 to 14.5 mln, and its vacancy database has grown from 70 to 360 thousand. During that period HeadHunter has also entered the Belarus (2010) and Azerbaijan (2012) markets and launched a Russian Employer Rating, Wage Database, Clickme advertising service and online Vacancy Fair.

In 2013 HeadHunter’s revenue and EBITDA was RUR 2,756 million and RUR 1,357 million respectively. During the first 9 months of 2014 HeadHunter’s revenue and EBITDA was RUR 2,325 and 1,183 million respectively.
Dmitry Grishin, Co-Founder and CEO of Mail.Ru Group: “We are grateful to the HeadHunter team for the great job they’ve been doing these 6 years.  Thanks to their efforts during that time the product has made a serious leap in quality, its popularity growing manifold. We wish much success to the team.” 

Dmitri Krukov, Managing Partner at Elbrus Capital: “HeadHunter is the absolute leader in the online recruitment market, the company boasts a great management team that has impressive track record of growth and success. We believe that the online HR solutions market in Russia and other countries presents great opportunities. Our experience and our investors’ capital will provide new opportunities for HeadHunter to implement its strategy of further technology development (including mobile technologies), launching new products and services, and entering new markets.”

Mikhail Zhukov, Managing Director at HeadHunter: “We are grateful to Mail.Ru Group management team for supporting our development and for our collaboration during all these years. With our new shareholders HeadHunter is in for the new stage of development. I am certain that this step will be very positive for our clients who develop their businesses and our users who build their careers with the help of HeadHunter.”

Waterland acquires German clinic operator MEDIAN Kliniken

Dusseldorf, October 16, 2014 – Waterland Private Equity (Waterland) today
announced that it has acquired a majority stake in MEDIAN Kliniken, the German
clinic operator of hospitals and rehabilitation facilities with more than 9,000 beds
based in Berlin. Under the terms of its agreement, Waterland Fund V will acquire the
majority of MEDIAN. MEDIAN is being sold by Advent International, one of the
leading global investors dedicated to private equity, and the pan-European investor
Marcol. Both investors sell their stakes completely. No other financial terms were
disclosed. The transaction is subject to approval by the German Bundeskartellamt.

Rob Thielen, Chairman of Waterland, said: “MEDIAN Kliniken fits into our investment
focus, and our strategy to consider the benefits stemming from the aging population and
the megatrends associated with its demographics. In the health sector, we therefore see
significant growth opportunities. With MEDIAN we have created a second foothold in the
German hospital market.” In 2011 Waterland already bought via Fund IV RHM Kliniken,
Deidesheim. So the investor already has deep industry experience.

Waterland will implement its typical buy and build approach for MEDIAN. “We see
MEDIAN as a very attractive platform with a strong position in different indications like
neurology, with a particularly attractive private patient offering PREMIUM. Our goal is to
accelerate additional growth at MEDIAN Kliniken by stepping up their PREMIUM concept,”
says Dr. Carsten Rahlfs, Principal of Waterland and head of the Düsseldorf office. “In
addition, we believe we can grow significantly through acquisitions in the acute-care sector
and we have already identified several attractive clinic operators as potential additions,”
underlines Jörg Dreisow, Managing Principal of Waterland and responsible for DACH
region, Waterland´s buy and build approach.

The property of MEDIAN Kliniken will be sold to a US-real estate investor in the coming
months as part of a sale-and-lease-back agreement.

MEDIAN Kliniken Group, one of the largest operators of post-acute and acute hospitals in
Germany, has approximately 7,500 employees. “We have improved our position considerably during the last five years. This is the result of the hard work from all of our
staff and the support we got from our previous owners. We are excited about the growth
strategy that has been outlined for our clinics and we look forward to working with
Waterland,” commented Hartmut Hain, CEO of MEDIAN, the step.

MEDIAN Kliniken focuses primarily in the areas of neurology, orthopaedics and
psychosomatics. The company operates more than 9,000 beds in 45 facilities throughout
Germany. The hospital group has pursued an organic and external growth strategy and
recently acquired Atos Kliniken located in Munich and Heidelberg.

Bosteels Brewery attracts capital from Waterland

Buggenhout, 1 July 2014 – Bosteels Brewery, known for Tripel Karmeliet and Kwak, is obtaining capital from the private equity company Waterland, with an eye on further sustainable development of its brewing activities.

The Bosteels family brewery has been brewing beer in the East Flanders municipality of Buggenhout since 1791. It has seen sales of its high-quality Kwak and Karmeliet beers grow steadily over recent years, both domestically and abroad. The company is renowned for its exceptional dedication to quality and authenticity. They operate worldwide and brew about 110,000 hectolitres annually.

The Bosteels Brewery wants to find a sustainable way to strengthen its current strategy and develop it further, driven by increasing interest in authentic, high-quality specialty beers. The strategy of Bosteels Brewery consists in essence of brewing top quality specialty beers or niche market products, with quality always taking precedence over quantity. In order to be able to improve its sustainable development strategy further in future, Bosteels has brought in Waterland as their financial partner. Waterland will provide Bosteels with additional financial resources and support the company in its further development. As part of that development, there will be investments in the short term in a new logistics distribution centre to reduce the traffic burden in the village centre, an extension to the brewery hall aiming to improve quality further and a new malt processing area and system, following the installation of a new wastewater purification system.

“You will find a good balance here between tradition, very demanding quality requirements, investments and science,” states managing director Antoine Bosteels. “What we can currently offer is less than the demand for our beer, but we only want to increase production capacity if we can do so without compromising on quality.”

About Bosteels Brewery

Brouwerij Bosteels (www.bestbelgianspecialbeers.be) is a seventh-generation Belgian family brewery, known for Tripel Karmeliet, Kwak and DeuS. Tripel Karmeliet is a three-grain triple- fermented beer that is refermented in the bottle. Its accolades include being crowned the “World’s Best Ale” at the World Beer Cup. Kwak is a traditional amber-coloured beer that is served in a special “coachman’s glass” (similar to a “yard of ale”). DeuS Brut des Flandres is a sparkling grain wine, brewed in Belgium, refermented in the bottle, followed by the traditional “remuage” and “dégorgement” in France.

Paul Ganzeboom appointed as Attero’s new CEO

Waterland is the new owner of Attero

Waterland Private Equity Investments is the new owner of Attero, the market leader in the
Netherlands in processing and recycling various waste flows. The Supervisory Board of Attero has appointed Paul Ganzeboom (49) as the CEO of Attero as of 1 June.

At the end of 2012, the former shareholders of Attero (six provinces and 116 municipalities) began the process of selling the venture. Waterland, an independent Dutch private equity company, was selected as the prospective new owner in December 2013 after a careful selection process. Over recent months, the provincial and municipal shareholders have been able to decide individually on selling their shares to Waterland. In the end, 99.93% of the shares were offered for sale and only the municipality of Bedum in the province of Groningen decided not to sell at this point. The shares were transferred on 27 May 2014.

Appointment of the new CEO The Supervisory Board of Attero has appointed Paul Ganzeboom (49) as the CEO of Attero as of 1 June 2014. From 2006 to date, he was CEO of the Dutch-American company Norit/Cabot, at the Activated Carbon EAPA division (Europe, Asia, Australia, Middle East, Africa and South America). Under his leadership, Norit grew strongly in terms of both turnover and profitability. Prior to that, he held a variety of board-level positions, for example at the Swiss company Bystronic/Conzzeta, a sheet metalworking business with international operations, and the Swedish company Trelleborg, as well as Hoogovens. Paul Ganzeboom has a background in mechanical engineering (University of Twente) and he obtained his MBA from the Rotterdam School of Management / Erasmus University in Rotterdam and the University of Michigan in America.

Focus on strengthening the position “The acquisition of Attero is an important platform investment in a new market for Waterland,” says Rob Thielen, founder and chairman of Waterland Private Equity Investments, “and it fits in exceptionally well with our investment focus on sustainability. We want to be able to contribute significantly to the further strengthening of Attero’s competitive position and expanding it in the Netherlands, and possibly internationally as well. Recycling and raw material reclamation from waste flows is a dynamic market that offers plenty of opportunities. Attero is the market leader in initial and further separation of waste flows, reclaiming raw materials and energy production from waste, as well as sustainable recycling of residual waste. That is an excellent foundation for enhancing and broadening the company’s position over the coming years.”

Jacques Huberts, who is relinquishing his role as chairman of the Supervisory Board of Attero, says, “The transfer of shares to Waterland on 27 May 2014 means that a long-standing wish of the public shareholders has been fulfilled. In the Supervisory Board, we have been working successfully towards this over the last five years, together with the board of Attero. We would like to thank the new shareholder Waterland for the confidence it has shown in Attero as a company.”

About Attero

Attero’s goal is to handle waste flows in sustainable and innovative ways. We want to make a genuine contribution to extracting the maximum amounts of useful raw materials and renewable energy from waste flows. We have over seven hundred staff at around fifteen locations in Limburg, Brabant, Gelderland, Drenthe and Groningen, processing more than 3 million tons of waste annually. That is produced by about 6 million people and numerous companies. Attero wants to take on its corporate social responsibility. We therefore expressly prefer an open dialogue with society about achieving our objectives and we choose partners who hold the same ideals. Attero achieved a turnover of approximately 325 million euros in 2013, with an EBITDA of about 110 million euros. Both turnover and profitability are expected to increase in 2014.

About Waterland Private Equity Investments

Waterland is an independent private equity company that assists businesses in the realisation of their growth ambitions. Waterland focuses on investing in companies with turnovers of between €20 and €500 million, adopting a position in which it actively supports the growth strategies that are developed together with the companies’ boards. Waterland has now invested in more than 250 businesses. The equity that Waterland currently manages is €2.5 billion; the Waterland fund from which the investment in Attero will be made is €1.1 billion. Waterland has offices in the Netherlands (Bussum), Belgium (Antwerp), Germany (Düsseldorf and Munich) and Poland (Warsaw).

Quinity and Actuera to continue under joint international ownership: Keylane

Starting today, software specialists Actuera and Quinity are combining their
strengths in a joint group with the new name of Keylane. This represents the
next step in the international growth ambitions of both companies, namely to
become one of the leading players in Europe with flexible standard software
for the core processes of the insurance and pension sector. The two
companies will, however, continue operating in the Dutch market under their
own name.

“Actuera and Quinity complement each other very well and have the same
customer-focused vision. This further integration will enable us to secure a
solid position in the European market more quickly. Keylane is our roadmap
for achieving this ambition”, says Ralf Timmer, CEO of Quinity.

Quinity supplies standard software for insurance companies and is market
leader in the Netherlands. This company set itself apart with its solid software
platform, exceptionally high level of customer satisfaction, and a strong
implementation track record.

Actuera is also market leader in the Netherlands, but in the area of software
for pension funds and third-party administrators. Ronald Kasteel, CEO of
Actuera, comments, “We both consider the customer’s customer to then
implement the most efficient solution. We work with proven standard software
developed in-house, which enables us to provide our clients with significant
efficiency advantages and allows them to introduce modern pension products
into the market more quickly. That has always been important, but the
pension market is more dynamic today than ever before.”

Waterland Private Equity (Waterland), a private equity company from
Bussum, has a majority interest in both Actuera and Quinity, and supports
accelerated growth through the use of its own international network and
financial strength. Keylane will give further shape to the company’s
international strategy through autonomous growth and, when relevant,
takeovers.

Ronald Kasteel, Jan van Reenen and Ralf Timmer together form the Board of
Directors of Keylane.

Waterland announces the pricing of its institutional offering of shares in Arseus

Waterland Private Equity Fund IV C.V., through its subsidiaries Enhold NV and Supply Holding B.V.

(“Waterland”), announces the successful placement of 8,363,865 existing ordinary shares (the “Shares”) of Arseus NV (“Arseus”), representing 26.67% of Arseus’ currently outstanding capital. Following strong demand, Waterland decided to upsize the transaction from 20.0% to the entire 26.67% stake it held in the company. The Shares have been placed at a price of €35.0 per share, resulting in gross cash proceeds of c. €292.7 million. Arseus will not receive any proceeds from the Offering.

The Shares were placed through an accelerated private placement to institutional investors inside and outside Belgium, and to qualified institutional buyers in the United States in reliance on Rule 144A.

Settlement will take place on Friday 11 April 2014.

J.P. Morgan Securities plc acted as Sole Global Coordinator and Joint Bookrunner, Petercam acted as Joint Bookrunner and KBC Securities acted as lead manager in connection with the Offering.

 

About Waterland 

Waterland is an independent private equity investment group that supports entrepreneurs in realizing their growth ambitions. With substantial financial resources and committed industry expertise, Waterland enables its portfolio companies to achieve accelerated growth both organically and through acquisitions. Waterland is an active investor in the financial, strategic and operational sense. In the current dynamic business environment Waterland is a partner that provides entrepreneurs with a powerful position in the increasingly competitive international arena. Waterland currently has €2.5bn of capital under management, and holds offices in Bussum (NL), Antwerp (BE), Düsseldorf (DE), Munich (DE) and Warsaw (PL).

 

About Arseus 

Arseus is a R&D scientific company delivering innovative solutions and concepts to professionals and institutions in the healthcare sector in 30 countries worldwide. Arseus is subdivided into three divisions: Fagron is global market leader in pharmaceutical compounding. Corilus develops and supplies unique integrated ICT solutions with substantial added value to medical specialists and is market leader in Belgium, France and the Netherlands. The Belgian company Arseus NV is located in Waregem, and is e Arseus group are driven by the Dutch company Arseus BV. The head office of Arseus BV is located in Rotterdam.

 

Important notices 

This announcement is for general information only and does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of, the securities referred to herein in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration, exemption from registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such jurisdiction.

This communication must not be published, released or distributed, directly or indirectly, in the United States, Canada, Japan, Australia, South Africa or any other jurisdiction where to do so would be prohibited by applicable law. These materials do not constitute an offer of or solicitation to purchase securities in the United States. Securities may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an exemption from the registration requirements of the United States Securities Act of 1933 (the “Securities Act”). The Shares mentioned herein have not been, and will not be, registered under the Securities Act. There will be no public offer of the Shares in the United States.

This communication is for distribution in member states of the European Economic Area only to persons falling within the meaning of Article 2(1)(e) of the 2003/71/CE directive as amended by Directive 2010/73/EU (the “Prospectus Directive”), and, where applicable, in accordance with Article 3(2) of the Prospectus Directive. In the United Kingdom, this document is being distributed only to, and is directed only at, investment professionals falling within Article 19(5) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) Order 2005, as amended (the “Order”) or who are high net worth entities falling within Article 49(2)(a) to (d) of the Order, and other persons to whom they may otherwise lawfully be communicated.

Waterland Private Equity Investments acquires a shareholding in Unimar

Antwerp/Erpe-Mere, 28 March 2014 – The Dutch-Belgian private equity company Waterland Private Equity Investments (Waterland) is going to provide growth capital to the Unimar group, a leading player in the development and distribution of deep-frozen products for the bakery sector.

The Unimar group was founded in 1989 and has grown over recent years to become a key supplier of bakery products in the Benelux and a number of other European countries, with a turnover of € 73 million. The company specialises in bake-off products (deep-frozen products in particular), with distribution in both the retail and wholesale sectors and in food services (commercial and social catering).

According to its two top men, Robert Huygh and Patrick Dermaut, “Over the last five years, the market for bake-off bakery products has grown substantially, thanks to increasing demand for diversity in the range of bakery products on offer. Working with bake-off products gives our customers an efficient way of offering a broad range of high-quality products. On top of that, it reduces waste. Loaves can be baked at the point of sale several times a day as necessary, so there’s no accumulation of unwanted stock.”

In order to continue its growth strategy in the future, Unimar recently decided to strengthen its equity structure. To that end, the company has now brought in Waterland as a financial partner. Waterland will provide additional cash resources to Unimar and will support the management where necessary in the further growth of their company. “The long-term partnership with Waterland is giving us the necessary resources to achieve our ambitious goals to grow,” says the managing director Dirk De Pandelaere.

“For Waterland, the investment in Unimar fits in with our strategy of investing in growing, high-quality companies who are aiming to acquire leading positions in their sectors,” says Frank Vlayen, the manager for Waterland Private Equity Investments in Belgium.

The family shareholders were assisted by Van Reybrouck Accountants.
Waterland was assisted by PWC and Argo Law.

About Unimar
Unimar (www.diversifoods.com) was founded in 1989 and grew to become an important supplier of bakery products in the Benelux. The company’s registered offices are in Erpe-Mere. It employs 50 staff.

About Waterland Private Equity Investments
Waterland Private Equity Investments (Waterland) (www.waterland.be) is an independen Dutch-Belgian private equity company, active in Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, Austria and Poland, with more than € 2.5 billion under management. Waterland focuses on industries that are undergoing change as a consequence of one or more of the following trends: outsourcing & efficiency, ageing population, leisure & luxury and sustainability.
Waterland is a member of the Belgian Venturing Association (BVA), the Dutch Venture Capital Association (NVP and the European Private Equity & Venture Capital Association (EVCA). Waterland has offices in Antwerp, Bussum, Munich, Düsseldorf and Warsaw